In an announcement that is certain to set minds spinning with memories of yesteryear, Logo TV announced that it is planning an on-air celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Golden Girls.
Yes, as of September 14, it has been 30 years since Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia entered our lives through our TVs, teaching us about life, love, and how to casually read someone to filth without a moment’s pause. TV shows may come and go, but The Golden Girls — currently broadcast in reruns on Logo — endures, thanks to its delicious combination of sisterly love and bickering. Gay men in particular, who culturally prefer to fight with their words before their fists, worship at the feet of The Golden Girls, the Patron Saints of Bitchy Quips and Exasperated Facial Expressions. The gays aren’t the only queens who love the show: even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II requested a private showing by the cast, and she found the sex jokes funny; her ex-daughter in-law, Princess Diana and her pal, Queen’s Freddie Mercury, liked to drink champagne with while they watched the show on mute and improvised lines. Diana and Freddie, drunk and cackling at The Golden Girls, is simply too marvelous to comprehend.
Speaking of queens, endless parodies of the show abound, usually featuring men in drag hamming it up for every bitchy laugh; the Cavern Club Theater in Los Angeles recently staged a sold-out run of The Golden Girlz Live featuring drag royalty Jackie Beat and Sherry Vine, with celebs such as Katy Perry stopping by to sit in the audience and giggle. Of course, Logo’s Golden Girls tribute will feature four cast members from the only other show on the network that anyone watches, RuPaul’s Drag Race (see photo above, from left to right): Shangela, Delta Work, Pandora Boxx and Willam, playing Sophia, Dorothy, Rose and Blanche, respectively. They’ll chit-chat about the show during episode breaks while mocking each other for fun. In honor of the Girls, they better be in top form.
Thanks to reruns over the years on numerous networks, The Golden Girls is a part of the American identity; most people won’t know the names of their local political officials, but ask anyone and they’ll probably know who Dorothy Zbornak is. But The Golden Girls‘ enduring popularity is more than just four old women being funny. They demonstrated how relationships can be complicated, yet sex is simply a part of life. Monogamy and promiscuity are choices, not morals. Learning to laugh at yourself once in a while will make it more fun to laugh with your friends.
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Perhaps most importantly, if there’s one thing The Golden Girls taught us, it’s the fact that age is just a number. Growing older is something to acknowledge, not dread, because life is as fun as you make it. Although if you want to sit inside all day and watch reruns of an old TV show about a bunch of old ladies, go ahead. You’ve probably seen those episodes 10 times, but who cares? And yes you have to pig out and eat ice cream and cheesecake the entire time.
Finrod
It was the Queen Mother who requested a private show, although both she and the Queen seem to have been in attendance. Confusing the Queen with the Queen Mum is a fast track to losing your gay card.
Steve McSheffrey
If you saw the picture without the headline, wold anyone realize they were trying to look like the Golden Girls? Epic fail…
Kieran
You just know the Logo channel is run by a bunch of homophobic straight guys who think gay men all want to look and act like women. Instead of gay movies, documentaries on gay issues or interviews with gay personalities, Logo (aka ‘the gay channel’) offers a steady stream of ‘Facts of Life’, ‘Golden Girls’ and ‘Buffy the Vanpire; reruns. Embarrassing.
bobbyjoe
Logo has literally nothing besides RuPaul. Notice even the Golden Girls thing is hosted by…. you guessed it… queens from RuPaul.
I still like RuPaul’s Drag Race, but migod, Logo just gave up and has become some sub-grade Nick-At-Night. It’s like the network that sits around in its basement, wearing sweat pants and a sweat shirt and never, ever going out, covered in Cheeto dust and sadly eating tubs of ice cream, eternally pitying itself. A few years ago Logo threw some original– but bad– LGBT programming at us; it didn’t work, and the lesson they took from it was not: “these shows were bad, let’s make better shows,” it was “oh nobody will watch LGBT programming; just slap up lots of reruns of Buffy, Golden Girls, and Bewitched.” Their entire strategy seems to be: give up, retreat, do as little as possible, sulk.
Even RuPaul jokes about how he’s the only thing keeping the lights on at Logo. Logo really might be the worst run network in the history of tv. Who IS running that place, anyway?
Chris Thomas Phillips
Ken Thomas
Stache99
@Kieran: Oh no. The facts of Life. That show is hideously bad.
Glücklich
@Kieran:
@bobbyjoe:
BBC America is in the same boat. WTF do ENDLESS reruns of “X Files” and “Star Trek Next Generation” have to do with 70+ years of British TV broadcasts? ‘Cause, y’know, I can’t find that shit on at least a dozen other channels up in this bitch if I need inspiration to put a shotgun in my mouth. At least the goddammed fucking “Top Gear” bullshit isn’t on rotation anymore.
martinbakman
The run at the Cavern Club was awesome. Jackie Beat was great as Dorothy. Not surprised Logo is grabbing onto such a successful idea for drag, but after seeing the live production I wonder if the success will translate well to television.
Sammy Schlipshit
Is this to start now?….when?
Desert Boy
‘The Golden Girls’ still makes me laugh. What a talented group of women.
Bob LaBlah
@bobbyjoe: “Logo has literally nothing besides RuPaul. Notice even the Golden Girls thing is hosted by…. you guessed it… queens from RuPaul.”
I could not agree with you more. And since I quit watching after the second Drag Race season the only reason I “stop by” is why they are showing something like the original Hairspray with Divine and Ricky Lake. What LOGO proves is that the gay audience is really no different that any other audience. If I don’t like what I am watching I reach for the remote.
I found many of the shows they did try to produce simply too smothering with things gay. Ok, you like to take it up the….well, I think they focused to much on the characters being the perfect fit by the actor portraying the character but after a few episodes one simply said “ok, now what’s next” and that “next” didn’t seem to come. Believe it or not I think reality shows that featured gay characters are what killed it for LOGO. Once the public got a taste of gays being no different more or less who gave a fuck about shows aimed TOTALLY at gays?
I mean really, how long can one be expected to watch a narcissistic ass gym queen on television week after week before stopping to think “why am I watching this queen”?
Gothrykke
Only Shangela got the outfit. The rest need to go back and do some damn research. Willam, please! You looked more like Blanche when you were doing the Beat Down.