News

If you're making a list of the most timeless sitcoms ever produced, "The Golden Girls" has to be at or near the top. Yes, it's so very 1980s with its Miami fashions and decor, but its themes and sense of humor have aged better than most hit series of its era. At any moment, you can hop on Hulu, click on a random episode, and know you'll laugh yourself silly while watching Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur), Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), Rose Nylund (Betty White), and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) get in some kind of jam and ultimately be reminded of the importance and power of friendship.

The writing on "The Golden Girls" was always sharp (it won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series twice), but the secret to its seven years of sustained success (it ranked in the Nielsen ratings top ten for all but its final season) was undoubtedly its cast.

Betty White was a star way before TV even knew it needed her. Back in the 1930s, when television was just a sci-fi dream, she was already making waves. By the time screens took over living rooms, the late actress was running the show.

Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Betty White from The Golden Girls | Credits: NBC

From early broadcasts that barely counted as TV to stealing scenes in Golden Girls, White never slowed down.

Betty White: A TV star before TV was even a thing Betty White from The Golden Girls | Credits: NBC

Betty White didn’t just break into television; she practically pre-dated it. Long before she became a household name with The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, she was already making history on an experimental broadcast in 1939.

Fresh out of Beverly Hills High, White stepped in front of early TV cameras in downtown Los Angeles.

When Sam Malone showed up to visit on the original Frasier, fans got a thrill seeing old-favorite characters reunite for a one-off episode. But several sitcoms have done those types of cameos one better, casting familiar costars as entirely new characters to add a dose of barely earned nostalgia. Sometimes the ploy works and sometimes it doesn’t, as you’ll see in these five examples of classic sitcom costars who reunited on new shows.

1 Kevin James and Leah Remini

When James tried to reboot his sitcom career with Kevin Can Wait, he soon discovered he didn’t have much chemistry with his new TV wife Erinn Hayes. With little thought to public reaction, James and his producers decided “Why not have Hayes’ character die — off camera — before we start a Season Two?” That’s just what they did, enlisting James’ former TV wife, King of Queens’ Remini, to rekindle some comedy sparks.

Betty White and Bea Arthur were two of the biggest stars of The Golden Girls, a show loved by millions worldwide. On-screen, their chemistry was undeniable, creating some of the most iconic moments in TV history. But off-screen, their personalities couldn’t have been more different.

Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls | Credits: NBC Network

White’s sunny, upbeat energy sometimes clashed with Arthur’s more serious and reserved demeanor, leading to some real-life tension between the co-stars. Despite their differences, their professional partnership delivered a timeless comedy that fans still cherish today.

Why did Bea Arthur find Betty White’s positivity overwhelming in The Golden Girls?

Betty White was known as one of the most cheerful and lovable stars in Hollywood. Her charm and sharp sense of humor have won over countless fans and colleagues. However, not everyone was as captivated by her upbeat personality,...

Plenty of comedy stars have popped in for a cameo when their old sitcom costars get a new gig — think Cheers’ Ted Danson visiting the original Frasier or most of the Community cast stopping by Ken Jeong’s Dr. Ken. But some sitcom stars have such amazing chemistry that they need to keep a good thing going.

Here are five pairs of funny people who costarred together in multiple sitcoms…

1 Danny McBride and Walton Goggins

McBride and Goggins headlined Vice Principals as competing a-holes vying to rule the school via promotion to the top job. When McBride went on to create The Righteous Gemstones for HBO, he again enlisted Goggins as a failed child star who once headlined a gospel song-and-dance team. Goggins told Conan O’Brien that McBride “is the funniest person I have ever met in my life.” The two even teamed to desecrate the reputations of Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar.

To celebrate an artform that continues to be an inexhaustible source of joy after more than 70 years of media omnipresence, we've looked over the history of sitcoms and compiled a ranking of the 30 greatest of all time — with rankings based on a combination of sheer craftsmanship, influence and innovation, cultural iconicity, and, of course, density of laughs.

To make our lives easier, we followed a few ground rules: Straight, unambiguous sitcoms only; English-language only; live-action only. Otherwise, all is fair game here, from the format-defining to the format-breaking to everything in between.

