Shark Bytes

I'm surprised that Bea,Betty and Rue didn't attend Estelle's funeral.After all they had a close relationship.

I agree completely with cybah -- seasons 1-3 were pretty excellent and then the show sort of went downhill from there. Not that the stories weren't funny, but the humor became more biting, and the characters became really mean to each other.

I think the most genious episode, is "heart attack" from the first season. I like this one because it's told in one big scene -- a dinner, cleanup, and sophia getting symptoms of a heart attack. It takes place entirely in the kitchen, living room, and sophia's bedroom. It reminded me of older shows like maude, where the episode was literally 25 minutes of real time of the characters.

I was ready for the show to end by season 7, though when it actually ended I felt a pit in my stomach.

ah the golden girls. My all time favorite show. I watched the original run on NBC (except for the later years), then watched it in reruns on Lifetime for as long as I can remember. And now I own all the DVD sets, which I have successfully worn two of them out (or scratched to all hell by overplaying them). I think I've seen every episode at least 20 or so times, if not more.

But I digress....

I'm split on when it 'jumped'. There are a few place where it might have:

1. It never jumped. It ended gracefully. (if you don't consider Golden Palace its virtual 8th season)

2. Dorothy Got Married. Yes this is the END, but the ending could have been different.

3. Bad Writing (between the 89-93 seasons). It just seemed like they changed the writers too much. (this is WELL documented) The writing was great in Seasons 1-3 (85-87), Got a bit shotty in Season 4, by Season 5 it was just bad. Not that the show wasn't funny anymore, but it seemed to be where the continuum of the characters started to fail. Nothing made sense, episode to episode. Then by 6 & 7, they had changed writers so much, they could have spun the show into its own spinoff using the same exact charcaters and actors, but in a different setting, as it did not follow the same premise as the original 1985 run did. The characters just evolved TOO MUCH.

As documented, it slowly started to decline because the original show writers, Susan Harris, Kathy Speer, and Terry Grossman stopped writing many of the episodes. You could always tell what episodes were written by one of them, because the characters went back to the original 1985 written characters.

Again I am not saying I don't like all 7 seasons, OR they weren't barrels of laughs, because they were! I just think the first three seasons where better, but I still watch them all.

I thought that too, but later I saw that when she said, "and I promise not to tell that deep dark secret that you told me," he said "I appreciate that."
If he hadn't told her that secret, wouldn't he had asked, "What secret?"

Stans brother was not impotent. Dorothy announced that as a way to "get back", so to speak, for asking her to babysit his kids.

Fantastic, despite the major inconsistancies like something major happening like weddings or illnessess and only one of their children or none show up. Blanche said she had four sons when she offered one of them to Dorothy so they could keep the Mercedes, but they never showed up. Someone should have been hired to keep track of things. Reunions and funerals being held in Florida when they wouldn't be in real life. Sophia's secret marriages and broken engagements. Sometimes she says she was in an arrainged marriage with Dorothy's father, sometimes she left Sicily to marry the man she loved. The most ridiculous thing was the casting of all- American looking, midwestern sounding McClain Stevenson as Stan's brother.
Stan looks like his last name would be Zbornak, and he sounds like he grew up in New York like Dorothy and Sophia. Also, if Stan's bro was impotent, why was he hot to spend a weekend with a sexy stewardess? Things like that drive me crazy, but this is still one of the best shows ever made.

Casey, I agree that it is odd that Stan Dorothy never mention their child. I also find it odd that you left our Kate, their other child. They didn't mention either of them.

There were many inconsistencies (sp?). Some little some big. The valedictorian one was pretty big. Still something worked with GG since so many of us LOOOVE IT!!

We are entitles to our opinion, but Betty Whie was not a one note actor. I belive she was type cast as a Rose type person; so much to the point that we forget about her being Sue Ann Nevins and all the other wonderful characters she has played. She may not be as talented as Bea, but she is definitely not one note.

