The Golden Girls' theme song "Thank You for Being a Friend" still brings back memories of those Saturday nights of lights and music, checking out the musclemen, searching for Mr. Right (or Mr. Right Now), and schmoozing with friends.
1.Former Southern Belle Blanche (Rue McClanihan), the s*xually active one.
2. Dimwitted Rose (Betty White), who is from St. Olaf, Minnesota.
3. Sensible Dorothy (Bea Arthur).
4. Her mother, the sarcastic Sophia (Estelle Getty).
(Their kitchen table could only seat three, so Sophia had to find some excuse to hover around instead of sitting).
The real Miami has a population of 500,000, 2.8 million in the metro area, but on The Golden Girls, it was a small town where everybody knows everybody and you run into friends on the street.
The real Miami has a population of 500,000, 2.8 million in the metro area, but on The Golden Girls, it was a small town where everybody knows everybody and you run into friends on the street.
The real Miami is 70% Hispanic, but on The Golden Girls it is exclusively white.
1. In 1986, Dorothy's lesbian friend Jean visits after her partner Pat dies. Everyone assumes that Pat was a guy. Then Jean develops a crush on Rose, who is unaware that LGBT people exist. When she is apprised, she is shocked and horrified.
3. In 1988, Blanche's brother Clayton (Monte Markham) visits. He plans to come out, but fearing his sister's homophobia, claims that he slept with Rose instead. When Blanche finally learns the truth, she is horrified.
The real Miami was the site of Anita Bryant's homophobic Save the Children campaign in the 1970s, and in spite of the generally gay-friendly cast, The Golden Girls could be quite homophobic:
1. In 1986, Dorothy's lesbian friend Jean visits after her partner Pat dies. Everyone assumes that Pat was a guy. Then Jean develops a crush on Rose, who is unaware that LGBT people exist. When she is apprised, she is shocked and horrified.
2. In 1988, as Sophia prepares to marry Max Weinstock (Jack Gilford), Blanche cannot restrain her disgust at a feminine caterer (Raye Birk, left, photo cropping his limp wrist)
"You're about to fly right out of here, aren't you?" she asks, alluding to the stereotype of gay men as "fairies."
"Well, excuse me for living, Anita Bryant," he snaps back, before revealing that he has an ex wife, to gales of audience laughter. Those wacky fairies!
He returned in 1991 to cater Dorothy's wedding.
Raye Birk, a retired professor of theater at USC, is straight in real life. He played played a mailman on Cheers, the assistant principal on Wonder Years, a terrorist on Due South, one of Tim's grunting, sweating buddies on Home Improvement, and a fairy.
More after the break
3. In 1988, Blanche's brother Clayton (Monte Markham) visits. He plans to come out, but fearing his sister's homophobia, claims that he slept with Rose instead. When Blanche finally learns the truth, she is horrified.
Clayton returns in 1991 to announce that he's getting married -- to a man! Blanche is shocked and horrified, as were gay viewers: the episode was entitled "Sister of the Bride." Got it, all gay men are actually women.
4. Dorothy's unseen but often mentioned brother Phil was straight -- married to a woman, with ten kids. But he liked to wear women's clothes, which embarrassed and enraged Sophia: "I love all my children -- except Phil." Eventually she admitted that she loved Phil, but blamed herself for how he turned out. In the 1980s, it was very common to consider being gay a similar "defect" caused by something Mom did wrong. Sophia's quips were uncomfortable to watch.
There was little beefcake. Though the Girls had lots of boyfriends, they were all older, and fully clothed.
Most of the guest stars were from the Girls' generation, like Bill Dana, Bob Hope, and Burt Reynolds, but occasionally there was someone from our generation, such as as Mario Lopez as one of Dorothy's students, Scott Jacoby (left) as Dorothy's son, or Billy Jacoby (below) as Blanche's grandson.
Why, then, was this homophobic, beefcake-free show a gay favorite?
The recurring scene where the Girls sit around their kitchen table, eating cheesecake and schmoozing.
The men in their lives came and went, but their friendship was eternal.
The theme song, "Thank You For Being a Friend," became the theme for those of us working with PWA (people with AIDS):
Golden Girls is over; time to head out to that fundraser at Mickey's, or the beer bust at the Faultline, or maybe The Eagle....
4. Dorothy's unseen but often mentioned brother Phil was straight -- married to a woman, with ten kids. But he liked to wear women's clothes, which embarrassed and enraged Sophia: "I love all my children -- except Phil." Eventually she admitted that she loved Phil, but blamed herself for how he turned out. In the 1980s, it was very common to consider being gay a similar "defect" caused by something Mom did wrong. Sophia's quips were uncomfortable to watch.
There was little beefcake. Though the Girls had lots of boyfriends, they were all older, and fully clothed.
Most of the guest stars were from the Girls' generation, like Bill Dana, Bob Hope, and Burt Reynolds, but occasionally there was someone from our generation, such as as Mario Lopez as one of Dorothy's students, Scott Jacoby (left) as Dorothy's son, or Billy Jacoby (below) as Blanche's grandson.
Why, then, was this homophobic, beefcake-free show a gay favorite?
The recurring scene where the Girls sit around their kitchen table, eating cheesecake and schmoozing.
The men in their lives came and went, but their friendship was eternal.
The theme song, "Thank You For Being a Friend," became the theme for those of us working with PWA (people with AIDS):
And if you threw a party
Invited everyone you knew
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
And the card attached would say...
Thank you for being a friend.
Golden Girls is over; time to head out to that fundraser at Mickey's, or the beer bust at the Faultline, or maybe The Eagle....
