The Weirdness of THE GOLDEN GIRLS

What I can't understand is why they said they loved each other but spent their time insulting each other all day long.

How much was their rent? Did it vary depending on room size?

Why did they wear sweaters, long sleeves and layers when living in such a warm climate?

Why they were all in their sixties during the pilot epiode, but we're all of a sudden in their fifties during the next episode.

How Blanche could have thought she was pregnant in season 2?

Where did their gay houseboy go to? The white party?

Why Mr. Burt Reynolds and Mr. Julio Iglesias would go out with the likes of Sophia when they could have someone much, much younger and sexier like me.

Old women are like that, R1. My grandmother and her circle of friends were straight up bitches to one another -- gossiping and just being insulting all the time -- but they seemed to still enjoy the friendships and ultimately had each other's backs through tough times.

Was Stan rich or poor? In some episodes, he was a gigolo landlord living large and in others he was penniless and crashing with Dorothy.

Dd Dorothy have fibro, chronic fatigue, Epstein-Barr, or Lupus?

No one ever seemed to do chores, yet the house was always immaculate. Did they have a cleaning lady?

Rue M. was 52 or 53 during the show's second season, making it plausible that her character could be entering menopause. Blanche was meant to be a little bit younger than Dorothy and Rose.

As for weirdness ... what about their diets? Could you imagine joining with two other people and eating an entire cheesecake after midnight? On a regular basis?

We made Sophia do it. We ground her face in the toilet if she didn't.

If you watched the plot line Stan was rich and poor. There were episodes where Stan lost all his money, then he invented a bake potato opener and got rich. Then he fudged his taxes and owed money and so did Dorothy, so his finances went up and down but it happened accordingly with the story lines.

Rue was 51 in real life when the show started so she could be pregnant. I imagine Blanche was supposed to be a few years younger, so that plotline wasn't a stretch. And Blanche was supposed to be like 10 years younger than the others. Unlike on Maude where they were the same age, though Bea Arthur was 12 years older in real life.

Estelle Getty was born in 1923 while Arthur and White were born in 1922

The gay houseboy was only for the pilot. He was done away with when Sophia became a regular. Sophia was intended to be a recurring character, not a regular. She would just pop in and out. After the pilot aired her character was so well received by test audiences they wrote the gay guy out and Sophia in.

Notice Blanche's room in the pilot is on the other side of the living room.

We don't find out what each woman pays, but Sofia pays her own rent and Blanche did not report any of the rent as income.

You will also note the actual layout of the house is impossible as the garage conflicts with where the bedrooms would be.

The Golden Girls is notorious for having huge number of plot holes and continuity errors

How did they afford those extravagant wardrobes that kept them clothed in forever new outfits of multicolored chiffon?

Remember when they bred minks in their laundry room? And in the next ep...no minks.

Sophia must have worked them into a recipe.

The next time someone here derisively makes a comment about a "comic book movie," I'd like to remind them about the number of times we've picked over ILL, DW, and GG - you guys would give any trekkie a run for their money on a good day for obsessive nitpicking.

[quote]How did they afford those extravagant wardrobes that kept them clothed in forever new outfits of multicolored chiffon?

I don't know, but it wasn't like they were wearing machine-washable clothes either. Their dry-cleaning bills must have been outrageous.

I guess the writers of the show they figured the audience wouldn't care about inplausibilites and continuity; after all it's just a sitcom. Boy, were they wrong! The dans of this show (it had a large gay fanbase) paid great attention to what was going on in the episodes.

One incident that sticks out in my mind is the one where Dorothy's twenty-something ne'er do well artist son brings his fiance to meet Dorothy and Sophia; his lady love is a black woman in her forties. Dorothy and Sophia both are shocked and appalled, as is the family of the black woman. Everyone is opposed to the union until the fiance makes her announcement: she's pregnant! After that everybody makes nice with each other, problem solved.

Dorothy and the mother of the fiance set aside their differences and make up because they both "want to see the baby." But there WAS no baby. I heard that at some point Michael popped in again and it was revealed that his middle-aged girlfriend (did they ever get married?) had kicked him out. Did she have the baby? Was it a boy or a girl? Was Michael (I think that was his name) so much of a loser that his fiance kicked him out even though it left her a single mother? What happened with all that? I always wondered. I guess the writers figured viewers had forgotten about that brief plotline. But I do know this: Dorothy never "saw" the baby.

They just did whatever they wanted with the relatives, adding on more when it suited the plot.

Remember Blanche's brother played by Ned Beatty in The Golden Palace?

Similarly, in SATC, nobody talks about their parents. Until they need to kill one off of course, in Miranda's case.

Golden Girls is pretty normal compared to its progeny, Sex & the City.

Carrie Bradshaw was one of the most unlikeable characters in TV history. Ugh.

Rose's daughter Kiersten was supposedly a brainiac, too good to be with Dorothy's loser son Michael. It seems odd that Rose's daughter wasn't mildly retarded.

Why didn't Sophia have even a hint of a Sicilian accent? I believe she left Sicily as a young woman, so she likely would have retained a bit of an accent, but she doesn't.

Sophia was in her 80s and still having sex. I don't care what any of you say, that shit is weird.

Dorothy married Stan because she was pregnant, yet neither of her kids were in their late 30s.

Dorothy was so clearly not Italian. Sophia could pass, but barely.

The number of children and grandchildren Rose, Dorothy and Blanche had varied depending on the episode. I always wondered why something that simple wasn't kept consistent. Sophia having two daughters and a son was the only thing that didn't change.

And why the hell did nobody ever call before coming over to the house? At all hours of the day and late into the night, people would just show up and ring the doorbell, and they were usually people the girls barely knew or didn't know at all. Outside of immediate family members, would you ever just show up at somebody's front door without calling first? That was just weird.

OP, your mother doesn't talk about you either.

Why didn't Dorothy just get a back alley abortion like other girls in her situation? I'm sure Blanche had a few.

So, whose daughter was Gina? If they had blood tests that proved that Gina was not their daughter and Dorothy was really Sophia's, then there are a couple of ladies out there in long ago sitcom land with the wrong parents.

I used to cringe when they had Estelle speak Italian. Yikes.

The real Golden Girls were intended to be Dorothy, Blanche and Rose. Sophia was supposed to be older one and technically not a Golden Girl. A supporting character. Anyway, the promos and even the intro shows this and yet Sophia is always referred to as a Golden Girl and eventually became one of the group. It's all confusing and weird.

[quote]And why the hell did nobody ever call before coming over to the house? At all hours of the day and late into the night, people would just show up and ring the doorbell

You've never seen a situation comedy before?

Was the lanai their whole backyard? You'd a house that size would have a pool.

Dorothy mentioned that the girls had a pool *just once* on that much-derided 1987 Rita Moreno-as-Renee "Empty Nests" pilot/episode.

Good question, r10.

What about Blanche's daughter Becky? In one episode she's really fat and going to marry that douche bag. Then in other episodes she's skinny and going to have a baby by artificial insemination.

R18, I think "dans" should be the new term for gay fans.

Thank you for fucking my end

Fucked me once or twice and then again

You're heart is true your a pal not a stupid Jew

And if you threw a party

Invited everyone but Jews

You would see

Every damn Is-ray-al-ee

Would say

"Oy vay I'm so oppressed, plant trees in Is-ray-al"

[quote]What about Blanche's daughter Becky? In one episode she's really fat and going to marry that douche bag. Then in other episodes she's skinny

I guess you have never heard of someone going on a diet

[quote]Why didn't Dorothy just get a back alley abortion like other girls in her situation?

Ever here of a "good" Catholic

[quote]Why didn't Sophia have even a hint of a Sicilian accent?

Helen Reddy and Rick Springfield don't have Australian accents.

The interior of the house as compared to the exterior was like an MC Escher painting.

Sometimes the girls would pick up a relative at the airport. Other times, they would have that relative fend for themselves to get to the house.

[quote]And why the hell did nobody ever call before coming over to the house? At all hours of the day and late into the night, people would just show up and ring the doorbell

Has never had a booty call

[quote]It seems odd that Rose's daughter wasn't mildly retarded.

Why would you think that? Would you think Einstein's parents or children would be geniuses as well?

Intelligence has nothing to do with heredity. Or are you too stupid to understand that

How did Dorothy get knocked up at 18, yet still went to college, get a teacher's degree and live with a college Roommate? (Jean from Isn't it Romantic)

Loved how, whenever a car would pull into the driveway in an establishing shot, the driver-side door would open but you'd never see anybody get out, not even a leg.

R41, Portia de Rossi doesn't have an Aussie accent, either, strangely. She grew up in Australia and didn't move to the US until her 20s.

Charlize Theron is another who has adopted an American accent. Though Embeth Davidtz was born in the US, it was to South African parents, who later moved back, but she and Charlize don't sound anything like. Davidtz sounds British-like.

