The Golden Girls

by

Christyne Berzsenyi

• LAST MODIFIED: 24 July 2024
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791286-0378

Introduction

Coexisting with the older and popular American president Ronald Reagan, the 1980s and 1990s saw a new phenomenon of appealing, mature central characters, fifty-five years of age and above, in long-running American television series, including Columbo (11 seasons, 69 episodes, 1968–2002), The Equalizer (4 seasons, 87 episodes, 1985–1989) Matlock (9 seasons, 195 episodes, 1986–1995), Murder She Wrote (9 seasons, 263 episodes, 1984–1996), In the Heat of the Night (8 seasons, 146 episodes, 1988–1995), Jake and the Fat Man (5 seasons, 106 episodes, 1987–1992) and its spin-off Diagnosis Murder (8 seasons, 178 episodes, 1993–2001), and The Golden Girls (7 seasons, 180 episodes, 1985–1992) and its spin-off, sans Dorothy, The Golden Palace (1 season, 24 episodes, 1992–1993). The hit, half-hour sitcom The Golden Girls (TGG/GG) uniquely featured an all-female ensemble cast of celebrities—Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Betty White as Rose Nyland, Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, and Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo. The character and dialogue–driven show addressed difficult topics of aging but with humor, including Alzheimer’s disease and other ailments, the death of loved ones, ageism, loss of youthful beauty, bodily deteriorations and functioning, love and passion at any age, and the like. Through the use of storytelling, the characters shared their personal histories and bonds of friendship, though even more as a supportive, alternative family; contradicted prevailing negative stereotypes of the elderly as purposeless, lonely, and unattractive; and entertained millions of viewers of all ages, who continue to watch the show in syndication on multiple television stations. Most importantly, the show managed to create a familial dynamic as housemates that viewers wished to emulate in their own lives, especially those without loving blood relations. Although the women were all white, the show often presented “alternative lifestyle” individuals and numerous minority characters with sensitivity as they face substantial social obstacles in mainstream culture. With the aid of general good health, The Golden Girls presented older age as a time of friendship, healing, growth, “restorying,” romance, and activity—images of positive communal living. Speaking volumes, the headline on Lifetime Television’s The Golden Girls website reads, “We love the Golden Girls!”—as opposed to “We love The Golden Girls.” Discernibly, fans’ devotion is not only to the show but to the characters themselves. Despite our contemporary popular American culture’s undeniable and overwhelming focus on youth, large audiences continue to embrace the show’s appealing portrayals of the senior women engaging in personally fulfilling and cognitively involved adventures together in the later part of life.

The Golden Girls in Scholarly Works, Popular Media, and Reference Books

The books and reference works discussed here are a combination of brief sections, short chapters, and full books on The Golden Girls, with the equally broad spectrum of academic writing for scholarly readers to popular writing for general audiences. Browning 2021, Lewis and DeSousa 2019, and Colucci 2016 are popular texts that serve to provide the show’s production details, reception, and viewing statistics, which will be useful to scholars and fans alike. As expected, the fan books Robinson 2019 (cited under The Golden Girls in Anthologies) and Gitlin 2014 express adoration for the show and its characters, with rare moments of criticism or cultural critique. The scholarly monographs Giacomazzo 2023, Browne 2020, Burns-Ardolino 2016, Brown 2013, and Kompare 2004 provide in-depth analyses of The Golden Girls’s progressive elements that defy degrading stereotypes of the elderly as well as their rare existence on television: its characters being all women and over fifty-five years of age; constructions of family comprising friends who prove their enviable loyalty, love, and support during each episode; the positive portrayals of beauty, confidence, and cognitive soundness in maturity; and the influence the show continues to have on the discussion of controversial topics and on television programming. Outliers include, on one end of the spectrum, Nathanson and Young 2001, which identifies mainstream humor of misandry (male-bashing) in American comedies, including The Golden Girls. On the other end is Rosenwarne 2012, on the often comical and/or repulsive appearance of menstruation references (or lack of menstruation in menopause) in film and television, including in The Golden Girls.

• Brown, Jared Clayton. “Sex and the City, Platinum Edition: How The Golden Girls Altered American Situation Comedy.” MA diss., Bowling Green State University, 2013.

  Brown’s master’s thesis on The Golden Girls is divided into three chapters: Chapter 1 addresses the unique format of the all-mature women ensemble cast that inspired other shows (including Sex and the City, Designing Women, and Hot in Cleveland); chapter 2 illustrates how each “golden girl” defies denigrating stereotypes of senior women; and chapter 3 argues for the show’s positive impact on American popular culture regarding elderly women.

• Browne, Kate. The Golden Girls. TV Milestones Series. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2020.

