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For the Hong Kong film, see The Golden Girls (1995 film).

The Golden Girls
File:Thegoldengirlsopen.jpgThe Golden Girls title card with Miami Beach seen in the background
Created by	Susan Harris
Starring	Beatrice Arthur Betty White Rue McClanahan Estelle Getty
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	180
Production
Running time	25 minutes (22 minutes for syndication)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 14, 1985 – May 9, 1992

The Golden Girls was a popular American sitcom that originally aired Saturday nights on NBC from September 14, 1985 to May 9, 1992. It can now be seen in syndication frequently on the Lifetime cable network in the United States, LIVING TV/LIVINGtv2 in the UK, FOX Classics in Australia.

According to The Golden Girls Trivia Guide, The Golden Girls is the third most popular sitcom in syndication, after Seinfeld and Friends.

The sitcom was originally conceptualized by NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff. Tartikoff was visiting his elderly aunt one day and saw how she and her next-door neighbor, who was also her best friend, interacted with each other. Despite their constant bickering and arguments, they were still the best of friends and loved each other. He thought that would make a great storyline for a show, and The Golden Girls was born.

Beginnings

The show was created by Susan Harris, who had also created the sitcoms Soap and Benson.

The premise of the show was four older women sharing a fashionable house together in Miami. Blanche owned the house; Dorothy and Rose responded to an ad on the bulletin board of a local grocery store for roommates. Blanche, Rose and Dorothy were later joined by Dorothy's mother Sophia, when Sophia's retirement home, Shady Pines, burns down. In the pilot episode, the character of Coco, a gay man who was the housekeeper was also featured, but was dropped from the show after the pilot was filmed.

Characters

The show starred Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, who maintained an arsenal of withering put-downs and killer glares; Betty White as dense Minnesotan Rose Nylund; Rue McClanahan as oversexed Southern belle Blanche Devereaux; and Estelle Getty as the wisecracking Sicilian Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy's mother (Getty is actually two months younger than Arthur, and was heavily made up to seem much older). In nearly every episode, the ladies eat cheesecake at the kitchen table as they talk about their problems and/or flashback to the past.

In the early days of casting, McClanahan auditioned for the role of Rose, while White auditioned for the role of Blanche, only to switch roles before the pilot. (White had previously played Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, making Blanche a more obvious casting choice.) During its original run, The Golden Girls won 65 Emmy nominations, 11 Emmy awards, 4 Golden Globe Awards, 2 Viewers for Quality Television awards. All the lead actresses won Emmy Awards for their performances on the show. The Golden Girls, along with All In The Family and Will & Grace, are the only shows where all the principal actors have won Emmy Awards.

Dorothy Zbornak

Main article Dorothy Zbornak

Dorothy Zbornak (née Petrillo) was an Italian girl raised in Brooklyn, New York City by her mother, Sophia, and her father, Salvador. Nicknamed "Pussycat" by her mother, Dorothy had a younger brother, Phil (a crossdresser who later died in the series), and a younger sister, Gloria, who married into money. After moving to Miami in her later years, Dorothy continued working as a substitute teacher.

In high school, Stanley Zbornak got Dorothy pregnant and a wedding took place to give the baby a name. Stan and Dorothy were married for 38 years, although Stan cheated on her numerous times, finally leaving her for a young flight attendant named Chrissy, whom he met on the way to a business conference in Hawaii. The captain on the flight told the flight attendants to "give the passengers a "lei"...she got confused and they now live on Maui". Dorothy had two children: Michael and Kate, and a grandchild named Robbie (through Michael and his wife Lorraine, who was in her forties and was African- American). The grandchild was barely mentioned in the series; possibly retconned from the show's storyline.

Though Dorothy and Stan were divorced, he made numerous appearances on the show, usually running to Dorothy whenever something went wrong in his life. Stan continually saw Dorothy as a comforting, reliable figure, even though he was the one who destroyed their marriage. Dorothy emerged from the divorce a stronger person, while her ex seemed to descend further into childishness. They ended up having a one-night stand in the first season (which Stan mistakenly thought would lead to a reconciliation), and, a few seasons later, started dating again and planned to remarry. Dorothy called off the reconciliation on the day of the wedding when Stan asked her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement. (Dorothy's proud mother Sophia, who had never quite forgiven her "yutz" son-in-law for cheating on her daughter, proudly announced to the wedding guests: 'She dumped him. Remember that!')

