The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Golden Girls: An Unofficial Guide

By Marissa DeAngelis

It’s the classic TV sitcom. Thirty years after it first aired, The Golden Girls is one of the most popular shows in syndication and available to view on multiple streaming services. The show ran for seven seasons, collecting a staggering 58 Emmy nominations and 11 wins along the way, and over the years, this hit comedy about four fierce and sassy 50+ roommates in Miami charmed millions of viewers with its incomparable wit. Above all, The Golden Girls celebrated the strength and depth of the friendship between its four iconic characters - Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia- who have been adopted by multiple generations and attracts both gay and straight viewers.

It’s a comfort food. It’s one of the best shows to have on when you’re sick. And it’s endlessly quotable with your girlfriends. It’s the Steel Magnolias of TV shows.

The Binge Watcher's Guide to The Golden Girls is meant to be a companion as you binge, giving you a quick recap of each episode and where it fits in the series, with a favorite quote, notable goofs and inconsistencies, and some behind-the-scenes drama.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books
• Release date: Jan 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781626016149

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The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Golden Girls © Marissa DeAngelis 2022

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Digital ISBN: 9781626016149

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First Edition, January 2022

Dedication

Though I wish I could have one of those one-word dedications, I do feel that I owe many people thanks for this book. I guess that since it’s a Golden Girls book, it’s fitting that I’ve been collecting Golden Girls my whole life — that is, groups of strong, supportive women to help and guide me through the world. So, this book is dedicated to:

First, my mother, Camille, who is all the Golden Girls wrapped in one woman. Wise sage, voice of reason, sexy knockout, and earth mother. And my dad, Ernie, the best man in the world, who’s been surrounded by Golden Girls his whole life and hasn’t complained — much. I’m lucky to have these two as parents.

My sisters. I’m the youngest of four daughters, so it’s not a surprise that I was destined to visualize, and write about, women in groups of four. So, cheers to the fabulous Tracy, Liza, and Danielle.

My twin Danielle, who should get a separate line in this dedication for all the hours of Golden Girls she watched and studied, knowing somehow, this day would come.

My grandmothers, Mary and Theresa, the first real-life examples of women over 60 that were funny and strong, and tough as nails.

My Aunt Marilyn. Oh, I can’t tell you how supportive she’s been during the 18 months of writing this book. I literally CANNOT write it in this book.

My original Golden-Girl gang: Dani, Jolie, Adina, Lindsey, and Chelsey. You can fight over which Golden Girl you are, and which one of you is Stan.

My Aunt Donna, who always gave me my favorite books to read when I was little and knew I was a writer before I did.

Holly, my biggest fan, who always told me I was a genius, even when there was no indication at all. What would I do without you?

Pamela Des Barres, my fairy godmother in LA and New York. Inspiring as a writer, and a friend, and after all, it was in your writing workshop that this opportunity came my way!

Lori Perkins, my publisher, for making me an author, not just a writer!

Gwynne, Roger, and Lori K., who housed me in Los Angeles, and gave me a place to write when I needed it the most. Thank you!

My nieces and nephews: Luke, Sunny, Serena, Leo, and Vivi

My summer-camp Golden Girls: Rachie and Jenny

My text-therapy group: Buffy, Zina, Lauren, Faithe, and JoAnn

Susan Harris, a true icon, feminist, everything. So underrated in my opinion, I wish she had written 1,000 more sitcoms.

The Golden Girls themselves — Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White. Amazing actresses and performers, who did not disappoint me when I learned what kind of women they were.

This book was written before and during the pandemic, and in that time, I moved across the country and had some strange adventures and life experiences, and learned some tough lessons, much like The Golden Girls themselves. I hope you, the reader, use this book as a handy guide to enjoy the show and gain some insights into why the show is relevant today.



Table of Contents

Introduction

The Zeitgeist

20 Golden Facts about The Golden Girls

Golden Girl Bios

Bea Arthur

Estelle Getty

Rue McClanahan

Betty White

Before You Watch

Tips on the Binge

The Music

Cocktails

The Golden Girls Quiz

Episode Guide

Season One

Season Two

Season Three

Season Four

Season Five

Season Six

Season Seven

If You Only Watch One Episode

After You Watch

About the Author

Introduction

I had to write ‘Golden Girls’… I’ve never gotten excited about a network idea before, but this was compelling. I could write grown-ups.

