Worst of Golden Girls: Your Least Favorite Moments

[BigBingerBro]

Here is what older ladies in Florida often wear.  (I know this may not be EVERYONE, so please don't jump on me, but maybe more what we could have seen on GG)

[Ria]

3 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

I think the most skin we ever saw was when they were behind the big Valentine's hearts at the Nudist Hotel.  Every time I see that I am shocked to see Bea Arthur's shoulders.

Blanche did wear short sleeves, even cap sleeves occasionally, while Rose opted for sleeves that stopped at the elbow, and their arms looked fine. The sweaters and layers while complaining about heat waves made no sense.  
 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Wasn’t the actual set pretty frigid?

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Wasn’t the actual set pretty frigid?

All sets have the AC cranked to counteract the heat of all those lights - so when they're on set, the temp evens out to "normal", but offstage can get chilly.

[Ria]

The most inappropriate, odd and puzzling use of a laugh track: the episode where Sophia thinks she’s having a heart attack. Rose confesses to Dorothy that her husband had a heart attack while they were making love. Dorothy says she didn’t realize Charlie died while they were making love. Rose says he didn’t die then, he had his heart attack then. Cue loud laugh track. What on earth is funny about that line? A serious moment is ruined by a bizarre choice to find Charlie dying funny. 

[Hiyo]

I guess Rose was clarifying to Dorothy that he didn’t die while performing the act, he technically died after it.

[schnauzergirl]

Remember Rose talked about dressing Charlie and he refused to wear white trousers.  It always sounded to me that he died as she was dressing him.

[Snow Apple]

Was there really laughter at that moment or was something cut out in reruns? I find a lot of inappropriate audience reactions due to scenes being cut.

[Hiyo]

My impression was that Charlie had the heart attack itself while he and Rose were having sex* but he died after or during she had dressed him up after calling for the ambulance. 

*I mean, I shouldn’t, but I always laugh at the “I’m going, l’m going!” joke.

[Ria]

4 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Was there really laughter at that moment or was something cut out in reruns? I find a lot of inappropriate audience reactions due to scenes being cut.

I’ve never seen any other comment following Rose’s statement. Rose says he didn’t die then, he had his heart attack then and there is immediate loud laughter. 

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

Remember Rose talked about dressing Charlie and he refused to wear white trousers.  It always sounded to me that he died as she was dressing him.

Right.  He had the heart attack while they were having sex, she called paramedics, and he asked her to dress him so he wasn't naked when they arrived.  They got into an argument because she started putting a pair of white pants on him and it was after Labor Day ("Charlie was very stubborn -- and very dapper").  He told her he loved her, and then he died.  So she dressed him in gray flannel pants, and he was all done up, complete with tie, when the paramedics arrived.

[TeaIsRatherMoist]

An episode many people overlook (understandably): "And Ma Makes Three". Sophia was so pushy and manipulative in that one, then Dorothy broke up with a great guy because she chose her over him only for Sophia to ditch HER at the end?! Ridiculous and way too mean-spirited, even for her! Typing this out makes me mad.

"Room 7" is another bad one. Blanche and Sophia have religious experiences or something and Dorothy keeps trying to shame them out of their feelings. Oy!

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 5/13/2018 at 9:21 PM, msani19 said:

Exactly this.

Even in the flashbacks, Sophia is being a jerk to someone. So I don't think that her saying nasty things was a new occurrence, it might have become worse with her stroke but I think she was always mean. She would really go out of her way to be nasty, even when it wasn't necessary. Maybe it was the way Estelle Getty played the character. From articles that I've read, she was considered the "weak link" in the cast. I think after all these viewings, I would agree. While she had many funny lines, sometimes her delivery left something to be desired. Maybe that impacted how her lines landed? Or I could be overthinking this whole Sophia thing and I can just go back to she was awful, plain and simple. 

That's kind of fascinating.  Estelle is easily my favourite actor of the four.  To me, the weak link is Bea Arthur.  She always looks like she's reading cue cards.  She often doesn't stare at the person she's supposed to be communicating with.  Instead, she often seems to be looking off camera at her lines.

I know that there's lots of folklore about how Estelle supposedly sucks as an actor and was sick in the later seasons and couldn't remember her lines - but even with me trying to notice this, I never do.  I just love her.