In the series' final episode, Dorothy married Blanche's uncle, Lucas Hollingsworth, played by Leslie Nielsen, making her Dorothy Zbornak Hollingsworth. Stan, though saddened to see Dorothy move on into her new life without him, attended the wedding and wished her a happy marriage.

Rose Nylund

Main article: Rose Nylund

Rose Nylund (adopted name Lindstrom) was from the small farming town of St. Olaf, Minnesota, a community of Norwegian-Americans that was once referred to by Dorothy as "the cradle of idiocy." Rose delighted in telling profoundly strange stories of life growing up in St. Olaf, stories which provided comedic fodder for her character. Most of the stories focused on people named Hans, Laars, or Sven and their interactions with herring fish.

Born out of wedlock to a monk and his lover, who died in childbirth (although she didn't know the identity of her birth parents until late in the show's run), Rose was adopted and raised by the large Lindstrom family, including her free-spirited adoptive mother, Alma (who visited Rose in Miami but died offscreen during the course of the series). Rose was one of nine siblings (once stating that her parents loved 'all nine of us equally'), several of whom, like Rose, were named after types of flowers, including two who visited Rose in Miami: Lily, who was blind, played by Polly Holliday and Holly, played by Inga Swenson, whom Rose could not stand.

Rose was married for many years to traveling insurance salesman Charlie Nylund, and they had five children: three daughters, Kirsten, Bridgette, and Jeanella, and two sons, Adam and Charlie, Jr. Kirsten and Bridgette would visit their mother in Miami on more than one occasion, but Adam, Charlie, Jr. and Jeanella were mentioned but never seen on the show. Rose had several grandchildren, including (female) Charlie and Charlene (the latter of whom visited Rose in The Golden Palace).

After Charlie's death in 1980 (he died of a heart attack while making love to her), Rose lived alone in St. Olaf for a while, and then moved to Miami and found work at a grief counseling center. During the show's run, Charlie's pension was cut off, and Rose was not able to make enough money to support herself at the counseling center, so she took a job as consumer reporter Enrique Mas' assistant at local TV station. Over the course of the series, Rose also volunteered at the local hospital and worked on a number of charity projects.

In later seasons, Rose became romantically involved with Miles Webber (played by Harold Gould), a college professor; Rose later discovered that Miles was part of the Witness Protection Program. Incidentally, the same actor who played Miles also played "Arnie", one of Rose's love interests in the first season.

Rose suffered from a number of health problems during the course of the show, most notably a massive heart attack during the show's final season. In one episode it was also indicated that Rose had been addicted to painkillers for many years, even though the story concept never appeared anywhere other than that stand-alone episode. Throughout the series, Rose showed a sometimes nasty competitive streak that went against her usual sweet nature.

Blanche Devereaux

Main article: Blanche Devereaux

Blanche Devereaux (née Hollingsworth) was a Southern belle who grew up on a plantation outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Blanche was always the apple of her father's ("Big Daddy") eye, even though she tried to spin it the other way many other times. Blanche had a love-hate relationship with her sisters Charmaine (Barbara Babcock) and Virginia (Sheree North). She also faced difficulty coming to terms with her brother Clayton (Monte Markham)'s homosexuality and her brother Tad (Ned Beatty)'s mental illness, which was shown in The Golden Palace.

The house on Richmond Street the girls shared initially belonged to Blanche, who had lived there for many years with her late husband, George. (Later in the series, however, she sold equal shares of the house to Dorothy, Rose and Sophia.) Blanche and George had six children; two daughters, Rebecca and Janet, both of whom made appearances on the show, and four sons, including Matthew, a CPA who appeared in the spin-off series The Golden Palace, and Biff, Doug, and Skippy (who had asthma) who are mentioned but never seen on the series. Blanche had several grandchildren, notably David (a teenage rebel who visited Miami), Sarah (who visited with her mother, Janet, during the last season), Melissa (a young beauty-pageant contestant), and Aurora (Rebecca's infant daughter, conceived by artificial insemination in one of the series' ongoing storylines).

George Devearaux's illegitimate son, David (played by Mark Moses), the seventh Devereaux child, was discovered when the young man turned up at the house, looking for George. This led Blanche to struggle with the fact that her husband, to whom she was devoted, was unfaithful during their marriage.

Throughout most of the series, Blanche was portrayed as man-hungry, and she clearly had the most male admirers -- and stories detailing various sexual encounters -- over the course of the series. At the funeral for her husband, George (who had died when a wrong-way driver hit him head-on), she made a date with a man, because, as Rose said, "she can't be without a man, do you know what I mean?"