I'm not a big fan of sit-coms and have never seen an entire episode, but whenever I did catch snippets of it here or there I was always struck by the same thing: how cheap it looked. Cheap looking furniture, sets that could have done double duty for some public access channel, even the grade of video tape seemed inferior. I dont get it. This show was a big hit and made a ton of money for the producers, yet it looked like it was thrown together and the budget comprised of whatever pocket change was laying around.

R49, I agree. Not only that but if you watch the opening credits you'll see that the show had about a dozen producers, most than any other program, and when the cast demanded more money even though the budget was tight many episodes were written with the idea of having the least amount of extra actors as possible so it was always the same characters involved and the show ended up looking like a dog chasing after its tail. Pretty cheap.

It was on while I was getting ready for work this morning. For some reason, this struck me as very funny:

Sophia insisted on calling her daughter-in-law, Angela (Brenda Vaccaro), "Big Sally."

Whenever they would need a bunch of old men in a party scene, none of them had lines so they didn't have to credit them. It was like the girl's were stuck in a room full of mutes.

The look of the show was weird, something about it was so glaring and bright. I guess it was the videotape? Why didn't Cheers look like that? Is one filmed like a movie on actual film, and the other on video tape? The harsh brightness wasn't flattering to any of the ladies and gave a claustrophic feeling.

On the flip side of claustrophobia, didn't their lanai seem huge? It seemed to go on forever, with layers and layers of greenery and flowers.

R53 There are different grades of videotape, just as there are different grades of film stock. And there are different types of video cameras. It appears with GG they used the cheapest tape and cheapest cameras available.

They always sat on the lanai and never, ever bothered with the area beyond the glass doors- which did appear to have tables and chairs. Probably because the lanai, which became so important, was not in the pilot but was Blanche's bedroom.

Also, the set was built with lots of odd curves and angles.

Bitches stole our kitchen.

R48, you can't tell me that there isn't a difference from adjusting from one variant of English to adjusting to an ENTIRE DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.

R57, Theron's first language is Afrikaans, but she does a hell of an American accent, which other foreigners have trouble doing. She even speaks in her American accent in daily life.

Yes R55, that always struck me too. Like there were so many hidden interesting spaces, something my 8 year old self would have delighted in. The Brady Bunch house had spaces like that too, like under the stairs.

Was the GG's lanai enclosed? I thought lanai could mean any sort of outdoor room whether enclosed or not. In their case, I thought it was not. But then again, the buggyness of Florida probably prevents outdoor unenclosed seating at night.

Dorothy's scrunchy boots were weird. She must have been so hot in them.

r56 LOL and how true.

Did any of the Girls ever fart? Which episode?

R61, in "The Audit" (Season 3), Rose takes a Spanish class and vows to only wear Spanish clothes, eat Spanish foods, etc. In one scene, Rose walks into the living room and says, "Buenos Dias, Dorotheo! That means 'Hello, Dorothy" in Spanish." Dorothy shoots back, "You've really taken command of the language, haven't you, Rose?" And Rose goes, "Si. That means 'yes.'" And Dorothy says sarcastically, "Gee, Rose, if I closed my eyes I'd swear I was in Ecuador." Meanwhile, Sophia has walked by Dorothy and says, "Sorry, that was me," which implies she cut one.

Another time they're bundled up in Sophia's bed 'cause the heater isn't working and they're all freezing (in Miami?!), and at one point Blanche asks, "Did you hear that?" and Sophia goes, "Yes, and as long as it's my bed, I'll do what I want!"

Try wearing cowl-neck sweaters and suede boots in Miami sometime. You'll collapse in a puddle of sweat in five minutes.

The Girls used to buy clothes wear them once and return them.

r61: Oh, you heard that? I thought I was safe, backed up against these pillows.

bump w/ a fart LOL

R62, thanks!

R63, that's the laugh I needed.

R18, on the Michael question, in the first episode where we meet him and he sleeps with Rose's daughter, Dorothy says he is 28. In the later episode where he dates the older woman, Dorothy says he is 22. He was apparently Benjamin Button.

More weirdness: Ricky's publicist plants stories in the paper about Ricky fucking his dancers.

Nothing on the Golden Girls is as strange as Chuck Cunningham, Richie's brother, who went upstairs and never came down again.

You only think he never came out because they cut the tag in syndication. In the full episode you see Blanche and Dorothy and Rose digging in the backyard and Sofia says, "Make sure you cover him up all the way. As long as we stay on the lanai and never step here, we'll get away with it."

I still get sad watching it because they're all gone now. Well, except Betty, but let's face it, the way the Grim Reaper has been operating lately, it will only be weeks.

I loved the episode of the Golden Girls where they adopt the pig. And Sophia cooks it.

Are we supposed to think that Rose and Dorothy rented a piano so they could write their "Miami, Miami" song? Or was the piano always there, just never in the shot?

I hate how the furniture and decor screams "We're in Florida!" just like TV beach houses always use shells and nautical images as artwork for emphasis. Audiences aren't that stupid--a leather couch won't confuse us as to the location of the house.

R74, wasn't that a rooster who could play the piano and Sophia cooked some fry chicken...

It was a chicken... and it was Aunt Angela who supposedly cooked it.

r64, If I were you, I'd take my dishonesty elsewhere.

I wonder who "Mr. September" was, in "The Men of Blanche's Boudoir" calendar.

I bet it was horse-hung Mel Bushman.

[quote]Are we supposed to think that Rose and Dorothy rented a piano so they could write their "Miami, Miami" song? Or was the piano always there, just never in the shot?

It was used again when Dorothy and Sophia dressed up as Sonny & Cher to rehearse for the Shady Pines Mother/Daughter Beauty Pageant. We're supposed to assume it's there in the corner somewhere.

It's called a fourth wall and the piano is up against it.

Look I thought data loungers were at least as smart as Ryan Lochte but it seems 99% of you are hovering at Michael Phelps level.

In Florida, even old women wear sleeveless shirts and dress in cotton. I know Miami is a little different but seriously, THEY always had sweaters on! Ridiculous.

Miami is different from Florida? WTF? Miami is IN Florida, at the very tip in fact. Very hot and humid there. No excuse for sweaters and boots.

No. Miami IS different then most of Florida. The women there, dress up and wear makeup. In most of florida, people never get out of their shorts and t-shirts.

BUMP for Golden Girls weirdness.

Why, whenever there was a repair to be done on the house, were all the girls screaming about having no money when 3 of them were renters and had no obligation to pay for repairs? (Obviously this was before Blanche made them co-owners).

Also, while the furniture and accessories screamed Miami, this is really how homes in Miami are, tropical, colorful, wicker, etc.

When the girls went to the psychiatrist, a clip show, when they felt they were no longer able to live together, Sophia tells a story: "Picture it, 4 women share a house in Miami...the only one on the block without a pool, I might add," so this was addressed. Also, it's weird that in the pilot, Rose called her husband Charles, and not Charlie, and Dorothy is from Queens, not Brooklyn.

Yes, no pool was kind of odd. But some people really hate the upkeep of a pool. Pretty weird, since it's not hard to take care of a pool.

How come not jokes about Dorothy's big feet?

I still can't get over the UFO episode where Rose says "Planes don't fly over residential areas!"

r81: Frida Claxton.

Mrs. Claxton, if you don't like it just Drop Dead!

Killed another one huh Rose

To me, the "weird" part was that the show just wasn't all that funny. I thought Bea Arthur was much funnier as Maude, and Betty White—OMG!—she was awesome as Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore show. Betty's character on GG was just, well, stupid. And Rue McClanahan's character seemed equally one-dimensional.

Die in a grease fire, R93!

Ooh, R94. Did I hit a nerve?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE SHIT IN MY MOUTH!

r93 = Barbara Thorndyke

I never could understand all the family weddings/funerals of family members in Miami that were rooted in other places in the country. Blanche's father was the only exception. By the way, wasn't it strange that Big Daddy was entombed just hours after his funeral with no signs of a recent burial.

Big Daddy was a closet Jew if you remember.

"Sometimes the girls would pick up a relative at the airport. Other times, they would have that relative fend for themselves to get to the house."

I'd say most times the guests had to fend for themselves - it was extremely rare that the girls ever picked anybody up from the airport, no matter how young, old, or foreign the guest might be.

And it's not like there was ever the excuse of, "Oh, so sorry, but at the time your plane lands the three of us will be at work, and only Sophia, who can't drive, will be home." No, the girls were inevitably just sitting around the living room waiting for the guest.

And then when the visit was over, the guest was once again expected to pay for their own cab back to the airport.

How about the time Blanche didn't know a lesbian from a Lebanese? Blanche would have known.

I like when Sophia says, "Why do you all eat so much god damn cheesecake. You're way too fat already."

And Dorothy says "Shady Pines, Ma," and Sophia replies, "Enjoy your cheesecake, I'm off to the hardware store to buy some more rat poison."

