Post by jasong on Feb 11, 2018 13:40:29 GMT
I've never written an open letter before, and I don't know how to start it.. But i'll start it the only way I know how, by writing you a novel, that you'll just love to read anyway.
Thank you for being a friend, you're a pal and a confidant,
But...What does that mean? And why is it so important now more than ever?
It's important now in Golden Girls history and the shows legacy to remember it as a show, that based its premise on 4 older ladies who enjoyed their senior years in Miami, living life, having sex, eating cheesecake and making fun of each other. As Betty White said about the show "Nanna, just doesn't fade from existence when she turns a certain age. She's still living life."- And she was right, throughout the 7 year run of the show, the girls got up to a whole lot of stuff.
During the 1985 TV run, what was on TV? Well in Australia the well known show Neighbours aired its first season (and in 2018 is still going strong!), the Cosby Show, 227, Cheers, Moonlighting, Dynasty, Night Court, Dallas, The Facts of Life, The Jeffersons (ending in its 12th year), Diff'rent Strokes, A Country Practise, Dateline and many more to name, if I were to name anymore there'd be a long list of shows that including talk shows and Sunday night docos.
But which show beat out the one and Only Cosby Show in ratings for a Saturday? You guessed it.. The #GoldenGirls did and in it's debut season as well! Reading up on sources is that pilot episode of Golden Girls reached 21.8 Million American viewers, and beat the Cosby show for ratings that week. How good is that? And the Cosby Show was only just starting its 2nd season as well. Golden Girls succeed as not many pilots continue to be a full fledged series.
The Finale is another story, the show started its run from 30th on the Nielson ratings, and probably stayed around that mark for the rest of the season. But boy did people tune in. 27.2 Million people tuned in to say goodbye to their #GoldenGirls, and here is another fact, as of 2016 it remains the 17th- Most viewed Television Finale in history, who has the most you ask? M.A.S.H does with over 100 Million.
But I will go off on a tangent here for a second.. When you think about it, you ask yourself "How does a show keep running for so long? Is it the fans? Or..." sometimes its not the fans that keep a show going, its the network. You could have the worst show in the world and it be on its 10th season, and if the network wants another season, they will make another season, why you ask? Because some shows don't need ratings to keep them going, if it is filling a gap the network will keep it. Anyway...
The Fans Finding The Show-
The newer fans who are finding the golden girls are often the ones you wouldn't think about watching a show that was aimed at 50-60 year olds, but the golden girls demographic was viewers 18-40 or younger, because the show was just that funny. And to be a funny show nowadays you have to do a cash grab with an irrelevant celebrity, KUWTK anyone? As I search through my twitter feed and see a Golden Girls fan account retweeting someone else watching the #GoldenGirls or fans tweeting out quotes it makes me smile, or someone mentioning me in a tweet of the girls at an event, it makes me happy that the show has such a lasting legacy, especially now. Now more than ever do we need a little laugh from the girls who brought us so much happiness, through laughter and tragedy.
Why it matters-
The show matters now, because if just for one moment you can take your troubles away with watching an episode or just listening to the iconic theme song, then it can make you smile for the day just knowing you've watched it.. But why? Why does it matter now? In a day like today in 2018 with the amount of controversy around basically everything, it can feel good to watch a show that rewarded its main actresses with Emmy Awards and to know that they gave a lifetime of laughter to the masses. It matters now because you don't just remember the shows legacy, you remember the legacy Estelle, Rue, Bea and Betty made in the course of 7 years, you don't forget that, ever.
Always Remember the Legacy-
How many shows can leave a legacy like the Golden Girls did? I have said it many times, and I will say it again until I drive the point home. The Golden Girls legacy is important because it made people realise Grandma doesn't fade from life once she turns 60, she's living life, having fun with the girls, going out on dates and living her life, and that the show dealt with subjects that were "taboo" at the time, and still may be "taboo" today, but at least people are talking about it. Such as loss, the show dealt wit loss (in many forms. Such as the episode Mrs George Devereaux or Ebtides Revenge) it also dealt with illness and marriage troubles, the show did what it could for the 80s and it did it with the brilliant writing of Susan Harris and a great writing team. There's a sad legacy to the Golden Girls, as from 2008-10 we lost three of our girls Rue McClanahan, Beatrice Arthur and Estelle Getty, they have their legacy in the Golden girls forever no doubt , with Betty White rockin' on at 96 I am sure she is making the girls proud as punch.
To Betty-
Remain strong in year that has already seen the loss of so many actors and actresses. We see you as our TV queen and we have seen you on our screens since the mid 50s and someone who has seen so much love and loss, you have done an amazing job at keeping up with the Hollywood grind. Keep working hard and keep up the vodka and hotdogs!.
My Final Say-
it may have been a little unconventional to see an open letter like this, but if I did it this way, I know what I would be writing. the Golden Girls has been a mainstay for years and I am glad that some streaming services picked it up, so people can see how the show was and see that not all shows from an older decade are "really cheesy" or "aged badly" or "has this main actor been done for sexual harassment yet?" , because the Golden Girls was not this type of show, and was powerful at sending a message to those who have never seen an episode to watch an episode and see what a show from the 80s was all about. We see the legacy of the show as just "four old ladies" but those four old ladies made people happy and made some people listen to the message they spread through humour and laughter. Always Humour and Laughter.