Blanche was very vain, and as a result, she always tried to act younger than she was. Although it is widely believed that her exact age was never revealed (it was mentioned she even had her true date of birth removed from vital records "by order of the Governor"), in Season 3, Episode 25 entitled "Mother's Day" (Aired May 7, 1988), it is revealed in a flashback that Blanche was 17 in 1949. That would make her 53 years old when the series began in 1985 and 60 when it ended in 1992.

Blanche was employed at an art museum and her boss was Mr. Allen, a very nice man, although he helped his best friend's wife cheat on her husband. Dorothy came to work at the museum in later episodes, sparking jealousy in Blanche, which was always an ongoing trait of hers.

Blanche's unapologetic enjoyment of sex contributed to some of the best dialogue on the show. For example:

Blanche: Do you know what I hate doing most after a party?

Rose: Trying to find your underwear in the big pile?

Sophia Petrillo

Main article: Sophia Petrillo

Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy's mother, was born in Sicily and moved to New York after annulling her first (arranged) marriage to Guido Spirelli (she was also briefly engaged to a young man from her village, Augustine Bagatelli, as a teenager). She married Salvador Petrillo and they had three children: Dorothy, Phil (a crossdresser who was married with kids), and Gloria (who married rich).

Sophia was put away in a nursing home by Dorothy prior to the start of the series. She had suffered a stroke, which, on more than one occasion, was said to have destroyed the part of her brain that acted as a censor; indeed, much of Sophia's popularity comes from her humorous and often shocking frankness and general lack of inhibition. In the pilot episode, she came to live with the girls after Shady Pines burned to the ground. Sophia never had good things to say about her retirement home, and she alluded to poor treatment by the staff many times throughout the series' run (although, in an episode meant to raise awareness about poor-quality nursing homes, she did admit that the treatment at Shady Pines was satisfactory). There were constant hints in the series that she and her family back in Sicily had some mafia connections; she once stated that she had lived through "two world wars, fifteen vendettas, four operations and two Darrins on Bewitched". In one episode, she accidentally let slip that she knew what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.

Members of Sophia's family who appeared on the program include her sister Angela (played by Nancy Walker), her brother Angelo (played by Bill Dana), her daughter Gloria, and, in flashbacks, her husband Sal, and her mother (played by Bea Arthur), and Dorothy herself at a younger age, played by Lynne Green. Phil, her only son, was never seen; he died later on in the series, when he suffered a heart attack (due to his obese figure) while trying on large women's clothing. In the episode, "Ebbtide's Revenge", after her son's funeral, Sophia (with the help of Dorothy's no-nonsense personality and Rose's caring counseling expertise from her grief centre job) finally realized the root of her anger, broke into tears and ended the long feud with Phil's wife Angela (played by Brenda Vaccaro). Sophia always referred to Angela as "Big Sally" so that it got on Angela's nerves. Phil, Angela and their children lived in a trailer home in Newark. During the series' run, Sophia married Max Weinstock (played by Jack Gilford), Sal's business partner, and attempted to revive Sal and Max's old pizza-and-knish business, but they soon separated, realizing they were better off as friends (with occasional benefits).

Response

The Golden Girls was quite risqué for its time, as its main characters were four single older women who lived together, but were still up-to-date with pop culture and sexually active. Mild profanity and strong sexual innuendo were common on the program. The effects of Sophia's stroke enabled the character to get away with much more than the other women. The show was extremely controversial for often tackling topics that, at the time of airing, were taboo for TV and often simply not addressed in society. These included the coming out of Blanche's brother, menopause, gun control, domestic violence, suicide, cross-dressing, lesbianism, euthanasia, artificial insemination and senility. Perhaps the most controversial episode involved Rose getting tested for HIV years after receiving an untested blood transfusion and having to wait 72 hours for the results.

The show's popularity declines

The first head writers of the series were Kathy Speer and Terry Grossman, and wrote for the show's first four seasons (although it should be noted that as head writers, Speer and Grossman gave general ideas to lower staff writers, and personally wrote a mere handful of scripts each season). It was the popularity of the show's four leads and the stability in the show's writing staff, including Emmy winners Mort Nathan and Barry Fanaro, that kept the ratings as high as they were (eventually peaking at #4 for one season).