—Susan Harris, September 1985

I was eight years old in 1985—the kind of kid that was pretty open to watching anything on television. But when my 73-year old grandmother suggested The Golden Girls , I was most definitely not enthusiastic. A show about four old women living in Miami? There’s hardly any difference between 50 and 80 when you’re eight, but I had nothing better to do, so I watched.

And I was an immediate fan.

It was just funny. The jokes were relatable, even the jokes I didn’t get. What seemed like just a show about women over 50 worked on so many other levels. It had heart, but wasn’t overly sentimental. It was progressive, without being liberal. Actually, it was progressive while being hardly political at all.

I guess that’s a big part of why, 30 years later, The Golden Girls is one of the most popular shows in syndication and available to stream. It’s a comfort food. And per my television-watching expertise, it’s one of the best shows to have on while sick—or perhaps during a pandemic. It’s, of course, endlessly quotable and I’d say it compares nicely to Steel Magnolias in that regard. But it’s more than that.

First of all, it must be said that my grandmother Mimi, who introduced me to the show, was 100% a Sophia. No quiz needed. She was a petite, red-headed Italian woman, who on a first impression seemed really sweet until she gave you a quick, Don Rickles-esque insult. Come to think about it, Estelle Getty might have stolen her act.

My other grandmother Nana was probably more of a Blanche. Though she was a New York City lady instead of a southern belle, she often wore hoop earrings and red lipstick well into her 70s, and had a love for Jack Nicholson and John Forsythe. Actually, there was a little Sophia in her as well, because you wouldn’t want to mess with her. That’s for sure.

My love for The Golden Girls became widely known amongst my friends over the years, and we often recited our favorite lines. And of course, which Golden Girl we were. Though it’s common now to find similar quizzes online, as a kid it felt like a coming out event. It’s no shocker that I identified as a Sophia, since I’m 4’9, Italian, with no filter and an endless supply of sarcastic remarks. At summer camp, I was disciplined more than a few times by the camp director for sneaking into the Main House to watch episodes. How I wish I could have told her, Hey, listen, I’m writing a book!

By 1995, when the show was on in syndication and I was in high school, I began feverishly taping episodes from the Lifetime network. This was hard work back then—and it sounds archaic—but I actually sat there, starting and stopping at the exact right time to make sure the commercials stayed out. This actually gave me a horrific, Golden Girls -related injury when trying to record. How many people can say that? My mother had called me downstairs for dinner, and as I turned around too quickly, my foot hit the wall. The toe popped right out of its socket, while I screamed and sobbed to my chocolate labrador, Bailey, who thought I was absolutely nuts. Few can say that they suffered for their love of The Golden Girls , but I assure you that this was one of my top three most painful childhood moments. My left foot turned more colors that night than Bea Arthur’s entire Golden Girls wardrobe.

The Golden Girls was also the perfect vehicle to get my cousin Jolie, and friend Adina, drunk for the first time. I had them play a simple game of shots where each of us were assigned a Golden Girl , and each time that character’s name was said, that person had to do a shot. I highly recommend this if you don’t want to do something more complex, like a quiz, trivia game, or a more elaborate binge party. Jolie and Adina, by the way, were blitzed in about four episodes, but still showed up for work the next day. I did not. True story.

My love for the show persevered into college, and since I didn’t have access to a DVR, I had to view episodes like a cavewoman—on VHS tapes, before I went to sleep. My roommates found this unnerving, until the nightly hypnosis worked, and they too became fans (thank you Bari, Kim, and Meg).

So, here I am now in 2022, and The Golden Girls is always on. In many ways, it’s more popular than ever. But why is a popular question. And I guess there are a lot of reasons. Firstly, it was just plain funny. You know something is well written when an eight-year-old and 73-year-old can both watch it and laugh together. And often for different reasons. That’s kind of how it is.

The Golden Girls ages with you because it’s about so many inevitable life experiences: divorce, death, heartbreak, unemployment, aging, and friendships both good and bad. Your viewpoint on all of these issues may evolve through the decades, yet the show always has a smart, humorous perspective that gives you a fresh way to look at them.

A crucial part of the writing was that from the very first episode, all four women were complex, full characters with elaborate backstories. After a few episodes, you knew who they were as children and the worlds they grew up in. You couldn’t put them in a box as just the wise-old grandmother as other shows often did with senior-aged actresses. They embodied their teenage selves, their married selves, and their childhood selves. They were still falling in love and starting careers. They found their children annoying. They had crushes on celebrities. They could be insecure and silly, and somehow, they were always trying new things. These characters didn’t retreat into their old age—they were having fun. They were women fulfilling life goals.

