Worst of Golden Girls: Your Least Favorite Moments

[Eri]

If I recall, Dorothy was godmother to the bride and that's why she went to the wedding. I presume she invited Blanche and Rose because she couldn't get a date until Blanche offered one of her extras. Sophia only wanted to go to stick it to the grandfather of the bride (who left her at the altar in Sicily) with the silly curse.

But overall, it was a blah episode.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Eri

[mmecorday]

The bride knew Blanche well enough to call her Aunt Blanche. She was also wearing the second ugliest wedding gown in the entire run of the show. We all know who wore the ugliest one.

[Not4Me]

On 10/5/2021 at 6:12 PM, Sun-Bun said:

GG pushed so many humorous boundaries and introduced me as a child to so many things no one else dared to touch on during that sitcom era; in fact, I learned about “impotence” thanks to Dorothy! 
 

And don’t forget “intrauterine”!

Edited October 20, 2021 by Not4Me

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 9/13/2021 at 1:08 PM, BigBingerBro said:

Oh yeah!  That would never fly today.  It's awesome how far we have come.

Blanche's brother's "gay" episodes are really cringeworthy as well.

Or the episode where Blanche and Dorothy are guests on a show Rose is producing, pretending to be gay.  A guy shows up and says well you have never been with a man and it going to persuade her to switch teams.  Doesn't really work that way......

[Hiyo]

Maybe, but it was certainly reflective of it's time.

Hell even today there are still some people who think that (more than we assume).

[chessiegal]

32 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

Maybe, but it was certainly reflective of it's time.

Hell even today there are still some people who think that (more than we assume).

Yes - today there are folks who believe in "converting the gays".

[SweetSin]

I really can't stand the way Blanche & Dorothy treated Rose during the episode when Holly visited. They couldn't believe that Rose had a sibling rivalry even though Blanche & Dorothy have/had sibling rivalries with their respective sisters. They know Rose gets along with everyone so for her to say she hates her sister should be a flag for them. They even said they would be there for Rose and help her while Holly visited and boy did that change just because they had fun with Holly. Red flags were all over the place like excluding Rose out of things and when Rose said they can meet up after a concert and Holly says "Okay" like I really don't want you around me Rose. Especially Dorothy acting like Rose is crazy for even being suspicious of Holly but turns around and thinks Blanche isn't being suspicious enough of Gary cancelling their date.

Them making Rose too stupid especially while dating the Cheeseman episode with her not getting the phone call and red flag should have went off when he kept wanting to know information about Miles. If someone you're dating keeps asking about your ex it's not a good sign.

Charlie's war buddy episode is rather boring but no red flags registered early for these ladies when Buddy confused Sophia for Rose. He should know what Rose looks like since he said Charlie carried photos of Rose.

[Bastet]

14 minutes ago, SweetSin said:

I really can't stand the way Blanche & Dorothy treated Rose during the episode when Holly visited.

They're totally ridiculous.  First, there were adequate signs Rose's take on Holly's actions was accurate, but even if Rose was being ridiculous, they acted over-the-top insulted by it, as if she was dissing their children instead of her own sister they'd known for five minutes.

[scarynikki12]

I'm friends with two sisters in real life and they didn't always get along growing up. I was friends with sister 1 for over a year before meeting sister 2 and heard her complaints over and over. I was prepared to dislike sister 2 but we hit it off and became fast friends. Now, in our situation, the sisters conflict was based on personality, neither had a problem with me being friends with the other nor did they try to undercut each other, and they've since found common ground and were able to move on to proudly stand in the wedding party for each other and are devoted aunts to each other's kids. So, with my own experience in mind, I can understand why Dorothy and Blanche would keep an open mind about their own relationships with Holly even though Rose hated her. 

I agree that things fall apart when Rose kept finding out about plans after the fact. After the first time, even if Dorothy and Blanche still didn't believe that she was intentionally being left out, they should have taken it upon themselves to make sure to include Rose. Holly probably would have tipped her hand and showed that she was excluding Rose if Dorothy and Blanche had made more of an effort.