In 1989, Marc Sotkin, previously a writer on Laverne & Shirley, took over head writing responsibilities and guided the show, to varying degrees, during what would be its final three seasons. Other writers, including Richard Vaczy and Tracy Gamble, previously writers on 227 and My Two Dads, also assumed the roles of showrunners, and were themselves replaced in 1990 with Marc Cherry (who went on to create Desperate Housewives) and Jamie Wooten. Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz was also a long-time member of the writing staff. It was partially the abrupt and fast change in writing teams that slowly brought the ratings down, ultimately pulling it out of contention as a viable Top 10 show. Also, in 1990, Terry Hughes, regular director since early 1986, left the series.

In September 1991, NBC moved the series from its comfortable 9:00 p.m. EST time slot to 8:00 p.m.. NBC had trouble filling the slot since 227 vacated it in the spring of 1990. Each show they put in the time period failed, and The Golden Girls was stuck there as a last resort to save the night. As a result, the show fell from 10th place in the previous season to 30th place.

During the seventh season, Bea Arthur decided that she wanted to leave the series. The last episode of that season saw her character of Dorothy marry Blanche's Uncle Lucas (Leslie Nielsen).

Annual Nielsen Ratings

• 1985-1986 season: 7th place (tied with Dynasty), 21.8 average rating
• 1986-1987 season: 5th place, 24.5 average rating
• 1987-1988 season: 4th place, 21.8 average rating
• 1988-1989 season: 6th place, 21.4 average rating
• 1989-1990 season: 6th place, 20.1 average rating
• 1990-1991 season: 10th place, 16.5 average rating
• 1991-1992 season: 30th place (tied with In the Heat of the Night), 13.1 average rating

Post cancellation

File:GoldenGirlsS7.jpgSeason 7 DVD.]]

Network Reruns

Golden Girls had the distinction of replacing the long-running Wheel of Fortune on NBC's daytime schedule in June 1989, airing reruns at 11:00am (EST). Wheel of Fortune moved to CBS a few weeks later.

Syndication

American syndicated reruns began in the fall of 1990, distributed by Buena Vista Television, the syndication arm of Disney, whose Touchstone Pictures division produced the series. Starting in 1997, the Lifetime cable network acquired the exclusive rights to repeat the episodes in the US, which they still have as of 2006. The show remains popular in its second decade, with nightly airings still attracting roughly 1.2 million viewers.

In 2003, Lifetime hosted a special Golden Girls retrospective, showing some popular episodes as well as a reunion special featuring Arthur, McClanahan and White reminiscing about their times on the show; Estelle Getty was too ill to participate. Bea Arthur acknowledged that the reunion was not as touching as it should have been because of Getty's absence. Herb Edelman, who had played Dorothy's unorganized ex-husband Stan, had died before the reunion was broadcast. Arthur paid tribute to Edelman, saying that he was a wonderful, funny and very warm man, and was not like his character, Stan.

Continuity errors

The Golden Girls was one of the last sitcoms to have its complete initial run before the widespread advent of the Internet. With fans of a TV show now able to watch and discuss each episode, offer suggestions and even point out continuity mistakes, writers and producers have the option of keeping much better tabs on their potential viewers. As The Golden Girls took place before such avenues of communication were as widely available, the characters were written more as "concepts first, people second." While the sitcom was not unique in this respect, it did have its fair share of minor continuity errors, ranging from disappearing siblings and illnesses that may or may not have happened to the question of Sophia's age (after a while, her character simply replied "in my 80s" when asked).

