The Golden Girls

One of my favorite shows of all time: The Golden Girls. The show premiered in 1985. It starred Bea Arthur (Maude) as Dorothy Zbornak, a substitute teacher who had a funny, sarcastic take of the times, Betty White (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mama's Family) as Rose Nylund, a naive widow with her funny home stories from St. Olaf, Minnesota, Rue McClanahan (Maude, Mama's Family) as Blanche Devereaux, a widow who loved men and sex, and Estelle Getty (Mask) as Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy's mother who had a stroke and always spoke her mind after the fact. The show had the four ladies living together after losing their husbands and adjusting to life in their 50's (Estelle Getty's character was in her 80's).  The show was an instant hit. It was created by Susan Harris, who suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She later wrote an episode on the topic, with Dorothy having the disease.

The show ran for seven successful seasons, with all four actresses winning Emmys for their performances! Here are some facts from the series:

-Betty White was the oldest of the four actresses. As of today, she is the only one alive.

-Harold Gould played two characters on the show. He played Rose's boyfriend, Arnie Peterson, during the first season for one episode. He later played Rose's boyfriend again, but as Miles Webber; that character was recurring for several seasons.

-Estelle Getty played Bea Arthur's mother on the show. In real life, Bea was older than Estelle.

-After The Golden Girls ended, Betty, Rue, and Estelle went on to star in a spin-off titled The Golden Palace. The show lasted only one season.

-The show had many famous guest stars including Dick Van Dyke and Leslie Nielsen, whose character would marry Bea Arthur's character, Dorothy, at the end of the series.

-In the mid '90's, Betty, Rue, and Estelle guest-starred on The John Larroquette Show as themselves trying to start a Golden Girls musical.