[Ria]

Even worse was the way Dorothy and Rose treated Blanche when she was accused of having an affair with Gill Kessler. No support or sympathy at all. Dorothy tells her “you live your life a certain way and now you’re paying for it.” What does that mean? “Sluts” deserve public shaming? And Rose responding “how do we know you’re telling the truth about that” when Blanche states they are her best friends. Just ugh. Blanche should have thrown them both out. But instead Blanche ends up blaming herself as if she deserved it all just because she enjoys male company. Horrible messaging all the way around. 

[SweetSin]

Plus they act like politicians are innocent people, especially Dorothy with that whole "He's a married man" so what? Stan was married and didn't stop him. Dorothy should have at least given Blanche the benefit of the doubt since the Elliot thing and Blanche telling them that she doesn't sleep with married men.

They could have at least had either Rose or Dorothy be on the fence on whether or not to believe Blanche, but no they both had to be against her.  Like when Rose was torn between Blanche & Dorothy during the Elliot story. Blanche told her Elliot made a pass at her and told Dorothy to confront him about Blanche's accusation.

[Hiyo]

Quote

Like when Rose was torn between Blanche & Dorothy during the Elliot story. Blanche told her Elliot made a pass at her and told Dorothy to confront him about Blanche's accusation.

Yes but totally worth it for the scene were Rose is telling Blance the what if story if Dorothy and Elliot got married ("...they could adopt a baby"), and "Ask the towel lady" scene.

[Hiyo]

Also, Rose's flirting game.

 

[mmecorday]

Plus, the way Blanche keeps saying "Elliot made ... Elliot made ... Elliot made" really tickles me.

[Sun-Bun]

I may have mentioned it here before, but I don’t care too much for the episodes where Rose gets super crazy competitive and mean.

It was funny the first time that occurred, back when all the women competed in that dance tournament and Rose did the infamous cartwheeling solo dance(even if it was a very obvious stunt double!), but after that the writers made her really nasty about her hyper-competitive nature and it wasn’t such an oddly amusing personality quirk anymore.
She turned into a psycho bitch quite a few times in competition, like when she coupled up with Sophia during the bowling tournament and on one of the game show episodes, or when she was competing with another local (dead) woman for some Volunteer of the Year trophy.

Although I always appreciated it when Rose generally refused to be bullied and/or mistreated and always stood up for herself. She may have been a sweetheart overall, but she was definitely no pushover—the Rose who so sweetly yet hilariously outsmarted that Girl Scout extorting Blanche for her teddy bear will always be my favorite Rose(“Cut the crap and get back the damned bear!”).

[Mrs. Hanson]

1 minute ago, Sun-Bun said:

when she was competing with another local (dead) woman for some Volunteer of the Year trophy.

Oh my gosh - I LOVE that one!  "She doesn't need a trophy on her mantle!  She's on her mantle!"

[Bastet]

32 minutes ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

"She doesn't need a trophy on her mantle!  She's on her mantle!"

Whenever I see or hear reference to a mantel, I think of that line.  It's really not even very funny on paper, but the delivery makes it art.

[Mrs. Hanson]

55 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Whenever I see or hear reference to a mantel, I think of that line.  It's really not even very funny on paper, but the delivery makes it art.

Plus Rose had to switch high schools due to field hockey incident.

[MoistestCake]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

Whenever I see or hear reference to a mantel, I think of that line.  It's really not even very funny on paper, but the delivery makes it art.

Totally

At least this competitiveness is consistent throughout the show, which in itself is quite remarkable. 

[babyhouseman]

Dorothy: For God's sake, Rose, Eisenhower used less chalk planning D-day.

The one where the boy couldn't make weight for the team.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 11/2/2021 at 1:33 PM, Mrs. Hanson said:

Oh my gosh - I LOVE that one!  "She doesn't need a trophy on her mantle!  She's on her mantle!"

