Were the Golden Girls really friends?

They were all limited!

Blanche's kids should have thrown a shitfit about the house being deeded to them. There was an easy answer: put Sophia alone on the deed (renting to the other two, still allowed by law), and have a deed prepared with rights of survivorship, so the house would revert to Blanche if Sophia predeceased her (which would be presumable). Another option would have been to put the house in trust for her kids and change the rental terms. Yet another would have been to consider Sophia and Dorothy a family unit for rental purposes (did Sophia really have a separate lease?).

A good lawyer could have solved that whole episode.

R2 maybe suggest Dorothy was Sophia's carer? Do we know how much of the house she was willing to sell or how the others afforded it?

Also, they always lied to each other

It's often kept me up at night, OP.

They were more than friends.

👅🌮👅🌮👅🌮👅🌮

I always wondered the same thing about the Three's Company dimwits. They were always ready to believe the worst about each other. ALWAYS.

Plot devices to fill up a time slot.

Oh and Sophia pretending to be the spirit of Rose's dead husband to con money from her.

Writing a dissertation, OP?

It's actually more realistic, friendship-wise, that all that shit happened (listed at OP's OP). IRL, friends do odd, backstabbing things to each other. (That's why I have very few friends.)

The only thing weird is that Blanche & Dorothy were supposed to be "best friends" (not including Rose). That implies, to me, that Blanche & Dorothy knew each other before becoming roommates. I just don't see those two hanging out together before being roommates. No way Blanche wanted Dorothy as her wingman.

Also, why did Dorothy put Sophia in Shady Pines in the first place? That is suspect.

She put Sophia in Shady Pines as she needed more care after she had that stroke which left her, to be quite honest, a burden.

And Blanche actually met Rose first and gave her a room

R1 Hi, Barbara! I love it when she shows up in these threads.

I always figured Stan had convinced Dorothy to put Sophia in Shady Pines. But I don't remember how long Sophia was in the home, and how long Dorothy had been divorced from Stan by S01E01.

And another thing I always wondered was when exactly Dorothy, Stan, and Sophia moved from NY to Miami.

They had split 2 years before. Stan left a note and didn't see Dorothy again until their daughters wedding in the second episode. It was a very cowardly, cruel thing and helps explain the girls' animosity towards him.

During lockdown, it's been shown twice a day on Channel 5 in the UK. We're up to season 4 now and as enjoyable it is, it's become progressively sillier. We're had UFO's sightings and people leaping from aeroplanes on trips to St Olaf's.

One thing that pisses me off throughout is the way they're all so mean to Rose all of the time.

They weren't real people, OP.

They were only characters on a TV sitcom, and even there they were written with great inconsistency.

Rose was a fucking cretin at times, plus how come she had a nicer room than Blanche?

Why wouldn’t I be here R12? I’m one of the few guest stars still alive. I just turned 91 last week.

Why wouldn’t I be here R12? I’m one of the few guest stars still alive. I just turned 91 last week.

Yep, R16. Continuity wasn't really a concept the writers gave a crap about.

Don't forget Blanche selling Rose her clapped out car then refusing to refund her, basically laughing at her.

They were all CUNTS

And remember when Blanche loaned Dorothy her rented Mercedes, and then called the cops on her!? Dorothy could have gotten shot!

Yes R21, but to be fair, Rose did shit on the floor of Blanche’s bathroom several times.

And Dorothy sucking off Miles during the Moonlight Madness party and taunting Rose with the selfies.

Or them convincing Rose to pose for an erotic picture for Miles, even though her udders came down to her spare tyre and she's about as sexy as a wet fart.

And Sophia almost walloped Rose over the head with a frying pan.

They were all mean to Rose and I dont know why she would want to be friends with them

Who else was going to be friends with her?

r27 Rose had "the hangup" where she wanted everyone to like her.

Those hags couldn't even remember how many kids or grandkids they had. You expect them be good friends?

