All Episodes Talk: Picture It. PTer. Today.

[Ria]

I was thinking how each of the girls ended up in Blanche’s house in Miami. Blanche is easy. At some point during her marriage, she and George moved there and bought the house. They were still living there when George died. Eventually she felt she needed to take in renters to help with the bills. 

My fanwank on Dorothy and Sophia is shortly after Stan left her, Dorothy decided to move to Miami. Her kids were grown but unmarried and childless. Her son traveled with his band. Her sister lived in California and her brother in Newark. There was nothing really keeping her in Brooklyn and the cost of living in Florida is much lower than Brooklyn. So she moved and took Sophia with her. I imagine they lived together until Sophia had a stroke and went to Shady Pines. So Dorothy looked for a place to live on her own and answered Blanche’s ad. Sophia moved in after the Shady Pine’s fire. 

Rose is the one who puzzles me. She had a widowed mother, at least five kids and grandkids in St. Olaf. Plus numerous brothers and sisters and extended family and friends. I just can’t see her moving to Miami by herself. Selling the farm after Charlie died makes sense. But leaving everyone to move to Florida? I just don’t see why. Maybe all that family was suffocating. 

[scarynikki12]

4 minutes ago, Ria said:

I just can’t see her moving to Miami by herself. Selling the farm after Charlie died makes sense. But leaving everyone to move to Florida? I just don’t see why. Maybe all that family was suffocating. 

I think her flashback to her last birthday in St. Olaf explains it well. The winters were getting to be too rough for her as she got older but the larger reason was that she saw Charlie everywhere she looked and that was keeping her from moving on with her life the way she needed to. "I need to start over. Without you, Charlie." She could definitely have moved to Minneapolis to stay close to the family but no doubt heard about how many of her peers across the country were moving to Florida to retire and decided that sounded like the fresh start she needed.

[mythoughtis]

9 hours ago, Ria said:

My fanwank on Dorothy and Sophia is shortly after Stan left her, Dorothy decided to move to Miami. Her kids were grown but unmarried and childless. Her son traveled with his band. Her sister lived in California and her brother in Newark. There was nothing really keeping her in Brooklyn and the cost of living in Florida is much lower than Brooklyn. So she moved and took Sophia with her. I imagine they lived together until Sophia had a stroke and went to Shady Pines. So Dorothy looked for a place to live on her own and answered Blanche’s ad. Sophia moved in after the Shady Pine’s fire. 

Dorothy was newly separated when she moved in with Blanche. There’s a flashback that shows when she moved in.  Sophia was already in Shady Pines. I don’t think we were ever told exactly when Stan and Dorothy moved to Miami, but they did together. 

[Hiyo]

Quote

Dorothy was newly separated when she moved in with Blanche. There’s a flashback that shows when she moved in.  Sophia was already in Shady Pines.

Wasn't that whole episode full of flashbacks to when both Rose and Dorothy moved in? At roughly the same time? And none of the girls got along with each other until they discovered they all like cheesecake?

[Snow Apple]

7 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Wasn't that whole episode full of flashbacks to when both Rose and Dorothy moved in? At roughly the same time? And none of the girls got along with each other until they discovered they all like cheesecake?

And the only time we see them enjoy and laugh at one of Rose's St. Olaf stories.

[Hiyo]

Ah, yes. The Great Herring War between the Lindstroms and the Johannsens.

[mythoughtis]

14 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Wasn't that whole episode full of flashbacks to when both Rose and Dorothy moved in? At roughly the same time? And none of the girls got along with each other until they discovered they all like cheesecake?

I think so. 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

On 10/6/2019 at 7:07 AM, Hiyo said:

Ah, yes. The Great Herring War between the Lindstroms and the Johannsens.

You know, it's no wonder Blanche was so irritable that day. She was wearing magenta and we all know how much she hates that color.

