Post by jasong on Sept 11, 2018 13:17:13 GMT
"SIXTY-SEVEN DOLLARS? Ma.. The home is 15 minutes from here."-Dorothy
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.
So I was roaming around on twitter and saw a post about the Golden Girls pilot and how in a few days the pilot will be 33 years old. So the fact the Golden Girls pilot turns 33 this year blows my mind. As a TV fan watching pilot episodes of shows can either be a failure or success or painful and you watch hard work go down in flames, and the Golden Girls was a successful pilot. So successful it spent it's first season ranked 7 and the pilot beat the Cosby Show in ratings. 21.5 people said hello to Sophia, Rose, Blanche and Dorothy and stayed with the series (maybe, you never know if you watch on and off) for 7 years.
Season 1 of the Golden Girls proved that in the 80s, older ladies could be a ratings hit, of course they were, the first episode proved that, and as we saw throughout the episode them beginning to gel as a cast, the moment Sophia rung that door-bell, to the moment Dorothy says that they'll never be alone, after Blanche's "husband" going on the run. No other show's pilot has made me laugh more then the Golden Girls and for me that's what is important, if its a comedy show, throw in some good laughs, not cheap or tacky, good laughs, and nowadays it should be that, but its not and its sad. Golden Girls will always be timeless in this area, in humour and bringing life to a group of people not often seen on TV. As Bea Arthur said in an interview "we were like sex and the city for the over 50s".
now you can ask me "What shows are you going to name that were in the 80s.." and I will say Murder, She Wrote, Designing Women, Different Strokes, Family Ties. Murphy Brown, Neighbours, LA Law, Happy Days, The Jeffersons, 227, Hill Street Blues, you know all those sitcoms you can name, even if your an Australian like me and really like to watch those older American sitcoms.
21.5 Million-
Was the viewership for the very first episode, and the night it debuted it beat out then popular show "The Cosby Show" for ratings and at the end of the season be ranked 7th tying with popular drama series Dynasty.
The Cast-
You know the cast by now, but the cast consisted of Rue McClanahan, Betty White, Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur. Before the series aired Betty and Rue worked together on Mama's Family with Rue and Bea working together on Maude, Estelle was found by a producer doing "torch song trilogy" on broadway. And when the show aired you could see that all 4 had looked like they had been working together for a long time without fail. The casting for the series was brilliant, and that includes several high stakes cameos and one off characters by celebs including Burt Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds, Sonny Bono, Lyle Waggoner, Alex Trebec, George Clooney, Joe Campenella, Bill Dana etc.
The Pilot-
Its theme song known worldwide "Thank you for being a friend" written by Andrew Gold and sung by Cynthia Fee, the theme became what the show was known for "being a pal and a confidant."
Mind if I put an excerpt from a previous post in? Well I'm gonna do it anyway... (Here if you want to read it goldengirlsnfriends.freeforums.net/thread/531/dissecting-golden-girls-pilot)
Now how would you start a series? Of course start it with Bea Arthur coming into the kitchen, that's how you come into the series with a bang! Dorothy making fun of "ugly" students, I mean alright but the script writers knew what they were doing in that pilot episode and as well as that they knew Bea's personality after her run on Maude. "I told them to leave they were too ugly to look at..", then Rose and Blanche make their way into the scene..
Blanche comes in asking if she can borrow Dorothy's stole as Blanche has a date.. (Of course.. its blanche) and Dorothy delivers "It's Miami in June, only cats are wearing fur.", Blanche asks again and Dorothy says fine but asks her to bring it back. then they continue to make jokes about the heat and Rose asks "Are you staying in?" Dorothy "No she's going to stay where its 112 degrees and eat enchiladas.", Blanche gets cucumbers and says they reduce puffiness and Rose goes to stand up and is pushed back down Dorothy.. (LOL..)
Basically the first 10 minutes are of them making fun of each other. the next 15 are Blanche's plans to marry Harry and Sophia arriving after SHADY PINES burned down (memes about Shady Pines continue for the next 7 years, enjoy it). I think you get it. If you have watched the pilot then I wont go into further detail of this whole thing but if you havent.
