Earlier this year, I did mention that I would do a blog about The Golden Girls and while I missed the date of the 40th anniversary, here's my blog post nonetheless.
Back in 1985 (September 14th to be exact), NBC premiered a brand new sitcom, created by Susan Harris. The premise focused on a house share in Miami with four older women. There was Sicilian/New York mother and daughter duo Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) and Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur), Southern nymphomaniac and the house owner, Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) and ditzy St. Olaf native, Rose Nylund (Betty White). Together, they made for quite a foursome.
Over the course of seven seasons (and one spin off), these ladies went through so many comedy shenanigans, often fought with each other as well as laughed with and at each other. However when the chips were down (various health issues and financial problems), they also had each others backs. That was in between copious amounts of late night snacking (usually involving cheesecake) and both Sophia and Rose often recalling stories that weren't relevant to the situation.
Then there were the men in their lives. While Sophia, Rose and Blanche would often lament their deceased husbands, Dorothy's ex husband, the ever feckless Stan (Herb Edelman) was the closest to a male regular the show. Usually he'd pop up with some hairbrained scheme or try to win Dorothy back. Dorothy would a series of suitors on the show but would end up with Blanche's uncle, Lucas (Leslie Nielson). The only other ongoing romance was Rose's relationship with university professor Miles Webber (Harold Gould) in the last few seasons.
I wouldn't be amiss doing a blog post about this show if I didn't mention the original fourth member of the gang. Had the producers not decided to make Sophia a regular (originally she was intended as a guest star), then gay housekeeper Coco (Charles Levin) would've completed the group. He's actually a decent character but replacing him with Sophia was the right call. Saying that, it's kind of a shame that he disappeared after the pilot episode and was never seen or mentioned again.
Of course while the show ended with seven seasons, there was an attempt to continue it in a way. Minus Dorothy, the rest of the ladies traded their Miami home for running a hotel with manager Roland Wilson (Don Cheadle), chef Chuy Castillos (Cheech Marin) and a random kid named Oliver Webb (Billy L. Sullivan). Thus, the premise of The Golden Palace. The show only lasted one season, managed to bring Dorothy, Stan and Miles in for guest appearances but some of the characters would also pop up in others shows such Empty Nest and Nurses.
Now, I watched repeats of this show when I was younger and I always found it entertaining but it was also a show that knew how to take topical issues such as LGBT issues, HIV, homelessness, depression, loneliness, death, etc with such flair and the theme tune - Cynthia Fee's Thank You For Being A Friend is an iconic number. Plus, there's no doubt that certain female led shows were heavily influenced by this show since it's ending.
If you've never seen this show, you're seriously missing out. Go check it on Disney+ right now.
