All Episodes Talk: Picture It. PTer. Today.

[Giuseppe]

I just watched the murder mystery episode for the umpteenth time. It's one of my favorites, but one thing about it has always bugged me. At the end, Rose reveals that the people at the club asked her to spray the mirror Dorothy used to check for breath with de-fogger. WHY would the club ask her to do that? HOW would the people at the club even have the first clue that Dorothy would use the mirror to check Kendal's breath? How did they even know someone would have a mirror? That whole plot point just makes no damn sense. All they had to do was say that Kendal held his breath when Dorothy checked. Shouldn't he have been doing that anyway if he was pretending to be dead?? Ugh, it really irks me.

Still, Sophia has some fun lines in this episode, especially "Big deal, I took a whole place set", and I hate that syndication edits cut out her "not part of the show, people, not part of the show!" when Dorothy holds the knife to her neck.

Edited May 13, 2019 by Giuseppe

[BigBingerBro]

4 minutes ago, Giuseppe said:

WHY would the club ask her to do that? HOW would the people at the club even have the first clue that Dorothy would use the mirror to check Kendal's breath? How did they even know someone would have a mirror? That whole plot point just makes no damn sense. All they had to do was say that Kendal held his breath when Dorothy checked. Shouldn't he have been doing that anyway if he was pretending to be dead?? Ugh, it really irks me.

It's my favorite episode too!   I totally agree about the mirror and the defogger.  The writers didn't really think it through, but I have a feeling they thought it would be a clever twist.

[Snow Apple]

That never made sense to me either. Why didn't Dorothy check his neck for a pulse? You can't stop that by holding your breath.

I also love this episode anyway. So many good quotes.

"St Olaf?" " South side? "

 "If not now, when?!"

[Ria]

15 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

That never made sense to me either. Why didn't Dorothy check his neck for a pulse? You can't stop that by holding your breath.

I also love this episode anyway. So many good quotes.

"St Olaf?" " South side? "

 "If not now, when?!"

It makes no sense. Just like with Trudy McMann. You can’t really pretend to be dead for several minutes while people are standing all around you and would notice if you twitched or breathed. 

[MoistestCake]

On 5/11/2019 at 2:02 AM, Ria said:

In one episode a man asks Blanche if she is in the book and she replies “in bold print”. 

True true. It's not impossible for them to have found the number. Especially since it's in bold. 

[MoistestCake]

1 hour ago, Ria said:

It makes no sense. Just like with Trudy McMann. You can’t really pretend to be dead for several minutes while people are standing all around you and would notice if you twitched or breathed. 

They're skilled actors, they can pretend anything. 

[LilWharveyGal]

35 minutes ago, MoistestCake said:

True true. It's not impossible for them to have found the number. Especially since it's in bold. 

One might even say that locating the number is 555-EASY. 🙂

[Bastet]

I just watched "In a Bed of Rose's" for the umpteenth time, and the reference to Arnie got me thinking.  In episode three, we learn she hasn't slept with anyone since Charlie died, but she's getting serious with Arnie and he's invited her to go on a cruise with him, and she's torn on what to do.  At the end of the episode, we learn she slept with him - and had a great trip altogether.  So it would seem they're going to keep dating.

By episode 13, she's ready to marry Dr. Jonathan Newman, so she must have stopped dating Arnie.

Two episodes later is when she sleeps with Al Beatty.  Her next date three months after "killing" him is Arnie.  And it must be the same Arnie - not another Arnie she met but did not date during those three months - because she says she adores him, he's very special to her, and she's already slept with him, so if she doesn't sleep with him when they go away this weekend, he'll think she doesn't like him anymore.

So where has Arnie been in between?  The easy answer is they were dating non-exclusively, but if she's having sex with at least one other man and dating another one so intensely she's contemplating marriage to him, she really ought not get on Blanche's case about the way she goes through men.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Bastet

[scarynikki12]

When we meet Arnie it's said that he's just come in from out of town (never specified) which is why Blanche is scrambling to find him a date for that same evening. I look at it as Arnie is from somewhere close enough that he can come to Miami for regularly for visits so he and Rose end up having a Blanche/Mel Bushman style relationship. That allows her to date Jonathan, Al, and anyone else without being unfaithful to Arnie and then the two will get together when he does come to town.