As the episode continues, Blanche comes home from her date and says that Harry proposed to her and the girls are wondering if they are going to have to move out, Blanche says not at the moment but they cant stay as long as they need to. As a few minutes later they are preparing for Blanche's wedding and how Rose has this gut feeling that something is wrong. (And boy she is right), and she says that she shouldn't get married, but is ignored and eventually locked into Blanche's cupboard.
As blanche is in her wedding dress the doorbell rings as they answer the door a policeman says that her 'husband' is a wanted man for bigamy in many states, Blanche is devastated to hear this and goes to her room for about a week. (again this is from another write up about the show I wrote previously. link above.)
Familiar Face-
Does that cop near the end of the episode look familiar? He should. Because the man who played the cop was Designing Women's funny man Meshach Taylor or as we know him Anthony.
Coco-
The character of Coco became a meme after he was written out of the series after the pilot. Why? You ask. Because the audience fell in love with Sophia, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a gay housecook, fans reacted better to Sophia and producers thought that because most scenes take place in the kitchen Sophia would be great at delivering one liners. Sophia was supposed to be a recurring character, but after the pilot aired she was put on full time living with Blanche and the girls for the entire run before moving back to Shady Pines in the spin-off series Empty Nest.
33 Years-
Now its hard to think that 33 years ago this show debuted. And in my opinion it still holds up as one of the pilots of a comedy series that has ever aired. It showed how good the writes were, the directing and how the cast could make it work and how when watching the episode again, how it stands the test of time. Many shows have been slammed by fans of tasteless jokes (theres one about Oprah and a UFO in season 4 or 5, but I wont go there.), aging badly or just having one character with all the good lines *cough ALF cough*. We all have our favourite lines from the pilot of Golden Girls and mine will always be "67 DOLLARS? MA THE HOME IS 15 MINUTES FROM HERE" Dorothy just combusting here with a twitch in the eye. lol Dorothy calm down.
You wouldn't think 33 years ago that there would be a monoply game released for the show, or that it would have figures and the DVDs out there for people to buy. I can imagine how happy those who brought us the show feel. With Betty the last Golden Girl remaining the strong one and continuing her glittering career i can imagine that she would be proud on how far Golden Girls has come from 1985 to present day.
So yeah, the shows deserves its 33 year milestone.
Golden Girls.
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.
So I was roaming around on twitter and saw a post about the Golden Girls pilot and how in a few days the pilot will be 33 years old. So the fact the Golden Girls pilot turns 33 this year blows my mind. As a TV fan watching pilot episodes of shows can either be a failure or success or painful and you watch hard work go down in flames, and the Golden Girls was a successful pilot. So successful it spent it's first season ranked 7 and the pilot beat the Cosby Show in ratings. 21.5 people said hello to Sophia, Rose, Blanche and Dorothy and stayed with the series (maybe, you never know if you watch on and off) for 7 years.
Season 1 of the Golden Girls proved that in the 80s, older ladies could be a ratings hit, of course they were, the first episode proved that, and as we saw throughout the episode them beginning to gel as a cast, the moment Sophia rung that door-bell, to the moment Dorothy says that they'll never be alone, after Blanche's "husband" going on the run. No other show's pilot has made me laugh more then the Golden Girls and for me that's what is important, if its a comedy show, throw in some good laughs, not cheap or tacky, good laughs, and nowadays it should be that, but its not and its sad. Golden Girls will always be timeless in this area, in humour and bringing life to a group of people not often seen on TV. As Bea Arthur said in an interview "we were like sex and the city for the over 50s".
now you can ask me "What shows are you going to name that were in the 80s.." and I will say Murder, She Wrote, Designing Women, Different Strokes, Family Ties. Murphy Brown, Neighbours, LA Law, Happy Days, The Jeffersons, 227, Hill Street Blues, you know all those sitcoms you can name, even if your an Australian like me and really like to watch those older American sitcoms.
21.5 Million-
Was the viewership for the very first episode, and the night it debuted it beat out then popular show "The Cosby Show" for ratings and at the end of the season be ranked 7th tying with popular drama series Dynasty.