[Blakeston]

Sophia was unbearable in the first 2/3 of "And Ma Makes Three," but I'll give her some credit for butting out once she realized what an imposition she was being, and making plans for a vacation that didn't involve Dorothy of her boyfriend.

Dorothy could have gone off to the Bahamas with that guy, but she idiotically decided to stay home to be with her mother. Which would have been totally unnecessary even if Sophia was lying about having a separate trip planned.

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

Sophia was unbearable in the first 2/3 of "And Ma Makes Three,"

That episode would have made so much sense had Sophia really been as feeble and dependant as Dorothy seemed to think she was.  Had it not been for other episodes showing Sophia as a strong, active old lady who went dancing, shopping, volunteer work, etc, I could have bought Dorothy's concern for her mother and deciding to stick at home to care for her.  Was this the one where they set it up as Sophia recently recovering from a bad flu?  Consistency was not something the writers cared much about.

[Snow Apple]

4 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

That episode would have made so much sense had Sophia really been as feeble and dependant as Dorothy seemed to think she was.  Had it not been for other episodes showing Sophia as a strong, active old lady who went dancing, shopping, volunteer work, etc, I could have bought Dorothy's concern for her mother and deciding to stick at home to care for her.  Was this the one where they set it up as Sophia recently recovering from a bad flu?  Consistency was not something the writers cared much about.

From what I remember, Sophia's best friend either passed or moved away which made her loney. Dorothy included her on her dates so Sophia has company. Then she told Dorothy she made new friends which wasn't believed. At the end Sophia went on a trip with her new friends and Dorothy missed out on a romantic getaway.

[Ria]

11 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

From what I remember, Sophia's best friend either passed or moved away which made her loney. Dorothy included her on her dates so Sophia has company. Then she told Dorothy she made new friends which wasn't believed. At the end Sophia went on a trip with her new friends and Dorothy missed out on a romantic getaway.

Sophia’s attempt to convince Dorothy she was going on vacation with new friends was pathetic. 
 

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 thought Estelle did a wonderful job of creating an elderly lady character while she herself was much younger. The look, the walk and the mannerisms were very convincing. But her line delivery was often just wooden and off. 

[truthaboutluv]

One of my least favorite moments or hell episodes from the show was when Big Daddy died and Blanche and Virginia got into it about Blanche not coming home when Big Daddy initially called. The reason I hated this episode was that it felt like a weird tonal shift from the first time the audience met Virginia in the Transplant episode. 

Had the Big Daddy dying episode happened before the Transplant episode, the hostile relationship between Blanche and Virginia would have made more sense. But coming off the previous episode where Virginia almost died and Blanche was willing to give up her kidney for her and their supposedly making amends, the hostility from Virginia in the Big Daddy episode was just odd. 

It was particularly jarring having her say lines like Blanche never doing anything for anyone without first knowing what's in it for her. And the whole thing would not have been so strange if they'd recast the actress as they did other times. But it was the same actress. I just hate it because before seeing that episode, I always loved the Transplant episode. But that one just soured me from it. 

[xander874]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:47 PM, truthaboutluv said:

The reason I hated this episode was that it felt like a weird tonal shift from the first time the audience met Virginia in the Transplant episode. 

Agreed. The transplant episode ends with Blanche talking about how she gained a sister again was such a nice ending and to have it all be wiped away was sad. I get that could logically happen but the reasoning was weird. Even if Blanche had jumped on a plane, she might not have made it in time to see Big Daddy and maybe Virginia should've told her the severity of the situation. In the same situation, I would've likely done the same.

That being said, Blanche saying "I'm nobody's little girl anymore" is one of the best-delivered lines of the show (wrong thread I know).

[Eri]

The episode "Mrs. George Devereaux" just bothers me! Not only because George is played by the same actor who plays his brother Jaime but Blanche never confronts him about the affair/secret love child from Season 5! Viewers who watched the show in order would still have this episode fresh in their minds!

Season 5 really put Blanche through the ringer when she discovers that the men she put on a pedestal for most of her life (Big Daddy, George) were lying cheaters. Not that she should've been surprised, it was the Ol' South lol

Edited April 3, 2021 by Eri

[Hiyo]

Quote

Blanche never confronts him about the affair/secret love child from Season 5!

I give it a pass because firstly, it was all a dream. Secondly, Blanche herself was just too stunned! Just stunned! Stunned is the only way to describe how... stunned she was! at seeing her dead husband suddenly showing up alive to think about confronting him about his secret love child. I mean, confronting him about faking his death probably took priority...

