how old were the golden girls supposed to be

As of February 2013, WE tv's rights expired and Viacom networks' TV Land, home to Betty White's last series Hot in Cleveland, purchased them,[79] as did Logo TV. This means that she was 63 years old by the time the show premiered in 1985. The sitcom was conceptualized by writer Susan Harris. Finally, Sophia is stated to be in her late 70s, suggesting that she was between 77 and 79. When your brain is frozen like that, you can't remember lines. One such source is the actors who played the characters. Betty White as Rose Nylund in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). The film Golden Girls was a critical and commercial triumph. Going by the math, that makes Blanche 53 at the start of the series. This could be because the writers wanted to create an atmosphere of timelessness or to emphasize the idea that age is just a number. [81], Forever Golden: A Celebration of The Golden Girls released in select movie theaters across North America via Fathom Events on September 14, 2021, marking the show's 36th anniversary. This would mean that Dorothy, who was born in 1938, would have been around 47 when the show started. The Golden Girls first aired on September 14, 1985, and it continues to appeal to both young and older audiences. Before The Golden Girls, she was most renowned for creating the series Soap, which parodied daytime soap operas such as The Young and the Restless. Blanche was probably around 50 when the show began, rather than 54. "[61] Many of the characters' outfits were designed by Evans and made especially, but seven to ten costume changes per episode were made between the four actresses, which entailed a great deal of off-the-rack shopping. We can also look at other clues from the show itself. At some point, they would gather around the kitchen table and discuss the problem, sometimes late at night and often while eating cheesecake, ice cream, or some other dessert. However, White and McClanahan wanted to play against their typecasting, so McClanahan was cast as Blanche instead. The main cast of The Golden Girls included Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, Betty White as Rose Nylund, Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, and Estelle Getty as Dorothys mother, Sophia Petrillo. She would return home to New York if she were unsuccessful. Beginning in 1990, Marc Cherry served as writer and producer, years before creating Desperate Housewives, which ran on ABC from 2004 to 2012. She reconsidered, however, after hearing that McClanahan and White had switched roles. Roses age is the easiest to determine, owing to Dorothy revealing it in Season 1, Episode 22, Job Hunting. Dorothy exposes Roses age is exposed during a chat in which Rose describes her problems finding a new career after leaving her prior one at the grief counseling center. The producers of The Golden Girls decided to cast Bea Arthur, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan after seeing them act alongside each other in shows like Maude (1972-1978) and Mamas Family (1983-1984). [69] One of the other girls then told a story from her own life, which somehow related to the problem (though Rose occasionally regaled the others with a nonsense story that had nothing to do with the situation, and Sophia told outrageous, made-up stories). All the lead actresses won Emmy awards for their performances on the show. [26] She found the concept interesting, as "it was a demographic that had never been addressed," and she soon began work on it. Producers wanted to cast McClanahan as Rose and White as Blanche based on roles they had previously played; White portrayed the man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, while McClanahan co-starred as the sweet but scatterbrained Vivian Harmon in Maude. Both Betty White and Bea Arthur were 63 when The Golden Girls premiered, coinciding with the fan theory. For simplicity's sake, each season is considered a separate year, as the show ran for seven seasons. The majority of sitcoms in the period centered on either families or teenagers. There are no tricks. Susan Harris developed a spin-off centering on the empty nest syndrome. Blanche (played by Rue McClanahan) was thought to be around 47 years old in the first season of Golden Girls. Cast alongside Rue McClanahan, she impressed the producers of The Golden Girls with her recurring role as Ellen in Mamas Family. Did Rue McClanahan have a Southern accent? Initially, the producers wanted Betty White to play Blanche because she had been famous for playing promiscuous characters in the past. The oldest character in Golden Girls is Sophia (Estelle Getty), who is thought to be about 80 years old at the start of the series. Ironically, the actress who played Sophia, Estelle Getty, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter, Dorothy. When Arthur first received the script for The Golden Girls, she loved the concept of having senior women as the stars of the show. In a 1988 interview, Getty commented on her phobia and expressed how working with major stars, such as Arthur and White, made her even more nervous. 1. Sophia was never ashamed to confess her age, and she often took advantage of it to get an advantage over the other ladies in the home. The basic facts to work with are that The Golden Girls began in 1985 and ended in 1992, both in real life and in-world. Going off the idea that Season 1 takes place within the same year, Rose would have been 55 at the start of The Golden Girls as well, making her the oldest Golden Girl -- after Sophia, of course. The owner of the house is a widow named Blanche Devereaux (McClanahan), who was joined by fellow widow Rose Nylund (White) and divorce Dorothy Zbornak (Arthur) after they both responded to an ad on the bulletin board of a local grocery store a year before the start of the series. Reportedly, a second season was approved before being cancelled the day before the network announced its 199394 schedule. Their hair also hasnt greyed (or is colored), and they style their hair in a more contemporary way. Although the writing was mostly comical, dramatic moments and sentimental endings were included in several