MovieChat Forums > The Golden Girls (1985) Discussion > GG Forever...Unauthorized look behind th...

GG Forever...Unauthorized look behind the lenai

posted 8 years ago by Edge1978
16 replies | jump to latest

I bought it a few days ago and I love it! A lot of behind the scene stories through out some favorite episodes. Some of them really shocked me. Like the episode where Dorothy gets setup on a blind date (Eddie). Turns out Bea hated the script to the point where she was crying at the table read, saying that they (writers/producers) have been calling her a man for over 70 episodes, she is done.She even threatened to quit the series later that day.

I had no idea. I was blown away by it.

Another one that surprised me was that Foreign Exhange was the 100th episode. I have been a GG Fan since the early 90's and never knew that. There was quite a few nice pics of the 100TH celebration.

Has anyone picked up this book?

[–] monstermayhem32 7 years ago

I have the book. Bea hated the wedding dress from the finale which was hideous with the stupid ribbon. Her dress from her aborted wedding to stan in season 6 was e nicer looking.

[–] fleurfairy 7 years ago

Bea seemed like a very tough person to work with.

[–] daletterjay180 7 years ago

If your physical appearance was constantly the butt of jokes on a weekly basis you'd be hardened too. The fact that she put up with it for years on the show is a testament to her professionalism.

[–] Treg1980 7 years ago

If your physical appearance was constantly the butt of jokes on a weekly basis you'd be hardened too. The fact that she put up with it for years on the show is a testament to her professionalism.

True, but... Her hair was a mess during almost all seasons, if Betty and Rue could have good (better?) haircuts so could Bea. I'm re-watching the show for the billionth time right now and I'm wondering, as always, what was Bea thinking. And don't tell me 'it was the 80's' because there were lots of women with great haircuts during the 80's.

[–] Dottiegrl 7 years ago

I got it for Christmas and it's great.

~ Whoever said diamonds were a girls best friend never owned a dog ~

[–] scarlit 7 years ago

damn, that factoid alone is a gem. any other memorable tidbits?

[–] daletterjay180 7 years ago

Buy the book

[–] scarlit 7 years ago

i will.

[–] daletterjay180 7 years ago

I bought mine off Amazon, it's on its way!

[–] HollyGoLightly2013 (331) 7 years ago

I got the book for my birthday, and while I haven't read the whole thing yet I have thumbed through it, and I can tell that it is chop full of a lot of useful information. I agree with the aforementioned Bea Arthur comments. While those insults are meant for her character and not Bea Arthur herself she still looks like her character, and therefore those scripted lines also insult her. It is definitely a testament to her professionalism that she put up with it for as long as she did. I mean there were lines written in about Blanche being slutty, Rose being dumb and Sophia being obnoxious; however that is not how those three actresses were in real life, so therefore it did not hit on a personal level the way appearance insults would.

[–] adamdurrance (60) 7 years ago

Thanks to this thread, I just downloaded my copy.

[–] HollyGoLightly2013 (331) 7 years ago

Awesome!! I was looking through my book the other night. Let us know how you like it. :)

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

And Betty, being such a California beauty, upbeat, and adored, clearly (and obviously) bugged Arthur.

I used to attend the tapings for GG (about ten in all over the years), and Betty was always joking with the
studio audience, while Bea was extremely quiet. So was Estelle. Bea treated things like theatre, where one
is in character, while Betty seemed to always act like the audience was at a taping of one of her late
husband's game shows. Betty was charming, but I can see where this would grate on Arthur's nerves. She
was a woman with a lot of personal issues, especially towards a very cold father (this semi-autobiographical
material was explored in an one-woman episode of "Maude").

[–] adamdurrance (60) 7 years ago

Omg, so good to see you contributing here. Was hoing to ask you if you liked this show. Hope this show on this board is your second home. Very lively group here I've noticed.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

I go through weird periods where I get burned out on the show (never with "Bewitched", for some
reason). And, yes, I rarely post here. I don't own any of the DVDs, but I used to watch them
over and over on Youtube (before Disney had a hissy-fit over lost revenue and took them down -
or made people watch them as if they were the size of postage stamps!).

As a rerun, the show suffers from way too many "Remember the time we..." episodes, and also
preachy shows. I also dislike a lot of the "topical" jokes (as in Gary Hart, and such). But, yes,
a truly fun show to watch!

[–] adamdurrance (60) 7 years ago

Reading now and enjoying so far. I like that the episode descriptions are brief and we get some insight on production and personalities.
I'm a little morbid and also like being given the birth and death stats. Just gives me a where are they now thing, and how they died and whether they are still around.

Got this from the book. I'm sure many of you have already seen this.

https://youtu.be/9KrLLPb6xVU