And before anyone asks, yes, I am trying to tell you that Blanche was just...stunned.

Edited April 3, 2021 by Hiyo

[Eri]

Nope, when he showed up at that restaurant, she should've poured gazpacho right down his pants😀

[Hiyo]

She was too stunned and shocked to do that, and too busy ended running right out of the restaurant...

Edited April 3, 2021 by Hiyo

[schnauzergirl]

Apparently Blanche had this same dream often and for quite some time.  Since the Lyle/Sonny/Dorothy storyline happens in each dream, it seems to me the "plot" of the dream is set in stone and George's affair and illegitimate son wouldn't play a part.

[scarynikki12]

I see Blanche's recurring dream as her seeking closure for George's death. We know she's found comfort in the years since his death in different forms: physically with the men she's dated and emotionally with the Girls, but comfort isn't closure. When we see her dream it ends with her and George hugging. When Blanche wakes up she's so happy to have been able to hold him again and this time doesn't fall into grief like she usually did. We don't know if she ever had the dream again but since she did get some closure this time it could go either way. I lean toward her having the dream again but always hugging him so that she wakes up happy.

The secret child thing was a stupid one off that shouldn't have happened but we can always assume that the dream's inclusion of George faking his death and Blanche getting mad at him for it is her way of getting mad at him for secret child without specifically referencing it.

When Blanche opened the door to greet Jamie it takes her breath away because she'd forgotten how much he looks and sounds like George, which contributed to her convincing herself that she'd fallen for him, so I'm glad they remembered that and brought back George Grizzard for the dream.

[Hiyo]

“Since the Lyle/Sonny/Dorothy storyline happens in each dream, it seems to me the "plot" of the dream is set in stone and George's affair and illegitimate son wouldn't play a part.”

One thing not set in stone seems to be who Dorothy chooses.

“I'm glad they remembered that and brought back George Grizzard for the dream.”

I also liked the chemistry between him and Rue.

 

[DXD526]

I hated that they had George cheat on Blanche, especially since she always raved about him so. Whenever she'd talk about how they were soul mates and how wonderful he was, I'd think, but he was a cheating dog! He not only cheated, but had a child with another woman. And did Charlie cheat on Rose? There was that episode with the photograph with Blanche, which was determined to be a double exposure, but Blanche also checked and determined she'd been with a traveling salesman named Charlie around that time, so that tracks. 

Blanche and Rose talked so glowingly of their late husbands, and they were both cheaters? And it's well established that Stan ran around on Dorothy every chance he got. Yikes. Not lucky in love, these gals. 

[Snow Apple]

Sick and Tired is not one of my favorites so I rarely watch it, so I'd forgotten how cringy Sophia was by asking the doctor questions about Chinese food and restaurants.

[Hiyo]

Yeah but it's worth it for the final scene at the restaurant. Not that I am for grifting a free dinner out of a place, but that scene was funny. Also, Dorothy telling off the doctor was good too.

[schnauzergirl]

One of my favorite lines in the Sick and Tired episodes is "Shut up, Louis!"  That's what you get when you patronize your wife by telling her to change her hair color and she becomes a new woman.  

[Bastet]

I love Dorothy telling off the doctor, especially that it included her saying if she was a man she'd have been taken more seriously.  Dorothy's entire speech to him is something it was really important to have shown to 35 million viewers.

Of course, this being a sitcom, and one notoriously bad at continuity, the writers subsequently ignored that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a, you know, chronic illness.  But I'm glad Susan Harris at least got to do those two episodes, showing the fear and frustration when you know there's something wrong with you but doctors just pat you on the head and tell you you're fine, it's all in your head.

[Blakeston]

On 4/3/2021 at 7:04 PM, DXD526 said:

I hated that they had George cheat on Blanche, especially since she always raved about him so. Whenever she'd talk about how they were soul mates and how wonderful he was, I'd think, but he was a cheating dog! He not only cheated, but had a child with another woman. And did Charlie cheat on Rose? There was that episode with the photograph with Blanche, which was determined to be a double exposure, but Blanche also checked and determined she'd been with a traveling salesman named Charlie around that time, so that tracks. 

Blanche and Rose talked so glowingly of their late husbands, and they were both cheaters? And it's well established that Stan ran around on Dorothy every chance he got. Yikes. Not lucky in love, these gals. 