Apple is worth more than TWICE the value as the second most valuable company, EXXONMobil

iphones forever, android never

AirMacs forever, win8 never

Bye bye Gates and Jewerberg

Why did Blanche stuff her sweater with those balloon boobs when she was going for the acting role with Patrick Vaughan? ("The moon is looking pretty tonight, isn't it Busty?" - or something like that....) Hadn't he seen her earlier without giant knockers? He would have known they were falsies.

Why did the Golden Girls never use iPhones? You would think they'd want something so advanced. I'm sure Sophia would've bought Apple stock.

After all Apple is the #1 company in the world. There has NEVER been a company EVAH valued so high. It's worth TWICE as much as EXXONMobil the number two company.

Apple could buy ExxonMobil chew it up, spit it out and still be on top

I gotta phone my friends about this, but not just phone them iPHONE them.

How were they constantly being picked to head up fancy charity galas when they A) had no female friends except each other (Sophia was the exception who did have female friends, but for the other three, the only people they were ever seen socializing with were the men they dated) and B) were too poor to afford basic expenses like a new TV set?

Aren't most big-city charity galas run by women who are both well-connected in the community and rich enough to give big donations and attract their rich friends to donate too? What charity board is like, "We really need this year's gala to be a smashing success - let's get that substitute teacher to be our chairwoman"?

"How much was their rent? Did it vary depending on room size?"

This is a good question, since Dorothy's original agreement with Blanche was that she would be moving into the bedroom which is now Rose's, and Dorothy was peeved on move-in day when she arrived and found it already occupied by Rose. Rose then agreed to a coin toss to decide the room's occupancy, which Dorothy lost. But Blanche's response to the problem was just "Whoops", without any mention of a reduction in the agreed-upon rent now that Dorothy had to take the less desirable room.

And this brings up the whole question of bathrooms, and which rooms had attached, private bathrooms and which didn't. Rose's room apparently didn't have one in Season 1, when she was working with Dorothy to install a new toilet in the bathroom they shared, but then magically got one in Season 2 when Jean the Dyke is seen emerging from an attached bathroom in Rose's room. The most egregious outrage on this point comes in the two-part "Sophia's Wedding" episode, when Sophia's room has an attached bathroom in Part 1 (which Sophia locks herself in when she decides to call off the wedding due to Dorothy's objections), but then in Part 2 the writers expect us to have forgotten its existence when Max and Dorothy are using the shower in the same bathroom and the girls are complaining that Max forgets to lift the toilet seat when he pisses.

well r107 maybe Max was using the other bathroom b/c Sophia was in theirs

r102, maybe that is what caused Dorothy's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

r99, I remember.

This is awesome.

(Hope the link works)

[quote]Aren't most big-city charity galas run by women who are both well-connected in the community and rich enough to give big donations and attract their rich friends to donate too?

Run by, yes. But the grunt work is done by women like the Golden Girls.

Maybe the girls took to "peeing in the closet" as Sophia told the undercover cops who moved into the house.

BTW, how come Blanche didn't put the moves on George Clooney as he lay gorgeously spread out on the bed in one of their bedrooms? He reminded her of her son? Yeah, right.

How soon she forgot her attraction to her personal trainer. "In what, Blanche...dog years?"

r6, beat it, you 50-year-old mattress.

r112

Blanche worked at a very upscale art gallery, like three hours each day, sometimes four days a week.

She would've known rich socially connected people.

r105

The new iPhone has just sold record numbers YET again.

iPhones forever

Android never

Unless you're poor

Hello everyone! Send my regards to Madge.

Anything for a friend. Ciao!

R115 Blanche worked at a museum.

I just realized there's a dirty joke in the Henny Penny epidode.

Sophia is introducing Dorothy as Turkey Lurkey and calls her, "Poor, lonely, dateless, self-basting..."

I never caught that one before.

r103

HA HA Apple had to bow before Google and Google Maps greatness

r119, I have to remember to stop using your towels.

It's starting to get a little bit depressing looking at GG these days. Sometimes I'm watching a scene with some guest stars in it and I realize that they are all dead except Betty.

Don't worry, r122, the clear solution is to only watch my episode! George and I are still alive and kicking, and we're still working on our crappy marriage! Although I admit I do get depressed sometimes now that I no longer have Dorosee here to confide in...

and how old were they supposed to be? always references to them being just in their 50s, right? was this for convenience sake, could people not believe that women would still be working in their 60s into retirement age? (if they didn't have jobs, that would have done away with a lot of plot lines)

Why does Rose have the biggest bedrooms, meanwhile, it's Blanche's house?

The girls routinely switched rooms.

R3 nailed it, thread closed. I always wondered why Rose wore thick sweaters and Dorothy always had about 7 layers on at all times, yet they made much mention of bring in Miami, where high temps can reach the 90s in January.

Why couldn't they just call it a patio?

It was technically a patio. A lanai has mesh screening.

Everyone in Florida calls it a lanai... If it is a lanai.

R45, the fact is that every single person we ever come across on the show that has anything to do with St. Olaf is presented as dimwitted. Why would all of Rose's children be portrayed as "normal" when they were raised in St. Olaf? Or are you too stupid to realize that?

Couldn't Dr. Budd afford a better toupee? He was supposed to be one of the top infectious disease specialists in the country.

"It's starting to get a little bit depressing looking at GG these days. Sometimes I'm watching a scene with some guest stars in it and I realize that they are all dead except Betty."

I'm still alive at age 99, r122! Though sometimes I wish I were dead - the money in Blanche's bosom account ran out years ago (as did Blanche), so I've been living in the homeless shelter with Ida Perkins ever since!

r130

You'd have a point there, except you're wrong.

Rose's sisters aren't dumb. Flo was blind but smart and she had a great reputation before that. And Inga Svenson, wasn't nice but she was not stupid either.

My name was HOLLY!

Did they ever address why they had to all live together for lack of money?

Dorothy should have a good pension from teaching and Blamche arrived well. 55+ plus communities in Florida are plentiful and cheap. Especially in the 80s

Speaking of the 80s, this show just brings me back to that time period.

[quote] 55+ plus communities in Florida are plentiful and cheap.

Who are calling 55+? I'll have you know I was Miss Angie Dickinson's body double.

Must have gotten the part after that adventure you had in a men's club, with a vine rope and a bottle of absorbine junior.

[quote]Dorothy should have a good pension from teaching

Dorothy was a SUBSTITUTE teacher. She never knew how much or if she was going to work. Subs make less pay, have no pension and no security.

Add to that she often says, Stan's business would fail, the take off, then fail again.

It seems they had insecure income all the time.

Add to that Dorothy supported Sofia and while her sister had money her tranny brother didn't.

Rose's husband was a success as a person but a failure as a business man.

As for Blanche, "Thank God, I had the foresight to marry money."

Dorothy got over her lady disease pretty quickly.

Blanche couldn't have married THAT much money if she had to take in boarders.

And if you're a middle-aged empty nester who can't afford the mortgage payments on a house, wouldn't it make more sense to sell the house and downsize to a condo instead of having to share the house with strangers? (Remember, the girls weren't her first tenants.) It's not like she needed the space - she had tense relationships with most of her children so they rarely came to visit.

And wouldn't Blanche have been happier in a swinging condo complex anyways, where she could have been picking up eligible men?

"And wouldn't Blanche have been happier in a swinging condo complex anyways, where she could have been picking up eligible men?"

I should clarify that once she experienced the miracle of finding tenants who could be her best friends, I'm sure she was happier in the house with them.

But I'm saying before, like after her bad experience with those two stick-in-the-mud ladies from Minnesota, didn't she think of moving?

Seeing how difficult it was for her to sell a portion to each of the other girls in a later season, imagine how hard it would have been for her to consider selling it to a stranger and walking away.

Get over yourselves ..... Tv on DVD wasn't known then and the writers probably care much for continuity at that point. You take the good with the bad in this show and if your a true fan, you don't care for the pot holes .... Just seeing these four ladies on-screen is good enough for me. As for the climate and the question of their clothing, yeah they were meant to be in a warm climate despite the fact it was filmed in a studio in LA, the show was then targeted for a specific audience (as most shows are) and I personally love what the wore. Estelle Getty was the youngest golden girl despite playing the oldest and Betty white is the oldest of them all, now the only living gg left. Rest in peace Bea, Rue & Estelle. You'll never be forgotten. Lots of love. JJ

No, Rue McClanahan was the youngest Golden Girl!

[quote]Tv on DVD wasn't known then and the writers probably care much for continuity at that point.

No, it is and was then, standard practice to keep a "series bible", which would detail facts such as: Who was born where, how many children each had and how old those children were.

Continuity on TV shows didn't just come about with the advent of DVDs.

R145 Yes, because they've had reruns since the "I Love Lucy" days. DVDs didn't change anything.

Jean ate my pussy while I slept.

In what, r144? Dog years?

They were outside on their lanai at night a lot. Now this was supposed to be in Florida, where if you spend much time outside after dark you'll be eaten ALIVE by the mosquitoes, not to mention all the other bugs.