Read more: The 113 Best Comedy Movies Ever

The Jeffersons

Originally a spin-off of "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons" was developed by Norman Lear (one of the greatest TV producers of all time) and ran on CBS like its parent show, but didn't take long to become fully its own thing. In addition to being one of the funniest,...

With a new sitcom about a group of four friends in their golden years, Nathan Lee Graham understands if fans might be experiencing a little déjà vu.

Although the Mid-Century Modern star recently explained that his upcoming Hulu multi-camera series is “not Golden Girls,” he’s certainly not bothered by comparisons to the beloved 1985-’92 NBC sitcom that starred Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty.

“It’s not Golden Girls, but the similarities are inevitable, right?” Graham told Queerty‘s Michael Musto. “You have three single guys coming together that happen to be homosexual, moving to one person’s place, so the similarities are going to be drawn. And it’s not a bad thing to be compared to. The show is it’s own thing, but it’s nice to be compared to something you truly love.”

Hulu quickly gave Mid-Century Modern a series order in...

"The Golden Girls" is basically the perfect sitcom, following the antics of four mature women who share a house in Miami, Florida. The series began in September 1985 and ran for seven seasons before ending in May 1992, and it's only grown in popularity since it first aired. It's a blast to tune in to see what the hilariously horny Blanche (Rue McClanahan), bubbly airhead Rose (Betty White), sarcastic divorcee Dorothy (Bea Arthur), and her smart-mouthed mother Sophia (Estelle Getty) get up to in each episode, and it's pretty easy to hit play on one and end up watching an entire season before you know it. It's really no surprise that the series has found new fans in the streaming era, so when there were rumors of a Disney+ reboot of the series sometime in 2024, people went bonkers. 

Some fans were furious about the idea of doing "The Golden Girls" without the original cast,...

It may not be easy to stream these days, but whether you've seen it or not, "Maude" remains an important cornerstone of the sitcom house Norman Lear built. Premiering in 1972, "Maude" was originally conceived as a spinoff to the ever-in-the-zeitgeist sitcom "All in the Family," but it soon took on a life of its own. The show starred a pre-"Golden Girls" Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, well-to-do liberal feminist with a knack for telling everyone around her what's what.

Maude was also a middle-aged woman, a reality that was never more apparent than in the show's most famous, controversial episode. The 1972 two-parter "Maude's Dilemma" saw Maude contemplate –- and ultimately choose –- abortion after finding herself pregnant in her late '40s. Released before the establishment of Roe vs. Wade, "Maude's Dilemma" was a lightning rod for heated conversations about reproductive rights, and remains an enduring part of the show's legacy today.

Bea Arthur left The Golden Girls due to declining quality and offensive jokes about her character. Betty White disagreed with Arthur's decision, as she felt the sitcom ended prematurely. The Golden Palace was an unsuccessful Golden Girls spinoff starring White, Rue McLanahan, and Estelle Getty. Arthur appeared in one episode.

The beloved sitcom The Golden Girls ended because one of the leads, Bea Arthur, decided to leave the show. Arthur played Dorothy opposite Betty White's Rose, Rue McClanahan's Blanche, and Estelle Getty's Sophia. Unlike other sitcoms with multiple leads, The Golden Girls was a true ensemble, as each character was pivotal in the show's overall vibe. So, it was a shock when Arthur announced that she was walking away from the project, effectively setting up its end.

For seven seasons, the series went through the main characters' day-to-day lives, highlighting the delights and struggles of ladies their age something...

Your browser does not support the video tag. The main cast of The Golden Girls, including Dorothy, Sophia, Rose, and Blanche, range in age from their late 40s to their late 80s. Rue McClanahan, who portrayed Blanche, was actually younger than her character, starting the series at 51 years old. Estelle Getty, who played Sophia, was younger than her character, even younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter in the series.

Following four "older" single women living in the same house in Miami, one of the most beloved aspects of The Golden Girls is its iconic cast, but how were old were the Golden Girls supposed to be? The Golden Girls follows a widow, Blanche (Rue McClanahan), who opens her home to other lonely single ladies. In response, widows Rose (Betty White) and Sophia (Estelle Getty), and divorcee Dorothy (Bea Arthur) come to live with her. The sitcom ran successfully...

Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph are not rebooting The Golden Girls, despite a poster circulating on the internet. Maya Rudolph debunked the Golden Girls reboot rumor, revealing it as a photoshopped poster by a Facebook page. Rudolph also created other (intentionally bad) photoshopped posters of her and her famous friends as characters in classic TV sitcoms.

Despite claims to the contrary, Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph are not rebooting The Golden Girls. While fans of The Golden Girls would like a movie or TV reboot, there are no confirmed plans as of yet to do so, whether with Fey and Rudolph or otherwise. First airing in 1985, the classic sitcom followed the lives of four older women living together in a house in Miami. Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty) are the witty, lovable, and young-at-heart heroines who made the show a success for seven seasons.

Mid-Century Modern brings a fresh twist to the iconic concept of older friends sharing a home, starring three gay men instead. The new series should aim to tell original stories rather than attempting to replicate classic Golden Girls episodes for success. Mid-Century Modern must stand on its own with originality and authenticity, appealing to both new audiences and fans of The Golden Girls.

I didn't think I'd be so excited about Hulu creating a new series based on The Golden Girls, but here we are. The iconic 1980s sitcom featured Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Estelle Getty as four older women who were friends and roommates. It was more groundbreaking than I realized when I watched the original run as a child, as it was the first series to suggest that older women could live just as fulfilling lives as their younger counterparts and be fully-fledged characters in their own right.

New streaming sitcom Mid-Century Modern features Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Linda Lavin in leading roles, promises comedic twists. Show takes inspiration from The Golden Girls, set in Palm Springs with wealthy characters facing challenges in their "golden years". Mid-Century Modern creators draw from Golden Girls to deliver a fresh, modern take on adult roommates and major character storylines.

A new streaming sitcom reminiscent of The Golden Girls has confirmed its leading cast and main team. Running from 1985 to 1992, The Golden Girls is one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time, chronicling the story of four aging and previously maried women who share a house together in Miami. The leading cast of The Golden Girls included Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and Betty White, and remains and oft-quoted and rewatched series today.

3:07

Related How Old Were The Golden Girls During The Show

The Golden Girls is a...

The White Collar revival faces potential filming delay due to Matt Bomer's commitment to new sitcom. This impacts fans' anticipation for the sequel project. Bomer will star in a new Hulu comedy, Mid-Century Modern, which is inspired by The Golden Girls Unlike the revival of Suits before Suits LA was announced, White Collar's revival already has a script and core cast confirmed, making filming process more efficient.

Just two weeks after it was announced, the revival of Netflix's best Suits replacement series now faces a major scheduling issue. Ever since Suits dominated streaming in the summer of 2023, there have been questions about seeing Harvey Specter and Mike Ross back again on the small screen. Despite the level of interest, series creator Aaron Korsh opted to take advantage of his legal drama's newfound fame by expanding the franchise by launching a new spinoff Suits LA, which revolves around...

Explore ‘The Golden Girls’ Cast and Legacy Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux Betty White as Rose Nylund Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo “Thank you for being a friend.”

Airing from 1985 to 1992, with seven seasons in total, The Golden Girls was a smash hit during its entire run. It was popular for addressing a demographic that rarely saw the spotlight on television or in Hollywood: senior women.

Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, Betty White as Rose Nylund, and Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in the 1985 sitcom The Golden Girls (Credit: NBC)

The sitcom was conceptualized by writer Susan Harris. Before The Golden Girls, she was most renowned for creating the series Soap, which parodied daytime soap operas such as The Young and the Restless.

Soap lasted for four seasons and was marred by controversy due to Harris’s insistence on including...

Comedic breaking: it's been around for pretty much as long as performances. Flip through classic TV channels and you'll find Rue McClanahan delivering her lines into the back of her hand to hide giggles in episodes of "The Golden Girls," Mary Tyler Moore barely suppressing her grin in"The Dick Van Dyke Show," and Horatio Sanz wiping away tears with Mickey Mouse waffles on "Saturday Night Live." Breaking seems like an unstoppable phenomenon, especially once more than one castmate well and truly gets the giggles, but it's also a surprisingly controversial one: for every person who laughs along with the actors, there seems to be another who thinks breaking is unfunny and unprofessional.

