The Golden Girls
Four older women share a home in Miami.
The Golden Girls, a sitcom created by Susan Harris, originally ran on NBC from September 1985 to May 1992. Across seven seasons, it produced 180 half-hour episodes. The main cast consisted of Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. The story takes place in Miami, Florida, and follows four older women living together as they deal with friendship, getting older, and everyday life.
Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in partnership with Touchstone Television, handled production. The original executive producers were Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Susan Harris. During its first run, the show earned significant critical praise and won several major awards, including one Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (in 1986) and three Golden Globes for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. All four lead actresses each won a Primetime Emmy, a feat matched by only a handful of sitcoms. For six of its seven seasons, the series placed in the Nielsen top ten. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it number 54 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time. The Writers Guild of America placed it at number 69 on their 2014 list of the "101 Best Written TV Series of All Time." According to Terry Tang of the Associated Press, the show continues to draw new viewers in the 21st century and is considered a sitcom that has aged well.
The premise revolves around four older single women—three widows and one divorcée—sharing a house in Miami as they navigate their later years with humor, friendship, and occasional disorder. The house belongs to widow Blanche Devereaux (McClanahan). She was joined by fellow widow Rose Nylund (White) and divorcée Dorothy Zbornak (Arthur) after both answered a grocery store bulletin board ad a year before the series begins. In the pilot, Dorothy’s 80-year-old widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo (Getty), moves in after her retirement home burns down. Many episodes follow a similar structure: one or more women face a problem involving family, men, or a moral issue. They eventually gather around the kitchen table—often late at night, eating cheesecake, ice cream, or another dessert—to discuss it. One of them then tells a story from her own life related to the problem, though Rose sometimes offers a nonsensical tale, and Sophia frequently invents outrageous stories.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Sitcom / Blue comedy / Comedy-drama
- Creator
- Susan Harris
- Starring
- Bea Arthur / Betty White / Rue McClanahan / Estelle Getty
- Theme Music Composer
- Andrew Gold
- Open Theme
- "Thank You for Being a Friend" performed by Cynthia Fee
- End Theme
- "Thank You for Being a Friend" (instrumental)
- Composer
- George Tipton
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Num Seasons
- 7
- Num Episodes
- 180
- List Episodes
- List of The Golden Girls episodes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The show revolves around four older single women (three widows and one divorcée) sharing a house in Miami while navigating their 'golden years' with humor, friendship, and occasional chaos. The owner of the house is a widow named Blanche Devereaux (McClanahan), who was joined by fellow widow Rose Nylund (White) and divorcée Dorothy Zbornak (Arthur) after they both responded to an ad on the bulletin board of a local grocery store, a year before the start of the series. In the pilot episode, the three are joined by Dorothy's 80-year-old widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo (Getty), after the retirement home where she lived burned down.
Many episodes of the series followed a similar format or theme. For example, one or more of the women would become involved in some sort of problem, often involving other family members, men, or an ethical dilemma. At some point, they would gather around the kitchen table and discuss the problem, sometimes late at night and often while eating cheesecake, ice cream, or some other dessert. One of the other girls then told a story from her own life, which somehow related to the problem (though Rose occasionally regaled the others with a nonsense story that had nothing to do with the situation, and Sophia told outrageous, made-up stories). Some episodes featured flashbacks to previous episodes, flashbacks to events not shown in previous episodes, or to events that occurred before the series began.
The Golden Girls came to an end when Bea Arthur chose to leave the series. In the hour-long series finale, which aired in May 1992, Dorothy meets and marries Blanche's uncle Lucas (Leslie Nielsen) and moves to Hollingsworth Manor in Atlanta. Sophia is to join her, but in the end, she stays behind with the other women in Miami. This led into the spin-off series The Golden Palace.
Reader's Guide
The Golden Girls received critical acclaim during its original run and earned numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Each of the four lead actresses won a Primetime Emmy Award, making it one of only four sitcoms in history in which all principal cast members received Emmy recognition. The show ranked among the Nielsen top 10 for six of its seven seasons.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Golden Girls number 54 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time. In 2014, the Writers Guild of America placed the sitcom at number 69 in their list of the '101 Best Written TV Series of All Time'. Terry Tang of the Associated Press reported that the series continues to attract new fans in the 21st century and characterized it as an example of a sitcom that has aged well. The series finale was watched by 27.2 million viewers; as of 2016, it was the 17th-most watched television finale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Golden Girls?
The Golden Girls is a half-hour comedy created by Susan Harris that followed four older women sharing a house in Miami, Florida. It aired on NBC for seven seasons, from September 1985 through May 1992, totaling 180 episodes.
Who are the main characters in The Golden Girls?
The four leads are Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty). They are close friends who navigate romance, family drama, and the realities of getting older together in their shared Miami home.
Why is The Golden Girls considered a landmark sitcom?
It broke ground by making four women in their 60s and 70s the central focus of a prime-time comedy, a rarity in 1980s television. The show demonstrated that stories about aging, friendship, and self-determination from that generation could be both hilarious and deeply relatable to a wide audience.
Who produced The Golden Girls?
The show was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions in collaboration with Touchstone Television. Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Susan Harris served as the original executive producers throughout the series run.
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