Thank you for being a friend, you're a pal and a confidant,
But...What does that mean? And why is it so important now more than ever?
It's important now in Golden Girls history and the shows legacy to remember it as a show, that based its premise on 4 older ladies who enjoyed their senior years in Miami, living life, having sex, eating cheesecake and making fun of each other. As Betty White said about the show "Nanna, just doesn't fade from existence when she turns a certain age. She's still living life."- And she was right, throughout the 7 year run of the show, the girls got up to a whole lot of stuff.
During the 1985 TV run, what was on TV? Well in Australia the well known show Neighbours aired its first season (and in 2018 is still going strong!), the Cosby Show, 227, Cheers, Moonlighting, Dynasty, Night Court, Dallas, The Facts of Life, The Jeffersons (ending in its 12th year), Diff'rent Strokes, A Country Practise, Dateline and many more to name, if I were to name anymore there'd be a long list of shows that including talk shows and Sunday night docos.
But which show beat out the one and Only Cosby Show in ratings for a Saturday? You guessed it.. The #GoldenGirls did and in it's debut season as well! Reading up on sources is that pilot episode of Golden Girls reached 21.8 Million American viewers, and beat the Cosby show for ratings that week. How good is that? And the Cosby Show was only just starting its 2nd season as well. Golden Girls succeed as not many pilots continue to be a full fledged series.
The Finale is another story, the show started its run from 30th on the Nielson ratings, and probably stayed around that mark for the rest of the season. But boy did people tune in. 27.2 Million people tuned in to say goodbye to their #GoldenGirls, and here is another fact, as of 2016 it remains the 17th- Most viewed Television Finale in history, who has the most you ask? M.A.S.H does with over 100 Million.
But I will go off on a tangent here for a second.. When you think about it, you ask yourself "How does a show keep running for so long? Is it the fans? Or..." sometimes its not the fans that keep a show going, its the network. You could have the worst show in the world and it be on its 10th season, and if the network wants another season, they will make another season, why you ask? Because some shows don't need ratings to keep them going, if it is filling a gap the network will keep it. Anyway...
The Fans Finding The Show-
The newer fans who are finding the golden girls are often the ones you wouldn't think about watching a show that was aimed at 50-60 year olds, but the golden girls demographic was viewers 18-40 or younger, because the show was just that funny. And to be a funny show nowadays you have to do a cash grab with an irrelevant celebrity, KUWTK anyone? As I search through my twitter feed and see a Golden Girls fan account retweeting someone else watching the #GoldenGirls or fans tweeting out quotes it makes me smile, or someone mentioning me in a tweet of the girls at an event, it makes me happy that the show has such a lasting legacy, especially now. Now more than ever do we need a little laugh from the girls who brought us so much happiness, through laughter and tragedy.
Why it matters-
The show matters now, because if just for one moment you can take your troubles away with watching an episode or just listening to the iconic theme song, then it can make you smile for the day just knowing you've watched it.. But why? Why does it matter now? In a day like today in 2018 with the amount of controversy around basically everything, it can feel good to watch a show that rewarded its main actresses with Emmy Awards and to know that they gave a lifetime of laughter to the masses. It matters now because you don't just remember the shows legacy, you remember the legacy Estelle, Rue, Bea and Betty made in the course of 7 years, you don't forget that, ever.
Always Remember the Legacy-
How many shows can leave a legacy like the Golden Girls did? I have said it many times, and I will say it again until I drive the point home. The Golden Girls legacy is important because it made people realise Grandma doesn't fade from life once she turns 60, she's living life, having fun with the girls, going out on dates and living her life, and that the show dealt with subjects that were "taboo" at the time, and still may be "taboo" today, but at least people are talking about it. Such as loss, the show dealt wit loss (in many forms. Such as the episode Mrs George Devereaux or Ebtides Revenge) it also dealt with illness and marriage troubles, the show did what it could for the 80s and it did it with the brilliant writing of Susan Harris and a great writing team. There's a sad legacy to the Golden Girls, as from 2008-10 we lost three of our girls Rue McClanahan, Beatrice Arthur and Estelle Getty, they have their legacy in the Golden girls forever no doubt , with Betty White rockin' on at 96 I am sure she is making the girls proud as punch.
To Betty-
Remain strong in year that has already seen the loss of so many actors and actresses. We see you as our TV queen and we have seen you on our screens since the mid 50s and someone who has seen so much love and loss, you have done an amazing job at keeping up with the Hollywood grind. Keep working hard and keep up the vodka and hotdogs!.
My Final Say-
it may have been a little unconventional to see an open letter like this, but if I did it this way, I know what I would be writing. the Golden Girls has been a mainstay for years and I am glad that some streaming services picked it up, so people can see how the show was and see that not all shows from an older decade are "really cheesy" or "aged badly" or "has this main actor been done for sexual harassment yet?" , because the Golden Girls was not this type of show, and was powerful at sending a message to those who have never seen an episode to watch an episode and see what a show from the 80s was all about. We see the legacy of the show as just "four old ladies" but those four old ladies made people happy and made some people listen to the message they spread through humour and laughter. Always Humour and Laughter.