'The Golden Girls' Still Being Watched 30 Years After Finale

The finale of The Golden Girls aired 30 years ago. The finale ranked among the most-watched finales ever in the history of television. It might not seem like it has been that long ago because viewers can still watch the show through syndicated reruns. The theme song, Thank You for Being a Friend was appropriate because all four of the women were friends who lived together. They joked, laughed, and poked fun at one another.

A total of 180 half-hour episodes originally aired on NBC for seven seasons from September 14, 1985 to May 9, 1992. The show was so popular that 27.2 million viewers watched the hour-long finale. That number of viewers was more than many other shows during that era, according to Business Insider.

During the time the show was on the air, many controversial topics were discussed. Some of the subjects included newsworthy topics such as teen pregnancy, AIDS, and same-sex marriage. There was a two-part episode based on the creator's real-life struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome which many people have but do not talk about.

Estelle Getty

Estelle Gettleman was known professionally as Estelle Getty. She played Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy Zbornak's mother. In real life, Dorothy, played by Bea Arthur, was much older than Estelle. Getty was given the role of Sophia because she showed up to the audition looking like she was “a little old lady.” Producers of the show liked the Getty's look and mannerisms and made Dorothy's mother look much older. With 45 minutes of hair and makeup, Getty was made to look older than she really was.

Estelle was the least experienced of the four actresses. Many times she froze on stage during tapings because of her stage fright. She didn't like to be part of funeral scenes because she had a phobia about death.

Estelle Getty lived to be 84 years old. She died in 2008 from Lewy body dementia.

Bea Arthur

There were doubts about having Beatrice Arthur one of the golden girls. The creator's first choice was to hire Lee Grant to play the part of Dorothy. Arthur was leery about accepting the part. She changed her mind only she found out Rue McClanahan would be in the role of Blanche and Betty White was going to play Rose.

Bea was fashionable like the other women, but she was the only one who wore clip-on earrings. Because of her almost 5-foot-10-inch height, she wore flat shoes on the show and in real life. Bea Arthur died of cancer at 86 in 2009.

Rue McClanahan

Rue McClanahan's real name was Eddi-Rue McClanahan. She played Blanche Devereaux. All the women wore fancy clothes and jewelry, even when they were just sitting around talking. All of them were fashionable, but Rue was the most fashionable. She wore jewelry all the time even with her nightclothes. McClanahan loved her fashionable clothes and jewelry so much that she had a clause in her contract that allowed her to keep her custom-made outfits. When the show end, she reportedly had 13 closets full of designer clothes.

Rue was portrayed as being man-crazed. She had many male companions on the show. Rue McClanahan died at 76 in 2010 from a stroke.

Betty White

Betty White played her part very well as Rose Nylund, even though it was not the creator's first choice for her to be the dumb one. The creators first wanted McClanahan and White to have each other's roles. Eventually, the creators settled on the roles the two women had for seven seasons.

White had the honor of having the longest television career of any entertainer with over 80 years in show business. Therefore, she was the most seasoned actress and comedian on The Golden Girls.

Betty White was the last of the golden girls to die. She died on December 31, 2021 at the age of 99 due to a stroke she suffered six days before her death. She would have turned 100 years old on January 17, 2022.

A marathon of The Golden Girls episodes aired on what would have been Betty's 100th birthday. Because she was an excellent game show contestant and had appeared on Password and The Match Game so many times, the Game Show Channel aired episodes she had appeared on to honor her.