Friday, July 25, from 12 noon to 5 pm et/pt, see a special on-air tribute to Estelle Getty, who played the cantankerous Sophia Petrillo on "The Golden Girls." Ms. Getty passed away on Tuesday, July 22, at age 84. We'll air 10 episodes showcasing the actress's character, Sophia, in all her blustering, sarcastic splendor.
The final episode is one that was picked by the fans! Tune in at 4:30 pm et/pt to see which got the most votes as part of the "Golden Girls" marathon.
Descriptions of Each Episode
"It's a Miserable Life"
The girls make a petition to save a 200-year-old oak tree. Everyone agrees on saving the tree, except for Frieda Claxton, the meanest lady in the neighborhood. Rose tells her that if she doesn't like the plans to save the tree, she should just drop dead. Coincidentally, Mrs. Claxton drops dead.
For Sophia's birthday, Dorothy flies in her sister, Angela, from Sicily as a surprise. The trick soon becomes how to keep Sophia's surprise a surprise as she pulls out every trick in the book to find out. However, Dorothy's the one who's surprised when Sophia's reaction is that of disgust.
"Old Friends"
Sophia meets an old black man on the boardwalk and becomes quick friends with him. However, his strange behavior signals that he has a medical condition, Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, Blanche accidentally gives away Rose's teddy bear at a garage sale.
"My Brother, My Father"
Sophia's brother, Angelo, a priest, is coming to Miami for a visit and he doesn't know Dorothy and Stan are divorced. So in order to spare his feelings, Sophia convinces Dorothy and Stan to pretend to be married. Meanwhile, Rose and Blanche prepare to star in a play, "The Sound of Music."
"Old Boyfriends"
Sophia goes out with Marvin, a man she met through the personals, who likes moonlit nights and romantic Italian dinners and remembers when Sinatra was skinny. Marvin arrives for their date with his sister, Sarah, in tow. Due to his poor eyesight, his sibling drives him about. Wanting to be alone with Marvin after several dates, Sophia invites him to the house, where she instigates some hanky-panky. Uncomfortable, Marvin blurts out that Sarah isn’t his sister, she’s his wife! Meanwhile, Rose gets a visit from Thor Anderson of St. Olaf, who has been smitten with her since high school, but she doesn’t remember him at all.
comments
and always enjoy watching the reruns. One of my favorite episodes that hit close to home for me is when Sophia's son Phil died. I cried at the end. I too didn't get to see all the marathon episodes due to work. I hope they can replay them. Estelle will be missed.
I guess this has turned into commenting on Golden Girls instead of Estelle Getty, in particular. My most identify moment with Sophia was the one when her son, Phil, died. Actually, it was so very sad that I could hardly watch it. (I think that that was because my younger son as an adult young man was killed a number of years ago in an auto accident.) I lived with Sophia as she went through her grief... her regrets... her pains... and her hurts... I watched the way she handled some of the pain that was overwhelming her. WHAT A GREAT ACTRESS!!! A WONDERFUL LADY!!!
I certainly hope that the series is NOT taken off the air. (I think perhaps Golden Girls might not get as many comments as other shows... because the audience is older. Operating a computer is NOT something that all of us do... Some of us, yes... But many of us, no... Yet, we are there enjoying the show.) It makes no difference that we have seen the reruns many times over... (How many times have we all seen I Love Lucy? Yet, many of us still enjoy her antics... a true icon.) In many ways, Golden Girls is like that.... It is true... Both shows comment effectively on a way of life... a past... and perhaps, even the future through the past...
THIS IS Sophia's Day....
every day.
Secondly, I have to say that when I read the interview with Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan and Arthur said that the relationship between herself and Getty was amazing considering they were a year apart in actual age and Arthur was older than Getty in real life, I truly agreed with Arthur's statement... they were amazing together.
More importantly, I just want extend my sympathy to Estelle Getty's family and friends in this trying time. I have to tell you that one of the reasons that I always watched the Golden Girls was I loved Rose's "Back in St. Olaf" stories, Blanche's men stories, and I also loved how there were times when Dorothy had to tell one of the two to "shut up!" but since I was four years old when my mother's mother passed away and my father's mother lived in Missouri and I didn't get to see her that much, I related to Sophia's "Picture It..." stories and I always felt that in a way, Sophia was a "foster grandmother" and her wisdom helped me through a lot in my life. I always told my mom that she was one woman in television who always made me feel better by the stories she told on the show which actually helped me feel better when I was upset or whenever I had a problem.
My favorite story Sophia told was the one she told during the episode where they all got the flu and Sophia was talking about an ear salve which got mixed up by the village idiot for pesto sauce. When Dorothy pointed to Sophia and said, "Ma, you're makin' that up..." and Sophia turned around and said, "So what? I'm old... I'm supposed to be colorful!"--that episode always brings a smile to my face.
Estelle Getty will forever in my heart go down as one of the great comedians of our generation. She was loved by her fans, family and friends, and I, as a fan, will forever miss her.
Thanks, Estelle for the memories, the laughs, and the tears. (Tears from laughing so hard you were crying, but then later crying because you felt as though you lost a member of your family. I know I felt that way when I heard she passed away!)
Rest in peace, dear friend.
Carolyn Beste
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9QAOCEg8I