R28, certainly not her second set of roommates. Blanch and Dorothy/Sophia were the lesser of two evils.

You can stand on Gower Street just on the other side of the Stage 2 wall at Sunset Gower studios and know that only inches away Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia ate cheesecake on the lanai and created the stuff of LEGEND!

They caused each other untold psychological damage

Why were Miles and Dorothy kissing? That really was a crazy episode. My head is still spinning.

Rose should have responded positively to the advances of Dorothy's lesbian friend Jean just so she could get out of that house. I wonder how long it would be until Jean stopped finding Rose's naivete cute and started finding it annoying.

Jean wasn't interested in Rose's cute naivete, she only had eyes for these...

They NEVER ate cheesecake on the lanai, you fat whore!

Blanche put them all in continual peril by bringing all those strangers home. One of them could have systematically gone round and done anything to the other girls!

Points are given for scissoring.talent.

First of all girls it was a sitcom; pure fiction and like anything else of same genre needed drama and tension to keep plot lines going.

On face of it no, Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche often weren't very nice towards each other. But then again remember they started out as roommates which as anyone who has lived that situation in real life can tell you doesn't always mean warm relations.

As with most communal living situations Dorothy and Rose were force by financial circumstances to find "cheap" housing. Blanche didn't really need the money from rents, and that partly shaped much of her attitude towards her lodgers, least at first.

Whenever people live together in close quarters sooner or later everyone gets on everyone else's nerves. Blanche was a self-centered conceited slut. Rose was dumb and one sandwich short of a picnic basket. Dorothy was intelligent and wise, something she lorded over both Blanche and Rose.

Women don't engage in physical violence (usually), but generally are bitchy towards other women as a way of settling scores. Golden Girls exploited this with nearly every other line being a snide remark from one character about or to another.

If GG was a show about younger women we know how things would have played out. One by one each of the girls would leave as they got married and went off to raise families. Golden Girls represented that other side of many women's lives as they get older; widowed, deserted and or divorced.

If you compare film "The Women" and Golden Girls you'll see things aren't that much different; group of so called female "friends" often behaving beastly towards each other. That is what females do, especially when it involves men. But OTOH there is also a genuine bond that develops which in the end many women who call each other "friends" come to and can rely upon.

When something bad happened, or push came to shove it was to each other the Golden Girls turned to, not their children/family or man de jour. As series went on there was an acknowledgement among the ladies about their lives and friendship. Even Blanche finally came down off her high horse...

[quote] Blanche didn't really need the money from rents, and that partly shaped much of her attitude towards her lodgers, least at first.

What? I thought that was the whole premise of the show. Blanche went into a tailspin when the roof needed repairs. I think she was supposed to have needed the income.

Thanks R40. You took a light-hearted thread and school marmed the hell out of it. Do you typically go by Captain BringDown or Madame Buzzkill?

R42

You're welcome; I do what I can in my own little way....

The answer is right there in the theme song, OP.

If you had to boot one of them, it would be Sophia.

Dorothy would be good to run the business of the household and take of the bills. Rose would be the easy-going one you could hang with on weekend nights and watch movies. Blanche would be the one you would go to restaurants and parties with where she would likely ditch you when she found a guy, but you wouldn't mind because you would do the same thing.

R6 nah Janet and Terri seemed like they were genuinely friends, and Jack and Janet and Jack and Terri (to a lesser extent). (That’s a big reason why I thought the later seasons were generally better) And Furley genuinely liked the kids too. But Chrissy and Janet never seemed like they were really friends, and certainly not Janet and Cindy.

I love how Miss r40 fluttered in with her, “FIRST of all...” and then proceeded to verbally prolapse a 9th grade English Lit analysis on us.

R19 , you are forgetting someone .

Dorothy's feet used to stink when she took off those furry boots, it grossed out Blanche and Rose.

Sophia's sense of smell was long gone which is just as well because she kept breaking wind every 20 minutes!