episodes. Prior to that, when old people were shown on television, you could almost smell them., Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, and Betty White as Rose Nylund in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). ISBN978-1-4516-1369-8. [74] The show was the anchor of NBC's Saturday line-up, and almost always won its time slot, as ABC and CBS struggled to find shows to compete against it, the most notable being ABC's Lucille Ball sitcom Life With Lucy in the beginning of the 198687 season although it aired at 8:00, an hour earlier. Whatever the reason, it is clear that the Golden Girls are truly ageless. Empty Nest launched its own spin-off in 1991 set in Miami in the same hospital where Dr. Weston worked. The show ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992 and featured four women in their golden years living together in Miami. And that was, to me, what made it seem like it could be a contemporary, young show. The shows executives were unsure how the public would react to the eccentric program because older women in leading roles were rarely seen on television. The Golden Girls ran for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992. DO YOU LOVE SHOES? This could be because the writers wanted to create an atmosphere of timelessness, allowing the show to appeal to viewers of all ages. Colucci, Jim (2016). As of September 8, 2021 all 7 seasons of The Golden Girls were made available to stream on Disney+ in Canada. Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. [25] NBC senior vice president Warren Littlefield was among the executive producers in the audience who were amused by their performance, and he envisioned a series based on the geriatric humor the two were portraying. Their regular writer declined, so Witt asked his wife, Susan Harris,[24] who had been semiretired since the conclusion of their ABC series Soap. Rose went so far as to search through official records to find out, only to learn it was "deleted by authority of the governor." Sophia then recounts to Dorothy the account of the night Dorothy was conceived in Season 3, Episode 5, Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself. Sophia claims it happened in 1931, so Dorothy was most likely born in 1932, based on her sign. Estelle Getty, who portrayed Sophia, was a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy, Sophias daughter. "It was so exciting to be with four people with that chemistry. [82], Buena Vista Home Entertainment has released all seven seasons, with edits, of The Golden Girls on DVD in Region 1 and Region 4 with the first four being released in Region 2. [108] After the end of The Golden Palace, Getty joined the cast of Empty Nest, making frequent appearances as Sophia in the show's final two seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, the show is about four older women who share a home in Miami, Florida. The show was aired as a bilingual broadcast using a two-channel sound system (Zweikanalton). Although the women's ages were rarely disclosed, some deductive work may be used to approximate how old each Golden Girl was at the commencement of the series. The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. In her spare time, Maddy loves playing volleyball, running, walking, and biking, although when she wants to be lazy she loves to read a good thriller. Sue's personality as the perky housewife host on a fictional television station of the show . Sophia was never afraid to admit how old she was, often using it to her advantage over the other women in the house. Sophia is to join her, but in the end, she stays behind with the other women in Miami. Getty came to Weiner's mind soon after, when it became time to begin casting of The Golden Girls. [28], The pilot included a gay houseboy, Coco (Charles Levin), who lived with the girls. How Old Were the Golden Girls Supposed to Be? [42], Creator Susan Harris went on to contribute another four episodes to the first season, but became less involved with the sitcom throughout its run; she continued reading all scripts, however, and remained familiar with most of the storylines. McClanahan insisted on the character having a thick Southern accent, a popular aspect of her character throughout the show. For simplicity, because the program lasted seven seasons, each season is treated as a different year for the purpose of simplicity. Their fears were allayed when the preview screening garnered a standing ovation and the program was instantly renewed for 12 more Golden Girls episodes. Actors How old were The Golden Girls supposed to be? Assuming her child would graduate at 17, that would make Blanche 48 in 1986 and 47 at the start of the series. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Golden_Girls&oldid=1139544706, "Thank You for Being a Friend" (instrumental), "I was running all over the house grabbing anybody who would listen. She joined the cast as Rose Nylund, a Norwegian-American hailing from St. Olaf, Minnesota. She passed away in 2010, at the age of 76, after suffering a brain hemorrhage. How old were The Golden Girls supposed to be on the show? Beginning July 3, 1989, NBC added daytime reruns of the show, replacing long-running Wheel of Fortune (which had moved to CBS) on the NBC schedule at 11:00am(EST); it ran until September 1990. McClanahan continued to portray the role of Blanche in the spin-off series The Golden Palace, which only lasted for one season from 1992 to 1993. ISBN978-0-06-242290-3. Getty was the first actress to be cast, and her role was intended to make the rest of the characters appear younger. The clever use of makeup and a wig aged Getty to match her character's age. Writer and producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason created a sitcom with this kind of image as a "four women" show, which became Designing Women on CBS. Rose's age is the easiest to track down, thanks to Dorothy openly saying it in Season 1, Episode 22, "Job Hunting." During a conversation where Rose discusses her difficulty finding a new job after losing her previous one at the grief counseling center, Dorothy reveals that Rose is 55. Blanche lied to her housemates about her age so easily (and Sophia