The Girls' Families: The Rude & Ungrateful

[AndySmith]

Yeah but then you have Rose's own kids who were nothing like Rose, either. And that still doesn't explain how Rose's adoptive parents and siblings just don't seem like the typical St. Olaf residents.

[Maherjunkie]

U expected a town full of Copper Topper triplets.

[BitterApple]

Speaking of Rose's daughters, why were all the kids such assholes? Rose's daughter's were bitches, Blanche's daughters treated her horribly, Dorothy's son was a moocher and Sophia's daughter Gloria was rich, yet Sophia was scraping by on Social Security. You'd think she could've sent her mother a couple hundred a month in spending cash instead of making Dorothy do all the heavy lifting. 

I know this next one isn't really a continuity error, but more of a petty gripe. It always killed me how the girls had different bathrobe/nightgown combinations in every episode. I mean, seriously? Who owns that much sleepwear? 

Edited March 14, 2017 by BitterApple

[camom]

Quote

Sophia's daughter Gloria was rich, yet Sophia was scraping by on Social Security. You'd think she could've sent her mother a couple hundred a month in spending cash instead of making Dorothy do all the heavy lifting. 

But wasn't there an episode when Dorothy found out that Gloria and Phil had been sending money to Sophia but she'd been hiding it from Dorothy?  If I'd been Dorothy I would have shipped Sophia off to live with one of them after that!

[EarlGreyTea]

18 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Speaking of Rose's daughters, why were all the kids such assholes? Rose's daughter's were bitches, Blanche's daughters treated her horribly, Dorothy's son was a moocher and Sophia's daughter Gloria was rich, yet Sophia was scraping by on Social Security. You'd think she could've sent her mother a couple hundred a month in spending cash instead of making Dorothy do all the heavy lifting. 

I know this next one isn't really a continuity error, but more of a petty gripe. It always killed me how the girls had different bathrobe/nightgown combinations in every episode. I mean, seriously? Who owns that much sleepwear? 

I thought Dorothy's kids were decent. Sure, Michael was a moocher but he respected Dorothy and treated the roommates well. Although it's rather implied that he was a crappy husband/father, so scratch that.

Blanche's daughters, I give them a pass. Blanche herself said she wasn't a very good mother to them, although they did keep coming around. To Blanche's credit, she did make an effort during the series, and my all time favorite Blanche-as-a-mother scene came during the scene where she had to practically beg Janet for a visit. It was kind of grim, but I thought we were meant to have some hope at the end, since Janet did agree to let her visit.

I'd love to have seen Blanche and Rose's sons, for comparison's sake. Didn't one of their sons pop up on Golden Palace? Or was that Blanche's brother (not Clayton)?

I'd also loved to have seen all the kids together with their parents. The Dorothy/Stan/Kate/Michael combo I would have loved to seen, just to see what dynamic they had. Stan's affection for his kids with Dorothy was touching.

[BitterApple]

IIRC, it was Blanche's son who appeared on Golden Palace. 

[legaleagle53]

6 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

IIRC, it was Blanche's son who appeared on Golden Palace. 

Both.  Blanche had a visit from one of her sons in one episode and from her mentally-challenged older brother in another.  In the latter's case, he developed a crush on Rose that nearly ended in disaster when Blanche tried to interfere rather than let Rose handle it.

Edited March 15, 2017 by legaleagle53

[BitterApple]

Just now, legaleagle53 said:

Both.  Blanche had a visit from one of her sons and from her older brother, who was mentally challenged and developed a crush on Rose that nearly ended in disaster when Blanche tried to interfere rather than let Rose handle it.

Wait a minute, Blanche had a mentally challenged older brother?! I thought she had three siblings: Clayton, Virginia and Charmaine? Where'd they pull this other guy from? I don't remember much about Golden Palace because it sucked and I was pretty young during it's short run, but one of the things that irked me about Golden Girls as I watched the reruns was how lazy production was in terms of keeping storylines and characters consistent. I can't think of any other sitcom that was so all over the place like this one was.

[legaleagle53]

5 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Wait a minute, Blanche had a mentally challenged older brother?! I thought she had three siblings: Clayton, Virginia and Charmaine? Where'd they pull this other guy from? 

Yep.  I forget his name, but he was poignantly played by Ned Beatty.  Blanche told Rose that she never mentioned him before because in her day, such things as mental retardation were simply not openly discussed, and for that reason, her older brother had been put away for some time.  In other words, she never mentioned him to Rose, Dorothy, or Sophia because she was ashamed of him, which is why she tried to interfere when he developed a crush on Rose, despite Rose's warning to let her handle the matter.

