The Golden Girls Review

MPAA Rating: NR
Released: 1985

Although modern television viewers may recognize The Golden Girls as being part of the women's Lifetime cable network's programming, those who lived during the 80's know this syndicated gem about four 50+ women living together is anything but a sappy "chick flick." This series was pure comedy gold that was suitable for people of all ages, so it should be no surprise that The Golden Girls earned a legion of fans (both male and female) and ruled the Saturday night programming during its original stint on NBC.

While playing Scrabble…

Dorothy: Ma, "disdam" is not a word. You made it up.
Sophia: It's a word.
Dorothy: Fine. Use it in a sentence.
Sophia: You're no good at disdam game.

There are memorable comedies that, much like fine wine, easily stand the test of time and arguably get better with age. Two examples that instantly come to mind are Mister Ed and the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. While The Golden Girls isn't nearly as old as the aforementioned two series, I predict that decades down the road this show will join their ranks as another timeless classic to be cherished by people that appreciate intelligent and witty family-friendly comedy.

The Golden Girls focuses on the lives of four older women that live together in a nice Miami home. Although the four women are as different from each other as night and day, they have developed a deep and unbreakable kinship.

First we have Rose Nylund (Betty White), an extremely affable airhead that always seems to find a unique perspective on life – often to the dismay of her housemates!

Rose: I wonder if jewelry comes from Jewish people. In Little Falls, the jewelry was Jewish. Jeweler, Jewish – I wonder if there's a connection?

Her counterpart is the intelligent and acidic-tongued Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur), who always seems to have a dose of harmless sarcasm prepared to dish out to her flawed housemates.

But Dorothy's bluntness pales in comparison to her Sicilian mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty). She calls every situation exactly as she sees it, with no sense of diplomacy or decorum.

Rose: Where ever she [Blanche] goes she finds a man!
Sophia: So do hookers.

And finally we have Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), a hot pants southern belle that chases men with more ferocity than a teenaged vixen. The fact that she has entered the second stage of her life doesn't hamper her romantic life in the least.

Since this was a television series it's impossible to provide a plot summary since every episode dealt with different issues. Some episodes were sheer lunacy while others explored serious subjects such as home invasions, divorce and death. But the fact that The Golden Girls wasn't afraid to tackle controversial or tougher subjects doesn't mean it entered the pseudo-drama territory too many comedies fall victim to. The Golden Girls always placed wit and comedy above all else, so even the tougher subjects were handled with a pizzazz and comedic flair.

Every single aspect of this series was flawless. The writing far exceeded most of its peers (and there were some potent comedies produced in the 80's), and the casting was dead-on perfect. The four extremely talented actresses possessed a wicked chemistry together and had comic timing and delivery down to a science. Watching them exchange loveable barbs at each other during each episode never got old, which explains why the long-lived series ran from 1985 to 1992.

Chances are high that anyone reading this review is already more than familiar with The Golden Girls, but if by happenstance you never really had the opportunity to thoroughly check this series out then I strongly suggest grabbing the DVD collections. Sharp comedy just doesn't get any better than this.

Movie rating: 10 stars

If you enjoyed The Golden Girls you may also find the following films to be of interest: