Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai

By Jim Colucci

Includes 30 pages of bonus material!

The complete, first-ever Golden Girls retrospective, packed with hundreds of exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes and never-before-revealed stories, more than two hundred color and black-and-white photos, commentary, and more.

They were four women of a certain age, living together under one roof in Miami—smart and strong Dorothy, airhead Rose, man-hungry belle Blanche, and smart-mouthed matriarch Sophia. They were the Golden Girls, and for seven seasons, this hilarious quartet enchanted millions of viewers with their witty banter, verve, sass, and love, and reaffirmed the power of friendship and family.

Over thirty years after it first aired, The Golden Girls has become a cult classic, thanks to fan fiction, arts and crafts, podcasts, hundreds of fan blogs and websites, and syndication. Now, Golden Girls Forever pays homage to this wildly popular, acclaimed, and award-winning sitcom. Drawing on interviews with the show’s creators, actors, guest stars, producers, writers, and crew members, Jim Colucci paints a comprehensive portrait of the Girls both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes.

Illustrated with hundreds of photos, including stills from the show and a treasure trove of never-before-seen and newly rediscovered photos, Golden Girls Forever includes:

• Girls and Their Guests: short profiles of the show’s most famous guest stars

• Why I Love the Girls: Lance Bass, Laverne Cox, Ross Mathews, Perez Hilton, Zachary Quinto, Chris Colfer, Jason Collins, and many, many other celebrities share their love of the Girls

• Exclusive interviews with ninety-four-year-old Betty White; the famously private Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan, before their deaths; and fan-favorite actors who appeared on the show

• Harvey Fierstein's tribute to his close friend, Estelle Getty

The ebook also feautures 30 pages of material not inlcuded in the print edition, such as 17 Golden Episodes, a piece on Estelle Getty's make-up, the Rue LaRue Cafe, and additional fan art.

 

Bursting with fun facts, anecdotes, reminiscences, and insights, Golden Girls Forever is the ultimate companion to the show for fans old and new.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9780062422927

Jim Colucci

Jim Colucci is a freelance entertainment writer whose work has appeared in such publications as TV Guide, Inside TV, Quick and Simple, The Advocate, Next, and CBS’s Watch! magazine, where he serves as a deputy editor. For over a decade, Jim delivered a weekly on-air report, Must Hear TV, as a correspondent for The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius XM. His previous books include the authorized companion book Will & Grace: Fabulously Uncensored. Originally from Wayne, New Jersey, Jim now lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Frank DeCaro, and their mischievous Boston terrier, Gabby.

Reviews for Golden Girls Forever

[rosalita_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Preface: Back in 2020, I briefly switched to Hulu for live TV, because they were the only streaming service that included the Marquee Network, which is the channel owned by the Chicago Cubs that broadcasts all their games. Then they dropped Marquee, and I switched back to YouTube TV, which has a cleaner user interface and much better DVR. But by the time that happened, I was already a couple of seasons into a re-watch of The Golden Girls, one of the sitcoms my mom and I watched together back in the 1980s, so I kept the basic Hulu service to finish it up.The series was as good as I remembered, although all of the references to current events of the era would probably go over the ahead of anyone less decrepit than I am. Anyway, when I finally got the end of the seventh and final season, I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye. A friend who is a huge fan of the Golden Girls recommended this book to me, and I picked up the ebook.Actual review content: With the series so fresh in my mind, I very much enjoyed the book. The first part details the development of the show, shooting the pilot and analyzes what made the show such a touchstone for so many people. Most of this was new information to me, and very interesting to someone who loves behind-the-scenes logistics.The hefty middle section provides summaries of individual episodes, combined with photos and reminiscences from cast and crew members and guest stars. It's not every episode, but it's a lot of them. I think this part would have been much less enjoyable if I hadn't just refreshed my memory with the rewatch, but since I had I liked reading what was happening offstage and what people involved with the show thought about each episode.The last section delves into the actual production details, especially the set design. I was relieved to read that the layout doesn't really make sense if you think too hard about it, because I could never figure out how all the pieces fit together. Especially the kitchen, which was a last-minute addition and doesn't fit with the rest of the set, and yet turned out to be maybe the most important set, given all the discussion over cheesecake that occurred there. There's also a section that details the ways that the show has inspired more modern television sitcoms, and includes short blurbs from all sorts of entertainment folks about what the show means to them and which Golden Girl they think best embodies their own persona. This was pretty meh, especially because I haven't heard of the majority of the people being quoted. Given my recent re-acquantance with the show, I'm glad I was able to read this. I don't think I'd recommend to anyone who either wasn't a big fan of the show or who hasn't watched it in the last decade or so. It isn't earth-shattering, but it's a nice read for what it is.

[laze_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic read with plenty of great behind-the-scenes info and reflections. Only change I'd make would be to include a full episode guide (even if not every episode had the full treatment that the current list gets).