• One of the core cast members, the housemates' gay cook, Coco, was dropped after the pilot episode, with no mention of what had happened to him. The off-screen explanation for Coco's disappearance had to do with network ratings. Although the Sophia character was only introduced as a guest who might make spot appearances to the sitcom, she garnered so much audience favoritism in her debut that the network executives decided to place Sophia (Estelle Getty) in permanently and removed the Coco character from the cast.
• In the pilot episode, Blanche's bedroom is off the living room. In all other episodes it is at the end of the hall.
• Rose's adoptive mother, Alma Lindstrom, appeared early on in the series played by Jeanette Nolan; a few seasons later, Rose mentioned that her mother was dead. Apparently Alma had died offscreen, since no episode had dealt directly with her death.
• Various actors played more than one character throughout the course of the series' run:
  • In the second season, Nan Martin played Frieda Claxton, a mean woman who lived down the street from the girls. Martin showed up again in Season 4 to play Philomena, an old friend of Sophia's who may or may not have been Dorothy's real mother. Vito Scotti played Dominic (who may or may not have been Dorothy's real father) in that episode, after previously appearing as Sophia's cousin Vincenzo in Season 3 (Vincenzo was hired to renovate the girls' garage into a guestroom.)
  • Rose had a brief fling with a gentleman named "Arnie" (played by Harold Gould) early in the series. We later see the same actor playing "Miles," Rose's more serious and long-term boyfriend.
• Several characters were played by more than one actor. In some cases, the differences were barely noticeable (such as when two different actresses, Lisa Jane Persky and Deena Freeman, played Dorothy's daughter Kate) or were close enough (such as when two different actors, Murray Hamilton and David Wayne, played Big Daddy Hollingsworth). However, some role changes were more dramatic and obvious: Rose's daughter Kirsten was alternatively short and blond (when played by Christine Belford) and tall and red-headed (when played by Lee Garlington); also Blanche's daughter Rebecca was first played by fat actress Shawn Schepps and subsequently played by the very slender Debra Engle. Similarly, Dorothy's sister Gloria was a short redhead when played by Doris Belack, but was a tall blonde when played by Dena Dietrich.
• In a flashback scene in the first-season episode "The Way We Met," Rose had a cat (Mr. Peepers) which she gave to a little boy in a supermarket soon after she met Blanche. Later in the show, in episode in which Rose battled an addiction to pain killers, she made up an excuse to cover up her addiction; "It's the anniversary of the death of my dear cat Fluffy." Dororthy replied by saying, "Rose, you never had a cat. You're allergic." To further compound this continuity error, in the first-season episode "The Heart Attack," Rose had mentioned she had a cat named Lindstrom for whom she used to cook her specialty dish, Lindstrom Surprise (herring pie). Since Rose's maiden name was Lindstrom, that would make her cat, "Lindstrom Lindstrom." Rose's explanation for this: "It was less confusing for him."
• Sophia married her deceased husband's former business partner, ending with the two calling it quits, but not quite seeking a formal, legal end to the marriage, such as divorce or annulment, nor was there any mention of his death later on. Later in the series, Sophia became a nun; however, nuns may not be married women.
• Another continuity error involved Rose's high-school education. In one episode, Rose brags about being valedictorian of her graduating class despite being 4th in the class. (When asked how that happened, her response was "We drew straws.") However, another episode involved Rose going back to school to get her diploma. (Her explanation for not having it was that she contracted glandular fever (mono) and slept through the rest of her senior year.)
• When the series first introduced Sophia's sister Angela, the sisters note that Sophia and Angela are the last two surviving members of their family. In later seasons, however, several episodes revolve around Sophia's brother Angelo. No reference is made during the Angelo episodes to Angela, who supposedly had moved to Miami at that time.
• Blanche's "Mammy" (her childhood nanny, played by Ruby Dee), referred to Blanche as "Blanche Marie Hollingsworth." In a later episode, however, Blanche revealed that her middle name was Elizabeth and that her initials spelled BED (Blanche Elizabeth Deveraux). This could however be connected to the fact that some culture's refer to one's children as having the middle name "Marie" when scolding or calling their attention.
• The greatest discontinuity is the ages of Dorothy and Stanley's two children, Michael and Kate, one of whom was conceived prior to their parents' marriage, which is repeatedly said to have lasted 38 years. Either Michael or Kate--whoever was the firstborn--should have been at least 37 at the time of Dorothy and Stan's divorce, which had occurred a few years before the series even began. However, both of the Zbornak children are shown to be in their mid- to late-twenties throughout the show--it's highly unlikely that one of them is ten to 15 years older than the other, as they appear close in age. These ages also don't match up with Dorothy having gotten pregnant with her first child at 17, but being at least 55 now.
• When Blanche's father dies he was remarried to a younger woman than Blanche, yet you never saw her or hear her mentioned during the episode where Blanche's father dies. Also, in the episode where Blanche's "Mammy" appears, Blanche is selling off all of her father's belongings in an auction, instead of his wife.
• Several times Dorothy uses references such as growing up during the Depression and other references to events that happened during her childhood and her married life. The events never match to Dorothy's age or to those of her children's.
• The kitchen goes through several changes. The wallpaper is changed from one style to another and an alcove in the entrance of the kitchen also appears and disappears. The kitchen window also goes through various transformations in several episodes. Also, there are several references to a dishwasher that isn't ever there.
• There are other discrepancies when it comes to the house. In some episodes, the roommates all have their own bathrooms while in other episodes Blanche is the only one to have her own bathroom and the rest of the roommates share one bathroom. Rose's bedroom also gains a window and then loses it. Finally, when you see the picture of the outside of the house, the door is painted dark brown and when the roommates open and close the door, it's a wooden door.
• In one episode, Dorothy admits she has a phobia of hospitals and thus won't go in for a surgery and Blanche admits that she has a terrible phobia of airplanes. In a later episode, Rose has to go back to the Bahamas to speak at a funeral and is afraid, since public speaking is her phobia. In this episode it is Dorothy who has a phobia of airplanes and not Blanche.
• In an episode, Rose refers to her adoptive parents having the name Nylund. Nylund was her married name. Lindstrom was her maiden and adoptive name.
• In the first season, Rose loses her job as a grief counselor and ends up taking a job as a waitress in a coffee shop. In later episodes, she is back working as a grief counselor. At some point she must have quit that job because when she lost Charlie's pension, she decided to get a job as an assistant to a consumer reporter on a local TV station.
• Like the rest of the girls, Blanche was struggling with money problems throughout the series. However, in the first season, she said she had the foresight to marry money (meaning George).
• The first season mentioned the only siblings Blanche had was her sister Virginia (who had asked for a kidney) and another sister Charmaine. It was revealed later she had a brother Clayton (who was gay) and in the Golden Palace spin-off series, a mentally ill older brother named Tad who lived in a home in Chattanooga as well.
• In the episode where Sophia suffers from over-eating, rather than a heart-attack which she thought the pain was, the three younger girls decide to go out for a walk at the end of the episode even though they had been discussing the storm outside which was blowing trees over.
• In one episode, Dorothy says Sophia's mother died when Dorothy was 6, yet in an episode before that, they had a flashback where Sophia's mother is very much alive when Dorothy is in her 20s.
• There is an exclamation point carved into the front door and can be seen in most episodes.