I suspect the writers never visited Florida or lived there at any time of the year. I guess you could be outside at night on your lanai if you live in SoCal, but never in Florida.

The horrible "Renee" episode is on this morning. I can't look away.

"Doroshee!"

"Dot"

I didn't remember hearing that guy call her that in the episode.

in her one woman show, AT LIBERTY, Elaine Stritch claims that she was the first choice to play Dorothy. However, she was drinking at the time and, at a read through, she claims that she insulted the writers and producers and subsequently lost the part to Bea Arthur. Is there any evidence to her story or does the story exist only in her imagination?

It would seem logical; she and Estelle Getty seem more like daughter/mother combination than Arthur and Getty. She is Catholic, albeit from an upper middle class background; yes, I know Getty is Jewish.

On the other hand, Stritch is primarily a theater actress and wouldn't have been known to a much wider television audience. I do know that she performed on television when the medium was in its infancy

R150 I saw it too. Love how they had Dorothy, Blanche and Rose say "Renee" every second word almost.

R49, ALL Susan Harris sitcoms (Benson, Soap, Empty Nest, Nurses, It Takes Two) had cheap sets, blinding lighting and cheap segue music which all sounded like it was from the same musicians. It was her trait.

Renee's daughter unexpectedly shows up at the front door after flying home from college in NYC. Her boyfriend apparently has a thing for blondes. Dot and crew were also sitting in the living room when this happens.

All they did was coddle her about following her boyfriend to college and being a victim. Nothing about education, career, self-worth, etc.

I'll never understand why so many people loved this show. It's OK but hardly something to fuss about.

[quote] Just seeing these four ladies on-screen is good enough for me.

MARY!

R16 needs to be murdered in the next SAW franchise film. But for real.

As does R157!

The one where guest, Ken Howard's character goes to Blanche's bedroom. The room was huge. Blanche had all those sex contraptions and toys. Then, after he proves to be an innocent, naive and sweet man, his effect is such that Blanche tells Rose that she has been made to feel like a lady. Even Rose smiled at the notion.

It didn't last long. Also, no mention of std's for someone with such an active sex life with strangers.

That wasn't Blanche's bedroom, they were at a "Notell Motel" type of place.

They did a whole show on Rose maybe being exposed to HIV through a blood transfusion. Blanche confides that she has been tested too to help Rose cope.

[quote] in her one woman show, AT LIBERTY, Elaine Stritch claims that she was the first choice to play Dorothy. However, she was drinking at the time and, at a read through, she claims that she insulted the writers and producers and subsequently lost the part to Bea Arthur.

Elaine did indeed read for the part, but she's taken dramatic liberties if she's saying she was first choice. Bea was the first choice but said no a number of times. I think her initial "no's" were in part because at that time, Rue was being considered for Rose and Betty for Blanche, so if I recall the story correctly, Bea was worried it would be "Maude, Vivian and Sue Ann."

Apparently when she heard the two had switched roles her interest was piqued.

Elaine apparently auditioned somewhere between those points.

Why aren't there sitcoms like this anymore?

I also wonder how the show would be different if it would take place right now? How would they handle the internets? Blanche would look up naked photos of Steve McQueen and Dorothy would say "woah!"

r157 = Barbara Thorndyke

Excuse me Sir: I have lost my intrauterine-device while doing the cartwheel without my underwear in the dance studio yesterday. Did you find it by any chance?

I hate that they cut the cuter than an intrauterine scene from edits

[quote] Bea was the first choice but said no a number of times.

Not true. The first choice was Lee Grant. In facts Lee had done a sitcom called 'Fay' that was very much like the Golden Girls. Her character Fay was divorced, living with her mother. She had a man-hungry next door neighbor. Both shows were created by Susan Harris.

Lee turned down the part of Dorothy because she felt she wasn't old enough to be a Grandmother.

No hard feelings as she later did a guest spot on Empty Nest played her real life daughter (Dinah Manoff) aunt.

r16,

go away, nerd-cunt!

You can get all four Golden Girls Intimate Portraits!

[quote]Lee turned down the part of Dorothy because she felt she wasn't old enough to be a Grandmother.

She turned 60 during the first season of the Golden Girls. 60 isn't old enough to be a grandmother?? Delusional.

Back then 60 was the new 40.

Is GG a big hit with international gays? Or only with American gays?

R172 you ever hear for Brighton Belles?

They are supposedly in Miami and Dorothy is wearing those ugly white boots.

r167, what's your source for Dorothy first having been offered to Lee Grant?

Remember the episode where Blanche got a pacemaker and then it was never mentioned again. How unusual was that? I mean to do something and never mention it again?

The Golden Girls jumped the shark when Miles the Professor became Nick the Accountant.

Did Sophia ever divorce Max Weinstein? I forgot, was she fucking Fidel Santiago before or after she married Max? I know she fucked the Asian gardener a few seasons earlier, so she was definitely not married at that point.

Remember when Blanche's brother was gay and then the next episode Dorothy's brother died?

Are you saying there was a connection, r179?

"Remember the episode where Blanche got a pacemaker and then it was never mentioned again. How unusual was that? I mean to do something and never mention it again?"

Very unusual; that never happened any other time in the history of this program.

Dorothy at r181, take a cruise or change your hairdo.

Did they live in a ghetto area of Miami? We never see them go anywhere near a beach. Even Hollywood FL seemed like an exotic trip when it is under an hour from Miami. Where exactly did they reside?

No it wasn't r171. Either lee was delusional or you are full of shit. Lee's daughter was pushing 30 when Golden Girls first started.

Pardon me, R183, but you might recall that Rose spent time with her "beach friends".

[quote]Rue M. was 52 or 53 during the show's second season

Wow! She looked really old for only 52-53.

I don't understand how people bear this show there is nothing even to learn from.I don't even sometimes understand the story.

I mean the New Golden Girls with Valarie Bertinelli, she's like 59 and she looks much better, even when fat.

And speaking of Valarie, wasn't Rhoda supposed to be dead by now? What's up with that? Did she pull a Magic Johnson?

Valerie was cured by a Dr. Heath Landers. That's all y'all need to know.

I'm surprised that a show in the 80s would have so many plot inconsistencies, especially involving family and children.

nothing, NOTHING screams "Mary!" like an analyzing Golden Girls thread. All of you need to get your OCD in check and re-join the human race

r191=Jasper DeKimmel

R183, several times in the series Sophia goes to the Boardwalk.

I always imagined they lived in Miami Shores. Lots of mid-century ranch homes with big lawns.

R61...There was also the episode where Rose, Dorothy & Blanche are in the kitchen, as Rose was making god-awful smelling "spare hooven crispies" in the middle of the night. All three were holding their noses to eat the crispies & Sophia walks in & says "no way you can smell that from here". LOL LOL LOL

Not sure if it's mentioned upthread, but there was a great sight gag in the episode where Rose is learning to speak Spanish. So Rose says a couple of Spanish words, and Dorothy comments something like, "Rose, I swear if I didn't know better, I'd think I was in Guatemala." Sophia walks by at the moment with a flower in her hand and says, "Oh sorry, that was me." Giggling just thinking about it.

SPARE HOOVEN CRISPIES?

Oh, dear.

I loved how they could barely afford a cheap patch job of the roof and that Dorothy couldn't scrape any $ together for the IRS, yet they were always buying expensive clothes for their charity events. And speaking of the roof, it was Blanche's house so why did the other three, who were renting, feel the need to pitch in?

There was an episode where Rose mentioned her children being born on different St Olaf holidays...Adam, Janella & Kirsten. Kirsten appeared in the episode where Rose had heart surgery, but you never heard mention of Adam & Janella again, & they were never seen.

In another episode, Blanche talks about her kids, including Becky, who shows up in other episodes, but also Skippy & another name (can't recall)...they are never again mentioned & are never seen on the show.

Dorothy has 2 kids, Michael & Kate, they both were in show episodes. There were mentions of a 3rd kid, but can't remember the name & s/he is never shown or mentioned again.

Dorothy's daughter visits a few times. Once, she's getting married. Later, her husband cheats on her.

It's funny how the Petrillos/Zbornaks were Italian/Hungarian, but almost all of the actors who played family members were Jewish...Bea, Estelle, Herb Edelman, Scott Jacoby, Lisa Jane Persky, Dena Freeman, Bill Dana, Sid Melton, Doris Belack, etc...

R200 Yes, but is that the same daughter?

Pleasantly plump Lisa Jane Persky played the daughter in season 1. Skinny ass Dena Freeman played the chracter the next season. I guess Dennis was such a stud, he fucked her night and day, causing her to lose weight, and then had some left over for that whore he was fucking on the side. The first Dennis has classic BDF!