Considering how much Blanche slept around, her being with a traveling salesmen named Chuck at one point doesn't mean much of anything. The only thing suggesting that Chuck was Charlie was the fake photo.

And Blanche doesn't get much sympathy from me, because she had clearly cheated on George during World War II with her coworker from the factory who was an excellent lover, er, riveter.

 

[Grace Scuse]

Okay, so I get that I'm like 7 years late to this, (haha) but there are some moments in the show that I know would NEVER fly now in TV, or real life. I had watched these episodes a long time ago, and have been getting to rewatch these episodes now. And I am so grateful that I am able to see that there are some fucking shitty moments in the show, and that I understand that people should be more sensitive. 

Example, the episode where Rose dates a man with Dwarfism. People call him a 'm*****'..

As well, the one where Dorothy gets a new fancy job teaching this class, one that pays a lot more than her usual one. And she doesn't have to really teach, because the students don't want to be there. She gets the job from a former student of hers, one who she had really inspired. Before they bring up any prospect of a new job, the two catch up, and gab about a teacher who used to teach at the school. 

They talk about how that teacher went through with a sex change, though despite that, they refuse to use her correct pronouns, sticking with the pronouns that she had assigned at birth, calling her 'he'. Yet they include a laugh track, then all of the sudden it's some humorous joke?

A bunch of other stuff occurred throughout the show, but these are the two I remember the clearest. 

[BigBingerBro]

15 hours ago, Grace Scuse said:

They talk about how that teacher went through with a sex change, though despite that, they refuse to use her correct pronouns, sticking with the pronouns that she had assigned at birth, calling her 'he'. Yet they include a laugh track, then all of the sudden it's some humorous joke?

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.

[andromeda331]

The first episode with Blanche's daughter Rebecca. Her boyfriend was an asshole but the women weren't much better. They made a lot of horrible comments about her weight. 

[Bastet]

Yeah, that was awful.  It certainly hasn't disappeared, but the blatant fat shaming that was deemed acceptable on TV back then was disgusting.  That Rebecca episode and the Mason storyline on Designing Women were two of the worst among shows I watched, and ER made an absolute habit out of it.

[Blakeston]

Honestly, the talk about the "sex change" was probably considered progressive at the time, just because the characters talked about the teacher nonchalantly, without showing judgment or disgust.

The writers really thought that it was hilarious for someone assigned male at birth to wear women's clothing. It was a well they went to over and over again, with Phil, with Blanche's baseball-player boyfriend, The Great Pretenders, and Sophia talking about catching her cousin parading around in her girdle.

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

The writers really thought that it was hilarious for someone assigned male at birth to wear women's clothing. It was a well they went to over and over again, with Phil, with Blanche's baseball-player boyfriend, The Great Pretenders, and Sophia talking about catching her cousin parading around in her girdle.

Don't forget Phil!  Also his poker buddies at the funeral.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Don't forget Phil!

He was the first example listed.

[BigBingerBro]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

He was the first example listed.

Sorry, I am blind.

[SweetSin]

Blanche admitted to exaggerating her sex stories so I can see her doing it for the two most important men in her life being Big Daddy & George. She made them both sound a little too perfect but we all know that Blanche didn't have a perfect childhood or marriage.

She even called both her parents trash. Big Daddy cheated on Blanche's mother with Viola Watkins and Blanche's former friend Cathy. In the first season Blanche told a story about Virginia breaking the star on their Christmas tree and blamed Blanche and Blanche was punished and blamed for ruining Christmas or something like that. The only thing Blanche said bad about her mother is that she accepted an El Dorado as a gift for Big Daddy cheating with Cathy. So don't really know the full extent of Blanche's relationship with her mother but had to be strained since Blanche ran away on multiple occasions one to be with Phillipe a tortured painter a.k.a. house painter. Dropped out of school at 15 to be a magician's assistant, ran off at age 16 to get married to a gas station attendant, at 17 ran off to New York and was a Rockette under an alias, and faked her death.  So Blanche doing all this seemed like she didn't get much attention from her parents.

It seemed that the ignore trait passed onto Blanche as she had a strained relationship with all her children and had the maid raise them more than her. She also had strained relationships with Virginia and Charmaine.

