Golden Girls and Pastel Pant Suits

The recent death of actress Bea Arthur (known for her titular role as Maude, and as Dorothy Zbnornak on The Golden Girls, and lesser known for an extensive Broadway résumé) gave me cause to consider the contribution Arthur and her “golden” colleagues made to television in the 1980s and 90s.

The Golden Girls, a sitcom about four women in their “golden” years living in Miami, premiered in the fall of 1985. It aired seven successful seasons and maintained high ratings throughout its run. The show’s four protagonists are all elderly single women, each having been married at an earlier point in their lives. Dorothy Zbnornak (Bea Arthur) is a schoolteacher, noted for her dry wit and trademark shoulder-padded suits. Dorothy is the daughter of Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty), who came to America from Sicily. Many of Sophia’s contributions to the women’s discussions about men and problems in their lives have to do with her time in the old country. She lives in constant fear of being sent back to Shady Pines retirement home, and her trademark fashion accessory is a seashell and bamboo purse from Sicily. The other two women in the house are Rose Nylund (the wonderful Betty White) and the promiscuous Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan). Rose is a lovable simple woman filled with odd stories from her childhood growing up in the mythical St. Olaf. Blanche is preoccupied with looking (and acting) young, often lies about her age, and spends her time in pursuit of men – at one point Sophia calls her a “human mattress.”

At the time of the series premiere, Arthur was 63 (her character, Dorothy, was supposed to be 53), White was also 63, McClanahan was 51 and Getty was 62 (her character was made up to look much older than her daughter). The ages of these characters and the actresses that played them is important because it demonstrates how Golden Girls portrayed a demographic of women that was (and is still) rarely seen on television. Not only are these older women the centerpiece of the show, they actually have active sex lives and openly discuss controversial topics like condoms, gay and lesbian issues, and HIV/AIDS. A group of older women doing this on television today would be cause for controversy, and The Golden Girls aired over twenty years ago!

Now take the premise of Sex and the City and fill the roles of those four women with 50 and 60-something actresses from today. Would a show about the sex lives and relationships of, say, Susan Sarandon (Miranda), Anjelica Huston (Charlotte), Cher (Samantha) and Goldie Hawn (Carrie) be popular?

(Okay, I do want to see that show, but that’s beside the point.)

A show like that simply wouldn’t be financed today, and I don’t think it would be well-received by audiences either. Yet not only did Golden Girls manage to make it to television, it did extremely well in the ratings – in a Saturday night timeslot to boot. The stories on Golden Girls were not in any way as explicit as Sex and the City, but the topics of sex and sexuality were certainly discussed. If Sex and the City was revolutionary television because it showed real women talking about real sex and relationship issues, it must be acknowledged that the Golden Girls helped pave the way so that a show like Sex and the City could exist today.

The four actresses I have chosen for my Geriatrics in the City cast are all within ages 57-63 (similar to the Golden Girls actresses’ ages) and yet the difference in appearance between the two groups is startling. Not a single one of the four modern actresses has a spot of grey hair, whereas the Golden Girls (with the exception of youth-obsessed Blanche) all have grey or white hair. It is inconceivable today to picture Sarandon, Huston, Hawn, and Cher with naturally gray or graying hair. The notion is downright laughable – how would they get work in Hollywood?

It is fascinating that the writers on the Golden Girls were able to tell the stories they did, particularly with these realistic older characters. It is refreshing to watch reruns of the show on Lifetime, to see growing older depicted as an enjoyable experience, and to know that it is possible to rock the salt and pepper look of Dorothy Zbnornak (I might opt out of the shoulder-pads clause, personally).

The Golden Girls is symbolic of a time when women’s issues were being recognized as a marketable form of entertainment. To this day, it is still one of the best sitcoms to air on television and it demonstrates the medium’s ability to breakdown preconceived notions and depict the lives of diverse groups of individuals. The next time we are feeling like our media culture is on the cutting edge and breaking down barriers and stereotypes, we should take a look back at these four women and their creators, and salute them with a piece of cheesecake on the lanai.

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