  Drawing on feminist literary studies and television studies, Browne acknowledges The Golden Girls as a TV milestone, both because it remains one of the most popular sitcoms in television history, and because of how each of the four main characters reflects “shifting complexities of gender, age, and economic status.” In effect, the characters defy norms of how older women should look, act, and love as they navigate the changing cultural landscape of the late twentieth century for older and younger audiences.

• Browning, Matthew A. The Definitive Golden Girls Cultural Reference Guide. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.

  Meant for fans and scholars to access production information, and as “a guide to the hundreds of topical references to people, places, and events that make up many of the funniest lines from the ever-popular television series, The Golden Girls.” It’s unclear why this is “the definitive reference” for the show, since other references are available. This source would pair well with GG series trivia and popular culture information about the show.

• Burns-Ardolino, Wendy A. TV Female Foursomes and Their Fans: Featuring The Golden Girls, Designing Women, Living Single, Sex and the City, Girlfriends, Cashmere Mafia and Hot in Cleveland. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016.

  Examines how the construction of four main female characters with unique personalities represents discussions of controversial topics of the time, enabling audiences from various demographics to view subjects from multiple perspectives. Analyzing the content of each of the shows, Burns-Ardolino posits that audiences are positioned to discuss the germane controversial subjects in American culture.

• Colucci, Jim. Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look behind the Lanai. New York: Harper Design, 2016.

  A Golden Girls retrospective, this book targets both the fan and the scholar who need details of each episode in a single reference. It includes hundreds of exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes and never-before-revealed stories, more than two hundred color and black-and-white photos, commentaries, and production details. Colucci’s bias is clear as a longtime fan of the show, providing a popular culture resource that promises to be smart and entertaining in an accessible style.

• Giacomazzo, Bernadette. The Golden Girls: A Cultural History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023.

  DOI: 10.5771/9781538166567

  Functions as a reference book for scholars of The Golden Girls, arguing that, for the first time, American viewers were watching women in their sixties through eighties going through the tough timely issues that Americans were facing at the time, which remain relevant for 21st-century viewers. Each chapter focuses on one golden girl and her “best episodes,” with plot summary, production details, and commentary about relevant topical social issues.

• Gitlin, Martin. “The Golden Girls.” In The Greatest Sitcoms of All Time. By Martin Gitlin, 144–150. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2014.

  Gitlin constructs a criterion for evaluating television sitcoms, including each show’s impact on culture, longevity, ratings, and awards. Also provides an assessment of each show’s humor, and discusses its legacy of critical respect and enduring cult fan base. Among the seventy titles discussed, Gitlin ranks The Golden Girls in the 21st position of “best sitcom in television history.” The entry discusses challenges to the show’s production, awards received, production details, and behind-the-scenes influences.

• Kompare, D. Rerun Nation: How Repeats Invented American Television. New York: Routledge, 2004.

  Examines the economic, historical, and cultural significance of audiences having access to syndicated and re-viewed recordings and streaming broadcast programs, originally in audio, video, and film media. Each chapter moves along a chronology of broadcasting/television history and its cultural shifts from the development of these technologies and entertainment texts. Film and media arts scholar Kompare illustrates through critical analysis of archives how particular media forms, technologies, and institutions shift, merge, and emerge with media innovation and culture shifts, providing a history of television related to syndication.

• Lewis, Emma, and Chantel DeSousa. The Essential Fan Guide to The Golden Girls. Melbourne, Australia: Smith Street Books, 2019.

  A guide to The Golden Girls television show, offering the fan as well as the scholar with episode information for its seven seasons, top episode guides, behind-the-scenes production details, writers’ notes profiling each character, guides to celebrity guest stars, and discussion about the careful designs related to costumes and set that created the look and feel of the show.

• Nathanson, Paul, and Katherine K. Young. Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2001.

  DOI: 10.1515/9780773569690

  Refers seven times to The Golden Girls in exemplifying humor that conveys misandry (opposite of misogyny: man-hating or belittling men through stereotypes and disparaging humor) and is contrasted with other sitcoms. While the book does not undermine the arguments about The Golden Girls portraying the “new woman” and independent senior living, it does criticize the show for representing other negative stereotypes.

• Rosenwarne, Lauren. Periods in Pop Culture: Menstruation in Film and Television. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2012.

  Examines the rare but often comical and repulsive appearances of menstruation references in film and television: women’s monthly “curse” or the onset of menopause that make women sad, but with farcical behavior. The book references The Golden Girls episode “End of the Curse” (1986), in which Blanche Devereaux, the youngest character, goes through the dreaded “change” with angst about feeling like an incomplete woman. With her roommates/friends’ support, she accepts and embraces her new chapter in life.