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Saratogians react to the iconic ‘Golden Girls’ for their 40th anniversary that’s being celebrated tonight on ABC.
From Sicily to St. Olaf, and Miami to Saratoga Springs, The Golden Girls are beloved for their one-liners, fabulousness and the types of scandals that a midnight cheesecake can always fix.
Now ABC is toasting the global phenom’s 40th anniversary (the hit show premiered in fall 1985) tonight with a jam-packed, high-wattage special with interviewees including George Clooney, Kelly Ripa and Laverne Cox. To get you prepped for the emotional roller-coaster that only these queens of TV could take us on, we asked our local readers to tell us their favorite memories or quotes from their decades of watching one of the few comedies that stands the test of time. (Skeptical? Check out its popularity on Hulu or 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.)
And Saratogians came out in Sophia Petrillo-worthy force to share their fave moments.
As for me, I loved the show when I was much younger – four fabulous women living in Miami and having adventures on the daily? I was so in! As I got older I’d watch and wonder: Who got this show greenlit anyway? “No, really, this show is going to be bananas – it’s about three old women, but the real star is an even older woman. The ratings are going to be huge!”
However they got it done, it was genius. Let’s see what Saratogians had to say.
“Eat dirt and die, trash,” sums up Zac, 39. Who else could deliver a line like that but Blanche Devereaux? (She was mad that Dorothy fired a particular housekeeper.)
Seana, 51, also had an immediate fan favorite quote that began with Rose asking Dorothy, “Where are you going?” Her friend’s deadpan answer: “To get ice cream or commit a felony. I’ll decide in the car.” Who cares about the original context? This famous exchange has been made into memes across the internet landscape, covering everything from perimenopause to a rough day at the office.
“Shady Pines, Ma, Shady Pines,” laughs Dawn, 65, doing a mean Dorothy impression. (Whenever Sophia was being extra-salty, Dorothy would threaten to send her back to the nursing home.) “That show was my mother’s favorite — she’s in her 80s and has seen them all; she even had the box set of DVDs at one time,” Dawn says. “To this day, every night I set the timer on the TV to turn off and I listen to an episode. It’s just noise — I know what happens by now.”
She wasn’t the only one with nostalgia for Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty and the bonding time their created with family members.
“It was my all-time favorite,” says Lori, 48. “I started off watching it with my grandma. Looking back, I don’t think we were laughing at the same jokes.”
“It was my mother’s favorite show,” says Paul, 59. “She loved the mother.”
Marcella, 46, was simply thrilled by today’s celebration of these TV legends. “I’ll be using them,” she says, “as fashion inspiration today in their honor.”
The Golden Girls: 40 Years of Laughter and Friendship airs tonight on ABC at 10 p.m. and starting tomorrow on Disney+ and Hulu.
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