If the term #squadgoals had been a thing back then, well, this show is your squad goal.

But still, why write a book? Why read a book? Reading is so last century. It takes a certain amount of ego to ask you to read my words. I’m not Donald Trump, who clearly had all the words and wisdom to write almost 20 books. This is my first. So why this book? Why now?

At this time in American history, with the #MeToo movement, political fragmentation at its worst, a recovery from a worldwide pandemic, and an international wave of genuine ennui, it feels like this is just a good time to laugh. And an even better time to watch a show that demonstrates a progressive life goal for older women, and young people, of all genders and sexualities. Maybe the life goal isn’t marriage and children. Sure, you can do that. But how nice to think that no matter how that all turns out, you can have a post-age-of-50 end game of moving in with your friends in a warm city, dating, doing some charity work, and finding a career.

The Golden Girls represented a downsized fantasy life of sorts, where both joy and happiness were the true finish line, with all the former pressures left behind. They lived like college kids and dated like they were on Friends . They talked about dreams they still had to fulfill, indulged in hobbies, and slept around. They learned from their earlier mistakes. Relived and worked through earlier traumas. They were bullied. And sometimes they were bullies. They got stood up by men and stood up men in return. They acted like schoolgirls with crushes. I only wish I could see these women on dating apps now.

This is a show for any and every generation, from Millennials to Baby Boomers and everything in between.

What’s the big deal though?

What I’d really love to point out to the readers of this book is how The Golden Girls portrayed progressive issues. This was a show with a genuinely forward-thinking perspective, that I couldn’t fully appreciate at the time. It was easy to miss how radical all of it was behind the humor; it certainly flew over my head when I was a kid. When you’re young, you think all the battles have been fought and won. I didn’t think gay marriage was a big deal, or that showing middle-aged women dating and having sex was something being fought over in writing rooms. But it was. Susan Harris—the show’s creator—had to defend story lines just because they were happening to women. At the time, middle-aged people on television were having all kinds of sex, but they were men (John Forsythe on Dynasty was in his 60s and no one blinked an eye).

I’ve perused a few books, a few websites, re-watched episodes that I had already watched at least 30 times, and the conclusion I’ve come to is that the brains behind this show were some real woke-peeps. And it goes beyond politics. Though the actresses fought for many liberal causes, Estelle Getty was actually a Republican. Betty White normally kept her political views private, but the show’s voice was clear—gay rights, animal rights, and women’s rights for equal pay and sexual freedoms were the golden way .

Also, this was a show that not only made you love and appreciate women, it made you look at older women a little differently. Most people enjoyed the show (and still do) because the actresses reminded them of their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers. And that’s still the case. As for me… I like compelling writing, and I’ve adored this show for over 30 years. And if you haven’t watched, or someone you know loves it, or you just want to delve a little deeper into this phenomenon, then enjoy my guide.

And thank you for being a friend.

Marissa DeAngelis

Winter 2022

The Zeitgeist

They had each other... they didn’t have to see themselves at a certain age, winding up lonely and alone. Being alone, you can create your own family.—Susan Harris

The idea for The Golden Girls came to creator, Susan Harris, from her husband Paul Junger Witt (who would become one of the powerhouse producers) who worked for NBC at the time. The original concept was that it would be a show about women in their 40’s living in Miami, as they were eager to capitalize on Miami Vice’s popularity. They wanted to call it Miami Nice .

Susan Harris was more than well-respected by then and her husband was part of the Witt/Thomas/Harris production company, so when Susan Harris decided to go ahead with the concept of The Golden Girls, NBC took it seriously. Harris had initially felt she was done with television after a remarkably successful run as a writer on Maude, and as the creator of the groundbreaking show Soap . But perhaps most notably, she wrote Maude’s infamous abortion episode called Maude’s Dilemma , which aired in 1972.

What pushed Harris to take on this new show was that the idea of creating something about older women appealed to her. Though, Harris was thinking older, maybe 60s and 70s. I suppose people take it for granted now, but this whole show was revolutionary in that there hadn’t been a show that had four female leads of any age. A few months after Witt and Tony Thomas poked their head into one fateful NBC meeting, where the idea was being circulated, the pilot script from Susan Harris arrived, with four characters in mind:

Dorothy Zbornak: Recently divorced from a cheating husband of 38 years, Dorothy was a cynical, sarcastic New Yorker, and written mostly from Susan Harris’s own voice. Dorothy was the brainiac, and the one who was often thought of as serious and no fun. The name Zbornak came from Susan’s assistant, Kent Zbornak.