I think by the episode where they need a new roof, Blanche had added the other women to the title of the house. Therefore the upkeep was everyone's responsibility

How about the first season when the Bartons' tree fell on the lanai? Dorothy acted as if it were her house and that she would have to fork over some dough to have it removed. In fact, whole subplot was strange, since Blanche, who owned the house, was barely involved with that B plot. The A plot centered around her and Big Daddy becoming a C&W singer.

The Zbornaks were ostensibly from the former Czechoslovakia.

The episode where they are all added to the house's title was Season 7, and the one with the leaking roof was either Season 2 or 3.

Why didn't Rose marry the midget or Mr. Terrific?

How many daughter's did Blanche have? 1 or 2?

I just googled and she had two daughters, however, she claimed to have 4 kids. Did we meet all 4?

One thing I always noticed was when people rang the doorbell, they were never standing by the door, rather they walked a distance to enter the house. I wondered if maybe the doorbell was not located by the door. Or, if this was purposely blocked by the director.

Blanche's other daughter was Janet. I don't think we ever saw her onscreen. When she mentioned her son Skippy I envision Marc Price from Family Ties.

Dorothy said it felt like 108 degrees during a Christmas episode, can it really get that hot in Florida in late December?

When did they ever mention a 3rd child for Stand and Dorothy?

The thing that was always odd to me was when Cousin Sven came to visit. He was tall, hot and no doubt hung like a mule and Blanche didn't try to sample his sausage. He even had a crush on her!

Yet she couldn't get enough of the god awful Mel Bushman.

r207, remember he broke it off because she wasn't Jewish? Mr. Terrific? I don't know. Maybe financial security. She'd already lost Charlie's pension and he looked like he was going to be out of a job soon.

That is one thing that really makes me scratch my head. Rose, after she received the letter about Charlie's pension calls THE COMPANY and confirms that there's nothing she can do. Excuse me? That would be a bit of a conflict of interest, no? That's like falling at a grocery store and calling their headquarters to find out whether you can sue them or not. Rose was an idiot.

R199-I've seen every GG episode about 800 times (I know) and they never once mentioned a third child for Dorothy and Stan.

Janet was in the seventh season two-parter where Rose has heart surgery.

[quote]There was an episode where Rose mentioned her children being born on different St Olaf holidays...Adam, Janella & Kirsten. Kirsten appeared in the episode where Rose had heart surgery, but you never heard mention of Adam & Janella again, & they were never seen.

She forgot about me.

You bitches disappoint me. Dorothy and Stan mentioned a third kid, Susan, in the episode where Stan marries the daughter from Father Knows Best.

The girls are sitting on the couch trying to be quiet and Rose blurts out: "What's that noise?"

Sophia is sitting next to her and says: "That was me...thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention!"

What's the line, r219? All I remember is Stan saying like, "I called the kids, they're gonna try to make it" (which they don't), not mentioning any names.

R219 is a jackass. They never mentioned a daughter named Susan. Talk about a disappointing bitch.

Christine Belford played the first Kirsten Nyland (along with her daughter Charlie). Marilyn Jones played Rose's other daughter Bridget later on. Kirsten later reappeared as another actress during Rose's bypass surgery played by another actress.

We never met Rose's other children Adam, Gunilla and Charlie Jr.

Blanche's children were Janet and Rebecca (both of whom we met on the Golden Girls), Skippy (who we met on the spin-off The Golden Palace), and the never-seen Biff and Doug.

Dorothy's children were Kate and Michael, whom we both met in various episodes; there was never mention of a third child.

Sophia's children were Dorothy, Gloria (who we met through two different actresses) and Phil.

Blanche's son Matthew was the one who appeared on The Golden Palace.

r224, Matthew's nickname is Skippy.

They should of cast Harvey Firestein as Phil

Blanche had four kids.

Janet and Pandora the fat one, were her daughters and Matthew and Doug were her songs. Biff and Skippy were just nicknames for the boys.

This is confirmed when Blanche says "I have had four children but I never had a Mercedes."

Blanche also has a step son sort of, named David from George's affair.

Dorothy had to have had another kid, because it's stated over and over again, that she was pregnant in right after high school. Neither of the two children seen the son or daughter was nearly old enough to be that unplanned pregnancy.

So Dorothy had an unmentioned child or the child died or was aborted. Of course an abortion would negate the need of Dorothy to marry Stan.

No, they should've cast Harvey Firestein as Clayton. This way the audience could've been in on the joke right from the beginning.

R228 Harvey and Estelle played mother and son in Torch Song Trilogy. They already had a shorthand that would have translated on-screen.

My guess is that Dorothy married Stan after he got her pregnant and carried that kid to term. That would be sometime in the mid-40s. The kid might've died soon after, and by that time she and Stan had already begun a life together. Don't forget too that Dorothy came from a strict Catholic family, where divorce was a no-no, unless under extreme circumstances. Plus, divorce would only have compounded Dorothy's sin of sex before marriage. It was established that Stan went to Korea, which would be the early '50s. It would've been plausible for Dorothy to become pregnant with Kate in the late 50s, and then Michael in the early '60s. Michael looks younger than Kate and he is established to be around 22 in the mid-80s, so that timeline makes sense. Mystery solved.

[quote] Mystery solved.

Then how do you explain Dorothy lesbian college roommate Jean?

r228, if you didn't get Monte Markham was gay from the start, you better replace your batteries.

r227, I'm thinking either Kate or Michael was the kid. Age chronology of actors never matters in some of these shows. They just seemed to cast anybody in these roles. The only person who seemed like they could have been these characters' child was Christine Belford.

The storyline of Blanche's husband having an illegitimate son had a few plotholes which tie into the inconsistency of where Blanche raised her children. In some episodes, it was mentioned that she raised the kids in Georgia and she and Georgia moved years later to Miami. In the episode with George's illegitimate son, it was mentioned that the son was receiving child support from Blanche and George's Miami address.

It doesn't make sense that George and Blanche would buy a four-bedroom house AFTER the kids flew the nest, so they must've raised them in Florida. However, they all have deep Southern accents.

r235, my parents moved to a larger/nicer home after my 2 sisters and I had all grown up and moved out. My dad had reached the pinnacle of his career right at a time when they no longer had the expense involved with raising children. They'd spent their decades in a modest split-level but were still relatively young, had just turned 50, and wanted a "dream house." You could easily picture a similar scenario for the Devereauxs.

There is NO mystery to solve. Dorothy and Stan had 2 kids. PERIOD. Christ!

r237, hon, that is impossible. It was established at the beginning that Stan and Dorothy had been married for 38 years, making the illegitimate kid around that age. Neither Michael nor Kate looked anywhere near 38, so there must've been another child. Why is that so tough for you to understand?

Again explain R231

R230's theory would make sense if Dorothy went to college while Stan was in the Army.

I mean, it doesn't make sense because this is just a case of casting younger people regardless of what age the characters should be, but if we're going all the way with the theory that the first baby died then yeah, Dorothy could have had ample opportunity to attend college.

R238, dear, this "mystery child" was never once mentioned by any cast member-EVER. If Dorothy and Stan had a third child they certainly would have mentioned it. Also, on the episode where Phil died, Sophia makes a comment regarding outliving ones child and never saying Dorothy had a child that died, so that leaves that out. The Golden Girls is notorious for continuity errors (Are you new here?), so why is it so hard for you to understand that they would cast actors who were nowhere near the age they were actually supposed to be? It absolutely must have blown your mind when the guy playing the jester at the medieval restaurant was also Dorothy's father.

R240 Dorothy was pregnant in her senior year of HS

To those advancing the theory that the death of the child Dorothy and Stan conceived in high school would solve some mystery, I regret to inform you that that is impossible, as Sophia refers (I think in the episode "Zborn Again") to the "accident" Dorothy and Stan had in Stan's high school Studebaker as "still" (i.e. in the present tense) calling her Grandma and costing her ten bucks every Christmas. There is no solution to the eternal mysteries of Golden Girls Inconsistencies. Unfortunately, the original, most amazing thread on this was lost in one of DL's periodic deletion of archives, but here is a lesser, more recent one:

Then obviously Dorothy and Stan have a kid older and just never talk about him or her. Dorothy never says she only had TWO kids and no others.

Dorothy's kids are way, way, WAY too young to be representative of any child Dorothy would've had at college. I mean Blanche was either between 52 and 53 when the series began, so Dorothy was at least a few years older. That puts the youngest any kid of Dorothy's could be was 37.

Those kids were just starting out in life not heading into their 40s.

It's possible that the baby died of SIDS or something, and that it was just too painful for them to discuss all those years. Besides Stan going to Korea, it would also explain why they took so long (10+ years) to conceive their next child. They were in too much pain and were still mourning for a long time, so they wouldn't have had a kid right away. Dorothy never specified that she only had two kids. Two were living, it's possible the other one died much earlier.

R245...there was never any indication or mention, directly or indirectly, of Dorothy & Stan's first child dying. So I don't think that's a possibility.

