Enough Wicker: Intellectualizing the Golden Girls

Oh boy, a whole episode about body negativity and dieting, wahoo! We kid, we kid. But in this one, the Girls are all dealing with their weight and appearance; Sophia is hellbent on gaining a pound to get back to her ideal weight while the rest of the crew tries working out and new hairstyling in order to look their best for an annual summer party. A classic clip show where, even in their desperation, the Girls can't be convinced to join Stanley's self-help pyramid scheme club. 

In this one, Dorothy engages in the age-old practice of #sportnookie with Eddie, whose apparent sexual prowess is hidden beneath an unassuming exterior. Meanwhile, Blanche and Rose decide to mentor two teenage punks and end up in the slammer. 

Dorothy is in a rut. Between Blanche's celebrity rags and Rose's...well, Rose in general, the Brightest Kid in Brooklyn™ is feeling a little unstimulated, intellectually. At the behest of her friends and mother, Dorothy decides to get out and do something for herself, and so she attends a lecture by celebrated author and metaphor-user Barbara Thorndyke. The two become friends, and even though it's clear to Rose and Madge that Barbara totally sucks, it takes Dorothy some time to see it, but boy is it worth the wait. Dorothy confronts Barbara when she reveals that she's a member of a club with antisemitic policies in a way that is still so relevant today; standing up to intolerance is always the right thing to do, even if there's a great breakfast and the parking is free. 

Hold onto your chisels, Laszlo's in town! The Hungarian Hunk initially plans to use Blanche as a nude model for his sculpture, but eventually, he asks Rose and Dorothy as well, seeing that they each bring a different set of qualities that he wishes to capture. This creates a rift in the household because all three women are interested in helping Laszlo buff his marble, if you catch our drift, but his heart (and marble) belong to someone else. Meanwhile, Sophia gets into practical jokes but for some reason, doesn't exploit her ex-son-in-law's connection to novelties at all!  PS. Click here for a list of more than 2 Hungarian sculptures of any time. 

The Girls have been living together for five years and they have HAD it. From Blanche's Designing Women accent to Rose's seemingly incessant need to sprinkle everyday conversation with Norwegian words, to Dorothy's holier-than-thou attitude, they need a headshrinker STAT! This one is a little weak in the writing of the main story, but there are a couple of real gems in the vignettes ($8/an hour). 

We've made it to the dreaded Season 2 finale--Empty Nests! We're joined by a very special guest Mr. Matt Browning, a writer and the site runner of EmptyNestTV.com. Matt shares with us some behind-the-scenes info that might explain why this backdoor pilot was such a flop, and makes a compelling case to give the real Empty Nest series a chance. Plus, we talk about Matt's forthcoming book The Definitive Golden Girls Cultural Reference Guide, a guide to every single pop culture reference in the Golden Girls (there's a lot of them).