Subsequent series, such as Friends, have carefully organized flashback episodes, timelines, and even profiles for the fictitious characters.

DVD Releases

With the recent releases of the third, fourth, and fifth seasons, the rate of releases were shortened from 6 months between seasons to 3 months. These discs are the only way to see uncut episodes of the series; these versions have not seen the light of day since their original network airings, and include snippets of dialogue and entire scenes that do not appear in the current syndicated versions.

However, according to the website @ccess The Golden Girls , the fifth season DVD release unfortunately contains some episodes that have had scenes deleted from them. According to the site's forum, one member noted that one episode, "Like the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom Tom", the contributor writes: "After Sophia says "I stole the money and jewelry from her dresser," there is a scene where Dorothy tells Sophia they have to give away the microwave because of Blanche's pacemaker. The DVD version picks up where Blanche storms into the room saying "Where's my money, old woman?" Then after Blanche walks out, Sophia says "for this I'm giving up Cheez Whiz nachos?" That part is also cut from the DVD." This comparison was made against an original network airing of that episode. There is no word yet if Disney/Buena Vista home video will recall this DVD set and rectify this.

There has since been an explanation about this according to the "@ccess The Golden Girls" internet forum. A member posted that they received a reply from Buena Vista home video that said the reason why some of the shows for season 5 were edited is because some of the master tapes were in very poor shape. However, it has since been reported that the edits are barely noticeable and seamless, and that very little is in fact missing. Just a line here and there on a couple of episodes.

Buena Vista will not release DVDs in Region 2 or 4 anymore due to poor sales. This move also affected Home Improvement. This is considered to be part of the The Great US TV on UK DVD Retreat.

Spinoffs

The Golden Girls was created by Susan Harris, who later devised Empty Nest as a spinoff from The Golden Girls with some character crossovers. Nurses was later spunoff from Empty Nest, and the shows would occasionally have specials where characters from one show made appearances in the other ones in order to boost ratings.

The Golden Palace

After the original series ended, White, McClanahan, and Getty reprised their characters in the CBS series The Golden Palace, which ran from September 1992 to May 1993. The show never approached the popularity or acclaim of the original and ranked 57th place in the annual Nielsen ratings. There was reportedly a second season to this series, but it was cancelled the day before the fall schedule was announced.

Lifetime, the current US syndicated home of Girls, aired reruns of The Golden Palace in the summer of 2005 and starting again in December of the same year. This was the first time since the end of the series that The Golden Palace was seen on American TV. Lifetime is currently playing the series as a "virtual" Season Eight, playing the series in between the conclusion of the final season and the syndicated roll-over back to Season One.