Larry Gelbart, who created the influential and long-running '70s sitcom "M*A*S*H," was apparently not into character breaks, and he told author Ed Solomonson that one actor in the show's ensemble cast did it more than any other.

The Golden Girls is a classic TV show that broke barriers by portraying the lives and experiences of older women, a group that's often marginalized in television. While seasons 3 and 4 of the show struggled with inconsistent storytelling and character development, season 5 started to improve, tackling important social issues while still providing entertainment. Season 1 of The Golden Girls is widely regarded as one of the best, addressing significant topics for women over 50 and featuring standout episodes like "A Little Romance." Season 7 is also praised for its memorable episodes and poignant ending.

The Golden Girls is one of television's greatest achievements, delivering seven seasons of classic humor and charm. Premiering in 1985, this iconic series has left a significant impact on pop culture, thanks to its enduring appeal and its groundbreaking premise. Starring Bea Arthur as Dorothy, Rue McClanahan as Blanche, Betty White as Rose, and Estelle Getty as Sophia, the show centers...

Since 1967, the Best Comedy Actress Primetime Emmy category has seen 13 direct costar showdowns involving seven different combinations of female leads. While this list is three entries longer than the corresponding male roster, the category still falls significantly behind the other 10 lead or supporting ones, all of which boast cast mate battle totals of at least 20. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to learn more about the 13 cases of dual or triple nominations in the Best Comedy Actress category.

Unlike the Best Comedy Actor list, this female one includes more than just pairs of clashing costars. After “The Golden Girls” actresses Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White blazed a trail in 1986 as the first trio of performers to receive same-year nominations for a single continuing series (and repeated the feat three more times), they were emulated by “Desperate Housewives” stars Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, and Felicity Huffman in 2005. This remained...

Since 1967, the Best Comedy Actress Primetime Emmy category has seen 13 direct costar showdowns involving seven different combinations of female leads. While this list is three entries longer than the corresponding male roster, the category still falls significantly behind the other 10 lead or supporting ones, all of which boast cast mate battle totals of at least 20. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to learn more about the 13 cases of dual or triple nominations in the Best Comedy Actress category.

Unlike the Best Comedy Actor list, this female one includes more than just pairs of clashing costars. After “The Golden Girls” actresses Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White blazed a trail in 1986 as the first trio of performers to receive same-year nominations for a single continuing series (and repeated the feat three more times), they were emulated by “Desperate Housewives” stars Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, and Felicity Huffman in 2005. This remained...

The '80s were a different time; shoulder pads were in, Reaganomics was taking over the country, and in 1984, a hyper-stylish show called "Miami Vice" was about to become all the rage. Before the Florida-set cop series ever premiered on NBC, though, it had already inspired another series, one that seemed to have very little in common with the Michael Mann-produced action show.

That series was "The Golden Girls," the popular and gut-bustingly funny sitcom about women of a certain age that has only become more beloved in the decades since it ended. "The Golden Girls" is remembered for its positive and honest conversations about aging and its characters' penchant for savage, hilarious quips. It also bolstered the fame of its already-famous stars, Bea Arthur ("Maude"), Betty White ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), Rue McClanahan (also "Maude"), and Estelle Getty ("Mask"). Put together around a kitchen table, the four...

With Phil Dunster’s supporting comedy actor nomination for “Ted Lasso” on Friday, the much-decorated Apple TV+ series is now in some rare and esteemed company in having each of its original regular cast members honored with at least a single Emmy nod. Only seven other major shows in television history can make a similar claim: “All in the Family,” “Cheers,” “The Golden Girls,” “Seinfeld,” “Sex and the City,” “Will & Grace” and “Schitt’s Creek.”

Here are the eight nominated performers for “Lasso”: Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, Nick Mohammed, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt and now Dunster.

See‘Jury Duty,’ James Marsden, Harrison Ford, other surprises at the 2023 Emmy nominations

The other shows with Emmy nominations for all of its original cast members stack up as follows:

“All in the Family”: Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers

“Cheers”: Ted Danson, Shelley Long,...

This article contains spoilers for Heartstopper season 2.