[MoistestCake]

On 6/5/2019 at 4:49 AM, scarynikki12 said:

When we meet Arnie it's said that he's just come in from out of town (never specified) which is why Blanche is scrambling to find him a date for that same evening. I look at it as Arnie is from somewhere close enough that he can come to Miami for regularly for visits so he and Rose end up having a Blanche/Mel Bushman style relationship. That allows her to date Jonathan, Al, and anyone else without being unfaithful to Arnie and then the two will get together when he does come to town.

That's some fine fanwanking. Love it.

[mmecorday]

Quote

Two episodes later is when she sleeps with Ned Beatty. 

I think his name was Al Beatty. I was wracking my brain trying to remember when Rose slept with Ned Beatty. 🙂

[Bastet]

Oh my gods, I can't believe my brain did that.  Ha!  I'll fix it.

[Ria]

I’ve always wondered why is there an exclamation point on the front door? 

[mishy]

2 hours ago, Ria said:

I’ve always wondered why is there an exclamation point on the front door? 

I believe the story goes that Bea Arthur carved that in the door for good luck or when the series got picked up or... something like that.

[BigBingerBro]

4 hours ago, mishy said:

I believe the story goes that Bea Arthur carved that in the door for good luck or when the series got picked up or... something like that.

I saw an interview done not to long before she passed and the interviewer asked about that and she had no idea what he was talking about.  I have a feeling someone made that one up.

[Ria]

They did an episode about one of Dorothy’s pupils being deported for being here illegally. But then have Uncle Angelo arrive from Italy for a visit and Dorothy gives him an apartment and he just stays. No mention of paperwork or visas or court dates. Just as illegal. 

[mmecorday]

I love the episode about Henny Penny! The costumes the girls wear are really quite something and the guy who plays Foxy Loxy has a great singing voice.

[MoistestCake]

On 6/11/2019 at 1:56 PM, Ria said:

They did an episode about one of Dorothy’s pupils being deported for being here illegally. But then have Uncle Angelo arrive from Italy for a visit and Dorothy gives him an apartment and he just stays. No mention of paperwork or visas or court dates. Just as illegal. 

But he wasn't turned in by Dorothy. The pupil wasn't turned in by her exactly but she drew the wrong kind of attention to him. Angelo was on TV so maybe that could have had someone dig into who he is when he complained about his landlords. Or Angelo already had all the paperwork in place, maybe he lived in the US in the past? We know he attended Dorothy's wedding, but then not seen for like 40 years when he was married and pretending to be a priest....(the whole Angelo character made NO sense). Or if he is really Aunt Angela after a sex and accent reassignment then I guess he has the paperwork as we know she lived in the USA for 30 years.

Edited July 5, 2019 by MoistestCake

[Bastet]

11 hours ago, MoistestCake said:

Angelo was on TV so maybe that could have had someone dig into who he is when he complained about his landlords.

Nah, let's be real - he's white, that wasn't going to happen.

[Blakeston]

Mario's family being deported based on his essay is something that doesn't really make any sense - unless he actually wrote about his family entering the country using, shall we say, unconventional methods.

And if that was in his essay, then Dorothy was a moron for wanting to publish it.

[BigBingerBro]

5 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Mario's family being deported based on his essay is something that doesn't really make any sense - unless he actually wrote about his family entering the country using, shall we say, unconventional methods.

And if that was in his essay, then Dorothy was a moron for wanting to publish it.

I'm pretty sure Dorothy had no idea about Mario's status.  Also, wasn't he living with an uncle or something? Reading between the lines, it seemed like Mario was sent to the US for his education.

[Blakeston]

17 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

I'm pretty sure Dorothy had no idea about Mario's status.  Also, wasn't he living with an uncle or something? Reading between the lines, it seemed like Mario was sent to the US for his education.

She didn't know.

I'm just saying that there would be no reason for Mario to get deported based on his essay, unless the essay actually said something like, "I can still remember the day my uncle snuck me into this country in the back of a van."