Edited March 15, 2017 by legaleagle53

[BitterApple]

19 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Yep.  I forget his name, but he was poignantly played by Ned Beatty.  Blanche told Rose that she never mentioned him before because in her day, such things as mental retardation were simply not openly discussed, and for that reason, her older brother had been put away for some time.  In other words, she never mentioned him to Rose, Dorothy, or Sophia because she was ashamed of him, which is why she tried to interfere when he developed a crush on Rose, despite Rose's warning to let her handle the matter.

Lulz! So she never mentioned this hidden brother to the women she lived with and was best friends with for seven years?! I know it's entertainment and I can't look at a fictional show through a real-world lens, but that's a little out there, even for Golden Girls. Sounds like the Golden Palace writers were desperate for material. 

Edited March 15, 2017 by BitterApple

[legaleagle53]

7 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Lulz! Wait, so she never mentioned this hidden brother to the women she lived with and was best friends with for seven years?! I know it's entertainment and I can't look at a fictional show through a real-world lens, but that's a little out there, even for Golden Girls. Sounds like the Golden Palace writers were desperate for material. 

It's one of the reasons viewers hated that show and have been pretending for the past 20-odd years that it never existed.  And by the way, Rose herself read Blanche the riot act for not only interfering in the matter between her and Blanche's brother, but also for never even mentioning him during the entire time that she and Rose had been friends.

[AndySmith]

It might have worked better had he been a cousin that Blanche thought of as a brother.

[camom]

I don't remember a lot about Golden Palace so I was looking stuff up.  Blanche's son Matthew was played by one of my favorite comedians, Bill Engvall.  Looks like you can see episodes on youtube, so I may have to take a gander.

[ButterQueen]

On 3/14/2017 at 1:56 AM, BitterApple said:

 

I know this next one isn't really a continuity error, but more of a petty gripe. It always killed me how the girls had different bathrobe/nightgown combinations in every episode. I mean, seriously? Who owns that much sleepwear? 

Oh, this was something I loved.  All the jammies!!!

[xander874]

On 3/14/2017 at 8:13 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

To Blanche's credit, she did make an effort during the series, and my all time favorite Blanche-as-a-mother scene came during the scene where she had to practically beg Janet for a visit

Yes that scene is very good. But I was always thrown when we actually saw Janet late in the series. In Season 1, she had a 13-year old son but she looked 30ish in Season 7 when she brought her young daughter to visit. (I miss sexy grandma). Guess she could've been a teen mother, but that's a wide age gap.

[mmecorday]

I would have liked to have seen Blanche with all of her siblings at Big Daddy's funeral. Seems like Virginia was the only other sibling who showed up for it.

[Snow Apple]

It's not just the girl's children. Mile's daughter was kind of awful too. Makes you wonder about the writers' real life children.

Although in Mile's case, perhaps his "daughter" was really an undercover agent just trying to be helpful and want Rose to dump the guy because the Cheeseman is after him which puts her life in danger. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[qtpye]

In the episode where Dorothy's son hooks up with Rose's daughter did it serm odd to anyone that double digit IQ Rose had such an overachieving child?

Of course children do not always turn out like their parents and Rose was supposed to be very competitive...so who knows?

[mmecorday]

Quote

In the episode where Dorothy's son hooks up with Rose's daughter did it serm odd to anyone that double digit IQ Rose had such an overachieving child?

I don't think Rose was really dumb. I think she was just terribly naive. I remember Betty White defining her character that way. At least this daughter wasn't berating Rose for not taking better care of Charlie's finances. (Hated that episode!)

[Blakeston]

On 10/9/2017 at 10:50 AM, mmecorday said:

I don't think Rose was really dumb. I think she was just terribly naive. I remember Betty White defining her character that way. At least this daughter wasn't berating Rose for not taking better care of Charlie's finances. (Hated that episode!)

That was the original concept for the character - that she wasn't dumb, just naive and extremely literal.

I really wish they had kept her that way, but as the seasons went on, they made her dumber and dumber.

[schnauzergirl]

Love the Girls, but as the series went on I disliked two things -- making Rose stupid, not just naive and the constant and increasingly mean-spirited comments about Dorothy's looks.   

[HoboClayton]

 "'And if Blanche doesn't get that permit, I think they could make her live in a shoe."

Damn it, Rose.. 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

On 10/13/2017 at 11:21 AM, Blakeston said:

That was the original concept for the character - that she wasn't dumb, just naive and extremely literal.

I really wish they had kept her that way, but as the seasons went on, they made her dumber and dumber.

Her asking the minister why Mary and Joseph didn't call ahead for reservations considering how hard it can be to get a reservation during the holiday season and her conversation with The Cheese Man about "I'll call you soon and the phone will ring" where she was completely confused both drove me up the wall.  There is a little dumb and then there is too stupid to function.

[EarlGreyTea]

On 9/15/2017 at 2:35 PM, mmecorday said:

I would have liked to have seen Blanche with all of her siblings at Big Daddy's funeral. Seems like Virginia was the only other sibling who showed up for it.