I just realized that in the birthdays faux flashback vignette, Sophia mentions to Dorothy that she, Stan and the kids can come over every Sunday to watch Make Room for Daddy. Now that was mid-50s. So maybe the illegitimate child was still alive and she just bore Kate. Since Michael wasn't born until the early 60s, that would make sense. Possibly the bastard older kid died at some time after Make Room for Daddy left the air. Maybe became a hippie and OD-ed on acid or something. Actually that makes total sense, since Dorothy is always on Michael's tail to grow up and settle down. Maybe she was so vehement about that because she didn't want him to suffer the same fate as the dead hippie older brother/sister.

[quote]It doesn't make sense that George and Blanche would buy a four-bedroom house AFTER the kids flew the nest, so they must've raised them in Florida. However, they all have deep Southern accents.

When Blanche's fat daughter Becky visits in Season 3, she comments about the house as if she'd never seen it before, implying that George and Blanche got it after the kids moved out.

There was no older child who died before Michael was born. The simple explanation is the writers & producers had no math skills

r249 has got it. I can't believe people are spending their holidays conjuring a third child up for Dorothy and Stan. If there was a third child, we GG fans would all know it. This is the first this has ever been brought up. The writers were constantly playing with timeline and facts on this show. Deal with it. Move on. Next.

I still think Maude should have had the baby.

Why didn't Michael and Kate have Brooklyn accents?

And why did Meg, the prostitute from St. Olaf, have one?

Why, when the girls went to Minnesota with Rose they traveled as though they were in Eastern Europe in the 1920s? They cold have flown into one of many airports, rented a car and been there in no time. The small plane, then train and ay wagon was stupid as hell.

r253 would never make it as a sitcom writer.

You're scenario isn't funny at all.

Oops: "YOUR scenario ..." I mean.

I guess I wouldn't make it as a writer in any capacity. Tee-hee.

It also bothered me when Rose told Meg that nothing in St Olaf could have been so bad that she would prefer to be a prostitute. What if Meg's father was Lucky Gunther and he regularly sodomized her with his forceps-hand?

Yes, r256, especially since incest was the norm there. Remember Rose' s lineage could be traced back to a brother & sister.

And the Shriners were pedophiles.

I actually thought the show ended up being simply a parody of what it was originally meant to be. That first season, Rose would often say things that didn't weren't thought out very well, but she was hardly a complete idiot. Likewise with Blanche, she definitely liked her men but seemed to have a lot of other interests as well and wasn't a downright slut. Finally, Dorothy did inherit Maude's quick wit and occasional put downs, but they didn't come out of her mouth every other sentence. I think the writers took the easy way out and just made everyone into stereotypical characters without having to work and develop them. I still enjoyed it, but it was certainly not a "Cheers" or "Frazier" which depended so much on the writers to make sure the characters weren't one dimensional-i.e. Diane Chambers, who could drive you crazy at times but you also always realized she was a good person at the same time.

Whatever happened to little Roger/Lamarr? It was established in season 5 that Lorraine threw him out, but what happened to the baby? Did Lorraine miscarry?

r259, most shows end up being a parody of the themselves. I love the first or second seasons of most shows before they tried topping themselves to satisfy imagined audience demand. Dynasty, Dallas and Falcon Crest were at there best in their initial three or four years before overextending themselves to maintain popular culture status.

I always imagined execs were telling GG producers "audiences love dumb Rose - make her dumber".

Another oddity was, in the series finale, Dorothy leaves Sophia behind with Blanche and Rose. I know they were close friends and all, but countless episodes had her worrying about Sophia, her age, her health, her ability to take care of herself. Then POOF she gets married and all that's forgotten

That's because Dorothy was finally going to get boffed on a regular basis, so she ditched Sophia faster than a speeding bullet.

R262, Dorothy insisted that Sophia move in with her, but ultimately it was Sophia's decision and she chose to stay with Blanche and Rose. But the subplot of the last episode was Dorothy wanting Sophia to come with her and Sophia was until the last minute.

Dorothy left Sophia behind because Dorothy had Lucas to eat her out now. She didn't need her mother anymore.

I hated the last three seasons. They got new writers, producers, and directors starting with season 5, and I don't think they really got the show. The energy and warmth were gone, and it definitely became a parody of itself. Rose became borderline retarded, where she was more naive and simple-minded the first few seasons. Blanche was a slut 24x7. Dorothy couldn't get a date. Yes, we get it. I think they tried to humanize Sophia a bit so that she wasn't a non-stop quip machine, but it just fell flat, and Estelle portrayal of these "human" moments was absolutely cringeworthy (Phil's funeral, her friend's assisted suicide).

I know I'm in the minority, but I find Estelle's acting quite touching in those rare emotional moments like the Phil death ("My baby's gone!) and the Geraldine Fitzgerald suicide episode. I have no problem with it.

Funny we never saw Geraldine Fitzgerald's character again. Sophia promised her a life of companionship and dinners at the house. I always thought the old bird probably offed herself when Thanksgiving came around and no one called her.

Or the Christmas that was literally only a month-and-a-half after that episode, r268, when Sophia devoted her Christmas to dishing out food to homeless strangers instead of inviting Martha over!

The dentist that wanted to touch Rose's saggy old tits.

Take me to St. Olaf

This thread hit a wall ...

The pilot episode is a mess of scenes pasted together from different tapings. You'll notice that Blanche's hairdo changes WITHIN the same scene.

Which scene has the hairdo change, r273?

It's very noticeable in the scene near the end with the reverand. Dorothy's hairdo also looks slightly diffrent, but Blanche's is really noticeable. Another huge continuity blooper in that episode is in the scene where Sophia arrives and tells Rose and Dorothy that the home burned down. Blanche is in her bedroom when Sophia relates the news. Shortly later in that same scene, Blanche exits the bedroom to let in Harry and introduces him to the girls, noting that Sophia's home just burned down. There's no way Blanche could've known that little fact. I think they did a lot of retaping to minimize Charles Levin's (Coco) presence and to maximize Estelle's role. They probably had trouble maintaining continuity.

the plot holes that bothered me the most.. -Rose got the job at the coffee shop, but only a few episodes later she was back at the grief counseling center.. What did she do there anyway? In almost every episode Dorothy is depicted as a loner with low self esteem in high school who didn't even go to her prom. Yet in the one episode she was best friends with Trudy and was on the tennis team and seems like she was popular.. The plot hole that bothered me the most was that they suddenly made Miles a member of the witness protection program. It turns out his name was Nicholas.. But after the episode were he comes back and the cheeseman is arrested.. He is back as miles and is still a college professor.. If the cheeseman was back in jail, wouldn't Miles either get sent somewhere else or at least revert back to his real name?

The Grief Center closed because Louise Jefferson diverted governmental funds to her Help Center. Once the Jeffersons was cancelled the Fed restored funding to Rose's center and Rose got her job back.

Dorothy did all of Trudy's homework and let her copy off her on tests, which is why they were friends.

Miles was never in the Witness Protection program. He was cheating on Rose with Blanche's gay brother and when he found out how cheap Miles was he dumped him. The whole story was made up.

Like on the I Love Lucy show where Ricky refused to put Lucy in the show, but then did it in the next episode.

Why is it when Coco made a joke Sophia ran away like he had AIDS? Is that why he was written out? I bet Vera's husband was made about how much money he lost.

Just like Craig Beirko said he wasn't mad he turned down the part of Chandler on Friends but you know he's just saying that.

r260 poses the most important mystery of them all.

Becky ate Roger/Lamarr one night when they suddenly ran out of chips ahoys.

Lamarr grew up to be the gay javelin-thrower in "Revenge of the Nerds."

Sometimes they have adult children and sometimes they don't. One will mention this daughter or son and then suddenly that one is nonexistent and there is another one. Ditto for bros. and sisters. I don't think Ned Beatty played her brother. It was some other actor and another one of their rather poorly done social commentary eps--where the brother was gay and getting married. Remember the assisted suicide one, the old guy with Alzheimer's and probably the worst social commentary one, the homeless shelter and MJackson's jacket. Great actresses all but mostly lousy writing and mega inconsistencies. Never did understand the layout of the house with bedrooms appearing and disappearing and that cheap looking front door that lead nowhere. They couldn't have a fake giant photo background like the did in the old 60s sitcoms? Except for the clothes, this show suffered from a case of the cheaps.

R282, you really need to clearer in your post. It took me three tries to try to decipher what you were saying.

[quote]Sometimes they have adult children and sometimes they don't.

They all had adult children. The teenage/kids you saw were mainly Blanche's grandchildren -- David, Melissa, Sarah).

[quote]I don't think Ned Beatty played her brother. It was some other actor and another one of their rather poorly done social commentary eps--where the brother was gay and getting married.

I think you're referring to Blanche here, and Beatty did play her mentally challenged brother Tad, but that was on the spin-off GOLDEN PALACE, which I don't consider GG canon, but that's just me.