And if it said that, then Dorothy should have figured out his status, and realized that she should keep the essay to herself.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I'm just saying that there would be no reason for Mario to get deported based on his essay, unless the essay actually said something like, "I can still remember the day my uncle snuck me into this country in the back of a van."

His essay revealed he came here, rather than being born here, and there are plenty of people out there, especially in Florida, for whom that's enough to question brown folks' immigration status, especially if - we don't know, as we only heard a snippet - the essay also indicated he lives with his uncle rather than his parents (hell, there are plenty of people for whom his skin tone would be enough).  He made the paper for winning a local contest with an essay about his first night in America.  I have no trouble believing someone looked at the picture and got all pissy about "someone like him" winning with a story like that.  Or it could have happened even before that, by someone on the judging panel. 

Unless whoever said hey, you should look into this kid's status worked for the INS, the timeline is accelerated - not a lot of time for them to get the tip, get around to checking it out, and showing up for him.  And he wouldn't have been allowed to wander freely after the deportation order was issued, to go say goodbye to Dorothy.  It's unlikely he wouldn't have been cautioned by his family to fly under the radar more (Dorothy is the one who submitted the essay for the contest, but just putting it out there to teachers is something most in his shoes would be more circumspect about.)  Dorothy, given the school systems in which she'd worked, should have realized the potential implications and not submitted the essay without raising the issue with him first, and her just talk to the judge and it will all work out naivete after the fact is also out of step with someone with her experience and habit of staying informed about the world around her.  Those are all okay, it's TV (and a sitcom at that) allowances I have to make.  But the basic premise of his essay ultimately leading to deportation?  No suspension of disbelief required.

[MoistestCake]

Just watching the ep when the girls go to the Caribbean to that awful hotel and Sofia stays at home and hits on the Japanese gardener Toshiro. She tells him she was married 45 years, and that works. Say she married at 20, plus 45 years makes her 65, and when the show starts she's 80 having been widowed for 15 years. So give or take a few years, and surprisingly, the maths works.

[mmecorday]

The episode about the robbery was on this morning. It's one of the funniest Season 1 episodes, IMO, but Betty White delivers the worst performance of the four. I cannot stand the way she says, "The robbers will always beeeeeee here!"

At the beginning of the episode, the girls are returning from a Madonna concert. Now Madonna is the age of a Golden Girl. Good grief.

I love the ending with Rose shooting Blanche's favorite vase (pronounced vahz) and narrowly missing Lester. The way Rue says, "Oh, go on home, you old fool!" kills me every single time.

Also, whenever my live-in girlfriend obsesses too much about someone breaking into our house while we're away, I always say, "We have Malox and estrogen!"

[BigBingerBro]

4 hours ago, mmecorday said:

The episode about the robbery was on this morning. It's one of the funniest Season 1 episodes,

So true!  My favorite quote from this episode will always be "One day I'll belch and Stable Mabel here will blow my head off!"

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, mmecorday said:

The episode about the robbery was on this morning. It's one of the funniest Season 1 episodes, IMO, but Betty White delivers the worst performance of the four. I cannot stand the way she says, "The robbers will always beeeeeee here!"

That line delivery makes me cringe.

But I love the episode overall; the vase shooting and Blanche's mace story make me laugh out loud every time.  Rue knocks both those scenes right out of the park.

When my mom and I play Scrabble, "disdam" is allowed.  "You're no good at disdam game."

[Ria]

8 minutes ago, Bastet said:

That line delivery makes me cringe.

But I love the episode overall; the vase shooting and Blanche's mace story make me laugh out loud every time.  Rue knocks both those scenes right out of the park.

When my mom and I play Scrabble, "disdam" is allowed.  "You're no good at disdam game."

I always wonder what happened to the dog. Sophia says he ran out the back (after the pathetic non-attempt by Blanche and Rose to stop her from going into the kitchen). Not worth looking for I guess. The disregard for the dog annoys me. 

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, Ria said:

The disregard for the dog annoys me.

Especially by Rose; the others have a fairly bad track record with caring about animals, but she was usually presented as concerned with their welfare.  Yet here, even though she's the one whose idea it was to get the dog in the first place, when he starts barking as they head towards the kitchen, she says, "I forgot about him."  And then does nothing when he runs off.

