Still 'Golden' after all these years
After a recent stressful day, one of the millennial staffers in the newsroom said all she wanted to do was go home, curl up and watch “The Golden Girls.”
I overheard the comment and asked her what it was about this early ’80s/late ’90s sit-com that was so endearing to her. I’d seen other millennials (acquaintances of my own millennial-aged daughters who are in their early 30s) raving about “The Golden Girls” on Facebook and was curious why this show about four aging women living together appeals to the younger crowd.
“It’s the perfect combination of wholesomeness and witty humor ... It’s got sass and heart,” my co-worker began to explain as others joined in the conversation. “Who’s your favorite ‘Golden’ girl?” they asked each other.
As it turns out, this newsroom banter wasn’t an isolated incident. According to an article by Inside Edition, “the fastest-growing fan base for the 1980s comedy series ‘The Golden Girls’ is viewers who entered adulthood in the early 21st century.”
Most of you no doubt remember the spunky foursome who took on the issues of aging — strong-willed and snarky Dorothy, her wise-cracking Sicilian mother Sophia, ditzy Rose from Minnesota and charming, man-crazy Blanche.
“The Golden Girls” has become such an enduring pop culture favorite there is now a college course offered by California State University, Long Beach, called “Women and Aging: Lessons from the Golden Girls,” according to an Associated Press article by Terry Tank.
The AP article featured an interview with a student who took the course, Alexandra Wilkinson, who now has a master’s in gerontology.
“I was amazed at how this TV show from before I was born really related to so many topics I’m learning about right now,” Wilkinson told the AP. “It doesn’t even matter what they’re talking about, whether it’s a serious concept or not. Their personalities just have a way of bringing humor into everything.”
The “Golden Girls” craze has produced the inevitable merchandise, Tank noted, from a trivia game to Chia pets, Golden Girl dolls, limited-edition cereal and PEZ dispensers fashioned around the fabulous foursome.
Even though the fashions of 30-plus years ago — nauseatingly bright colors most often the shades of rainbow sherbet, flowing designs and ample shoulder pads — haven’t held up through the years, the comedic brilliance somehow is as fresh today as it was then.
The Inside Edition article reminded readers of some of the classic, snappy one-liners:
Blanche: “I treat my body like a temple.”
Sophia: “Yeah, open to everyone, day or night.”
Rose: “My mother always used to say: ‘The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.’”
The chemistry and comedic timing of the cast is no doubt what endeared the show to millions of people of different generations, but the issues “The Golden Girls” tackled, such as elder rights, politics, Alzheimer’s disease and yes, even sex, was way ahead of its time when the show began airing in 1985.
Ron Simon, the curator of radio and television at New York City’s Paley Center for Media, told Inside Edition “‘The Golden Girls’ was “a way for boomers to think about their aging parents. And I think the millennials … are beginning to look at their aging parents. It’s a way you can begin conversations about what it means to age in the United States.”
I’ll admit I still love the reruns of “The Golden Girls.” Sometimes you just need a good laugh; it’s as simple as that.
News Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.