Wayback WhensDay: The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Go ahead now and take my man card. I am a middle aged man and I love watching Golden Girls reruns.  I have loved the show since it first premiered back in 1985.  I was 12 years old then and I have fond memories of watching the show every Saturday night.  That probably tells you something about my social life back then.

My best memory of watching the original run of the show is spending time with a special woman we all referred to as Granny.  Granny was actually a friend of the family and a grandmother figure to a lot of kids I knew growing up.  We would go over to our friends' house, where Granny lived, and hang out.  It felt like we were there nearly every Saturday night as our parents would be spending time together too.  Golden Girls became almost like a bonding experience across generations.

Story time

Even as I entered high school, I would still watch, but not as regularly, as I did begin to develop a social life.  Then the show went into syndication, and it seemed like Rose, Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia were on all the time.  That's still the case today, more than 20 years after the show ended its run.

Picking a favorite is difficult to do.  I say I like all four of them equally, but for different reasons.  Even though I've seen each episode God knows how many times, I still chuckle when I watch.  One thing I never understood though was why they were always wearing long pants and long blouses in Miami.  But then again, the world probably couldn't take a bikini clad Bea Arthur either.

Artwork by Sam Carter
http://samcarterart.com/

The show is definitely a pop culture phenomenon and I'm proud to say my living room is now decorated with a very unique piece by artist Sam Carter.  My blogging buddy Chad got it for me a few months ago.  I've added that to the Golden Girls t-shirt he bought me a few years ago.  As they say in the theme song, "Thank you for being a friend."