I guess this is before they decided she was an animal person (she says she's afraid of large dogs, too).

[mmecorday]

Maybe Harry Weston adopted the dog and named him Dreyfus.

[Ria]

19 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

Maybe Harry Weston adopted the dog and named him Dreyfus.

That would be perfect. 

[andromeda331]

10 hours ago, mmecorday said:

The episode about the robbery was on this morning. It's one of the funniest Season 1 episodes, IMO, but Betty White delivers the worst performance of the four. I cannot stand the way she says, "The robbers will always beeeeeee here!"

At the beginning of the episode, the girls are returning from a Madonna concert. Now Madonna is the age of a Golden Girl. Good grief.

I love the ending with Rose shooting Blanche's favorite vase (pronounced vahz) and narrowly missing Lester. The way Rue says, "Oh, go on home, you old fool!" kills me every single time.

Also, whenever my live-in girlfriend obsesses too much about someone breaking into our house while we're away, I always say, "We have Malox and estrogen!"

6 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

So true!  My favorite quote from this episode will always be "One day I'll belch and Stable Mabel here will blow my head off!"

6 hours ago, Bastet said:

That line delivery makes me cringe.

But I love the episode overall; the vase shooting and Blanche's mace story make me laugh out loud every time.  Rue knocks both those scenes right out of the park.

When my mom and I play Scrabble, "disdam" is allowed.  "You're no good at disdam game."

I love that episode. Sophia hiding pieces from the vase in her purse.

[Snow Apple]

You shot my vase!

 I didn't shoot Lester.

 I rather you shot Lester!

[link417]

On 7/1/2019 at 11:16 AM, mmecorday said:

I love the episode about Henny Penny! The costumes the girls wear are really quite something and the guy who plays Foxy Loxy has a great singing voice.

I love that episode, too! I think it’s called “Henny Penny, Straight —No Chaser” or something like that. It doesn’t get nearly enough love. I think that one’s in a tie for my favorite episode ever along with “Journey to the Center of Attention” with Dorothy and Blanche performing at the Rusty Anchor.

[mmecorday]

There's a commercial for St. Jude's that's in heavy rotation on the channels I watch and it features archival footage of St. Jude's founder Danny Thomas. Whenever I heard him say "I'm Danny Thomas" I expect him also to say, "And I'm a lesbian."

[SweetSin]

In the episode where Dorothy has a gambling problem. Blanche is upset cause a co-worker didn't want to sleep with her cause he has a strict rule about doing that. The morning after Rose asks Blanche if she's going to work dressed in nightwear and Blanche fires back with something along the lines of wearing pumps and slippers. I was like Blanche, Dorothy type clapbacks don't work for you. Blanche you're better suited at throwing shade about beauty, fashion, and age. 

The Henny Penny episode was fun, loved Dorothy in the play, "Help, the outlook is drear." Sophia saying "self basting" when describing Turkey Lurkey. I'm like Sophia the play is for children.

[Ria]

14 hours ago, SweetSin said:

In the episode where Dorothy has a gambling problem. Blanche is upset cause a co-worker didn't want to sleep with her cause he has a strict rule about doing that. The morning after Rose asks Blanche if she's going to work dressed in nightwear and Blanche fires back with something along the lines of wearing pumps and slippers. I was like Blanche, Dorothy type clapbacks don't work for you. Blanche you're better suited at throwing shade about beauty, fashion, and age. 

The Henny Penny episode was fun, loved Dorothy in the play, "Help, the outlook is drear." Sophia saying "self basting" when describing Turkey Lurkey. I'm like Sophia the play is for children.

I love the Henry Penny episode. All three girls were perfectly cast as their respective birds and did a great job. But Sophia’s lines were stupid and unnecessary. Can’t that woman give it a rest? 