Netflix’s second season of Heartstopper is breaking viewership records for LGBTQ+ programming, transcending the typical queer audience it would be expected to garner. Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring’s (Joe Locke) deeply romantic teenage fling started to blossom into a real relationship in season 2, and with that development came discussions around coming out, eating disorders, communication, and sexual consent. The series has a unique way of painting every scenario gold that could possibly trouble its characters.

Heartstopper’s eternal queer ecstasy is an absolute Godsend for the LGBTQ+ community, allowing young viewers to see a bright light of possibility and potential for their adolescent romantic prospects and on into adulthood. In a world with so much darkness and depression, having this type of upbeat version of living queer is undeniably vital. This positivity has an odd way of making LGBTQ...

While television shows have long been a beloved source of entertainment, some TV comedies that were ahead of their time were underrated. Those usually bring laughter and joy into the lives of audiences worldwide. While some shows achieve instant fame and critical acclaim, there exists a treasure trove of comedic brilliance that, for one reason or another, did not receive the recognition they truly deserved during their original runs. These underappreciated TV comedies were ahead of their time, pushing the boundaries of humor, storytelling, and societal commentary in ways that were often groundbreaking and innovative.

From cult classics to short-lived wonders, the following 13 series defied conventional norms and challenged viewers with their unconventional humor, unique perspectives, and candid portrayal of real-life issues. These underrated shows stand as a testament to the power of the genre in shaping cultural conversations, humanizing societal challenges, and providing comfort and laughter during times of uncertainty.

“Succession” is no stranger to the Emmys. A two-time Best Drama Series winner, the HBO show from creator Jesse Armstrong is gunning for a third win in the category for its fourth and final season, which concluded in May. But it could easily pick up a number of other Emmys along the way. On Wednesday, the show received a staggering 27 nominations, 14 of which were in the acting categories as it tied the acting nominations record it set last year. In doing so, the show made history as the first drama series to earn three nominations for Best Drama Actor in the same year.

Although his role was reduced this season, Brian Cox received his third nomination for portraying Logan Roy, the demanding patriarch of the wealthy Roy family whose death early in the final season initially united his children but created much inner turmoil with regards to who would take...

Succession has made Emmy history with its final season.

Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin are nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, marking the first time ever that the Lead Actor category has seen three actors from the same series simultaneously receive a nod.

Succession raked in an impressive 27 nods for its fourth and final season on Wednesday morning when nominations for the 75th annual Emmy Awards were announced by Yvette Nicole Brown and Television Academy Chair Frank Scherma. The series received 14 acting nominations, as well as Outstanding Drama Series.

Creator Jesse Armstrong was also recognized for writing “Connor’s Wedding,” and Mark Mylod, Lorene Scafaria, and Andrij Parekh all received nominations for directing.

Succession already has 13 Emmys including Best Drama Series wins for its Season 2 and Season 3, the latter of which premiered in 2021. Both Cox and Strong have already competed in this category twice. Strong...

Happy Emmy season, “you clock-watching fucks” — Logan Roy is still leading the way.

Brian Cox has submitted his performance as Logan Roy, the recently departed Waystar Royco CEO on HBO’s “Succession,” into the lead actor (drama) category. Cox’s team exclusively confirmed to Variety that the actor’s iconic turn as the bold father and media mogul will be considered alongside his two co-stars, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin, who opted to switch into the category for the show’s fourth and final season.

Cox’s character died in the third episode of this season, “Connor’s Wedding,” which left many pundits speculating the Scottish actor, who received two previous noms in the lead drama actor field, would downgrade to either the supporting actor or guest categories. That won’t be the case, which puts the drama series uniquely positioned to make history in several ways.

With Cox, Culkin...

With two-time Best Comedy Actress Emmy champ Jean Smart (“Hacks”) out of contention this year, “Abbott Elementary” star (and creator and writer) Quinta Brunson is in a solid position as the category’s frontrunner. After Rue McClanahan and Tina Fey, she would be the third actress to take this prize for her show’s second season after losing for its first. At age 33, she would also be the youngest Black woman to ever earn multiple nominations for this award and could close a four-decade gap between Black winners in the category.

To date, the only Black actress who has ever been honored by the TV academy for a lead comedic performance is Isabel Sanford, who triumphed in 1981 on her third of seven consecutive bids for “The Jeffersons.” She was preceded by just one other Black nominee – Diahann Carroll – and has since been followed by five more, including Brunson. Rounding out this group are Nell Carter,...