promptly called her out and said shed be 70 when the kid graduated), its reasonable to assume she was 53 when The Golden Girls premiered. Blanche was 17 in 1949, according to Season 3, Episode 25, Mothers Day, when she and her mother reminisce about one of Blanches dates. Betty White was actually the oldest Golden Girl. This led into the spin-off series, The Golden Palace. For example, one or more of the women would become involved in some sort of problem, often involving other family members, men, or an ethical dilemma. Kathy Speer and Terry Grossman were the first head writers of the series, and wrote for the show's first four seasons. [57], The show's designer, Ed Stephenson, took inspiration from his time living in Florida to design a "Florida look" for The Golden Girls house set. In Season 2, Episode 1, "End of the Curse," Blanche believes she is pregnant, and states she'll be 65 by the time the child graduates high school. Arthur's son, Matthew Saks, later spoke of tension between the two actresses, stating that his mother, "unknowingly carried the attitude that it was fun to have somebody to be angry atIt was almost like Betty became her nemesis, someone she could always roll her eyes about at work. [70][self-published source?] Blanche Elizabeth Marie Devereaux (ne Hollingsworth) is one of the four, fictional, main characters on the highly-acclaimed, revered, and well-received 1985-1992 NBC situation-comedy/sit-com TV series, The Golden Girls, and its spin-off, The Golden Palace. [111], Golden Girls 3033 is an animated pilot created by Mike Hollingsworth. The Golden Girls began in 1985 and concluded in 1992, both in real life and in the fictional realm. "We had games going all the time off camera." 13. Space was limited on the soundstage, so when the kitchen was off camera, it was usually detached from the rest of the set and the space used for something else. In fact, that's who I think she thought she was."[37]. There was a lot of competition to get your words into the script. Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). But the women were so uniformly brilliant at nailing it the first time we basically knew that if the women didn't get it right the first time, the joke needed to be replaced." The Golden Girls is an American comedy that was produced by Susan Harris and aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. [7][8], The first episode features a cook/butler named Coco (played by Charles Levin), but the role was dropped before the second episode. Among all of the great roles she played over the course of her legendary career, the late, great Betty Whitewho passed away on Dec. 31, 2021, at the age of. By Zachary Guida Jan 31, 2023 10 Ways Audience Popularity Gave TV Characters Greater Roles The Golden Girls will always be remembered as a show that put a spotlight on senior women in a way no other show had done before. October 8, 2022 According to evidence presented by the ladies themselves during the first year of the show, Sophia is 80 years old, Rose is 55 years old, and Blanche is 50 years old. As of 2016, it was the 17th-most watched television finale. [52][53] Debbie Reynolds was brought on as a guest star in the season six episode "There Goes the Bride: Part 2" to test her chemistry with the other actresses as a possible replacement for Arthur, but producers decided that nobody could replicate the chemistry of the four original actresses. Estelle Getty, however, was 62 in 1985, making her 17 years younger than the character she portrayed. However, her popularity with audiences caused Sophia to become a main character in the series. It was popular for addressing a demographic that rarely saw the spotlight on television or in Hollywood: senior women. [45][46] The cast often had to stay behind after the audience had departed to redo scenes where Getty had flubbed her lines, and although this was at first met with resistance from the producers, cue cards were eventually introduced to help her. For one thing, it did pave the way for a new terrain. [4] In 2014, the Writers Guild of America placed the sitcom at number 69 in their list of the "101 Best Written TV Series of All Time". Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). | It's a classic. The character of Blanche Devereaux appeared in a total of 8 seasons and a total of 204 full episodes in both The Golden Girls (total of 7 . In addition, the character of Sophia had originally been planned as an occasional guest star, but Getty had tested positively with preview audiences, so the producers decided to make her a regular character. [58], The kitchen set seen on The Golden Girls was originally used on an earlier Witt/Thomas/Harris series, It Takes Two, which aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983. Some episodes featured flashbacks to previous episodes, flashbacks to events not shown in previous episodes, or to events that occurred before the series began. Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, Betty White as Rose Nylund, and Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC). The women's ages were usually not explicitly stated, although some deductive work gives a pretty safe estimate of how old each Golden Girl was at the start of the series. As of December 1, 2021, every episode was made available to stream on Disney+. The film Golden Girls was a critical and commercial triumph. Often deemed as the den mother of the main characters in the show, Bea Arthur played the role of Dorothy Zbornak, a substitute teacher hailing from New York City. One, while the characters ages on the show appeared to be quite. Blanche was probably around 50, Dorothy was likely in her late 40s, Rose was probably closer to 51, and Sophia was likely closer to 79. Cherry commented on read-throughs of the scripts that "generally, if the joke was a good one, the women found a way to make it work the very first time they read it. One such source is the actors who played the characters. In "And Just Like That.", Miranda and Charlotte are 54, while Carrie is 55. . Lifetime, which held the rights to The Golden Girls at the time, aired reruns of The Golden Palace in the summer of 2005, and again in December of that year.