Brighton Belles

Also in 1993, ITV premiered Brighton Belles, a United Kingdom version of the American sitcom. The show, starring Sheila Hancock, Wendy Craig, Sheila Gish and Jean Boht was nearly identical to Girls except for character name changes and actor portrayals. The ten episode series was cancelled after six weeks due to low ratings, with the final four episodes airing more than a year later.

SNL Spoof

In the early 2000s, Saturday Night Live had a skit that comically combined The Golden Girls with the then-popular MTV show, Jackass. Satirizing the many teens who had gotten themselves injured or killed by attempting to recreate the dangerous Jackass stunts, an SNL skit featured a group of teenage boys who idolized The Golden Girls and got together to recreate the goings-on of the four old women in the show, including taking the same medication that the women took on the show.

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The Golden Girls: Live!

The Golden Girls: Live! was a popular Off-Broadway show that opened in the Summer of 2003 and ran until November of that year. The production began at Rose's Turn and was scheduled to move to Dillon's Cabaret until its abrupt cancellation. The popular production ended its run because the producers of the Off-Broadway version failed to secure the rights to the show. The play was served with a cease and desist order by Susan Harris and Paul Junger Witt, creators of the original television show.

Featuring an all-male cast, The Golden Girls: Live! featured two back-to-back episodes of the classic sitcom. The Off-Broadway company included John Schaefer as Dorothy and Peter Mac as Sophia.

Empty Nest

A 1987 episode of The Golden Girls, entitled "Empty Nests", featured guest stars Paul Dooley and Rita Moreno as George and Renee Corliss, a married couple living next to the Golden Girls and facing empty nest syndrome after their three adult daughters had moved out. The episode was intended to launch a spinoff series, but fan response to the characters was not favourable and the new show's premise was retooled.

The following year Empty Nest debuted, starring Richard Mulligan as pediatrician Harry Weston, a widower whose three adult daughters had moved back home. One supporting actor from the original episode, David Leisure, was retained in the new series, although his character, another neighbor of Weston's, was also renamed. Although the show did not feature the same characters who had appeared in "Empty Nests", Weston's home was the same home used in the original episode. Characters from both shows made occasional guest appearances on the other show.

Empty Nest launched its own spinoff in 1991, Nurses, set in the same hospital where Weston worked. As one of the few times in television history that three shows from the same producer, set in the same city, aired back to back on a single network in the same night, the three shows occasionally took advantage of their unique circumstances to create storylines which carried through all three series. This was one of the major factors in the popularity of fictional crossovers as a television plot device in the 1990s.

After the end of The Golden Palace, Estelle Getty joined the cast of Empty Nest, making far more frequent appearances as Sophia in the show's final years.

Theme song

The theme song is "Thank You For Being A Friend", which was a #25 Pop hit for Andrew Gold in 1978. However, the show's version is a re-recorded one sung by Cynthia Fee:

Thank you for being a friend

Traveled down the road and back again

Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant

Thank you for being a friend

In later episodes these last three lines would be said instead of the second 'Thank you for being a friend' making for a longer open with more clips from past shows:

And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew

You would see the biggest gift would be from me

And the card attached would say, "Thank you for being a friend."

The short, and extended theme can be heard in syndication.

Golden Home

The outside model used in the shots of the house in the series was part of the backstage tour ride at Disney's MGM studios. This façade — along with the Empty Nest house — was among those destroyed in late 2004 as Disney bulldozed the homes of "Residential Street" to make room for its "Lights Motors Action!" attraction.

Legacy

A remarkable by-product of "The Golden Girls" has been the impact that members of its talented writing staff had and continue to have on television comedy. Alumni include Frasier showrunner Christopher Lloyd, Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz and executive producer James Vallely, and 8 Simple Rules creator Tracy Gamble.

Awards

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

Top TV series

• 1991 - George Aliceson Tipton
• 1990 - George Aliceson Tipton
• 1989 - George Aliceson Tipton
• 1988 - George Aliceson Tipton

American Comedy Awards

Funniest supporting female performer in a TV series

• 1992 - Estelle Getty
• 1991 - Estelle Getty

Funniest female performer in a TV series (leading role) network, cable or syndication

• 1987 - Betty White

BMI Film & TV Awards

Best TV series (title song)

• 1991 - Andrew Gold
• 1990 - Andrew Gold
• 1989 - Andrew Gold
• 1988 - Andrew Gold
• 1987 - Andrew Gold

