There are few television shows as universally beloved as “The Golden Girls.” And there are even fewer shows that still have a loyal (and growing) fanbase 40 years later.
“The Golden Girls,” the comedy starring Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty as four older single women living together in Miami, premiered on NBC four decades ago on Sept. 14, 1985.
The series is regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time, and it is known for dealing with complex issues, including some that were deemed controversial at the time. “The Golden Girls” didn’t shy away from plotlines that dealt with sexual harassment, same-sex marriage, HIV/AIDS, elder care and immigration policy, for example.
Not only were the topics groundbreaking, but so was the very premise.
“The idea of bringing together these women, for the most part, in their 50s, seemed revolutionary at the time because generally, there would only be a single older woman on a show,” said Ron Simon, a senior curator at the Paley Center for Media. “To have them together — working together, fighting together, loving together — was just something that sort of led the way for many different types of shows to follow.”
The series endures because it’s a “comic masterpiece,” Simon said, but also because it “deals with a pervasive societal problem in America: loneliness.” Seeing the characters come together and “create their own family” later in life is something that speaks to countless viewers, he added.
Additionally, the series theme song, “Thank You for Being a Friend,” performed by Cindy Fee — a cover of Andrew Gold’s 1978 single — has become synonymous with the show.
Stan Zimmerman, a writer, director and producer who wrote for “The Golden Girls” just as his career was taking off, said it’s moving to see how many people the series touched, whether it helped them to feel less lonely or made them feel seen and valued.
“I hear some beautiful stories of how, especially in the LGBTQ+ community; this was a show that they could sit down with their grandparents and all laugh at together,” he said. “When you laugh at something, it kind of opens your heart and your mind at the same time.”
Zimmerman, who wrote the book “The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore,” released in 2024, about his experience in Hollywood as a writer on hit television shows, emphasized that the popularity of the series is not a relic of the past, and the show continues to reach new audiences — some of whom were born decades after it first aired. All seven seasons of the show are available to stream on Hulu.
In celebration of 40 years of “The Golden Girls,” Zimmerman selected what he considers to be the five best episodes from the series.
‘The Engagement,’ Season 1, Episode 1
Pilots are very tricky, Zimmerman said, and easy to get wrong. “You want it to seem like you lived with these people, and you want to also see what the show could look like.” But Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia’s introduction to the world was charming and inviting, making it an obvious choice for a top pick in Zimmerman’s mind.
“Susan Harris just wrote a brilliant pilot, and obviously it’s brilliantly cast and directed by Jay Sandrich,” he said. “Those four characters just complement each other so beautifully and it’s just so funny and smart, which is her trademark.”
‘Isn’t It Romantic?,’ Season 2, Episode 5
Zimmerman said the conversations the series prompted about LGBTQ+ identity were especially meaningful to him. In this Season 2 episode, Dorothy’s friend Jean comes into town and stays with the women, but Dorothy doesn’t tell Rose and Blanche that Jean is a lesbian. When Jean develops a crush on Rose and word gets out, Blanche questions why she prefers Rose over her.
While the premise may seem silly, there are several lines of dialogue in the episode that were quite progressive at the time it aired. Jean says she’s not embarrassed or ashamed of her identity, and Rose is warm and accepting of her after she reveals her feelings. “That was an important step in LGBTQ [representation] on television,” Zimmerman said.
‘Not Another Monday,’ Season 5, Episode 7
In one of many episodes that touch on serious themes, this Season 5 storyline focuses on one of Sophia’s close friends who is tired of the physical pain and suffering she’s had to endure in her older years and contemplates suicide.
“I was just so impressed that they would tackle that subject and do it so delicately and yet still with humor,” Zimmerman said. “That’s what was so great about that show — it could straddle those two worlds. And to me, that’s life. You can be laughing and crying within a minute.”
‘Adult Education,’ Season 1, Episode 20
Blanche decides to take classes at the local community college to get a degree required for a promotion at the museum where she works, but when she flunks a test, her professor offers to give her an A if she will sleep with him. Blanche speaks with the dean about the incident of harassment and she is dismissed because there weren’t any witnesses.
Zimmerman, who co-wrote the episode with his writing partner James Berg, said he appreciated the chance to approach the topic of sexual harassment, especially because McClanahan had approached him and Berg right when they started, imploring them to challenge Blanche. “Don’t be afraid to give me stories that will help me develop this character,” Zimmerman recalled her telling them.
Plus, the writers were able to have a little bit of fun despite the heavy themes. “There were just some really cool lines that we got to say that I didn’t think the censors would allow us to put in there,” Zimmerman said, citing the line, “You can kiss my A.”
“I think when you have a hit show, and coming out of the mouths of those four ladies, it didn’t seem as offensive,” he added.
‘Blanche and the Younger Man,’ Season 1 Episode 9
In Zimmerman’s final pick, Rose’s mother visits and friction ensues when Rose coddles her too much. They speak about her mother’s aging and fear about her death. Meanwhile, Blanche dates an aerobics instructor who is considerably younger than she is — hence the episode’s title.
Reflecting on this episode, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award, Zimmerman, who wrote it with Berg, said, “How, as a young man, did I even know to write about this subject?”
There’s another detail in this episode that makes it one of Zimmerman’s favorites: He added some of White’s own words into Rose’s dialogue about the character’s late husband.
“We had read an article in the New York Times where Betty White talked about her husband, Allen Ludden, and took that quote and put it word-for-word into the script,” Zimmerman said. “We never told her, but she was talking about Charlie the way she talked about Allen.”
“I always wish I had told her that’s where that line came from,” he added. “I never got to. It’s a big lesson: Don’t have regrets in life. Grab those moments.”
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