Michelle Yeoh has joined the star-studded cast of Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” TheWrap has confirmed.

The “Everything Everywhere All At Once” star will play the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University and the Wizard’s colleague Madame Morrible. The character originates from Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” on which the Broadway musical is based.

The film will see Yeoh reunite with her “Crazy Rich Asians” director Chu, who joined the project along with Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Nov. 2021. More recently, Jeff Goldblum signed on to play The Wizard and “Bridgerton” star Jonathan Bailey was cast as Fiyero.

Tony Award-winner Carole Shelley first played Madame Morrible on Broadway. Other notable peformers who have taken on the role include Rue McClanahan, Jayne Houdyshell, Rondi Reed, JoAnne Worley, Liz McCartney, Patty Duke and Carol Kane.

Click here to read the full article.

Drag events have become a hot-button topic in some parts of the U.S., but in the 90210, a series of drag brunches at the Golden Girls Kitchen, a tribute to the classic NBC sitcom, are simply a hot ticket.

The pop-up — an officially licensed shindig at 369 N. Bedford Drive presented by events and experiences firm Bucket Listers (in partnership with rights holder Disney) — has six brunches on the calendar through the end of October, four already sold out.

“The drag brunches were fastest to sell out,” explained Bucket Listers founder and CEO Andy Lederman. The show’s four characters — Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia — will be re-created by drag queens who are expected to lip-sync the show’s theme song, “Thank You for Being a Friend.”

Bucket Listers — a company that partners with event producers, movie studios and other IP holders to create...

Click here to read the full article.

Jered Barclay, the veteran stage and screen actor who performed in vaudeville and had voiceover roles in TV’s Smurfs and Transformers, has died. He was 91.

Barclay died Saturday in North Hollywood from Mds Leukemia, actress Myra Turley, his longtime friend with whom he performed in the two-person play A Tantalizing, directed by Harvey Perr, announced.

Jered Barclay in ‘His Model Wife’ (1961)

Also a director, photojournalist and acting coach, Barclay began his nine-decade career in 1934 at age 3, performing in vaudeville with Judy Garland, Shirley Temple and Sammy Davis Jr. At 6, he became a radio actor and at 12 traveled with the Clyde Beatty Circus before his theatrical debut at 14.

After receiving a B.A. in drama from the University of Washington, the Seattle native moved to Los Angeles and performed on three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, in Otto Preminger’s The Man With the Golden Arm...

Jered Barclay, a longtime stage and screen actor who found a second career as a TV voice-over artist for series including The Smurfs and The Transformers, has died. He was 91. His longtime friend Myra Turley said Barclay died July 23 of Mds leukemia in North Hollywood, CA.

Born on November 22, 1930, in Seattle, Barclay began in show business at age 3, performing in vaudeville with the likes of Judy Garland, Shirley Temple and Sammy Davis Jr. He was doing radio at 6 and traveled with the Clyde Beatty Circus at age 12.

Related Story 'The Smurfs': Nickelodeon Inks Deal For New Animated Series & Consumer Products Line Related Story Patti Deutsch Dies: 'Laugh-In' And 'Match Game' Regular & Veteran Voice Actor Was 73 Related Story Gordon Hunt Dies: TV Director, Animation Veteran & Father Of Helen Hunt

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

His screen career began in the mid-1950s, including an unbilled role as a freaked-out...

“The Golden Girls,” which premiered on NBC in the fall of 1985, was initially presented as a sitcom about three women in their mid-50s and one in her early 80s sharing a house in Miami, Florida. However, most of the cast members’ real life ages did not align with those of their characters. Estelle Getty, who played eldest housemate Sophia, was really only 62 when the show first aired, while two of the quinquagenarian characters were played by 63-year-old actresses Bea Arthur and Betty White. Indeed, the only member of the main quartet who was truly age appropriate was 51-year-old Rue McClanahan.

Each of the four “Golden Girls” actresses took home a single Emmy for their work on the show. McClanahan earned hers in 1987 for a second season episode called “End of the Curse” in which her character, Blanche Devereaux, begins menopause. At 53, she was the sixth oldest winner in the...