Right, R46.. Thats why they were alwahs ready to believe any misunderstanding involving one another. Because they were such good friends.

Yea, they just started treating Rose like a piece of shit after they broke into her diary and misunderstood the two sows she lived with. Why not admit what they did was wrong but confront Rose with how devestated they were?

Yes. They rarely invited friends home. They had had friends because they are often mentioned in their stories.

Everyone knows the straw that broke the camel's back was when they decided to raise the mink in the garage. Wtf was that about, anyway?

R15 Yes, the show becomes increasingly silly and surreal as it goes on. At the end of Season 4, the entire writing staff quit. They were tired and felt the reached the limit of what they could do with these characters. So, season 5 to 7 is written by a different group of writers. While they show is still funny, there is a slightly different tone. The show moves from character based to a bit more joke based. One thing about traditional sitcoms (the three camera, live studio audience type), is that the jokes have to keep getting bigger because the audience increasingly knows what to expect. Now, The Golden Girls didn't go as far as some sitcoms of 80s, but yeah the show does start getting "loony" towards the end.

The Golden Girls is just a reworking of The Facts of Life.

Jo and Blair were frenemies. Thus the GG were moreso.

Season five is the interesting one, because it's the most serious one in tone. There aren't too many episodes where they deal with broad, physical comedy. The comedy isn't laugh out loud so much as it's character driven. But it's a good season, as you really get to the heart of each of the girls.

Are you for real R56???

Season 5 has at least eight of the worst episodes in the series.

Sick & Tired - parts 1/2

Not Another Monday

Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas

Mary Had a Little Lamb

72 Hours

The President’s Coming - parts 1/2

These, plus Brother Can You Spare a Dine and Empty Nests are the absolute worst episodes.

Even Buzzfeed has 9 of the 25 worst episodes in season 5.

The only great season 5 episode is the one with Sophia and Dot as Sonny and Cher

Season 5 was even worse than I thought. On Buzzfeed’s list, there are only two episodes from S5 that even make it into the top 50, and one of them is at 49.

Anyone got a link to the Buzzfeed list?

I don’t agree with it completely, but here’s the Buzzfeed link.

Thanks R62

I just remembered when Blanche treated Rose like shit in her slingback when she thought her precious brother had been seeing her.

She made Rose feel inadequate, like all she's good for is a quick pump'n'dump behind The Rusty Anchor.

When I saw them doing The Whirlybird in perfect unison, I knew they were besties.

Also, when Rose tries to convince the girls, whom she has known for years, that her sister is up to no good, they refuse to believe her and secretly wish it was her sister who was their roommate instead of dull, weird old Rosey-Posey

R62 Thanks. High Anxiety is one of my favorites

How come Rose had the best bedroom in the house?

R62 thanks for that! The season 7 episodes are ranked way too low and there are some wtf choices high up like Til Death do we Volley (which I think kind of sucks). Can’t argue with the top two, though, and at least they gave Libertine Belle its due.

"Sex and the City" owes more to "The Golden Girls" than any of the SATC actresses and creators would ever admit.

Rue really porked out in season 2. Not a very convincing sexpot.

The office sets on How to Get Away with Murder were on The Golden Girls stage 2 for its series run.

They were really friends. Friend stick together during quarantine from a deadly disease.

This thread and others make me think that Datalounge is basically a secret underground civilization of people who have never seen the actual world above. The only clues they have to it are some ancient videotapes of the complete series of "I Love Lucy" and "The Golden Girls," and they watch these over and over again, obsessing about them, going over every last detail, and wondering just how life in the sunlit world above can possibly correspond to the details of what they're seeing on the holy videotapes.

The strength of the series was definitely the characters and the acting and definitely not the plot.