"Dead, dead, dead. Muffin?"

[SweetSin]

I'm wondering how Rose who for the most part is nice and giving could raise two bratty daughters in Kirsten and Bridget? Bridget snubbed her nose at Michael cause he wasn't in college and Kirsten bratty behavior when she found out about the inheritance she was being bratty and at the hospital how she treated Dorothy & Blanche. 

Don't know if she disciplined them enough but with the rest of the girl's children their personalities made sense.

[Hiyo]

Maybe rebelling against their mother's nature.

Also who knows what Charlie was like as a father.

[Prairie Rose]

The Empty Nest episode goes without saying. It says a lot when even EGOT Rita Moreno can't save it.

"You Gotta Have Hope" was a real clunker, and even Rose was never that dumb to believe that Bob Hope was her father. I felt sorry that Betty had to play that. The only good parts were the talent show auditions at the beginning of the episode, with the big Black guy (badly) singing "Puff the Magic Dragon" and the Donatello (Del Rubio) Triplets performing an odd, acoustic version of "Neutron Dance"!

[Pearson80]

On 3/3/2022 at 1:02 PM, Prairie Rose said:

The Empty Nest episode goes without saying. It says a lot when even EGOT Rita Moreno can't save it.

"You Gotta Have Hope" was a real clunker, and even Rose was never that dumb to believe that Bob Hope was her father. I felt sorry that Betty had to play that. The only good parts were the talent show auditions at the beginning of the episode, with the big Black guy (badly) singing "Puff the Magic Dragon" and the Donatello (Del Rubio) Triplets performing an odd, acoustic version of "Neutron Dance"!

It had a lot of funny lines that Bea Arthur delivered masterfully like always..

 Rose is once again saying that Bob Hope is her father who will be present for their benefit and an exasperated Dorothy says the following to Rose.

 Rose Rose this is not miracle on 34th street, you are a grown woman holding on to childish games.  Bob Hope is not your father, he has no idea who you are and he is not about to come to this place..

There were so many gems like this delivered by Bea Arthur all throughout the episode, even though the episode was about Rose but Bea made it very funny for me.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Pearson80

[Hiyo]

The Empty Nest episode was definitely a clunker. The Bob Hope episode, not so much.

[BigBingerBro]

Everyone always says how great Paul Dooley was.  I honestly found him rather bland and boring in the Empty Nest episode.  He was much better suited for the Isaac Newton role.

[One Tough Cookie]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:02 PM, Ria said:

I also thought Sophia was mean bordering on outright sociopathic. Her idea of fun was hurting and insulting people. Tricking her roommates into tasting boiling hot liquid, tricking Rose into turning her stiff neck or admitting to burying Rose up to her neck in sand and having kids throw balls at her or pretending she was possessed by Charlie. The list goes on. Not to mention her constant put downs of Dorothy. 
 

I hated any story Sophia centered.  She came across nasty and rude and excused it by blaming .the stroke.

[Shayna Sheckner]

It pains me to say this, in light of Betty White's recent passing, but I HATE ROSE NYLUND. I know she's just a fictional character, but something about her triggers me. She's so dumb, childish, and naive, I just can't stand it! I've watched other shows that had characters I didn't care for, but the Golden Girls has been my favorite show for as long as I can remember, and I've never hated a fictional character more. I often find myself screaming at the TV, "Rose, you &*#@-ing moron!!!" I sometimes fantasize about how wonderful it would have been had she stayed away after moving to the beach. How marvelous it would have been had she actually died, instead of just "dying a little" from her constricted food pipe. And that double episode when she collapsed at the class reunion? Ahhh, so many missed opportunities the writers had write her off the show. I know I'll probably get a lot of flack for saying what I said but, "I have to say what I feel." "And if they threw a party, invited everyone you knew. You would see that there would be no gift from me, 'cuz you're such an idiot, Rose."