George cheated on her with David's mother but didn't meet George under good circumstances as she was engaged to someone else when she met George at a party. She sent her fiance off to get something to drink so she could dance with George. George didn't seem to mind or didn't know she was engaged and danced with her anyway. In Blanche's dream George said that his business partner was trying to frame him for embezzling so he had to run off but since a dream don't know how much of that is true. 

It seems to explain her promiscuity. Blanche seem to be looking for love but nobody was ever going to fill the void of love that Big Daddy & George left behind cause she only chased after shallow men who only liked her for her looks and any man that wanted more like Jake, John Quinn, the veteran/pharmacy guy (don't blame Blanche in regards to him), the guy who had a heart attack, she pushed away.

[MoistestCake]

On 4/6/2021 at 2:40 AM, Blakeston said:

Considering how much Blanche slept around, her being with a traveling salesmen named Chuck at one point doesn't mean much of anything. The only thing suggesting that Chuck was Charlie was the fake photo.

And Blanche doesn't get much sympathy from me, because she had clearly cheated on George during World War II with her coworker from the factory who was an excellent lover, er, riveter.

 

Surely when Rose and Charlie were married so were Blanche and George, meaning that no matter who that Chuck was, she still cheated on George? Or did George die much before Charlie? Because I'm not sure that makes sense...

[BigBingerBro]

3 hours ago, MoistestCake said:

Surely when Rose and Charlie were married so were Blanche and George, meaning that no matter who that Chuck was, she still cheated on George? Or did George die much before Charlie? Because I'm not sure that makes sense...

I always figured that George must have died far earlier than Charlie.  Next time I watch that one I will have to pay more attention to any subtle time-frame references.

[mythoughtis]

On 10/2/2021 at 11:10 AM, MoistestCake said:

Surely when Rose and Charlie were married so were Blanche and George, meaning that no matter who that Chuck was, she still cheated on George? Or did George die much before Charlie? Because I'm not sure that makes sense...

Blanche stated that she had slept with whomever officiated  George’s funeral. It was 8 days after a George died.  So whomever Chuck was, He could have been anytime after that.  But other then the double exposure photo, there was nothing to imply it was  Charlie.  He wasn’t the only traveling salesman  to have that first name. 

Edited October 4, 2021 by mythoughtis

[schnauzergirl]

Blanche said she mourned for George for 9 years and at some point I thought Rose said Charlie had been dead for 15.  If that's true, then Rose has been in Miami for a long time because she in her birthday episode she "told" Charlie she'd be moving because it was just too hard without him there.

[mythoughtis]

4 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

Blanche said she mourned for George for 9 years and at some point I thought Rose said Charlie had been dead for 15.  If that's true, then Rose has been in Miami for a long time because she in her birthday episode she "told" Charlie she'd be moving because it was just too hard without him there.

The pilot had Charlie dead for 15 years but it was later retconned to a few months before she moved to Miami and met Blanche and Dorothy.  5 years was mentioned at some point in the shows  run. 

[Sun-Bun]

On 9/14/2021 at 12:02 PM, Blakeston said:

The writers really thought that it was hilarious for someone assigned male at birth to wear women's clothing. It was a well they went to over and over again

Or don’t forget the time Stan was wearing Dorothy’s nightgown after he spent the night over. I remember that overplayed joke with several guys who spent the night with Dorothy. 

Those now oddly quaint jokes about homosexuality/cross-dressing/etc seem so outdated and clunky when you watch those old episodes now, but I sure appreciated them back then. 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! 
 

[Eri]

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

Or don’t forget the time Stan was wearing Dorothy’s nightgown after he spent the night over. I remember that overplayed joke with several guys who spent the night with Dorothy. 

Those now oddly quaint jokes about homosexuality/cross-dressing/etc seem so outdated and clunky when you watch those old episodes now, but I sure appreciated them back then. 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 I learned about "incontinence" thanks to Sophia!

[mmecorday]

"The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present" is one of my least favorite episodes. Howard Duff looks about as Sicilian as Anderson Cooper. Rose's subplot about getting horny at weddings is stupid. We've seen her at weddings before and she didn't act all hot and bothered then.

[BigBingerBro]

5 hours ago, mmecorday said:

"The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present" is one of my least favorite episodes.

Mine as well.  Where did these rich relatives all of the sudden come from and to never be heard from again?  Why were Rose and Blanche invited?  Lousy writing.  It could have been much better.