The Cast-
You know the cast by now, but the cast consisted of Rue McClanahan, Betty White, Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur. Before the series aired Betty and Rue worked together on Mama's Family with Rue and Bea working together on Maude, Estelle was found by a producer doing "torch song trilogy" on broadway. And when the show aired you could see that all 4 had looked like they had been working together for a long time without fail. The casting for the series was brilliant, and that includes several high stakes cameos and one off characters by celebs including Burt Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds, Sonny Bono, Lyle Waggoner, Alex Trebec, George Clooney, Joe Campenella, Bill Dana etc.
The Pilot-
Its theme song known worldwide "Thank you for being a friend" written by Andrew Gold and sung by Cynthia Fee, the theme became what the show was known for "being a pal and a confidant."
Mind if I put an excerpt from a previous post in? Well I'm gonna do it anyway... (Here if you want to read it goldengirlsnfriends.freeforums.net/thread/531/dissecting-golden-girls-pilot)
Now how would you start a series? Of course start it with Bea Arthur coming into the kitchen, that's how you come into the series with a bang! Dorothy making fun of "ugly" students, I mean alright but the script writers knew what they were doing in that pilot episode and as well as that they knew Bea's personality after her run on Maude. "I told them to leave they were too ugly to look at..", then Rose and Blanche make their way into the scene..
Blanche comes in asking if she can borrow Dorothy's stole as Blanche has a date.. (Of course.. its blanche) and Dorothy delivers "It's Miami in June, only cats are wearing fur.", Blanche asks again and Dorothy says fine but asks her to bring it back. then they continue to make jokes about the heat and Rose asks "Are you staying in?" Dorothy "No she's going to stay where its 112 degrees and eat enchiladas.", Blanche gets cucumbers and says they reduce puffiness and Rose goes to stand up and is pushed back down Dorothy.. (LOL..)
Basically the first 10 minutes are of them making fun of each other. the next 15 are Blanche's plans to marry Harry and Sophia arriving after SHADY PINES burned down (memes about Shady Pines continue for the next 7 years, enjoy it). I think you get it. If you have watched the pilot then I wont go into further detail of this whole thing but if you havent.
As the episode continues, Blanche comes home from her date and says that Harry proposed to her and the girls are wondering if they are going to have to move out, Blanche says not at the moment but they cant stay as long as they need to. As a few minutes later they are preparing for Blanche's wedding and how Rose has this gut feeling that something is wrong. (And boy she is right), and she says that she shouldn't get married, but is ignored and eventually locked into Blanche's cupboard.
As blanche is in her wedding dress the doorbell rings as they answer the door a policeman says that her 'husband' is a wanted man for bigamy in many states, Blanche is devastated to hear this and goes to her room for about a week. (again this is from another write up about the show I wrote previously. link above.)
Familiar Face-
Does that cop near the end of the episode look familiar? He should. Because the man who played the cop was Designing Women's funny man Meshach Taylor or as we know him Anthony.
Coco-
The character of Coco became a meme after he was written out of the series after the pilot. Why? You ask. Because the audience fell in love with Sophia, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a gay housecook, fans reacted better to Sophia and producers thought that because most scenes take place in the kitchen Sophia would be great at delivering one liners. Sophia was supposed to be a recurring character, but after the pilot aired she was put on full time living with Blanche and the girls for the entire run before moving back to Shady Pines in the spin-off series Empty Nest.
33 Years-
Now its hard to think that 33 years ago this show debuted. And in my opinion it still holds up as one of the pilots of a comedy series that has ever aired. It showed how good the writes were, the directing and how the cast could make it work and how when watching the episode again, how it stands the test of time. Many shows have been slammed by fans of tasteless jokes (theres one about Oprah and a UFO in season 4 or 5, but I wont go there.), aging badly or just having one character with all the good lines *cough ALF cough*. We all have our favourite lines from the pilot of Golden Girls and mine will always be "67 DOLLARS? MA THE HOME IS 15 MINUTES FROM HERE" Dorothy just combusting here with a twitch in the eye. lol Dorothy calm down.
You wouldn't think 33 years ago that there would be a monoply game released for the show, or that it would have figures and the DVDs out there for people to buy. I can imagine how happy those who brought us the show feel. With Betty the last Golden Girl remaining the strong one and continuing her glittering career i can imagine that she would be proud on how far Golden Girls has come from 1985 to present day.
So yeah, the shows deserves its 33 year milestone.
Golden Girls.