Rose Nylund: A widow from the insane, small town of St. Olaf, Minnesota, Rose was the ditz of the group. But she was more than that. She was naive, innocent, childlike, and often didn’t get sarcasm, which was thrown at her often.

Blanche Devereaux: A hypersexual, Southern belle (though not Southern from the inception) from Georgia, Blanche was the owner of the house and also a widow. She was also the one most likely to be vain, overconfident, and shallow. Her sexual escapades became more and more notorious throughout the seasons.

Sophia Petrillo: An even-more blunt, sarcastic version of Dorothy, Sophia was Dorothy’s own mother. Having escaped from a burning nursing home, she never leaves—mostly because she is so popular with audiences. She was also the wise-old sage who spiced up her advice with stories from Sicily, and sometimes Brooklyn.

The Golden Getty

Estelle Getty was first to be cast, as Harris and producers had thought the part of Sophia would be the most difficult. Initially, they had in mind a fat Italian mama with a bun. Boy, did things go the other way! Estelle Getty had been a virtual unknown at the time, with her biggest role having been as Harvey Fierstein’s mother in the play, Torch Song Trilogy . Beyond that, she had just done little bits of TV and movie parts.

When Estelle auditioned for Sophia, it’s said that she just nailed it. Even though she was asked to keep coming back for a month, what she didn’t know was that she was the only one in contention. Paul Witt said to one of the producers, Don’t let her out of the room till you’re satisfied, because she’s the one. It was also Estelle who came up with the iconic straw, top-clasping purse. She had felt that Sophia needed a prop, and old ladies carry everything they own in their little bags.

(For more about Estelle Getty, check out her autobiography, If I Knew Then What I Knew Now... So What? )

The Golden Switcher-Rue

The casting of Betty White and Rue McClanahan is somewhat infamous as it involved a switcheroo, as they say. The pilot script was getting plenty of attention and it was obvious that it had tremendous potential. So, it was no surprise that they were looking at Hollywood heavyweight and TV darling, Betty White. She was already a familiar television face, known mostly as Sue Ann Nivens from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but also guest-star stints on All in the Family and many other shows.

Rue McClanahan meanwhile had started blossoming as an actress in her late 30s, starting out as Vivian Harmon on Maude . She was still working on Mama’s Family as Aunt Fran, where she was absolutely miserable playing a mousy character. She and Betty White were both excited about The Golden Girls script, but slightly reluctant about the parts they were given. According to McClanahan, she couldn’t believe she was offered Rose, but went in anyway. Jay Sandrich, one of the directors, must have felt the same, because after Rue read, he had her switch parts saying, I don’t believe for one second you’re innocent. This made Rue ecstatic.

But Betty on the other hand, was truly surprised. After the producers spoke with her, she really understood the character of Rose, and also, that perhaps the audience would be bored with her playing another nymphomaniac like Sue Ann Nivens. The way Jay explained the character to Betty was that Rose takes everything literally. No nuance.

(Read more about Betty White’s iconic years on television, in just one of her autobiographies , Here We Go Again: My Life in Television )

(And for even more about Rue McClanahan, her autobiography is obviously named, My First Five Husbands... and the Ones Who Got Away )

The Last Piece of the Golden Puzzle

So, with one Girl left to go, the word around town was that the show was looking for a Bea Arthur-type. The producers initially didn’t know that Harris had written it entirely with Bea Arthur in mind, but there were numerous problems with this. It didn’t seem like Bea was interested, and it didn’t seem like NBC was all that keen on casting her either. They were worried about some of the fallout from Maude’ s controversial abortion episode, so they had Elaine Stritch audition, which went terribly. (Elaine Stritch admitted as much in her one-woman show, years later.)

So, they returned to what they called Plan A, which was trying again for Bea. According to Rue McClanahan, she called Bea Arthur and Bea was reluctant at the idea of doing a show where Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann Nivens. But when Rue explained that she and Betty had switched parts, Bea seemed to like this and came in. The rest as they say... is Golden Girls history.

Coco—The Lost Golden Girl

Many people forget that the Golden Girls pilot had included another character—a gay houseboy named Coco, played by Charles Levin. This character played well in the first episode, and the studio audience loved him, but after much deliberation from the powers that be, they ended up cutting the character, never to be mentioned again. There are different theories as to the decision, but most agree that there were just too many characters to fit in 23 minutes.