For years, Mike Hollingsworth has found creative ways to inject jokes into animated comedies. Working as the supervising director on “BoJack Horseman,” as well as “Tuca & Bertie,” “Inside Job,” and more, Hollingsworth fills frame after frame with visual humor — from cutaway punchlines and background puns, to silent callbacks and quips written on T-shirts, chyrons, and more.

Now, he’s applying his impressive skillset to a stone-cold classic of live-action television: “The Golden Girls.” In “Golden Girls 3033,” a pilot made to elicit a series order, Hollingsworth reimagines Susan Harris’ beloved sitcom with animation, relying on the original scripts and audio as a jumping off point before shaping fresh episodes for a story set more than 1,000 years in the future. Blanche (Rue McClanahan), Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), and Sophia (Estelle Getty) all still share a house in Miami — but it’s the year 3033, they’ve discovered the Fountain of Youth,...

Ready to get back with your friends, your pals, your confidantes? May 9 marks 30 years since NBC’s The Golden Girls ended its Emmy-winning, seven-season run, so it’s high time to revisit the gals. The Emmy-winning sitcom centered on the eponymous friends — the sarcastic Dorothy (Bea Arthur); her mother, the straight-talking Sophia (Estelle Getty); the naïve Rose (Betty White); and the flirtatious Blanche (Rue McClanahan) — as they bickered and bonded in the Miami home they all shared. Here are IMDb users’ picks for the best episodes of the series — with quotes from the users who love them. Season 6, Episode 9: “Mrs. George Deveraux” As Blanche comes face to face with her previously dead, suddenly resurrected husband, Dorothy finds herself in a love triangle with singer Sonny Bono and actor Lyle Wagonner. “Battles over who will win Dorothy’s heart are hysterical,” ...

If you put your ear to the ground, you can hear it coming. Somewhere, beneath the thunderous hoofbeats of the end of the Oscar race, there is a thrum. “The Emmys are coming,” the thrum says. “Hold on to your butts.”

Setting aside the absolute pandemonium pending in both the drama series — Yes, “Succession,” yes, “Squid Game,” but also “Severance,” “Yellowstone,” “Yellowjackets,” and “Euphoria” just to name a few — and comedy series — “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Atlanta,” “Barry,” and “Russian Doll” all return, not to mention second seasons of “Ted Lasso” and “Hacks — races, we’re on track to see some wild shot-calling when it comes to which categories actors wind up competing in.

Specifically, what does a massive ensemble show like Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” do when it comes to deciding which of its bevy of talented performers gets slotted in lead actress and which fight it out in supporting actress?...

"The Golden Girls" aired its pilot episode in the fall of 1985 and raked in 44 million viewers. An instant classic, the sitcom followed the lives of four older women — Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur), Rose Nylund (Betty White), and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) — and how they cope with aging, dating, and living together. With a sharp comedic sensibility, the show ran seven seasons and frequently addressed major social issues, including racism, body image, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas initially pitched a show about a female lawyer, but NBC senior vice president Warren Littlefield showed little interest in the concept. Instead, he asked...

The post The 25 Best Golden Girls Episodes appeared first on /Film.

Fans all over the globe mourned the death of Betty White in December, just days before her 100th birthday, though the iconic actress’ legacy will continue to live on. Her birthday celebration was set to be accompanied by the release of Betty White: 100 Years Young — A Birthday Celebration, which (as of this writing) will still be shown across 900 theaters across the United States on January 17th. The movie highlights some of White’s most iconic roles including Hot in Cleveland, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and many more.

Of course,...

Legendary comedian Betty White died on Friday at the age of 99, having left a legacy of indelible sitcom hits that includes “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls.”

White’s career was also notable for its longevity, and she worked well into her tenth decade. Todd Milliner, an executive producer on TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland,” was able to observe the master comedian and actress up close as she became one of the only octogenarians to experience an improbable career resurgence. As Elka Ostrovsky, the widowed caretaker of the Ohio manor where the show’s three coastal refugees take up residence, White got all the best lines. She was saucy, cranky, sexually liberated and maintained a rebel spirit; her character enjoyed bending the law and, it was hinted, was averse to a good toke.

For Milliner, “Hot in Cleveland” presented a chance to work with a legend...

