Golden Girls News (and Media): Better Late Than.... Pregnant!

[Ria]

18 minutes ago, BookThief said:

So Variety has ranked the top 25 Golden Girls episodes. 

Now, I don't remember every episode to compare in my head, but my initial response is that I'm surprised The Case of the Libertine Belle is only 16th and that Brother, Can You Spare that Jacket is on the list at all. What say you all?

Nope, don’t like this list at all. Too many of them feature the annoying relative/friend/outsider. I don’t dislike the episodes (other than the awful Spare the Jacket, not a fan of the finale either), but most aren’t close to my favorites. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Ria

[Bastet]

That list is ... not good.  I don't hate Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket the way most do, but it's bottom 25, not top.  The finale isn't remotely top 25, so to have that as number one is just totally bizarre.  Mister Terrific as top 15?!

And Isn't It Romantic (with Jean), A Little Romance (with Dr. Jonathan Newman), Journey to the Center of Attention (the Rusty Anchor), My Brother, My Father (Sister Rose and Sister Blanche) aren't on the list at all, so I can't take it seriously.  Especially given the exclusion of those first two - come on!

[Hiyo]

“I don't hate Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket the way most do, but it's bottom 25, not top.“

I don’t hate it either, but yes, it definitely isn’t a Top 25 episode.

To be honest, I always thought it was a decent episode up until they get to the homeless shelter. And even then, it doesn’t become horrible until they start playing Brother Can You Spare a Dime.

[Blakeston]

Mister Terrific as a Top 25 episode?!?! Are they out of their minds?

They seem really taken with super-serious "issue" episodes. And clip shows, oddly enough!

A Little Romance (with Dr. Jonathan Newman), Isn't It Romantic? (with Jean the lesbian), Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas (with the Men of Blanche's Boudoir calendar), and The Artist (with Lazlo the sculptor) all belong here, IMO.

[Eri]

What!? Brother, Can You Spare that Jacket outranked the Burt Reynolds episode? Oh no no no no. There's something very wrong with that picture! Where's Vacation from Season 2 or the Grab That Dough episode from Season 3!?

"I feel the person who wrote this article had a deadline and turned on the Hallmark Channel for the weekend and ranked the episodes aired" --> I concur with this sentiment. No self respecting GG fan would have that episode (or Mister Terrific) in this list to begin with and the clip shows were so boring! Ironically, the ones I like the most are at the bottom while there's only a few I like from the top 10.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Eri

[mmecorday]

The description of the #2 pick is wrong. The copy reads, "After a throat spasm sends Rose to the hospital, she wakes up from her surgery believing she’d briefly died and gone to heaven. Of course the girls don’t believe her, but they also can’t convince Rose that it didn’t happen. And since Rose is the sci-fi expert of the group, she makes everyone promise that they’ll join her in freezing their heads once they die, so they can be attached to new bodies when the science is invented. As to where the idea came from, who knows? Maybe Rose was given a heads up from the aliens in the UFO she saw."

Rose suffered an esophageal spasm. And the part about making the other girls promise to have their heads frozen? That's not even in this episode. That happens in the season seven two-parter "Home Again" when Rose actually does have a cardiac emergency at the high school reunion she and the girls crash.

 

[DXD526]

A horrid list. Way too many episodes I'm meh about, and some I outright dislike: "Old Friends" depresses the hell out of me and I always skip it when I come across it; the "Sophia's Wedding" 2-parter is another on the no-watch list, as are "An Illegitimate Concern", "Mister Terrific", "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket" and "Dorothy's New Friend". And then there's the issue of all the good eps that were left off in favor of average or bad ones. Variety should have asked one of us to do this! At least we actually know the show, unlike whoever did this list. 

[Giuseppe]

Mister Terrific should not be anywhere NEAR that list. And The Case of the Libertine Bell should be ranked MUCH higher.  Also, I can't think of the episode name, but the one where Blanche goes on a date with the guy in a wheelchair should be in the top ten for Dorothy's "who are you to judge me?!?" line alone. 

My personal number one is The Monkey Show. The jokes are on fire, and that little fuzzy monkey head on the traffic cone is one of the funniest visual gags I've ever seen, haha.

[schnauzergirl]

12 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

Mister Terrific should not be anywhere NEAR that list. And The Case of the Libertine Bell should be ranked MUCH higher.  Also, I can't think of the episode name, but the one where Blanche goes on a date with the guy in a wheelchair should be in the top ten for Dorothy's "who are you to judge me?!?" line alone. 

My personal number one is The Monkey Show. The jokes are on fire, and that little fuzzy monkey head on the traffic cone is one of the funniest visual gags I've ever seen, haha.

