"The Golden Girls" almost had a gay bestie. Here’s why he disappeared from the show.

I’m glad they didn’t. The four were all that were needed. Perfect ensemble cast, much like All In The Family.

We KNOW, Rose!

OMG!

I even outlived Charles Levin! I WIN!

It would have been hard to do those episodes when there were "broke" if they had a houseboy running around.

Because HE WASN'T FUNNY!

I recently saw Levin in one of his early movies, "Rush It" (1978); he had a small role, but was pretty good. I highly recommend the movie, not because it's great, but because it features Tom Berenger in and out of a lot of tight 70s clothes, looking like a perfect combination of Paul Newman and JFK Jr.

You slow bitches need to post some Coco clips.

[quote]You slow bitches need to post some Coco clips.

How many can their be? Four?

Charles Levin was much better in "Alice", anyway.

Coco wouldn’t have worked and the show wouldn’t have became the huge success it did if he were kept.

Just being honest.

Coco sodomized me!

It's amazing to see that clip at r8: neither White nor (especially) McClanahan has yet completely cinched their characters voice or mannerisms, but Bea Arthur absolutely has already nailed Dorothy Zbornak. And it's not the same voice or mannerisms she used as Maude Finley--she's not as commanding or as sure of herself as Maude, but slyer.

R13 because they literally created many of their characters characteristics themselves as they went along.

And Maude was very similar to Dorothy.

McClanahan made Blanche southern, she wasn’t supposed to be.

I watched a few episodes on TVLand this past weekend. Even though I knew every line, I still laughed my butt off. The writing was sharp and bitingly funny, the acting was great, and the ladies had perfect comic timing.

It's funny because anytime I see old reruns of "Maude," it always feels like I'm watching an entirely different actress from the one who played Dorothy Zbornak on "Golden Girls." Bea changed a great deal physically in my opinion between those shows, even though technically there was less than 10 years between them (7 years to be specific). Two equally great performances, however, which will never change.

I watched Bea as Maude, on Golden Girls, and on that show she did called Amanda's By The Sea. Bea is a good actress, but those three characters were all basically the same character with subtle differences.