Conor Oberst & Jenny Lewis in Battery Park on July 4th (more by Chris La Putt)

The Golden Girls had a loyal fan base that still exists to this day, thanks to reruns. The show was often controversial, as its main characters were 4 single older women who lived together, but were still sexually active, and up-to-date with pop culture. Mild profanity and sexual innuendo were common on the program. The effects of Sophia's stroke, which, according to Dorothy, "rendered her totally annoying" and "a complete burden", enabled the character to get away with much more than the other women.

The show often tackled topics that were not frequently aired on TV. These included: the coming out of Blanche's brother and his gay marriage, menopause, gun control, impotence, drug addiction, safe sex, empty nest syndrome, infidelity, interracial marriage, racism, transsexualism, homophobia, age discrimination, organ donation, fixed income, domestic violence, problem gambling, suicide, cross-dressing, lesbianism, plastic surgery, child abandonment, euthanasia, chronic fatigue syndrome, pregnancy, homicide, veganism, cocaine addiction, artificial insemination, health care, agoraphobia, homelessness, immigration, sexual harassment, illegal immigration, and senility. Perhaps the most provocative episode involved Rose getting tested for HIV years after receiving an untested blood transfusion. [Wikipedia]

As Jenny Lewis' music career continues and she gets more famous (for her music), many probably forget or never realized that she started out as a child actress. I was reminded the other day when I was watching a 1987 episode of The Golden Girls where Jenny played an evil girl scout named Daisy. Check out video clips from the show, below...

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In 1972, Bea Arthur was cast as the title character in the television series Maude. She played Maude Findlay, an outspoken liberal living in the affluent community of Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York, with her husband, Walter (Bill Macy) and divorced daughter Carol (Adrienne Barbeau). The show was a spin-off from All in the Family, on which Arthur had appeared a couple of times in the same role, playing Edith Bunker's (Jean Stapleton)'s cousin, a feminist, and antithesis to the bigoted, conservative Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), who described Maude as a "New Deal fanatic." Her role garnered several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, including her Emmy win in 1977 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

In 1978, she costarred in the much derided The Star Wars Holiday Special, in which she had a song and dance routine, where the Star Wars character Greedo was one of her dance partners.

After appearing in the short-lived 1983 sitcom Amanda's (an unsuccessful US version of the British hit series Fawlty Towers), Arthur was cast in the hit sitcom The Golden Girls in 1985, in which she played Dorothy Zbornak, a divorced substitute teacher living in a Miami, Florida house owned by Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan). Her other roommates included widow Rose Nylund (Betty White) and Dorothy's Sicilian mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty). Getty was actually a year younger than Arthur in real life, and was heavily made up to look significantly older. [Wikipedia]

Video of Bea Arthur singing in the Star Wars cantina, and other videos below...

Continue reading "Bea Arthur, RIP"