Happy Tuesday! Thank you for being a friend... If you didn’t sing that line, I’m extremely disappointed in you. But it’s clearly a sign that you NEED to strap yourself in for a Golden Girls binge session! I know what you’re thinking – why would you need to watch a show that aired 36 years ago and centred on the lives of four older women living in Miami? And I get it, it doesn’t sound like a must-watch when you put it like that, especially since there are so many more current shows that you could be watching. But trust me when I say you have not lived until you’ve watched the shenanigans of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia. So if you’re looking for a little bit of convincing, here are seven reasons why The Golden Girls needs to be added to your binge list. Firstly, what even is The Golden Girls about? Premiering in 1985 and spanning seven season, the show followed the lives of roommates-come-friends Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), Rose Nylund (Betty White), Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) and her mother Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty), who all live Miami. Blanche, Rose and Sophia are widowers, while Dorothy is divorced, with her ex-husband Stanley popping in and out of their lives with hair-brained novelty item money-making schemes. The series focuses on their friendship, while also diving a little bit into their love-lives, although it’s not the main focus of the series. 1. SOPHIA PETRILLO Picture it: Sicily, 1922... It’s funny to think that Sophia was originally intended to be a guest character, but she was so well-loved during pilot previews that she became a regular cast member. And honestly, we could have had a one-woman show all about Sophia and it still would have been a fantastic watch. For almost every situation any of the women find themselves in, Sophia has a Sicilian story to accompany it, although we rarely get the full story before someone cuts her off. She has no filter and spends most of her time trying to sneak things past her daughter Dorothy. And she’s adamant that she has no idea how the fire that burned down her retirement home started... Estelle Getty did an amazing job bringing this crazy but caring Sicilian to life, and she somehow brings the three differing personalities of the other women together. 2. ROSE NYLUND & ST. OLAF Back in St Olaf... For every Sicilian story that Sophia has, Rose has about three times as many stories about her hometown of St. Olaf, a small farming town in Minnesota that is certainly home to some interesting characters. She’s very naive about a lot of things, which only adds to her charm and comedy. But she’s loyal as hell and some of the show’s sweetest moments come from Rose. Paired with Sophia, we honestly could have just had the show about these two women and it probably would have lasted the seven seasons. Betty White is a true icon, and you can’t help but fall in love with her while watching this series. 3. FRIENDSHIP FIRST Again, this series focuses on the friendship forged between these women. They all found each other later in life, after they had been widowed/divorced, when Rose and Dorothy responded to an ad on a bulletin board at the grocery store, where Blanche was looking for roommates. The series picks up a year after these events, with Sophia moving in because her retirement home burned down. Over the course of the series, there are men that come and go in their lives (many men for Blanche in particular), and while the series ends with Dorothy getting married and Rose in a long-term relationship, it’s their friendship that always comes first. They may fight and bicker and roll their eyes at Rose’s St Olaf stories, but in the end they always gather around the kitchen table with cheesecake and put any issues behind them. 4. IT'S RELATABLE, EVEN TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES Remember back in The O.C. when Summer and Anna bonded over their love of The Golden Girls, talking about how they didn’t think they’d be able to relate to a show about women over 50 years of age? Yeah, that entire discussion is accurate AF. You’d totally think that this show was aimed at audiences in the same age bracket as the characters, and while it certainly is, it’s actually super relatable to younger audiences. Even though many of the stories do have a focus on what it’s like being a single and widowed/divorced woman over the age of 50, a lot of the stories are things that are also relevant and can happen to those who are much younger. And on top of that, just because the series is about women, doesn’t mean guys can’t enjoy the series either. 5. THERE'S THREE SPIN-OFFSAfter you’ve spent three days and eighteen hours bingeing The Golden Girls, you’ll no doubt be itching to keep the marathon going. Luckily for you, there’s actually three more connected series that you can dive into. The first spin-off comes in the form of Empty Nest, which had a very loose backdoor pilot at the end of season 2, and follows middle-aged Miami paediatrician Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), who’s wife recently passed away and two of his adult daughters decide to move back home. As a neighbour of Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia, the characters made several appearances in both series. Empty Nest eventually spun-off into Nurses, which revolved around a group of nurses working at the same hospital as Harry, and once again, characters from the two previous series made appearances here too. The third spin-off, The Golden Palace, was a sequel to the original show, following Sophia, Blanche and Rose investing in a Miami hotel that’s up for sale. The three navigate running the hotel with the help of hotel manager Roland Wilson (Don Cheadle) and chef Chuy Castillos (Cheech Marin). Unfortunately, the sequel didn’t prove to be as popular at the time as the original, so the series only last 24 episodes and didn’t receive the series finale it deserved. All up, you’ve got an extra five days and eleven hours of television to watch! 6. IT'S STILL RELEVANT 36 YEARS ONIt’s crazy how some shows from back in the day are super dated and aren’t at all relevant all these years later, and then there’s some shows that are still super relevant after such a long period of time. The Golden Girls falls into the latter category. Despite it being 36 years since the show first premiered, most of the content is still really relevant to today’s society. Sure, there are things have aged and dated a little, but it’s not really that noticeable when paired with stories that are still shown in the TV series and films produced today. The show touched on robbery, sexual harassment, age discrimination, sexuality, race, illegal immigrants, Alzheimer’s Disease, domestic abuse, homelessness, prescription medication addiction, and so much more, some of which was still not really talked about much on television screens during the late 80s. In fact, pretty much all of the stories we see, are ones we’ve seen shows cover in more recent years. 7. IT'S AN EASY, FEEL-GOOD WATCHWhether you’re watching it for the first time or the fiftieth time, there is just something so cozy and warm about watching this series. You instantly feel like part of the gang, and it’s one of those shows you can just pop on in the background while you go about your day. And while there are some hard-hitting moments throughout the series, most of it easy and light-hearted, and packing all the laughs. The Golden Girls really needs to be put on a similar podium to Friends because it’s one of those shows that you can just watch and watch over and over again without getting bored. It definitely deserves all the praise, love and nostalgia that Friends has. Even if you’ve never seen the show or only know a little bit about it through pop culture references, it instantly feels like a show you’ve watched before, making it super easy to watch. Do I need to go on, or have I convinced you to give the series a go? Trust me when I say that, even if you’re still a little sceptical and only want to check out the first episode, you’ll be marathoning the cheesecake out of this series in no time. And not only that, I guarantee you’ll start on the spin-offs as well!
You can find all episodes of The Golden Girls on Hulu and Stan, meanwhile all three spin-offs can be found, for free, on YouTube. Happy Bingeing! Victoria :) |
Categories
All
Affiliates
See DISCLAIMER.
|