Bambi Awards

Reader's choice

• 1989 - Beatrice Arthur

Directors Guild of America Awards

Outstanding directorial achievement in comedy series

• 1987 - For episode, "Isn't It Romantic?" - Terry Hughes, Director; Gary Shimokawa, Associate Director; Lex Passaris, Associate Director; Tom Carpenter, Stage Manager; Jane Greene, Stage Manager; Robert Spina, Production Associate; Ellen Deutsch, Production Associate
• 1986 - For Pilot episode - Jay Sandrich, Director; Harry Waterson, Unit Production Manager; Gary Shimokawa, Associate Director); Tom Carpenter, Stage Manager; Doug Tobin, Stage Manager; Laurie Gilbert, Production Assistant

Emmy Awards

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

• 1986 - Betty White
• 1987 - Rue McClanahan
• 1988 - Beatrice Arthur

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

• 1988 - Estelle Getty

The Golden Girls is one of only three sitcoms in which all the main actors won at least one Emmy, the other two are All In The Family and Will & Grace

Outstanding comedy series

• 1987 - Barry Fanaro, Co-Producer; Terry Grossman, Producer; Susan Harris, Executive Producer; Winifred Hervey, Co-Producer; Mort Nathan, Co-Producer; Kathy Speer, Producer; Tony Thomas, Executive Producer; Marsha Posner Williams, Co-Producer; Paul Junger Witt, Executive Producer
• 1986 - Paul Bogart, Supervising Producer; Terry Grossman, Producer; Kathy Speer, Producer; Tony Thomas, Executive Producer; Marsha Posner Williams, Co-Producer; Paul Junger Witt, Executive Producer

Outstanding directing in a comedy series

• 1987 - Terry Hughes, Director

Outstanding writing in a comedy series

• 1986 - Barry Fanaro, Writer; Mort Nathan, Writer

Outstanding technical direction/electronic camerawork/video control for a series

• 1992 - Dave Heckman, Camera Operator; Chester Jackson, Camera Operator; Randy Johnson, Video Control; Stephen A. Jones, Camera Operator; Ritch Kenney, Camera Operator; Bob Keys; John O'Brien, Video Control; Richard Steiner, Video Control; Kenneth Tamburri, Technical Director
• 1988 - Jack Chisholm, Cameraperson; Stephen A. Jones, Cameraperson; Robert G. Kaufmann, Senior Video Control; Ritch Kenney, Cameraperson; O. Tamburri, Technical Director; Ken Tamburri, Cameraperson
• 1986 - Randy Baer, Cameraperson; Victor Bagdadi, Senior Video Control; Gerry Bucci, Technical Director; Dale Carlson, Cameraperson; Steve Jones, Cameraperson; Donna J. Quante, Cameraperson

Golden Globes Awards

Best TV series - comedy/musical

• 1986 - Golden Girls
• 1987 - Golden Girls
• 1988 - Golden Girls

Best performance by an actress in a TV series - comedy/musical

• 1986 - Estelle Getty

Retirement Research Foundation Awards

Television and theatrical film fiction - special achievement award

• 1989 - Golden Girls - Susan Harris, Executive; Paul Junger Witt, Executive; Tony Thomas, Executive

TP de Oro, Spain Awards

Best foreign series (mejor serie extranjera)

• 1989 - Golden Girls

Viewers for Quality Television Awards

Best actress in a quality comedy series

• 1988 - Betty White
• 1987 - Betty White

Young Artist Awards

Exceptional performance by a young actor, guest starring in a television, comedy or drama series

• 1987 - Billy Jayne aka Billy Jacoby (playing "David" in episode, "On Golden Girls" (episode #1.6) October 26, 1985)

See also

• List of The Golden Girls episodes
• a spoof of the golden girls from the show robot chicken
• watch the spoof

External links

• @ccess The Golden Girls Wiki
• Complete Episode Guide
• @ccess The Golden Girls (fansite)
• The Golden Girls Online (unofficial fansite)
• The Golden Girls at Lifetime TV
• The Golden Girls at IMDb
• The Golden Girls at TV.com
• Brighton Belles at IMDb
• Brighton Belles at TV.com
• Encyclopedia of Television
• The Golden Girls:Live!
• Golden Girls Central (fansite)
• Golden Girls Info At Project 80's

• 1985 television program debuts
• 1980s comedy TV shows in the United States
• 1990s comedy TV shows in the United States
• Television series by Buena Vista Television
• NBC network shows
• Lifetime network shows
• Sitcoms
• Television shows set in Florida