The beauty of the episode was that the funeral itself was offscreen, so we can fanwank that all the kids were there, we just didn't see it because we weren't there. For all we know, all of Blanche's kids showed up too.

On 9/23/2017 at 10:30 AM, Snow Apple said:

It's not just the girl's children. Mile's daughter was kind of awful too. Makes you wonder about the writers' real life children.

Although in Mile's case, perhaps his "daughter" was really an undercover agent just trying to be helpful and want Rose to dump the guy because the Cheeseman is after him which puts her life in danger. Yeah, that's the ticket.

This is the theory I've decided to go with. The undercover agent thinks Miles is getting too cozy in his new life, so she wants to break it up for the reasons you mentioned. It explains why she doesn't know him well enough to know he's ready to date. Although now that I think about it, who knows if there was ever a wife to begin with? That may have just been part of his cover. God, that episode kills me. "Well don't give her any cake!" "Here's a president you've never seen!"

[langway]

On 10/22/2017 at 8:18 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

The beauty of the episode was that the funeral itself was offscreen, so we can fanwank that all the kids were there, we just didn't see it because we weren't there. For all we know, all of Blanche's kids showed up too.

This is the theory I've decided to go with. The undercover agent thinks Miles is getting too cozy in his new life, so she wants to break it up for the reasons you mentioned. It explains why she doesn't know him well enough to know he's ready to date. Although now that I think about it, who knows if there was ever a wife to begin with? That may have just been part of his cover. God, that episode kills me. "Well don't give her any cake!" "Here's a president you've never seen!"

Lmao the “don’t give her any cake” line kills me every time. 

 

The one daughter who was all about Charlie’s finance was such a twat. It became pretty evident when granddaughter Charlie was talking about how rich he was that the only good things her mother told her about him was that he had money. Not caring, loving, fun, just that he was rich. Kinda sickened me tbh. 

[Snow Apple]

5 hours ago, langway said:

The one daughter who was all about Charlie’s finance was such a twat. It became pretty evident when granddaughter Charlie was talking about how rich he was that the only good things her mother told her about him was that he had money. Not caring, loving, fun, just that he was rich. Kinda sickened me tbh. 

I must be the few who never minded Kirsten in that episode. I didn't get the impression she wanted the money. She was just upset that Rose blew all the money when there was suppose to be enough to set Rose up for life. Rose even explained Charlie being successful was almost all the children knew of him because that's what she told them (to explain why he was away so much.) Once Rose told the truth, Kirsten understood that Rose wasn't some merry widow living the high life with the money Charlie worked for his whole life.

Even if the lie was the truth and of course Rose can spend the money however she wants, but Kirsten was probably feeling Rose was disrespecting Charlie, combined with the shock of her mother being so "un-Rose" like.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Snow Apple

[schnauzergirl]

On 12/1/2017 at 7:21 PM, Snow Apple said:

I must be the few who never minded Kirsten in that episode. I didn't get the impression she wanted the money. She was just upset that Rose blew all the money when there was suppose to be enough to set Rose up for life. Rose even explained Charlie being successful was almost all the children knew of him because that's what she told them (to explain why he was away so much.) Once Rose told the truth, Kirsten understood that Rose wasn't some merry widow living the high life with the money Charlie worked for his whole life.

Even if the lie was the truth and of course Rose can spend the money however she wants, but Kirsten was probably feeling Rose was disrespecting Charlie, combined with the shock of her mother being so "un-Rose" like.

Snow Apple, I'm with you about Kirsten.  Happy to know I'm not alone!

[Ria]

The writers must love musicians. Dorothy’s son, Mile’s daughter and Rose’s sister were all professional musicians. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

They were also kind of shitty. Maybe the writers hated musicians. 

[MoistestCake]

On 18/10/2017 at 8:08 PM, BlancheDevoreaux said:

Her asking the minister why Mary and Joseph didn't call ahead for reservations considering how hard it can be to get a reservation during the holiday season and her conversation with The Cheese Man about "I'll call you soon and the phone will ring" where she was completely confused both drove me up the wall.  There is a little dumb and then there is too stupid to function.

Exactly. And believing Charlie was communicating thru Sophia's body. That's the worst, and cruelest. 

[Eri]

I've been binging GG season 1-3 and came across the one where Gloria #1 comes to visit and wants Sophia to live with her. With the way Sophia always rattled on about how much of a "better" daughter Gloria was, I think they could have compromised and have Sophia live with Gloria six months out of the year and then live with the Girls the other 6 months. I think that'd have made the show a bit more interesting, the trio-centric episodes were always fun.

[Mabinogia]

56 minutes ago, Eri said:

I think they could have compromised and have Sophia live with Gloria six months out of the year and then live with the Girls the other 6 months. I think that'd have made the show a bit more interesting, the trio-centric episodes were always fun.

Sophia was the only one I could have done without, so that would have been fine by me. I did find it ridiculous that, with all her talk about how much better Gloria's life was, that Sophia wouldn't go live with her, but then she was one of the leads so she wasn't going anywhere. It was kind of a silly storyline because of that. 

[Blakeston]

On 1/5/2018 at 10:27 AM, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

They were also kind of shitty. Maybe the writers hated musicians. 

Let's not forget the stereotype they invented about music lovers!

[mmecorday]

"She's an even bigger music lover than I am!" (I loved Edward Winter, the actor who played Blanche's blind beau. He was so great as Col. Flagg on "M*A*S*H.")

[Goldenfan85]

The episode with Rose”s mother is in the first season where the more wacky sides of Rose”s St. Olaf stories  weren”t at the forefront of the show. The way Rose acted towards her mother makes sense as people are overprotective and overly condescending towards old people. And I think the mom actually had more health problems then we were led to believe as Sophia says that she ordered a special meal on the plane and an oxygen tank in the garage. She may have had just recovered from some problems and Rose wanted her to take it easy and overreacted to the extreme. 

Rose”s daughter had the right to be angry at least at first- she grew up idiolizing her father and thought that he made a lot of money which given their large farmhouse and Charlie being away from home a lot must have had her convinced that he was a hard working man who earned a large amount of money that Rose was able to live on with the pension checks on top of that. When Rose says she lost it all it blows her mind that Rose would throw away her father”s money in that way given how much Charlie was away from work. Then Rose stalls on speaking to her due to her not knowing what to do about it and Kirsten probably gets ticked off that Rose doesn”t try to apologize more for it by making the first move. Then when she does they are about to leave and Kirsten doesn”t feel like talking about it. 

I didn”t really care for slim Rebecca either- she was a better actress then the first Rebecca but I didn”t like how she dumped the baby on Blanche either. Michael was an interesting character even with the inconsistencies. 

[MoistestCake]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Rose's good intentions led to conflict with her mom and both daughters. I think that was the point of those episodes. 

Still Kirsten was a b*tch to her mother, being ashamed of her, and she should have apologised too (if not only). But your point that Rose set herself up for this conflict is a good one. 

[mmecorday]

Quote

Michael was an interesting character even with the inconsistencies.

He actually did resemble Dorothy and Stan. That was great casting.

[Snow Apple]

I like Michael in the Loraine episode. Hated him in the one where he's mooching off his parents. 

I'm not sure how I feel about him in the episode where he slept with Rose's daughter. But I sure still liked him a whole lot better than that snobby hypocritical  little bitch.

[MoistestCake]

On 2/18/2019 at 5:24 PM, mmecorday said:

He actually did resemble Dorothy and Stan. That was great casting.

And he made it to the Boston philharmonic, so he must have been a great musician as well. 

[CousinOliver]

I can’t forgive Kiersten because (1) it’s Rose’s money and she has every right to do what she wants with it; people are not owed an inheritance and (2) assuming Rose had made a bad investment, a daughter should be compassionate, not berate in disgust.   That’s the thing with investments, even conservatives choices include risk.  

And why is Rose a fool for losing money, but the truth about Charlie doesn’t get Kiersten’s ire up?  Mom can’t be bad with money, but it’s okay that her dad was?  

Edited February 20, 2019 by CousinOliver

[MoistestCake]

I'm with you on this CousinOliver. The whole thing really irritates me. Kristen is awful whenever she turns up. 

[mmecorday]

It's also weird that Kirsten is the only one of Rose's children to show up after she has her heart scare.

Blanche's grandson David is the one who bugged me the most. I think the reason we never saw again is that he probably got nabbed for drug trafficking. That kid was up to no good, I tell ya.

[Ria]

6 hours ago, mmecorday said:

It's also weird that Kirsten is the only one of Rose's children to show up after she has her heart scare.

Blanche's grandson David is the one who bugged me the most. I think the reason we never saw again is that he probably got nabbed for drug trafficking. That kid was up to no good, I tell ya.

And when Dorothy and Stan were going to remarry, apparently neither of their kids showed up to see their parents wedding. It wasn’t even mentioned if they showed up when Dorothy actually did get married. When Stan married Katherine, at least a line was thrown out that he had talked to them and they were going to try to attend. 

[BigBingerBro]

I caught the episode today where Rose (Kim Fung Toy) has a triple bypass.  

Blanche's daughter Janet comes to visit with a little girl (can't remember her name) but isn't Janet teenage David's mother?  No mention of him.

Also, Rose's daughter Kirsten supposedly lives an hour away - when did that happen?  Being an hour away from someone in the South Florida area is not considered anything major.  If that were true they'd more than likely being seeing each other quite often, therefore Kirsten would know how close the "girls" in terms of relationship.