Blanche's gay brother Clayton was played by Monte Markham in two separate episodes -- "Scared Straight" and "Sister of the Bride."

BTW: You sound like a bitter DESIGNING WOMEN stan. Sorry your show always existed in the shadow of GG and never became the pop cultural phenomenon and beloved/renown worldwide. Instead, it sits in the dustbin of TV history.

283 sounds like a slow learner if he can't understand 282. I understood it perfectly.

The Golden Girls was AWESOME.

I always loved how self-righteous Dorothy was about being a substitute teacher. It was like...bitch, you turn the video on at the beginning of the class. Your responsibilities begin and end there.

Two things I've noticed:

1.) The "toto" $8 an hour guy is the plumber. The first one, not the second fat one that drops it off.

One time Blanche is telling a story about a woman sleeping with her brother-in-law, the girls assume she's speaking of herself and Blanche goes, "You'd understand if you saw my brother-in-law", I'm plying that would never happen because he's unattractive.

But later, she goes on about how much her late husband's brother looks just like him. Remember, she thinks she's fallen in love with him in that episode, but she realizes she's just missing George?

By it, I meant the toilet.

R287 I thought that story about the ugly brother-in-law was about her sister's husband, not her husband's brother.

Oooh oooh oooh

Are you a Jew

If so we're through

I'd rather fuck Columbus

I did discover

Jews smell like my mother.

r289, I think you're right. I almost didn't post it because I wasn't sure.

Was she though, r286? She always seemed pretty insecure about it to me. Like her rant about her life when she thinks there may be a UFO ("beam me up") ...I mean she pretty much knew she was a loser in life (in certain ways, at least).

Yeah, R292, but she had a lot of rants (especially in the Pilot) about how difficult it was to get through to this generation of kids.

You don't have to get through to them, Miss Thing. You just have to make sure they don't stab each other for 45 minutes.

Some of those jokes in the pilot were painful. Like the one about her student who was sporting (punchline)....a ponytail and a nose ring! Oh my!

She was also a lot more Maude-ish in the pilot, as I've said elsewhere. Ready to bite anyone's head off.

I hate how Dorothy was always getting sick with CFS or Lyme Disease or Mogrellons or Gluten intolerance and then the next episode she was cured.

It was functional, R295.

R292, the student, Tiffany, had a mohawk ... not a ponytail. Big difference.

A real, skinhead Mohawk a la Wendy O. Williams, not one of those lame fauxhawks sported by Pink or Miley Cyrus.

How weird was it that Rose didn't like psychiatrists.

(It's short for pyscho) but she was one herself.

Rose wasn't psychiatrist, she was a grief or crisis counselor.

When Rose told Dorothy that she was trained in psychology back in St. Olaf, Dorothy retorts, "Rose, in St. Olaf they think Freud is a way to cook chicken!" XD

R299 a psychiatrist or a psycho? I think one could make a compelling case for the latter.

The way she says that line always cracks me up. Dorothy and Sophia had the funniest lines, but as I got older and started watching the reruns again (on Lifetime, basically after not having watched GG since it originally aired) I really began to appreciate Rose and Blanche a lot more, to the point where they became my favorites. They didn't always have the funniest lines, but they made them funny as an extension of their character - which is a lot harder to do.

I also noticed how Betty would always be in full concentration even in scenes where she was in the background and had maybe one line or no lines at all (is it me or did her part shrink in the later seasons?). I can't say that was necessarily true of the other girls.

So I can understand, even before all the ridiculous Betty White hype, why Rose was often the favorite among people who were watching the reruns (some who were likely watching for the first time).

My GG thought for the day.

286 you are too funny! Thanks for my laugh of the morning! Meanwhile, I'm watching Rob, who is back on The Price Is Right!

PS even though 286 is right, I have friends who substitute, and they put up with a lot of crap and are vastly underpaid!

R286, in the episode "Rose: Portrait of a Woman" (from the 7th and final season) she had become disillusioned with teaching:

DOROTHY: How can I tell kids how rewarding teaching is when I really don't feel that way anymore. I'm so frustrated. Budgets are tight. Classes are crowded. If I'm lucky, I get to substitute an English class, but usually it's... I cant even say it.

BLANCHE: Driver's Ed?

DOROTHY: God, how I hate putting up those damn cones! XD

Thirty-six years ago this week, "Thank You For Being a Friend" peaked at No. 25 in the Top 40. It was the 2nd most successful song by the late musician Andrew Gold, with "Lonely Boy" reaching No. 7 in 1977.

It's always bothered me that there is no peephole on the door except the one episode where Sophia thinks her dead husband is coming to get her and she has Rose look out the peephole. It was never there before or since. And, anyway, why wouldn't these women have a peephole since people were always showing up at all hours and uninvited and they just open the door like rape isn't even a concept.

Peephole have never been my friends.

R302, I found her annoying. Betty White was much better at playing Sue Ann Niven. Her line readings as Rose were often monotonous and repetitive, and she often overplayed her. I think the other actresses were much better. Betty was just not suited to playing the goody-goody. As hard as she tried, she often just seemed bitchy and whiny.

I always found it hard to believe that they were all so attracted to that sculptor, Lazlo. Blechhh.

r309, you would probably enjoy the linked thread, "Is Laszlo the ultimate example of the bizarrely unattractive male casting on 'The Golden Girls'?"

They weren't weird.

someone may have mentioned this, i'm not reading 300 posts, but the exterior still photo of the house did not match the sets.

since none of them except Blanche seemed to have money, where did the cash for the beautiful clothes and perfect coiffures come from?

with all the cheesecake they ate, why was nobody really fat?

how old were they supposed to be? Substituting brats has to be an energy zapping job. Could someone in their 60s even do that for a full time job?

why did Blanche even live in Florida when she was so into being a traditional Southern Belle? Florida is southern, but it is not the culture of GA.SC.ALA.MISS.

The ages of Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche seemed to change. Wasn't Rue in her mid 50s when the show started?

Why did they SOMETIMES have a stove in the kitchen and other times it vanished ;) . I worked on that show when I was a tyke. At the time all sitcoms did this dumb trick of having rollers on a counter surface facing the audience. Cosby did it with their television; I think even Happy Days did it with their kitchen set or portions of. I guess its not that new of a trend. Trying to think if we did it on Friends for anything...hmmmm there was something I just can't recall.

I think it's crazy their periods were never in synch. I've heard that type of thing happens all the time with women.

The AV Club did an article on 10 of the best Golden Girls episodes a few months ago and in the comments someone called Alien Jesus posted about being at a taping, which some might find interesting...

[quote]When I first moved to Los Angeles I went to a taping of The Golden Girls. I was floored. Honest it was as if these actresses did not even remotely prepare for the taping. Since frequently the lines are like volleyball. One serves it up and the other (hopefully) spikes it back. Each volley is taped then stopped and if they flub the line it is repeated and repeated again. Absolutely no continued rhythm of dialogue. All the while the producer and audience host begging for a laugh reaction to the lines, many which never even got one in the initial delivery. It was as manufactured, fake and completely unworthy of any acclaim.

At the THREE HOUR MARK Bea Arthur came forward and begged the remaining members of the audience (at least 60% left) to stay and be vocal in the response to the lines. We were all asked to move center auditorium as densely as possible for focused sound recording/reaction. I was starving at that point and quite thirsty. But my friend and I stayed until the 4 hour 10 minute mark and bolted.

Could never watch an episode after. In fact never watched the episode that was taped. I could not believe how stunningly unprofessional the ensemble proved. They seemingly were going through the motions for a pay check.

I know that sounds awful but I spoke with someone some time later and their experience was exactly the same years prior to my taping.

It would have been 90 or 91 but honestly she was not in any way a worse problem than the others. In fact if I had to give an MVP it was Rue McClanahan but still faint praise.

It was stunning, their scripts were all in white notebooks on barstools and they would sit, learn their one or two line punches, then stop. Absolutely no flow, no continuation of multiple character dialogues. Literally ones and twos.

^^^ Sorry about the quoting and formatting of that post.

I went to a taping of GG once (the Mangiacavallo Curse episode.) It was not as bad as described above. It does take several hours to complete an episode (as it did with other sitcom I saw, "The Drew Carey Show"), but that has to do with other things beside the actors. Lights, sets, camera positions, changes made by the director or the writers, all can delay the process.

The one thing that struck me about the taping was that Bea was definitely not as much a part of the team as the others. She was always off by herself during breaks, etc., while the others were more sociable.

So, on the show, is Rose the only one still alive?

r308

It's hard to play stupid. Take the queen of the dumb, Gracie Allen. When you listen to Gracie and her "illogical logic" you don't really say "Gracie's dumb." Why? Because first, you're too busy trying to figure out how Gracie's gonna mess up a simple concept and second, you just think, "Well that's Gracie for you."

Another popular "Dumb Dora" radio sitcom was "My Friend Irma." The character of Irma was annoying and just plain old stupid. Like Chrissie Snow of "Three's Company," came off as just stupid.