Edited August 12, 2019 by Ria

[Keywestclubkid]

On 8/8/2019 at 3:36 PM, mmecorday said:

There's a commercial for St. Jude's that's in heavy rotation on the channels I watch and it features archival footage of St. Jude's founder Danny Thomas. Whenever I heard him say "I'm Danny Thomas" I expect him also to say, "And I'm a lesbian."

that's gonna break Rose's heart 

[SweetSin]

3 hours ago, Ria said:

I love the Henry Penny episode. All three girls were perfectly cast as their respective birds and did a great job. But Sophia’s lines were stupid and unnecessary. Can’t that woman give it a rest? 

If my mother constantly to me like Sophia did Dorothy about my looks, style of dress (even though Dorothy's wardrobe was scary lol), having unattractive children, and how I can't get a man, I would have put her in the home. Sophia just attacked Dorothy's self-esteem and Dorothy had self-esteem issues since she thought John Neretti stood her up for the prom. 

[mmecorday]

What exactly was Blanche's job at the museum? She was home an awful lot just lounging around and reading "Lady Chatterley's Lover," which makes me think her job was just part time. In one episode she talked about how she gives directions to the cafeteria and the restrooms. But then in the episode where Dorothy gets a temp job at the museum, it seems Blanche is more of an administrative assistant. At any rate, she seemed to be able to make her own schedule. Nice work if you can get it!

[Hiyo]

Was she the one who organized the murder mystery weekend?

[Snow Apple]

I think she's an assistant and does the same work that Dorothy did as a temp. 

They don't show or mention any of the girls at work much unless it's necessary for the plot. At most, they show them walking into the house and I guess we're to assume they're coming home from work.

[schnauzergirl]

I don't remember which episode, but once Blanche said something about working 12 hours a week at the museum.  In the Libertine Belle episode she was being considered as an assistant to Kendall, traveling to Europe to acquire paintings.  

[BigBingerBro]

I always figured Blanche was a part time administrative assistant.

I never understood why Dorothy never managed to get a full time teaching position in all those years.  There was the time she could have gotten the assistant principal's job if it were not for her gambling addiction.  Then she was the corporate trainer for a brief period. She should have kept that gig just so save up some extra cash.

Rose's job as a grief counselor I always found baffling considering how naive she was.  

Sophia working at the pirate-themed restaurant always seemed a bit far-fetched too. 

[Snow Apple]

3 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Sophia working at the pirate-themed restaurant always seemed a bit far-fetched too. 

I think a lot of fast food places hire seniors. Wasn't one of her coworkers the grandma of the teenage manager? Maybe she got Sophia the job.

[Blakeston]

"The Monkey Show" was on this morning, and I have to say - the business with Stan and the stuffed-monkey-on-a-traffic-cone is so extraordinarily strange that I have to wonder if it was based on real life in some way.

Like, maybe that's a coping technique that's used for dogs who get lonely without their owners? I'm spitballing here.

I just can't imagine someone coming up with that concept out of the blue. I wonder if it was inspired by something real.

[Snow Apple]

5 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I just can't imagine someone coming up with that concept out of the blue. I wonder if it was inspired by something real.

Look up Harry Frederick Harlow. He did experiments with baby monkeys and fake "mothers."

Warning: it can be quite disturbing to read.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Snow Apple

[DXD526]

It may be strange, but I always enjoy 'The Monkey Show'. Dan and Morothy (he changed their names, no one would ever guess who they are)! "Hey, you're off the monkey, mazel tov!"

[Blakeston]

19 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Look up Harry Frederick Harlow. He did experiments with baby monkeys and fake "mothers."

Warning: it can be quite disturbing to read.

Oh, wow. I'd heard of those experiments a long time ago, but I never made the connection.

I suppose it says a lot that the writers heard about an experiment on infant monkeys and thought, "Yeah, that would be a good way to get through to Stan."

[Snow Apple]

15 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

Oh, wow. I'd heard of those experiments a long time ago, but I never made the connection.

I suppose it says a lot that the writers heard about an experiment on infant monkeys and thought, "Yeah, that would be a good way to get through to Stan."

I remember a grade school teacher talking about it but just gave us the bare facts. Probably because we were just school children. No internet back then. Reading about it now horrified me. The poor babies.

 I don't mind Stan with a monkey though. Even if he *does* make her sit at a separate table with the other wives.