Also, as Paul Witt and Susan Harris pointed out, if the women had a houseboy and weren’t doing their own housework, what would they be doing in their scenes? It would look rather privileged, and they wanted them to look relatable. Some people speculated that having an overtly gay character was problematic, but that wasn’t the case. That could’ve been another reason to not include him, but not primarily. Ultimately, his scenes were eliminated from as many places as possible, and he was never referred to again, which is weird. Then again, plot points and characters are often never mentioned again.

Since its release, you can readily name all the sitcoms that took the outlined approach of four women of different, opposite backgrounds, that become friends. In fact, right after The Golden Girls aired, Designing Women started with four, Southern women, of a slightly younger demographic. The show 227 , about four black women, was also released at the same time, and in the decade following the template just seemed to work. Shows like Living Single (1993) , Sex and the City , (1998) and Girlfriends (2000) would continue the trend.

I often make the statement that Sex and the City is clearly the heir apparent to The Golden Girls , with Carrie’s Manhattan brunch events replacing the Miami kitchen table in Blanche’s house. Like Carrie, Bea is the level-headed lead character with the ex-boyfriend that keeps reemerging like Stan. Miranda, is perhaps, Sophia, the wise-old cynical sage. Charlotte, like Rose, is the naive, innocent one who believes in fairy tales. And Samantha is Blanche taken to the 10th level, about 10 years younger, and far raunchier. And on Sex and The City , the audience had front row seats to Samantha’s sexual escapades. Of course, I’m not the first person to make this connection. At the TV Land Awards in 2004, Bea Arthur did a parody of Sex and The City , where she played Carrie.

Casting note from an expert

I asked Felicia Fasano, a real-life casting director—whose credits include Better Things , Kevin Can Go F**K Himself , and Californication— about the casting process, and she did confirm that: The casting was brilliant. I think it has a lot to do with the script. It starts with the script. That draws the talent. I was also compelled to ask her how she would cast the show today, to which she replied: Rita Moreno (Sophia), Sharon Stone (Dorothy), Sally Field (Rose), and Jennifer Lewis (Blanche).

The reception

During the 1985 NBC upfronts, the screening of The Golden Girls got a standing ovation, then received a full order of 12 episodes. Twenty-five million people tuned in for the pilot episode, and The Golden Girls was in the Nielsen Top 10 for most of its seven seasons (six of the seven seasons to be exact).

The location

Blanche Devereaux’s fictitious home address was 6151 Richmond Street in Miami, Florida, but the exterior shots of Season One were of a Brentwood, Los Angeles home at 245 North Saltair Avenue. In 2020, the house sold for four million dollars—you can view the outside of the house, but not the inside, as it’s a private residence. When the show became successful, a replica of the house was created at MGM Studios Theme Park in Orlando, Florida. In 2003, the house was demolished. Like many sitcoms, the show was filmed on a soundstage at Ren Mar Studios, now Red Studios (846 N. Cahuenga Blvd in Los Angeles).

The costumes

Judy Evans, the costume designer, wanted the four women to have four, unique looks to reflect their personalities. According to Evans, I wanted a sexy, soft, and flowing look for Rue, a tailored, pulled-together look for Bea, a down-home look for Betty, and comfort for Estelle. She also allowed the women to wear outfits that they generally favored. Bea Arthur liked loose-fitting clothing, like long sweaters, along with sandals, because she didn’t enjoy wearing shoes. While playing Maude , she had formed this signature look, and Evans continued it in her designs. Much of Dorothy’s wardrobe was custom-made because finding flattering clothing for taller women was often challenging.

The format

The Golden Girls was shot live in front of a studio audience on videotape. Most episodes followed a similar format: one or more of the women would have a problem, often involving other family members or the man they were dating. Usually around mid-episode, they would gather around in the kitchen and chat about the problem, while eating and telling anecdotes about their own lives (though Rose’s tales were often nonsensical and off-topic, while Sophia’s were made-up). Some episodes featured flashbacks to previous episodes, while others were flashbacks to events never shown, or events that occurred before the series timeline began.

The song

The Golden Girls theme song is as beloved as the show. It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t the first choice. That honor was supposed to be bestowed on Bette Midler’s famous 1973 tune, Friends which alas, was too expensive. So, the powers-that-be hunted for a new theme, and music coordinator, Scott Gale, thinks it was Paul Witt that remembered, Thank You for Being a Friend, a modest, Andrew Gold hit from 1978. They