I disagree with the poster that Betty White was bad, she was one of the better people to play stupid.

Gracie Allen) Well maybe you're a better crooner but my husband is a better torch singer.

Frank Sinatra) Really?

Gracie) When we had Dinah Shore over we had a contest. They both sang torch songs, and everyone agreed, of the two, George was the torch-er.

I was watching Blossom last night and she and Six were sleeping outside a record store for C&C Music Factory tickets (I KNOW) and what should be next door to the record store? THE RUSTY ANCHOR!!!

The first six words of R321 is one of the saddest things I've read in a while.

A virtual tour of the house and set of the 80s hit T.V sitcom THE GOLDEN GIRLS.

The Zillow estimate for the actual house they used for the exteriors (in the Brentwood section of LA) is $2.8 million.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

Where did they hide all the vibrators?

The kids and ages were so fucked up, you had to just go with the flow. Rose's daughter went from 25 one season, to married with a pre teen daughter the next. Blanche's often mentioned an estranged daughter named Janet, yet the other estranged daughter is Rebecca. She also said she had sons the first season, but never mentioned again. Supposed teenage mom Dorothy having kids in their 20s and 30s when she is in her 60s was ridiculous. There are so many inconsistent things on the show.

I could never figure out how they had so many bedrooms. Blanche was originally renting 2 rooms. So when Sophia moved in there was miraculously another bedroom? That does. That does not look like a 4 bedroom house.

And that's why Dorothy became an English teacher instead of a math teacher, R327.

why wee they always (over) dressed and reading magazines in the living room (and of course there was no coffee table since it would ruin the shot)

why would Blanche (who was 51 when the show started-Rue that is) want an 80 something woman to move in to her house

R329 there was a coffee table. The only time there wasn't was when they had a dog in the episode.

R331 They had a coffee table, but after Danny Thomas came to visit (his son was one of the producers), Coco refused to clean it.

That's why he was fired.

Why did they have a bronze phallus on their kitchen walls? Why did so many American sitcom kitchen sets have such ornamental phalli in the seventies and eighties? Was it because coke-dick was so widespread?

Are you referring to the copper molds? I believe the "phallus" is supposed to be a lobster or crawfish.

Why was there an exclamation mark carved into the front door?

With all the jokes about Bkanche's age, Rue was the only one of the four actually playing her age. Bea and Betty were playing much, much younger.

How come Rose's daughter was an Oxford Scholar and Rose's sister was the governor's maid?

That's right, R337. Rue (b. 1934) was 51 during Season 1 (1985-1986). Bea (b. 1922) and Betty (b. 1922) were 63 and playing a decade younger.

That's why it would've been terrible if Betty had played Blanche as originally intended. For one, none of the "younger" jokes would've worked. It was laughable enough in MAMA'S FAMILY that Rue played Mama's sister and Betty's aunt. Betty did not look that youthful. And she was very round in the middle, which was evident whenever she'd wear a form fitting dress or pants. Though Rue had her heavy moments, there were seasons where she looked very svelte and could pull off a tight-fitting, sexy dress.

Rue also exuded sexuality. Betty, with her bright wide eyes and dimpled smile, had a wholesome beauty. Perfect for Rose. To those who argued that she'd already played a nymphomaniac on MTM, well, though Blanche was man-hungry, it's true, she was also supposed to be sexy, too. Sua Ann was NOT supposed to be sexy. That was the joke, that this seemingly respectable housewife was really a nympho inside.

All true, r339 and yeah, Betty was built like Rue but in reverse. Rue was bottom heavy while Betty was top heavy and thick in the middle. It's most evident in the tap dancing episode.

Rue's weight fluctuated a lot, though, while Betty's has more or less been the same (on the thin side of average) all of her life - maybe gaining a small amount of weight each decade, or what have you. Have to give her credit for not ever feeling the pressure to be "Hollywood thin" or anything like that. That's also supposed to factor into overall health/longevity (maintaining a steady weight and not yo-yo ing, that is).

[quote]Supposed teenage mom Dorothy having kids in their 20s and 30s when she is in her 60s was ridiculous.

Dorothy was in her 50s I think. But your point is still valid, as her kids would have to be late 30s, and they certainly weren't.

How come Blanche was in menopause at 50? Who's that old? Every woman I know is done menstruating by 45.

Why did the lawyer who gave Rose the inherited pig keep referring to his client as "Uncle Hingeblotter" rather than, say Mr. or Tom Hingeblotter.

R342, my mom stopped at 52.

Since I can't begin threads, and since this is the latest GG thread, I thought I should post it here. (Unless someone wants to start a new thread devoted to this clip.)

It's the entire performance Betty, Bea, Rue, and Estelle did as their GG characters for the Queen Mum at the Royal Variety Performance in 1988.

They seem to be slight revisions of two of their kitchen table scenes from "Job Hunting" and "Rose the Prude" from Season 1. The remark about Charlie mixing up the marriage and milking machine manuals was not in the original scene, but it's funny as hell!

Furthermore, the girls seem to be really at home on stage. Rue, Estelle, and Bea started out in the theater, so that's expected, but Betty began on television and I don't think she had ever done a play before. She was a natural and held her own. Kudos!

Thanks for that, R345, it was funny

R354 not surprising at all. Betty started on live tv for what was I think 5 hours a day, every day. She also guested on too many talk shows and game shows to mention, to say nothing of all her sitcom appearances (both as a guest and a regular) where she was used to playing to a live audience. To say nothing of the fact that she is easily the biggest ham of the group (which I don't mean in a bad way at all, btw) - its not at all surprising that she would be "at home."

R345 - Betty did quite a bit of summer stock, many times with Allen Ludden. She has/had a lovely singing voice.

Exactly how many bedrooms did that house have. Every time relatives would visit, someone would show them to their room..and those ugly white boots Bea Arthur (Dorothy) would wear..in Miami?

R348 did they ever perform at the Burt Reynolds dinner theatre?

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

Why isn't it mentioned about Don Ameche playing Rose's father? In real life, he's only 14 years older than she is and on screen, they didn't look much different in age.

In the first season, Sophia is supposed to be 80 and says that her husband died 30 years ago (1954). Dorothy, according to Sophia, was conceived in 1931, making her 23 when her father died. The actress playing the adult Dorothy was in her 30's and, in all appearances, her father was still alive.

Why was Blanche so obsessed with Miss Angie Dickinson?

When Blanche is at the library talking to the guy in the wheelchair, she says he's passionate because he's reading "Females to Fondle". He tells her it's volume 7 of the encyclopedia. An encyclopedia wouldn't include "fondle"-a dictionary would.

Blanche meant Fondle like when you dip your bread in melted cheese.

Someone should start a thread about things Dorothy would say now like:

"No, Rose she's upset because they haven't streamed the Facts of Life go to Australia" on Netflix.

Or

"No, Rose, she's upset because Rosie O'Donnell keeps quitting "the View."

or

"I can't believe Bruce Jenner wants to be a woman, but that doesn't make it so."

If your looking at their living room, there is a whole section of the house to the left of the main couch that they NEVER go use. All of their bedrooms are to the right of the couch. I wonder what is over in that section of the house?

Also, there is a fireplace in a weird area behind the sofa that they've never used. I wish they'd sit in front of the fireplace just once.

LOL, R357. That's a good idea!

Just caught the episode, "The Vacation." This was obviously setup in an attempt to be a spin-off, right? But what would the spin off have been about? The gross hotel? A spin off about the three, crazy, fun guys?

And how are we supposed to believe that those three guys would even want to hang out with three old ladies, shared bathroom or not?

And why weren't the girls pissed off that the guys found a new hotel and waited for hours to come back and get them?

I just saw the episode where the girls sit around and talk and eat cheesecake, God, I hope they don't do that again.

R360 no, it was not intended as a spin-off episode. GOLDEN GIRLS only did one such episode, the much maligned "Empty Nests" with Rita Moreno.

R357 great game!

BLANCHE: You're making it sound like Ed dumped me. DOROTHY: Please, Blanche, Taylor Swift wrote a song about it!

R358-the left side of the couch is the exit to the lanai. Have you ever watched an episode at all?

Blanche the only one who never whore big jackets . Dorothy the only one who covered up her body all the time.

Love these comments.

Has anyone read the Mad Magazine satire of the GG from roughly Spring - Summer 1986. It was fantastic. My favorite part was where it pointed out that Sophia/Estelle Getty was always upstaging the other 3 sitcom veterans.

I just finished the final episode, and cried!

Every episode involving their children was terrible. I hated all their children and ever having them on the show was a huge mistake. None of them were likable in the least.

They should re-release the complete series on DVD completely uncut and include the complete series of Golden Palace as the final season.

Why didn't Truvy commit to her southern accent?

It's been longer since the first post on this thread than the duration of the actual Golden Girls TV run.

Why were Sophia’s sibs named Angela and Angelo!?!

r372

They were twins