[Not4Me]

On 3/3/2022 at 1:02 PM, Prairie Rose said:

“You Gotta Have Hope" was a real clunker, and even Rose was never that dumb to believe that Bob Hope was her father. I felt sorry that Betty had to play that. The only good parts were the talent show auditions at the beginning of the episode, with the big Black guy (badly) singing "Puff the Magic Dragon" and the Donatello (Del Rubio) Triplets performing an odd, acoustic version of "Neutron Dance"!

Don’t forget this fabulous exchange. Blanche is BFF goals and your classic ride-or-die chick for life!

Frieda (to Dorothy): “I heard that ticket sales are not going very well, I heard that you have not been able to find any good talent. And I heard that Kent Ferguson has canceled and we don't have an MC for the show.”

Blanche: Yeah well, I heard that you've been sleeping with the Japanese guy who blows the leaves outta your driveway!”

[fleurfairy]

Those triplets weren't good. Like at all. Talk about noise pollution. Everything about that episode was ridiculous. 

[Liquid6]

My vote goes to the "Switched At Birth" episode where Dorothy may or not be Sophia's daughter. They never gave a clear resolution and seeing as though the other family's DNA tests proved that their daughter wasn't theirs, I never felt that Dorothy was Sophia's daughter ever again.

[WendyCR72]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:53 PM, Liquid6 said:

My vote goes to the "Switched At Birth" episode where Dorothy may or not be Sophia's daughter. They never gave a clear resolution and seeing as though the other family's DNA tests proved that their daughter wasn't theirs, I never felt that Dorothy was Sophia's daughter ever again.

I'm the opposite. Yeah, Sophia was abrasive as hell. But the fact that she didn't care enough to know told me that, biology or not, Dorothy was her child. The one she raised, has memories of. That biology does not automatically mean family.

[Sun-Bun]

Thinking back on that episode when Blanche’s troubled teen grandson came to stay with the gals for a while one summer, it always bugged me that the gals were SO upset at Sophia for slapping him after he dared mouth off at them. He was so rude and disrespectful to all the gals that I felt like that smack in the face was beyond well-deserved: that bratty bastard needed some tough love and then some! 

And then afterwards he so laughably pouted to his granny Blanche that nobody had ever hit him before…oh boo-hoo, not such a big bad tough kid after all, are we?! Seemed like somebody needed to smack that lil’ punk back into reality because his parents definitely weren’t doing their job. 

Although I do appreciate Sophia’s quick response to Blanche’s bitchy question if all Italians knew how to do was scream and hit:  “No, we also know how to make love and sing opera!” 😝🙌

[fleurfairy]

“The Bloom is Off the Rose” is on right now and I’m reminded that I really hate this episode. Rex’s abuse was OTT. Theatrical. It would have been much more effective if it was subtly done with small criticisms and moments of anger. 
 
I’m no fan of Miles, but Rose constantly comparing him to Charlie was pretty mean-spirited for such a “nice” lady.  To the point she made him jump out of an airplane. He could have been killed. Miles should have told her to shove it. 

Edited June 5, 2022 by fleurfairy

[Lake Erie Lass]

I harbor extreme dislike of Sophia. She was a mean spirited bitch who used her age and stage of life to waive common courtesy.  Bull ****. Her comments weren’t stroke related, they were mean and spiteful. When there are flashbacks of Sophia with Sal and Dorothy as a young woman she’s the exact same way. So don’t expect me to believe her behavior is stroke related. She was always rude and self centered. She’s got everyone around her fooled into thinking she’s damaged mentally, when in reality she takes extreme pleasure in speaking and acting out in hurtful ways.

[Blergh]

On 12/10/2021 at 3:23 PM, SweetSin said:

I'm wondering how Rose who for the most part is nice and giving could raise two bratty daughters in Kirsten and Bridget? Bridget snubbed her nose at Michael cause he wasn't in college and Kirsten bratty behavior when she found out about the inheritance she was being bratty and at the hospital how she treated Dorothy & Blanche. 