[mmecorday]

Watching Bea and Rue try to stay in character while Betty tells that ridiculous story is one of the best TV moments ever. The way Bea laughs before she asks "Did they ever shoot a herring out of a cannon?" makes me smile every time. 🙂

[Snow Apple]

In the mother's day flashback episode, Blanche tells the story of when she almost eloped when she was 17. Her mother says that happened during 1949. The episode was in 1988 so that means Blanche was 55-56.

I guess she listened to her mother's lesson about a lady never revealing her true age.

[mmecorday]

I love that this show still makes me laugh out loud even though I have seen every episode hundreds of times. I was watching the one last night where Clayton announces he is going to marry his boyfriend Doug. When he's talking about how devoted they are to one another, he says that he knows Doug would bend over backwards for him. Dorothy quickly claps a hand over Sophia's mouth because she knows her mother is about to say something and then says in a baby-ish voice, "I love my mommy so much!" I laughed so hard I scared the cats.

[Black Knight]

I rewatched the lesbian Jean episode last night on Hulu. It still hasn't stopped being funny for me, and now I'm considering rewatching all of GG on Hulu. Are the full episodes there? I know in syndication, lines and scenes get cut.

[scarynikki12]

38 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

Are the full episodes there?

Yes! It's glorious!

[mmecorday]

Quote

I rewatched the lesbian Jean episode last night on Hulu. It still hasn't stopped being funny for me, and now I'm considering rewatching all of GG on Hulu. Are the full episodes there? I know in syndication, lines and scenes get cut.

The syndication edits can be especially hard on this episode. Sometimes Hallmark cuts out the dialogue before Dorothy tells Sophia that Jean's in love with Rose.

[slf]

Love Sophia's, "Jean is a nice person. She happens to like girls instead of guys. Some people like cats instead of dogs. Frankly, I'd rather live with a lesbian than a cat. Unless the lesbian sheds, then I don't know." Cracks me up every time.

[BigBingerBro]

Yet Sophia couldn't come to terms with Phil's cross-dressing, not would she drink from the same cup as Rose when it was thought she may have HIV.  I know  that consistency is not this show's strength but it seemed like she wavered quite a bit on her opinions.

[Hiyo]

I thought Sophia's reactions made sense and were consistent. People can be very open-minded until some of that comes home or moves in next door.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

2 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Yet Sophia couldn't come to terms with Phil's cross-dressing, not would she drink from the same cup as Rose when it was thought she may have HIV.  I know  that consistency is not this show's strength but it seemed like she wavered quite a bit on her opinions.

Overall she was pretty accepting of Phil’s cross dressing. She bought him something from Victoria’s Secret one year for Christmas. She talked  about his habit of wearing dresses even when she didn’t have to. The shame was an ass-pull for the funeral episode that was never referenced before or after. 
 

I'm not gonna ride her for being afraid to share cups with Rose. There was SO much misinformation about HIV and AIDS in the 80’s, and it was such a frightful disease. Plus, she got over it in the span of 72 hours. Even the most progressive, accepting people need a minute sometimes. 

[BigBingerBro]

Good points, but I'm just not a Sophia fan.  She was super funny in early seasons, but as time went on I found her downright mean, especially to Dorothy.  I know strokes can really do a number on people's personalities, but that excuse wore off really fast to me.

[Blakeston]

On 11/20/2019 at 1:21 PM, mmecorday said:

The syndication edits can be especially hard on this episode. Sometimes Hallmark cuts out the dialogue before Dorothy tells Sophia that Jean's in love with Rose.

That is monstrous.

[One Tough Cookie]

On 10/7/2019 at 7:30 PM, BlancheDevoreaux said:

You know, it's no wonder Blanche was so irritable that day. She was wearing magenta and we all know how much she hates that color.

But then she calmed herself by calling herself Water Lilly!

[Black Knight]

I've started watching from the beginning on Hulu.

I just finished the third episode, and I can't believe it - not one mention of St. Olaf, or a "Picture it" story yet! I'm excited to see when the writers came up with those.