I’ve always wondered if the writers never watched the show or if they just had the attitude that it’s a farce and plot doesn’t matter AT ALL. Besides all the inconsistencies in storytelling and casting from episode to episode, those terrible flashback episodes sometimes were really confounding. The theme song is “thank you for being a friend...you’re a pal and s confidant.” And the girls squabble and are always there for one another. And then out of the blue, they are all in group therapy asking a psychiatrist if they should ‘break up’ because they hate one another and could be doing psychological harm to one another by living together? Even as a kid, I was like “what the fuck? I missed something last week, right?”

I am no expert on comedy r74, but in older variations (I'm thinking Laurel and Hardy) it's ONLY the characters who remain constant across sketches. The plot/circumstances change rather liberally. There was no expectation that it was a continuous, evolving story.

It's drama, I feel, where continuity of plot is important.

R75 Sure, it was a farce, and sitcoms have varied in their approaches to capsule-episodes that don’t relate to one another to ongoing serialized stories. Golden Girls did both. You had to follow the back stories with Stan, Shady Pines etc. in order to get the jokes, for example, you had to get that Rose and Miles had a relationship trajectory.

I just think the “should we divorce because we detest one another?” episodes (I feel like there were more than one) were just too disjointed. The whole premise of the show, even the overall theme song, is that they are such intimate friends that they are practically family. So to open the show with no explanation of what incident drove them to a therapist to tell them if they hate one another too much to live together was just too far out of left field for me.

I turn on GG episodes all the time and I am always disappointed when I see it’s one of the dreaded flashback-framework ones.

But tying the thread topic to the writing inconsistencies, the series was all over the place about their relationship. They were roommates and Blanche owned the house. That was clear. But in some episodes, one of the women would have financial troubles and Blanche would be like, “ohh, don’t worry about it, hunny, we’ll work somethin owet!” And then in other similarly themed episodes Blanche was like, “oh, well, I’ll help you find a job. I don’t want to have to find another roommate to replace you!” Sometimes Blanche would have to find money for a new roof or something, and other times all the women would have to find money for a new roof or something. (How many renters join their landlords in paying for home repairs?)

Usually they did a good job of characterizing the women as roommates who leaned on one another because they shared circumstances and a home but were not natural friends. Sometimes, weirdly, they came across a little more like roommates first and then reluctant friends second, and other times they were best friends forever.

I think the tension of being depicted as family by circumstance, and only because of circumstance, lent some magnetism to the show, actually. Sometimes one woman or another would consider a marriage proposal and be ready to bail on her roommates, who were devastated to lose her, and then in the end for one reason or another they were all together and content. Until Liam Neeson came along and Dorothy said, “Bye, bitches. I’ve been biding my time with you but you need to get lives. Buy a hotel or something. Whatever, don’t care, I’ll call ya, Ma!”

[quote] Dorothy would be good to run the business of the household and take of the bills.

Dorothy had a gambling problem.

Their financial circumstances were as fluid as the layout of the house

R78 Actually, I think Blanche was pretty consistently depicted as running the business of the household. I didn’t realize that until I was older and watched reruns. As a kid, I saw her as a silly floozy, and as an adult I realized she was shown to be the most stable person: she owned the home, she got the repairs, she maintained a consistent job throughout the series whereas all the others were job hopping.

Really interesting and surprising way to depict the slut as the most responsible adult, and she definitely is the prototype for executive-slut Samantha Jones.

[quote] all the others were job hopping.

Dorothy was always a substitute teacher. Sophia didn’t work and rose had only a couple of jobs.

R73, you got enough mileage out of that the first several hundred times it was posted in each GG thread.

It’s not funny anymore.

I doubt R73 put any more thought into that besides copy and paste

r77, there's no way Dorothy could have landed a hot younger man like Liam Neeson. I think you mean Leslie Nielsen.

Didn't Blanche rent to pay off the mortgage?

In an episode today the girls didn't believe honest Rose was telling them how awful her sister was being. Until they caught her fucking Blanche's bf that is!

If someone disbelieved me when all I was trying to do was help, I'd be enraged!