Don't know if she disciplined them enough but with the rest of the girl's children their personalities made sense.                                                                                                     

Spoiler

" I was going to leave whatever monies I had left equally to each of you four [adult children] but after that entitled tantrum you just threw, I'm changing my will and just leaving you $1 while giving whatever share would have been yours to your own daughter Charlie in trust until after her legal adulthood because the poor girl has been plenty punished having to be raised by you and your logbump husband so I want to try to make it up to her for whatever my part may have been in what made you to be such an entitled brat!"

The above paragraph is what I wish Rose had told Kirsten after she'd kicked Rose when she was down for only having a tiny amount of monies to live on after her late husband's death instead of feeling sorry for her aging mother- much less offered to help support her!

[Hiyo]

I think the issue Mrs. Kirsten Adams had with her mother, Mrs. Rose Nylund, was that Rose had built up Kirsten's father, the late Mr. Charles Nylund Sr., as being this super successful businessman, and Mrs. Adams felt that as his widow, Rose squandered all of that money. Her reaction may have been a bit OTT, but somewhat understandable.

I'm just wondering how Rose and Charlie raised kids who weren't complete morons in the St. Olaf way.

[Bastet]

Yeah, Kirsten took things too far, planning to stomp off rather than let her daughter continue her visit with her grandma, but she was never coming from a place of What about my inheritance?! or anything selfish; it was disappointment and anger that her mother had (apparently; it wasn't true, of course, but it was what Rose outright said, not any conclusion to which she inappropriately jumped) recklessly and foolishly squandered what her dad had worked so hard to amass so Rose would always be okay even if he was gone.

Rose had for such a long time carefully crafted a lie to her kids about how financially successful Charlie had been, to justify the time he spent away from home.  So when, in that episode's time, Rose had appointed Kirsten executor of her will and invited her to come review the documents (which would never have included those dollar amounts, but we'll let that go), she knew Kirsten had a certain expectation of what remained of the assets Rose had subsequently managed on her own, so she'd have to explain the vast discrepancy.

Because she still wanted to preserve the lie, Rose outright "confessed" she squandered most of the estate over the past 15 years via bad investments, "get rich quick" schemes, etc., making Kirsten think she was now financially vulnerable because of stupid decisions. 

Before looking at the documents, Kirsten had told Rose she didn't initially understand why a financially independent person would want to live with roommates, but now having met Dorothy and Blanche, she totally understands the non-monetary value.  But Rose, handing over the documents, told her she in fact had to live with others because she "got a little greedy" and "lost it all".

Rose eventually, realizing the lies she'd told had warped her granddaughter Charlie's perception of her grandpa and what being a successful person means, fesses up, and tells Kirsten the truth about Charlie and why she lied -- he wasn't all that terrific at his job, so he didn't earn much in excess of what they needed, but he was a hardworking and generous person who loved his family, and she just wanted the kids to feel like the time spent working away from home was worth it. 

With the truth, Kirsten understood; cue reconciliation.  Even based on the lie, Kirsten should have talked with her mom about how to best proceed going forward (which she probably would have done in time).  And, as I said, cutting little Charlie's visit with Rose short was an unfair reaction; table your feelings, let Grandma and Granddaughter enjoy their visit, and come back to this stuff later.  Her actions subsequent to Rose's bombshell weren't good, but her emotional reaction in the moment to what Rose erroneously told her had happened was completely understandable.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Bastet

[CraftyHazel]

On 3/16/2022 at 5:20 PM, One Tough Cookie said:

I hated any story Sophia centered.  She came across nasty and rude and excused it by blaming .the stroke.

Definitely.  Dorothy is my favorite character (and I loved Bea Arthur), so watching Sophia constantly put her down broke my heart.  Sophia reminds me of my Dad and stepmother…mean and awful.