The Monkey Show is in my top 10, but it always reminds me of how careless the writers were about how the Dorothy/Gloria relationship was spelled out.  With Gloria #1, there was rivalry, but they clearly got along and loved each other.  Even before Gloria #2 arrived, it's clear that there were serious issues dating back to childhood, real animosity on both sides.  I understand the negativity was the basis for the plot, but it drives me crazy every time.  

[BigBingerBro]

3 minutes ago, schnauzergirl said:

how careless the writers were about how the Dorothy/Gloria relationship was spelled out. 

I just hated the choice of actress for Gloria #2.  Gloria #1 wasa more charismatic and talkative while Gloria #2 was fairly forgettable other than just being there. 

[Snow Apple]

I can't even remember the Mister Terrific episode until it pops up on tv. And then I change the channel.

[schnauzergirl]

10 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

I just hated the choice of actress for Gloria #2.  Gloria #1 wasa more charismatic and talkative while Gloria #2 was fairly forgettable other than just being there. 

Gloria #1 was rich, dated a lot,, saw Bert Convey at the grocery store, while Gloria #2 had lost all her money and was vulnerable and disoriented, which I think explained the different interpretations.  I do wonder why Gloria's three children, all successful in their professions, didn't come to Mom's rescue.  And, yes, I'm over-thinking this and need to move on! 

 

[FormerMod-a1]

Tracee Ellis Ross and more big names to re-create 'Golden Girls' with all-Black cast

This is a zoom thing, but it could be pretty cool.  That said, I probably won't watch,  I'm zoomed out, even for entertainment things.  But that's just me. 🙂 

[qtpye]

12 minutes ago, aquarian1 said:

Tracee Ellis Ross and more big names to re-create 'Golden Girls' with all-Black cast

This is a zoom thing, but it could be pretty cool.  That said, I probably won't watch,  I'm zoomed out, even for entertainment things.  But that's just me. 🙂 

Is it crazy that back in the day “50” seemed old but now the same age comes off much more youthful?

The women on the right seem too young to be Golden Girls.

Maybe it’s just me getting older...

[Snow Apple]

It’s probably the hairstyle and color. If the original girls had softer shoulder length hair or chin length bobs, and warmer color, they’d probably look younger.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

Is it crazy that back in the day “50” seemed old but now the same age comes off much more youthful?

The women on the right seem too young to be Golden Girls.

Maybe it’s just me getting older...

Sunscreen included in many facial "moisturizers" probably has prevented a lot of wrinkling of current 50+  aged skin.
Additionally, for actors and some others, botox and face lifts have come a long way. 

When OG Golden Girls began, Beatrice Arthur and Betty White were 63 playing 50.
Tracee Ellis Ross, Sanaa Lathan, and Regina King are now 48-49.

 

[Bastet]

27 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

When OG Golden Girls began, Beatrice Arthur and Betty White were 63 playing 50.

The actors said they figured the characters were in their 60s when they took the roles (given their own ages and the title and pitch of the show), but then scripts would age them down (which is true; for example, in early season one, Dorothy is stated to be 55, but that makes no sense given she'd married Stan almost 40 years prior, and she wasn't 15 then, she was just out of high school) and then later scripts would age them back up.

Also, the ages of their kids and grandkids never comport with the characters' supposed ages.  So between the disconnect between actor and character age, total lack of logic and/or continuity in descendants' ages, and the characters' hairstyles and wardrobes, they always seem older than they're stated to be the few times a specific age is mentioned.

The only thing consistent is Rose and Dorothy are always written as about the same age and Blanche a few years younger (who thinks she's quite a few years younger).  And I don't think Sophia being 80 when the show starts is ever terribly tinkered with, although they do shave a few years at one point.

Anyway, terrific cast for this Zoom event!  It sounds like they'll be re-imagining an existing GG episode, but it doesn't say which one.

[Ria]

9 hours ago, qtpye said:

Is it crazy that back in the day “50” seemed old but now the same age comes off much more youthful?

 

 

I think the girls short old lady hair styles and fussy fuddy duddy clothes make them look old. Their daily style is like ladies in their 80s now wear when going out for a special occasion. I’m in my mid fifties and my friends and I have long hair and wear yoga pants and flip flops. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Ria

[schnauzergirl]

The only consistent number was 38 -- the years Dorothy and Stan were married.  

[Giuseppe]

17 hours ago, Ria said:

I think the girls short old lady hair styles and fussy fuddy duddy clothes make them look old. Their daily style is like ladies in their 80s now wear when going out for a special occasion. I’m in my mid fifties and my friends and I have long hair and wear yoga pants and flip flops. 

