In Defense of “The Golden Palace”
The short-lived and oft-criticized spinoff of The Golden Girls has finally arrived on streaming in honor of what would have been Betty White’s 100th birthday. Here, I take a look at the series, which is better than most remember.
The plans to celebrate Betty White’s 100th birthday on January 17, 2022 were monumental. There was a feature length documentary celebrating the occasion that would play in theaters for only one day, a major People magazine cover, and Hulu was finally going to debut one of her series on streaming.
Heartbreakingly, Betty White passed away three weeks shy of the milestone on December 31, 2021. The celebrations of her 100th birthday were quickly turned into celebrations of her remarkable life and career as millions switched from glee to deep sorrow. (Click here to read my tribute to the life and career of Betty White.)
Today marks one of those celebrations as The Golden Palace, the short-lived spinoff of The Golden Girls, makes its streaming debut on Hulu.
When Bea Arthur announced that she was leaving The Golden Girls at the end of its 7th season to pursue other career opportunities, it quickly became apparent that she was the only one ready to let go of the beloved mega-hit. (Click here to read my tribute to the life and career of Bea Arthur.) Sure, the series had lost its perennial perch in the Nielsen Top 10 and its Emmy love was starting to decline on an annual basis, but it remained a remarkably popular show with a rabid fan base. Furthermore, it had three additional comic actresses at their prime who knew they were unlikely to ever get a role as great again. So Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty struck a deal with Disney to keep the gravy train rolling.
NBC was only willing to green light 13 episodes of the series, as they wanted to hedge their bets as they sought to focus on a younger demographic. (For context, Seinfeld had just premiered, Mad About You’s arrival was imminent, and Frasier and Friends would be along shortly). Seeking to boost its own comedy block, CBS gave a promise for a full-season and ponied up enough money to win the ladies from NBC. The rebranded Golden Girls was one of the hottest properties of the 1992–1993 television season. The Golden Palace did solidly in the ratings at first but ultimately was not a commercial success, with declining ratings throughout the season that prevented it from being renewed. Interestingly, Rue McClanahan claimed that a second season was given the go-ahead, but that CBS abruptly changed their mind at the 11th hour.
I am a completist by nature and I find it hard to give up on television, film, and book series once I have started. Even if they have clearly started to decline in quality, I am always eager to see how things get wrapped up and I am always holding out hope for the rare and exhilarating turnaround in quality that some series manage.
But, for me, The Golden Girls never really declined in quality. Like numerous sitcoms, the show did vary more in quality toward the end of its run. The show was still producing all-time classics, but they were less frequent and sprinkled in among filler episodes that got increasingly cartoonish or relied too heavily on guest stars. (Will & Grace, Friends, and Modern Family are other examples of shows that followed this trajectory.) But some of my favorite episodes of the series came from its final season and the spectacular series finale always left me wanting more. (Click here for my retrospective of The Golden Girls.)
Several years ago, I discovered that there was a website specializing in rare DVDs that provided a full series set of The Golden Girls that was essentially comprised of all 24 episodes of the series recorded off of Lifetime, which briefly aired reruns of the series in the 1990s. I ordered them and devoured all 24 episodes.
To my surprise and relief, The Golden Palace is not nearly the disaster many recall it as. In fact, it is quite good. Its worst episodes play like middling filler episode of The Golden Girls in which the plots go nowhere and the jokes fall flat. (As good as The Golden Girls was, it certainly had its duds.) But its best episodes rivaled some of the greatest episodes of The Golden Girls. Notably, The Golden Palace’s truly great episodes by and large are the ones that dive head first into the pool of Girls nostalgia, suggesting that the show’s only hope of ever working was as a victory lap as opposed to a fully independent series.
The two best episodes are (unsurprisingly) the two where Bea Arthur returns and fights to get her mother back. Arthur’s Dorothy Zbornak is a brilliant comic creation and she does more in two episodes than even gifted actors do in a full season. The season also features the return of Miles (twice), Stan, Rebecca, and other characters from the Girls universe. That’s in addition to an impressive slate of one-off guest appearances that includes George Burns, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Nanette Fabray, Ned Beatty, Joely Fisher, Dick Van Patten, Eddie Albert, and Ricardo Montalban.
The spinoff takes a bold move by adding two new supporting characters who are not only male and significantly younger, but also people of color. Both work surprisingly well. Don Cheadle, who would later become an Oscar-nominated dramatic film actor, displays a great flare for comedy and demonstrates wonderful chemistry with the ladies as Roland Wilson, the hotel manager. Silly and stereotypical writing often sidelines Cheech Marin, but his character of Chuy the hotel chef works more often than it doesn’t and Marin demonstrates great commitment to the role. (The less said about the brief tenure of Billy, the tough talking foster kid, the better).
But despite all of the familiar faces and fresh blood, what makes the spinoff work is that the three returning Girls are nothing less than spectacular. Rue McClanahan in particular is a force of nature, anchoring the series well in Dorothy’s absence with her ability to balance broad comedy and nuanced dramatic material. Betty White continues to delight as Rose and gets some terrific material throughout the course of the season. Estelle Getty’s Sophia also gets more room to shine (probably because she has to fight with one less Girl for screen time) and has some of her most ruthless one-liners of the show’s run.
The writing stumbles a bit as it tries to make the plot transition and incorporate the new characters and, just as was the case with the original series, there are a handful of subpar episodes that get way too silly. The show also takes some questionable plot turns, such as the ugly resolution of Rose and Miles’s romance. But the writing generally works quite well, with hilarious one-liners, excellent character development, and mostly well-conceived plot lines. The show also tackled big issues fairly well, with episodes about Confederate pride, stigma against the intellectually disabled, and animal exploitation being particularly memorable. The writers also dropped in numerous references to events and characters from the original series that are delightful “Easter Eggs” for fans.
Ultimately, I am not surprised that The Golden Palace didn’t survive. Bea Arthur was such a powerful force on the series that there is something undeniably missing without her and when the spinoff was great it was mostly playing to nostalgia as opposed to being something new. But it is a consistently funny, occasionally inspired, and superbly well-acted season of comedy that deserves to be seen. And now, thanks to Hulu, it will be.
The Golden Palace was not nearly as good as The Golden Girls was at its prime. But even a subpar Golden Girls is comedy gold.
6 Episodes to Watch
“Pilot.” This delightful episode begins in the girls’ old house, introduces us to the new setting and characters, and yields a solid number of laughs.
“Seems Like Old Times (Parts One and Two).” By far the best episodes of the spinoff, this two-parter finds Bea Arthur’s Dorothy Zbornak returning for a visit and announcing that she is taking her mother back with her. It features numerous hilarious, heartfelt, and iconic moments and features a typically brilliant performance from Arthur.
“Marriage On the Rocks, With a Twist.” The best subplot any of the new characters got was here, with Roland’s parents’ divorce. This substantive plot line occurs against the backdrop of an utterly hilarious farce involving a prank war between Rose and Sophia. (The episode also features guest appearances by three television legends — The Carol Burnett Show’s Tim Conway and Harvey Korman and Good Times’s Ja’Net DuBois).
“You’ve Lost That Living Feeling.” The Golden Girls always did pure farce very well and this episode, which finds a dead body and a news crew threatening to derail the hotel’s grand re-opening, is no exception.
“One Angry Stan.” The last great episode of The Golden Girls, this one finds Dorothy’s ex-husband Stan arriving at the hotel in secret to say “Goodbye” to Sophia before he fakes his own death due to legal problems. Estelle Getty and guest star Herb Edelman have rarely been better in their iconic roles.
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