Carrie Bradshaw & Co. may have broken ground when they took to the streets in their Manolos to preach solidarity for single women, but they weren't the first. Thirteen years earlier, The Golden Girls did it smarter and funnier, in much more comfortable shoes. Last Sunday night at the sixth annual TV Land Awards, Betty White, Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan were honored for their roles as Rose Nylund, Dorothy Zbornak and Blanche Devereaux on one of NBC's most popular, and longest-running sitcoms. Steve Carell presented The Golden Girls with the Pop Culture Award, saying, "It is a show that has crossed the line from television series to pop culture phenomenon."

Look at them on the red carpet! Don't you just want to run up and hug them, and thank them for being a friend, traveling down the road and back again? Don't you want to invite them over for dinner to talk about the pranks they must have pulled on each other when they were filming The Golden Girls? Can't you just imagine the phone calls that went into getting ready for this show? ("Rue, it's Betty. I just spoke to Bea and she is planning to wear flip-flops for some inexplicable reason. I'll be wearing my blue, suede flats. I hope no one steps on them. Haha, get it? Remember to eat something before the awards, honey, you don't want the kind of champagne fiasco you had at the '87 Emmys. Bea and I had to practically carry you back to Miami. See you on the red carpet!")

Growing up I never missed an episode of The Golden Girls, even after my little sister once quoted something she'd heard on the show to my grandparents. "No warning; no foreplay; just wham, bam, thank you, ma'am!" she exclaimed one night over dinner.

In seven seasons — from 1985 to 1992 — Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia lived and loved and navigated retired life with an unapologetic devotion to one another. The show explored topics that were rarely discussed at the time, especially on prime time television: sex, immigration, homelessness, AIDS, addiction, anti-Semitism, interracial marriage and a whole host gay issues, including coming out and same-sex marriage. The Golden Girls explored the stories of gay children and lesbian best friends with the kind of humor and aplomb that is still sadly absent in mainstream media. … continue reading

I sometimes think back to the summer before my freshman year of high school. My very Catholic school gave us a booklist to read, and as a result of the imposed summer homework (Oh, no! Would all of high school be like this?), I was introduced to the four sisters March. Yes, the booklist included Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy found their way into my heart that summer of ’65. As I sat out on Mastic Beach in Long Island at the home of one of my cousins, I was transported back to the Civil War and the lives of those four girls. Balmy winds and beach sand under my feet were no match for Southern hospitality, adventurous escapades, plays, balls and the tears shed at the many sad moments in the book. I immediately fell in love with Jo and wished she could hold me in her arms as she did her dear sister Beth. Little did I know that was a portent of my future!

As I grew up and enjoyed different shows on TV, I came to recognize a pattern. Certain shows resonated with me in a way that was so familiar. You know these shows: The Facts of Life, Golden Girls, Designing Women. What was it, I asked myself, that connects all of these shows? And then one day, it came to me. The characters on these shows reflect the attributes of the characters in Little Women. … continue reading