[Black Knight]

Episode 5: The first "Picture it" story! (It's the Mama Celeste one, for the record.)

Also, Rose has started telling wacky farm anecdotes, but hasn't specifically said "St. Olaf" yet. But I see that this is how it all began...

Episode 6: I don't recall ever seeing this episode, where Blanche's "14-year-old" (suuuuure) grandson comes to visit, which means that when I was watching Lifetime reruns years ago, they either skipped this altogether or showed it only once. And I can see why. The second half's better than the first half, but oy, overall I'd consider this the first dud of the series.

Six episodes, and already three relatives have come to visit. I remembered that we met lots of relatives, some repeatedly, over the seasons, but not that the series started with this level of frequency. It reminds me of when I rewatched the first season of Xena: Warrior Princess a couple of years ago and realized how many of the beard boyfriends TPTB shoved into the first season.

[MoistestCake]

St Olaf doesn't appear till much later than you'd think, I think. And talking of St Olaf, I love how most of the people there have 2 jobs. My favourite is the OBMAG (I think) who is the obstetrician/magician, The Amazing Shapiro.

[BigBingerBro]

I'm right now watching "Long Days Journey Into Marinara"  where Angela comes for a visit and end up staying.  I love all of the "Angela" episodes as I can't get enough of Nancy Walker, but this episode has to have some of the most unbelievable and unrealistic situations.  First of all, it's decided that Angela will move from Italy to Miami in a matter of 30 seconds.  No "sleep on it" or anything.  Then as icing on the cake, Dorothy suggest that they "send for her things" so that Angela can stay with them while she looks for a new place to live.  Gee Angela must be loaded in order to hire a company to pack up her "things", deal with selling her home and tying up all loose ends in Sicily.  They had just got done saying that her and Sophia were they only family left.  All she had  in Sicily was a goat.   It's not like she had anyone close to deal with "sending her things".

The B story line is just as unbelievable.  Rose is babysitting Count Bessie, Mrs Buetel's entertainer chicken.  They all think that Angela killed and fried Count Bessie for dinner.  Why didn't they just come out and ask her about it at the dinner table?  Why didn't Rose scream at her for killing it?  Turns out she never killed the chicken, but it wandered off and eventually came back and Angela got the chicken out of the freezer.  

I will say one of my most favorites lines is in this episode however:

About the Generkenflurken Cake:

Rose:  I'm not one to blow my own Verterbenflurben.

Sophia:  I can't even reach mine!

[One Tough Cookie]

I think Rue hit it out of the park by deciding to make Blanche Southern.  The way she draws out certain words and her stories {much better than Rose's}.  Blanche considers herself the true Southern Belle {Miami's answer to Scarlet} and will ALWAYS consider herself the prettiest girl in the county. 

I've been watching a few episodes each nite from my dvd collection and I think she delivers her lines with just enough sass and humor.

Edited December 9, 2019 by One Tough Cookie

[Blakeston]

On 12/6/2019 at 9:49 PM, Black Knight said:

Episode 6: I don't recall ever seeing this episode, where Blanche's "14-year-old" (suuuuure) grandson comes to visit.

Are you saying he seems older or younger? Or are you saying it seems unlikely that she'd have a grandson that old? (If it's the latter, I definitely agree.)

On 12/8/2019 at 10:23 AM, BigBingerBro said:

The B story line is just as unbelievable.  Rose is babysitting Count Bessie, Mrs Buetel's entertainer chicken.  They all think that Angela killed and fried Count Bessie for dinner.  Why didn't they just come out and ask her about it at the dinner table?  Why didn't Rose scream at her for killing it?

Later in the episode Angela says that Rose called her a murderer. I guess Rose screamed that at her, and Angela just assumed Rose was a really extreme vegetarian who thinks that anyone who eats chicken is a murderer?

40 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

I think Rue hit it out of the park by deciding to make Blanche Southern.

Did she? I've always had the impression that the character was intended to be southern from the very beginning. I recall Rue saying that she wanted to play Blanche because she identified with a southern slut character more than she did with Rose.

In a lot of ways, the show is a broad ethnic comedy, using regional stereotypes (New Yorker, midwesterner and southerner) and ethnic stereotypes (Italian, Scandinavian and WASP) as blueprints for the characters.

[Black Knight]

27 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

Are you saying he seems older or younger? Or are you saying it seems unlikely that she'd have a grandson that old? (If it's the latter, I definitely agree.)

He seemed older. But you're right about the other thing too, which I hadn't thought about. It's a S1 episode, after all.

[One Tough Cookie]

Did she? I've always had the impression that the character was intended to be southern from the very beginning. I recall Rue saying that she wanted to play Blanche because she identified with a southern slut character more than she did with Rose.   

She had a regular accent in the first episode and I remember reading an interview wherein she said she wanted to give more flavor to the character.  But maybe she was taking credit for the writers.

Edited December 10, 2019 by One Tough Cookie

[MaggieG]

On 12/8/2019 at 10:23 AM, BigBingerBro said:

I will say one of my most favorites lines is in this episode however:

About the Generkenflurken Cake:

Rose:  I'm not one to blow my own Verterbenflurben.

Sophia:  I can't even reach mine!

My favorite line comes from this episode is from Angela:

"I got it out of the freezer. You think I know how to kill a live chicken? Who do I look like, Conan the Barbarian?"

A guy that I work with is visiting his girlfriend's family in Guatemala which reminds me of the always funny line: "Rose, that's an article about an earthquake in Guatemala!" The way Dorothy says Guatemala always kills me.

[schnauzergirl]

Actually, I always thought Angela would have known how to kill a live chicken.  

Edited December 17, 2019 by schnauzergirl

[Ria]

I think it’s funny that the St Olaf Woman of the Year trophy made it to Miami before the gals. It had to have been mailed after Rose had left St Olaf and Emma Ingahoffer was disqualified yet Harry Weston had it when they arrived back in Miami. 

[BookThief]

4 minutes ago, Ria said:

I think it’s funny that the St Olaf Woman of the Year trophy made it to Miami before the gals. It had to have been mailed after Rose had left St Olaf and Emma Ingahoffer was disqualified yet Harry Weston had it when they arrived back in Miami. 

They probably sent it Express and didn't use the Yokel service.

[One Tough Cookie]

Girls, I'm devastated, just devastated.  While watching an episode the other nite I realized I was older than any of the girls except Sophia!!   :O

[Miss Chevious]

3 hours ago, One Tough Cookie said:

Girls, I'm devastated, just devastated.  While watching an episode the other nite I realized I was older than any of the girls except Sophia!!   😮

I know! And when I first became acquainted with the Girls back in the day, I thought they were all so old! 

[Ria]

Maybe I’ve seen too many Columbo episodes, but when Rose confronts her dentist and tells him she’s going to report him to the state dental board and he starts to panic I always think “this is when the murder happens.” 

[BigBingerBro]

8 hours ago, Ria said:

when Rose confronts her dentist and tells him she’s going to report him to the state dental board

Speaking of that episode, which I think is a very good storyline, always bothers me how they ended that situation.  It made sense that the dentist would try to make Rose think it was all in her head or that she was groggy due to the gas, but for him to then start drooling over her chest almost 30 seconds later, just didn't make any sense.  If anything he would have been on his best behavior.  I can think of several other ways they could have resolved it. Then again, I'm not a sitcom writer.

[Josette]

On 12/7/2019 at 5:27 AM, MoistestCake said:

My favourite is the OBMAG (I think) who is the obstetrician/magician, The Amazing Shapiro.

 That might have been a figment of Blanche's imagination.  It was part of her dream.

[One Tough Cookie]

I'm having a Golden Girls Superbowl party tomorrow...I htae football and the husband is going t one so I figure it will be just me, the Girls and bag of-popcorn.

All are invited.

[Hiyo]

No cheesecake?

[One Tough Cookie]

13 hours ago, Hiyo said:

No cheesecake?

The whipped cream is in my bedroom...

[Snow Apple]

Aww. Nobody touched my contribution of maple syrup honey brown sugar molasses rice crispy log.

[One Tough Cookie]

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

Aww. Nobody touched my contribution of maple syrup honey brown sugar molasses rice crispy log.

My teeth just about fell out just reading about it!

[mmecorday]

I once had to explain to my mother why Blanche had whipped cream in her bedroom...

[One Tough Cookie]

4 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I once had to explain to my mother why Blanche had whipped cream in her bedroom...

That must have an awkward conversation!

[BigBingerBro]

5 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I once had to explain to my mother why Blanche had whipped cream in her bedroom...

This is interesting in that it sort of shows how the situations and conversations that the "girls" had were typically for a younger group of ladies.  I mean there is nothing wrong with lots of sex talk and innuendo, but the only one that seemed the most realistic was Rose.

[ByTor]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:23 PM, Black Knight said:

I rewatched the lesbian Jean episode last night on Hulu. It still hasn't stopped being funny for me, and now I'm considering rewatching all of GG on Hulu. Are the full episodes there? I know in syndication, lines and scenes get cut.

I talked about this episode at work the other day.  I think it was Blanche who said "I think Danny Thomas was one" with Dorothy replying "That's Lebanese!" I always thought it was funny that Blanche was the "experienced" one but was unfamiliar with the term "lesbian."

On 2/3/2020 at 7:24 PM, BigBingerBro said:

there is nothing wrong with lots of sex talk and innuendo, but the only one that seemed the most realistic was Rose.

Which reminds me of the girls being shocked when Rose said she and Charlie had sex every day, to which Rose said something like "I always find the people who talk the most about it are the ones doing it the least" followed by a camera shot to Blanche 🙂 

[Bastet]

31 minutes ago, ByTor said:

I always thought it was funny that Blanche was the "experienced" one but was unfamiliar with the term "lesbian."

But in an earlier episode, she'd been quick with a lesbian joke.  So the writers just needed her slow on the uptake this time for the sake of the scene.  Which is worth it, because her suggesting they not tell Rose because "she's not as worldly and sophisticated about these things as I am" is perfect.

33 minutes ago, ByTor said:

Rose said she and Charlie had sex every day,

Twice a day, at that.  I wish it was clearly played that she was having them on, to set Blanche up for that "those who talk about it most are usually having it least" zinger, because it's just utterly ridiculous.  Them having sex every morning and every night is ridiculous on its own, but then add in that she'd been post-partum umpteen times and he was a traveling salesman, and it's downright impossible.   

[Black Knight]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

But in an earlier episode, she'd been quick with a lesbian joke.  So the writers just needed her slow on the uptake this time for the sake of the scene. 

Yes, it's not like Dorothy and Sophia had to actually define the term "lesbian" for Blanche. She knew the term. I can buy her being slow on the uptake because of the context - she didn't expect Jean would be a lesbian, since she had a stereotype that lesbians are unattractive women who can't get men. So the word made no sense to her until she repeated it a couple of times to herself.

People aren't always aware how much our brains are involved in hearing. It's like, when one knows the topic of a conversation, the brain helpfully has a list of the most common words for that topic ready to go so that it can quickly match up the sounds the ears receive with words. It works great except for when the conversation takes a swerve and the brain receives a word that isn't anywhere on the list of the most likely words it expects to be receiving. Then the brain can make one sound like a gibbering idiot...rather like Blanche.

[Ria]

They’ve done that a few times with Blanche. She didn’t know what a lesbian was or an orator or bilingual. She’s not stupid. I guess with the latter two you can chalk it up to her always having sex on her mind and hearing different words in her head because of it.