I think that it is interesting that the last poster mentioned the inconsistancies that took place throughout the sereis. If I was to take the time, I could probably think of dozens! However, there is one that really sticks out in my mind! On one early episode, it was mentioned that Rose was the Valor Dictorian of her graduating class of St. Olif High School. In a later episode, she mentioned that she was sick towards the end of the year and thus never graduated! In my opinion, if you want to see a show with my inconsistancies than this one, you would have to watch the "Flintstones"! Incidentially, the "Flintstones" also had controdicting episodes about who graduated from what high school when and where!

Durrell, Bea Arthur is not as good a looker as Rue McLanahan(sp?) but Ms. Arthur was the strong glue holding the show together! The Golden Palace there lacked her and there wasn't much show without her. It was Betty White that was the worst of the four (Nanette Fabray was another good actress who could probably played Rose good). All of Rose's subplots (at least her part in them)seem gratutious or unnecessary thanks to White's one note acting!

On other points I do not mind nearly
any of the many inconsistencies pointed out on these boards after all GG was only a tv show but there is one that bothers me very badly. I hate Stan often showing up briefly and he and Dorothy do not mention their son together most of the time he does. It is unsophisticated writing for the two not to mention their child together in the brief time they reunite! True, Blanche had like two daughters she rarely mentioned but we didn't see her husband she had these two girls by very often so it was ok for her not to mention her offspring more often.

Jessica, I wouldn't call GG an 80's version of Sex and the City!

Golden Girls is awesome!! Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty's exchanges as "ma" and "***** cat" will go down in television history! Ms.Arthur's nails- it-every-time, dead pan comebacks to Rose's idiotic drone fests about St. Olaf are to his day hilarious! I could watch each episode 600 times and never get tired of seeing them! Thank GOD for Lifetime and Hallmark!

The Golden Girls never jumped in my opinion. It was an excellent show to watch with my mother and my grandmother. Rose was one of my favorite characters because she was sweet yet dumb and I always laughed at those St. Olaf stories that were pointless and amusing at the same time. I also loved Blanche because she was much beautiful for her age and she was very much colorful especially with her date stories. Sophia was amusing yet harsh and she reminds my husband of his grandmother who he loved very much. I was shocked to hear that Estelle Getty died just as I was when John Ritter died. Dorothy was the only character that I didn't like because of her brash mannerisms towards her roommates and she often dresses masculine even though she was a teacher. All in all, Golden Girls was a great show.

I've loved this show for a long time and i am heartbroken over Estelle's passing but i'm also happy that she's in a better place and no longer suffering from dementia. Having a grandparent who suffers from Alzheimers i can tell you there's nothing worse than seeing the decline they experience and what their families and friends go through is no better. i believe Bea Arthur when she says she's rather remember Estelle as she knew her and not in her later years. It's much easier on the heart to do that. God bless you girls. RIP Estelle!

Thats the press for you. BTW, is anyone else aware that Hallmark and the WE channelhas purchased the rights to The Golden Girls reruns and will start showing them in March 2009. I don't know what the time slots are, but I read this from goldengirlscentral.com

So true Jen, I saw that same segment on Inside Edition and I don't judge (and no one else should judge) the girls for not going to Estelle's funeral. I think they would rather remember Estelle in happier times and who could blame them? I don't blame her son Carl for being annoyed but who is anyone to judge them? they seem like they had perfectly legitimate(sp) reasons for not going...the executive producer of GG went to the funeral, if the girls couldn't go or didn't want to go because it was too painful for them, I don't feel it's right to pass judgement on them. The press wants to make it look like they are horrible people and I don't think that's right

No they did not attend their funeral. I read one one of the many sites as to why, but I can't remember except for that Rue had recently had surgery (on her knee?) and wasn't given the Ok to fly. But I do believe that Bea Arthur was quoted as stating that they said their goodbyes while she was alive. Inside Edition showed some footage of the the three telling the camera how Estelle wasn't able to communicate well and didn't really remember them. I'll go with that, especially when you have to remember, Bea is 85 or so, Betty is 83, or around there, and Rue is seventy something. Probably they don't enjoy flying, given the pain that it has become.