I would love to see someone do a photoshop of what the girls would look like with today's hairstyles/fashion, lol.

[qtpye]

19 hours ago, Ria said:

I think the girls short old lady hair styles and fussy fuddy duddy clothes make them look old. Their daily style is like ladies in their 80s now wear when going out for a special occasion. I’m in my mid fifties and my friends and I have long hair and wear yoga pants and flip flops. 

It's like 50 is the new 40.

[Blakeston]

The makeup and costumes definitely aged the girls somewhat. But I also think that people just age slower than they did a few generations ago. I'm not sure why exactly, but I have some theories.

• Smoking is a lot less common nowadays, and smoking can age you terribly.
• There's a lot more emphasis on moisturizing than there used to be, and skin care products have improved.
• More people understand that tanning is unhealthy, and are more likely to use sunscreen. 
• People who grew up in, say, the World War II era didn't feel the same obligation to look "sexy" after having children, the way we do now, and so they didn't put as much effort into trying to look young.
• People are less likely to have jobs involving grueling outdoor work. 

Anyway, I thought the Zoom Where It Happens performance was pretty entertaining - particularly the "black version" of the theme song. It also made me appreciate Estelle Getty more. Alfre Woodard is one of our finest living actresses, and she was certainly convincing as a cranky old woman - but she wasn't able to insert nearly as much warmth or nuance into Sophia's lines as Estelle did.

[Ria]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/13/opinions/golden-girls-35th-anniversary-trump-colucci/index.html

[qtpye]

We love our girls. 

[qtpye]

 

[schnauzergirl]

Dena Dietrich -- Gloria #2 -- has passed away just a few weeks before her 92nd birthday.  

[Blakeston]

I know that this sounds horribly tacky and exploitative, but I actually recommend this (if you think it might be up your alley):

There's a series on the Reelz channel called Autopsy, and each episode is devoted to a celebrity's death. A medical examiner goes over all of the publicly available information about the person's death, and there's a lot of information about the celebrity's life, including interviews with people who knew them. There's an episode about Rue McClanahan. Her final husband was one of the interviewees, along with a woman who was one of her closest friends.

I'm not entirely comfortable with the concept of the series, but I'm glad I gave the Rue episode a try, because it was informative, and was  done as respectfully as possible.

Among the most interesting things I learned about Rue:

- She was with her sixth husband longer than the first five put together. Sadly, they got separated less than a year before she died. Right after the separation, in late 2009 (about six months before her death), she needed triple bypass surgery and then had a stroke while recovering. Her husband said that after the stroke, she refused to see him in person, because she didn't want him to see her in that condition.

- Unlike Betty and Bea, Rue didn't find success as an actress in her younger years. She spent years struggling as a single mother. Her big break was a play in New York, in which her character spent a lot of time hiding under a table on her knees. She ended up with lifelong knee problems as a result.

- She enjoyed telling people that she was just like Blanche, and in her later years she really liked to play up the flirty, sassy older woman angle. But the people who knew her agreed that deep down she was actually very shy and not at all self-confident, and the Blanche stuff was a cover for her true self.

[Eri]

Apparently Estelle Getty's LA home is now on the market:

https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/former-home-of-golden-girl-estelle-getty-hits-market-in-l-a-221853

[mythoughtis]

On 12/11/2020 at 7:06 PM, Blakeston said:

- She enjoyed telling people that she was just like Blanche, and in her later years she really liked to play up the flirty, sassy older woman angle. But the people who knew her agreed that deep down she was actually very shy and not at all self-confident, and the Blanche stuff was a cover for her true self.

This makes perfect sense.  Rue was originally supposed to play Rose and Betty was supposed to play Blanche. But someone decided these characters were too much like characters they had played in other shows, and so they were swapped.  

[Eri]

Happy Birthday to our long lasting Golden Girl Betty White who turns 99 today (I swear she's going to outlive all of us...).

[andromeda331]

17 minutes ago, Eri said:

Happy Birthday to our long lasting Golden Girl Betty White who turns 99 today (I swear she's going to outlive all of us...).

That really is amazing.

[BigBingerBro]

I highly recommend viewing this Q&A interview.  Lots of interesting info:

 

[Eri]

Happy birthday to Rue McClanahan on what would've been her 87th birthday.

Did you know Rue developed and sold her own lingerie line called "A Touch of Rue," which was sold on QVC—and inspired by her adventurous and sultry character? Blanche would've been proud.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Eri

[qtpye]

They were all quite lovely.

[wanderingstar]

Sharing the podcast Enough Wicker. The hosts discuss each GG episode from a kind of sociological perspective. The love they have for the show comes through in every episode.

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Sharing the podcast Enough Wicker. The hosts discuss each GG episode from a kind of sociological perspective. The love they have for the show comes through in every episode.

Thank you!  Planning on listening tonight.

[Eri]

Wow - I'm definitely going to have to check this page out! I'm all for an in-depth analysis on our Girls and not because it gives me an excuse to watch the episodes over from Season 1...nope, not at all.. >_>;;;

Edited May 2, 2021 by Eri

[BigBingerBro]

On 5/1/2021 at 10:55 AM, Gillian Rosh said:

Sharing the podcast Enough Wicker. The hosts discuss each GG episode from a kind of sociological perspective. The love they have for the show comes through in every episode.

I'm up to episode 18 - great stuff.  Thanks again!!

[wanderingstar]

Quote

I'm up to episode 18 - great stuff.  Thanks again!!

My pleasure! It's such a fun podcast. They are into the minutiae of GG the same way we are :-)

[Ria]

On 5/2/2021 at 11:30 AM, BigBingerBro said:

I'm up to episode 18 - great stuff.  Thanks again!!

I read their ranking if the worst villains to appear on the show. There is no doubt in my mind the worst villain is Sophia. Even Rex Huntington’s verbally abusive behavior towards Blanche is nothing compared to the years of verbal and emotional abuse Sophia heaped on all those around her. Funny how the show could have Dorothy trying to get through to Blanche how badly Rex was treating her while not seeing the abusive relationship she has been subjected to by her mother for her entire life. 

Edited June 13, 2021 by Ria

[qtpye]

18 hours ago, Ria said:

I read their ranking if the worst villains to appear on the show. There is no doubt in my mind the worst villain is Sophia. Even Rex Huntington’s verbally abusive behavior towards Blanche is nothing compared to the years of verbal and emotional abuse Sophia heaped on all those around her. Funny how the show could have Dorothy trying to get through to Blanche how badly Rex was treating her while not seeing the abusive relationship she has been subjected to by her mother for her entire life. 

I loved this show but the truth is that no one would talk to their friends like these ladies talk to each other and still stay friends but it was funny for the audience.

Sophia really was horrible to Dorothy all her life and in the end, it was Dorothy who took care of her even though Gloria was rich.

[schnauzergirl]

4 hours ago, qtpye said:

I loved this show but the truth is that no one would talk to their friends like these ladies talk to each other and still stay friends but it was funny for the audience.

Sophia really was horrible to Dorothy all her life and in the end, it was Dorothy who took care of her even though Gloria was rich.

Agree 100%.  Rose was a twit, a titmouse, an idiot, and more.  Blanche was a trap, a floozy, etc.  Dorothy's looks were constantly ridiculed as was her dating life.  Sophia was a complete burden, a mean old lady.  They did bring out the worst in each other and, at the end of the day, that's part of what great sit coms are made of.  (Think Everybody Loves Raymond, for another example.)

 

[Surrealist]

On 5/1/2021 at 9:55 AM, Gillian Rosh said:

Sharing the podcast Enough Wicker. The hosts discuss each GG episode from a kind of sociological perspective. The love they have for the show comes through in every episode.

Thank you! I've discovered a new addiction. 😂

[chessiegal]

TVLand is running a best of Rose GG marathon this Sunday starting at 8 am.

[Hiyo]

I know what I'll be munching on during that marathon...eggs gafloofen, ham and gunterhoggins, and pigs in a svenkabluden. And of course finish it all off with geneukenfleuken cake (in honor of Rose, will use her Americanized recipe).

[BigBingerBro]

47 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

And of course finish it all off with geneukenfleuken cake (in honor of Rose, will use her Americanized recipe).

Please don't blow your own Verturbenverben

[Bastet]

4 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Please don't blow your own Verturbenverben

I can't even reach mine.

[Snow Apple]

Come to think of it, I think I have all the ingredients to make a maple syrup honey brown sugar molasses rice crispy log.

But the real question; Is anyone brave enough to make sperheoven krispies? 

[Eri]

Happy Golden Girls Day! The show aired on NBC on this day 36 years ago!

Thank you for being a friend! 🥳

Edited September 15, 2021 by Eri

[BlancheDevoreaux]

Did anyone else go see it in theaters on Tuesday or planning on going this coming Tuesday? I thought it was a lot of fun. Everyone in the theater was singing along to the theme song and playing along to the Golden Girls trivia that aired before the show started.