The GOLDEN GIRLS Revisited

 One of the perks to being retired is that you have the time to do things you didn't when you were younger and working. I have been haunting the Palm Springs Library's vast DVD selection and watching many of the shows shown here on PBS but were created for England's BBC. I find that many of their shows are vastly superior to what is produced here. I highly recommend FOYLE''S WAR and GEORGE GENTLY.

However, pursuing the stacks a week ago I happened upon Season One of THE GOLDEN GIRLS, a show I often missed. It came on TV in September of 1985. I had a daughter born in July of 1985 and a hell on wheels son of 4 at the time. I didn't see many of the shows even though it had a seven year run and won many, many deserved awards.

While the show is now 38 years old I first noticed that clips of funny scenes from GIRLS have been shown on Facebook, scenes so funny you got a good belly laugh now, all these years later.

So, I picked up Season One and was prepared to be disappointed. While some shows, like I LOVE LUCY have stood the tests of time, many others haven't. What is more important, having no commercials to break up the story line, you get a very different perspective on a show's flow.

I remember the first time I watched a season of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND sans commercials and realized the mother really was a pain in the ass. She meddled in everything, coddling her sons more like a wife than mother.  Deborah was right.

But I digress. Watching GIRLS I realized that this was the first time on public television that women were allowed to express their feelings regarding sex ... sexual feelings they have, sexual feelings towards men and voice that they don't always (the toilet repair episode) need a man to get something done. That was heady stuff back then and paved the way for shows like SEX IN THE CITY. All these years later this is heady stuff today! Witness how men are telling women how they should control their bodies!!! I think we thought we were past all that. Apparently not.

Each of the characters in their own way voiced their feelings. Sex starved Blanche, played by Rue
McClanahan, now a widow whom all felt would like take on the fleet during fleet week in Florida and not the least shamed to admit it as a Southern Belle. Dorothy, the amazing Bea Arther, whose husband left her for a stewardess the age of their daughter still willing to date and find a man who treats her with respect. Ditsy Rose played by funny funny Betty White whose memories of St. Olaf drives everyone crazy.While she still adores her deceased husband's memory, she too is willing to date men. And the character Sophie, the Italian mother of Dorothy is both pithy, summing up all their travails, even she gets her chances to date as well. No other show even came close to this in 1985.

It also shows us that while times change, things also remain the same. That women today are still battling many of these same issues all these years later shows that vigilance of past successes is never as secure as we may think. The battles women had in the 60's, 70's and 80's for work, sports, careers, sexual freedom, even military careers, were all the children of mother's who during the war years provided the backbone work force of the US Arsenal that won World War II. While many look fondly at the 50's as the Golden Age, there were many women who did not. They were still feeding on the freedom they had and proved they could do just about anything a man could do.

GOLDEN GIRLS fed on that line of reasoning in a comedic way that still had a heart of steel beneath. They were not afraid to address the concerns of these women,  women everywhere, and while we laughed they often had a point. For me, as a man, I only truly see the point now.

I urge you to watch these shows, again if need be! As for me, I plan on getting Season 2 the next time I'm at the library! I find that I still have much to learn.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed!

 Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed!