"The Golden Girls: Season One"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Beatrice Arthur as DOROTHY Rue McClanahan as BLANCHE Betty White as ROSE Estelle Getty as SOPHIA TV-PG Studio: ABC Created by: Susan Harris Back to DVD Review Home |
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When “The Golden Girls” came out in the mid-1980s, it was really ahead of its time. Sure, it was edgy to show a real sexual life behind the grandmotherly facade of these four Miami senior citizens. But it was ten years ahead of its time in showing the sexual freedom of women in general.
Think about it. “The Golden Girls” is nothing more than “Sex in the City” with old people. And while critics were busy heaping praise on HBO’s hit series, no one seemed to remember this little sit com in the 1980s that had basically the same plot. Sure, “The Golden Girls” didn’t go as far to examine the practice of tantric sex, golden showers and Greek sexual positions, but it did show women with a voracious sexual appetite who weren’t hampered by fleeting thoughts of virginity and purity.
And heck, it was a show my grandmother watched!
The obvious “Sex in the City” comparisons are with Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Rose (Betty White). Blanche is clearly the Samantha character and Rose is the prudish Charlotte character. Dorothy (Beatrice Arthur) is the main character like Carrie in “Sex in the City,” who is a bundle of neuroses and obsesses about old relationships. Finally Sophia (Estelle Getty) is similar to Miranda in that she is unlike the others. Although Miranda never had a stroke, she doesn’t usually hold her tongue when she sees something stupid that happens.
There’s a lot of heart to “The Golden Girls,” and unfortunately that’s when it seems to lose its steam. I actually enjoyed watching the episodes until they fell into the perpetual sit-com trap of trying to have a “very special episode.” Strangely enough, this usually happened when creator Susan Harris wrote the script. I give Susan Harris a lot of credit for laying the groundwork for something like “Sex in the City,” but her desire to teach a lesson or bring a tear to the eye really bogged the show down.
“The Golden Girls” was made in the days before sit coms were revolutionized in the 1990s. It was still shot on video, and it couldn’t release itself from the standard sit com plots we’ve seen since “Mary Tyler Moore” and “Laverne and Shirley.” At least half of these shows had one of the following plots:
1) One of the girls meets a new beau, and there’s a chance they’re gonna get married. How are the other three girls going to survive?
2) A relative from out of town comes to visit Miami and throws the girls’ lives into upheaval.
3) One of the girls gets sick, has a heart attack or faces mortality of some sort. Heck, they’re old!
The chemistry between the actresses is what saved the show, and particularly the biting wit of Estelle Getty made it watchable. The writers explained her orneriness with the fact that she had a stroke that wiped out her inhibitions, but this only comes up in about three episodes. It does beg the question whether they needed an explanation in the first place. Haven’t we all known the 80-year-old woman who didn’t give a crap about censoring herself? Isn’t that the right of an old person - to speak his or her mind without retribution?
There are really no special features to speak of on this disk, except for a fashion commentary by Melissa and Joan Rivers. In this ten minute diatribe, this annoying mother/daughter team rip apart the fashions of the show with less of a sense of humor than any of the episodes. Come on, people! Isn’t this like punching blind guy or kicking a guy in a wheelchair? It was the 1980s, for crying out loud! If I recall, Joan Rivers (whose face now looks like saran-wrapped chicken breast) wore plenty of these outfits herself twenty years ago.
Nice try, but I’d rather have a commentary track or blooper reel.
Specifications: Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Full frame (1.33:1). English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