I never loved the Miles character, but Harold Gould was just such a cutie as Rhoda Morgenstern’s father Martin, and soooo good in “The Sting” that he earns enough goodwill to pass.

[Keywestclubkid]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:53 PM, Liquid6 said:

My vote goes to the "Switched At Birth" episode where Dorothy may or not be Sophia's daughter. They never gave a clear resolution and seeing as though the other family's DNA tests proved that their daughter wasn't theirs, I never felt that Dorothy was Sophia's daughter ever again.

But then you have Gloria who is built just like Dorothy… especially in the hurricane episode 

[Liquid6]

The episode where Sophia kept “3rd Wheeling” herself on Dorothy and her new boyfriend boils my blood. I can’t even watch it again to this day 

[Keywestclubkid]

On 8/31/2022 at 5:42 PM, Liquid6 said:

The episode where Sophia kept “3rd Wheeling” herself on Dorothy and her new boyfriend boils my blood. I can’t even watch it again to this day 

and at the end when she dumps the guy then Sophia dumps her .. SHADY PINES ma 

[Not4Me]

I was watching the episode where Blanche’s overweight daughter arrives (the first Rebecca) and I cringed so much because of the rapid-fire fat jokes Sophia kept hurling at her expense. She was just downright cruel and nasty, and the jokes were just lazy.

Ironically the girls attack Rebecca’s jerk fiancé for being equally cruel, but they never hold Sophia accountable. It’s really one of the few times I found her horrible.

The Yalta Conference tall tell was the only good part from that episode. Otherwise an episode I’m happy to never revisit.

[Snow Apple]

I always hate the fat jokes too. They keep making fun of Blanche for being overweight when she's the same size as the others. I also hate the ugly jokes aimed at Dorothy as the reason she can't get a man.  The thing is she can get men interested in her and most of them are good men too.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

50 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I always hate the fat jokes too. They keep making fun of Blanche for being overweight when she's the same size as the others. I also hate the ugly jokes aimed at Dorothy as the reason she can't get a man.  The thing is she can get men interested in her and most of them are good men too.

Dorothy dated the foxiest of the silver foxes throughout the show’s run, and was the only Girl to remarry, suck it haters (whoever in the writer’s room decided “Dorothy is ugly” jokes were funny). 

[Snow Apple]

1 hour ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Dorothy dated the foxiest of the silver foxes throughout the show’s run, and was the only Girl to remarry, suck it haters (whoever in the writer’s room decided “Dorothy is ugly” jokes were funny). 

Right? There were:

Al the cop.

The lawyer played by Dick Van Dyke

The married guy. 

The guy in the episode where Sophia went with them on all their dates because she was lonely.

The Beatles guy who's only flaw was lack of talent.

The Rusty Anchor bar guys loved her singing.

And Blanche dreamed that Dorothy was awesome enough to get both Sonny Bono and Lyle Wagner 😄

I know there's more but can't remember off the top of my head.

[Hiyo]

Yeah but quite a few of the “Dorothy is Not Attractive” jokes were actually funny.

[BigBingerBro]

16 hours ago, Not4Me said:

She was just downright cruel and nasty, and the jokes were just lazy.

And Rose said "We didn't expect you to be this FAT" - harsh - they could have written her line a bit more sensitively.

Sophia was pretty cruel to Ham Lushbaughm as well.

Edited October 5, 2022 by BigBingerBro

[Bastet]

18 hours ago, Not4Me said:

I was watching the episode where Blanche’s overweight daughter arrives (the first Rebecca) and I cringed so much because of the rapid-fire fat jokes Sophia kept hurling at her expense. She was just downright cruel and nasty, and the jokes were just lazy.

Ironically the girls attack Rebecca’s jerk fiancé for being equally cruel, but they never hold Sophia accountable. It’s really one of the few times I found her horrible.

They'd have been hypocrites to hold Sophia accountable, since they made terrible remarks, too.  Well, at least Rose did; I think Dorothy may have refrained from stooping to that level.