Wanna feel old? âThe Golden Girlsâ series finale was 30 years ago.
Yup, the last episode titled âOne Flew Out of the Cuckooâs Nestâ aired on May 9, 1992.
It was a two-part episode that features Blanche, played by Rue McClanahan, who unloaded her visiting Uncle Lucas, played by Leslie Nielsen, off onto Dorothy, played by Bea Arthur, by telling each of them that they were interested in one another.
May 9, 1992: 30 years ago, the series finale of The Golden Girls aired. Began in 1985, ran 7 seasons & 180 episodes. Find out more about the showâs memorable theme song > https://t.co/azfGZHd8Ox pic.twitter.com/MGDVugOwSs
â Old School 80s (@OldSchool80s) May 9, 2022
Dorothy and Uncle Lucas learned of Blancheâs trickery and decided to play a trick on her, pretending to marry each other.
In the process, they end up wanting to get married for real.
So, Dorothy moves out of The Golden Girlsâ Miami home and in with Lucas in Atlanta. The finale was a result of Arthur opting to move on from her role as Dorothy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1l9F4mXQa4
That led to âThe Golden Girlsâ spin-off âThe Golden Palaceâ where McClanahan, Betty White, who played Rose, and Estelle Getty, who played Sophia, reprised their roles.
The series features Rose, Blanche, and Estelle moving out of Miami and into an Art Deco South Beach hotel they invested in and would manage.
The show co-stars Don Cheadle, who played the hotel manager, and Cheech Marin, as the co-chef. There were only 24 episodes of the show before it was canceled but Deadline reports that itâs available on Hulu.


âWe knew we wanted to kind of give her [Arthur] a fitting tribute and a fitting departure from the show,â one of the showâs writers and producers Mitchell Hurwitz told TODAY. âI remember, she was very moved by the last episode. And she wrote me this lovely note about it. And that was really a privilege. I always felt lucky to be there at all. And to be given a chance to write something that was meaningful for her was really special.â
Celebrating the Golden Girls
Thank you for being a friend to so many â€ïžâ€ïž
Bea Arthur ~ supported homeless LGBTQ+ youth
Estelle Getty ~ HIV/AIDS activist, supported AIDS patients
Rue McClanahan ~ animal welfare & LGBTQ+ advocate
Betty White ~ animal welfare & LGBTQ+ advocate pic.twitter.com/81raHuG2iT
â BebopSpaceCowgirl đđđâ€ïžđđ (@jomareewade) December 31, 2021
âThe Golden Girlsâ was created by Susan Harris and ran on NBC for seven seasons from September 1985 to May 1992.
According to Wikipedia, there were a total of 180 half-hour episodes.
Itâs a timeless show that is still in syndication and is streaming today. While the show might have grown in age, the humor hasnât. Itâs still as hilarious as it ever was to those tuning in today.
âThere were just tremendous writers over the seven years of the show, at every stage of it,â said Hurwitz.
Hurwitz, who went on to create âArrested Development,â said he learned a great lesson from the show.
That âyou can always make it funnier.â Hurwitz credits Harris and her partners Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas as being âresponsible for the soul of that show.â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWbz_mIAShM
And who can forget that theme song? âThank You For Being a Friendâ was co-written by Andrew Gold and Brock Walsh appearing on Goldâs third album âAll This and Heaven Too.â
It was covered by Cynthia Fee as the showâs theme song.
Hurwitz recalls how the showâs final episode reflected reality with Dorothy saying goodbye to her mother and two friends, while Arthur was also saying goodbye to cast and crew members.
âTheyâre having to say goodbye to someone they love, which is a very real thing that you have to deal with at that age,â Hurwitz said. âWe got to deal with it in a much more positive way. But I think it was still just as emotional. The goal was to find some true emotion there and to resist sentimentality, which happens on sitcoms. Oftentimes when sitcoms try to be emotional, they become sentimental and cloying, and, you know, these women had too much dignity to let that happen.â
đșThe series finale of âThe Golden Girlsâ aired 30 years ago, May 9, 1992, on NBC pic.twitter.com/gBsfXjP0bP
If you know me, you know I watch #goldengirls religiously.
This show makes me laugh, cry, smile and leaves me with butterflies. This scene makes me sad. The finale
â PREPper Ann (@SlutFromDee90s) May 9, 2022
Hurwitz says the show was such a success because of the quest to keep making it funnier. The script would be read on Monday by the actresses and then re-written every day after a new reading until the show was filmed in front of a live studio audience on Friday.
âI think the show has lasted because itâs about love, and itâs about support, and itâs about being proud of who you are,â Hurwitz said. âAnd you know, especially when society isnât holding you in high regard. Itâs about not quitting and fighting back. And it has all these kinds of universal themes that somehow these women bring to life.â
Hear more about the finale from one of the show writers in the video below!
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