The Series: "The Golden Girls"

Where You Can Stream It: Hulu

The Pitch: "The Golden Girls" follows the antics of three single women in their fifties. There's divorced no-nonsense teacher Dorothy (Bea Arthur), flirtatious Southern widow Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and air-headed Midwestern widow Rose (Betty White), along with Dorothy's mother, Sophia (Estelle Getty). These four very different women share a Florida home, where they often commune, argue, and reminisce over slices of cheesecake at their kitchen table. The series runs the gamut of sitcom plots across its seven seasons, with recurring plots about the women's dating lives and worries about...

The post The Daily Stream: The Golden Girls Is The Only Cure For Aging We Need appeared first on /Film.

Don Cheadle remembered his The Golden Palace costar Betty White after her death at the age of 99 on New Year’s Eve. The pair collaborated on the Golden Girls spinoff series which ran for one season from 1992-1993.

“betty was the best of the best,” he shared via Twitter. “when we were shooting scenes together it was difficult for the Dp to get the lighting right between my chocolate and betty’s white! she was either a ghost or i was the shadow. i came on set one day and betty had darkened her make up/hair a bit in an attempt to accommodate for it.”

He continued, “nobody asked her to do it. and that’s just one small example of her overflowing generosity. my dogs thank her too. she gave us our veterinarian reco who we still see to this day. she was the goldenest of them all and will be forever missed.

Betty White had a mischievous side, and she loved to have fun and crack jokes on the set of “The Golden Girls.” But there were times when she was all business.

Those times were often on Monday mornings. In the early years of the NBC comedy, White, the legendary performer who died this week at the age of 99, would often sit with “Golden Girls” executive producer Tony Thomas and dig into the overnight ratings for the hit sitcom that aired in Saturday time slots for the entirety of its 1985-1992 run.

“When I think of Betty, I think of fun,” Thomas told Variety. “She liked to have a good time at work. We laughed a lot. She was just the best.”

Thomas and White had a bond from their mutual experience of having grown up alongside with the medium of television. Thomas is the son of legendary entertainer Danny Thomas,...

On September 14, 1985, “The Golden Girls,” one of television’s most beloved shows premiered on NBC. And more than three decades later, television audiences still can’t get enough of the groundbreaking series about a group of older women sharing a home — and more than a few cheesecakes– in Miami. We’ve put together the definitive list of the 25 greatest episodes of the Emmy-winning sitcom, ranked worst to best. Scroll through the images below to see if your favorite made the list.

The series focused on four women sharing a home in Florida: Naive, Minnesota-born Rose (Betty White); Man-hungry Southern belle Blanche (Rue McClanahan); divorced substitute teacher Dorothy (Bea Arthur) and her acerbic, wise-cracking Italian mother Sophia (Estelle Getty). Sadly, all four actresses have passed away, with White dying on December 31, 2021 just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday.

The series was a Saturday night staple for NBC and was a...

Betty White has died at age 99. The beloved award-winning actor's close friend and agent, Jeff Witjas, confirmed the news in a statement to People on Dec. 31. "Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever," he said. "I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don't think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again."

Betty was just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday on Jan. 17. According to People, she was set to premiere her one-night-only movie special, Betty White: 100 Years Young - A Birthday Celebration, in honor of her centennial year - which was scheduled to be shown in 900 theaters nationwide on her birthday. Producers of the special have since confirmed that the event will proceed as planned on Jan.

Betty White, who died Dec. 31 at age 99, was perhaps the greatest comic tactician in the history of television.

That’s distinct from comic acting, although White was, of course, a very fine actor. What set White apart was her unerring ability to find not just the joke, but the thing behind the joke: It was as if a special internal radar guided her toward the deflation of vanity. On “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” for instance, her sunny domestic goddess Sue Ann Nivens was purposefully oblivious, and White wrung delicious humor out of Sue Ann’s unwillingness or inability to see that not everyone in the room was charmed by her. And on “The Golden Girls,” her Rose Nylund was a variation on the form: A clueless naif who lived perpetually under the mistaken impression that she was just on the verge of figuring things out.

Bea Arthur was the...

How do you say goodbye to a legend?

It's the last day of another less-than-stellar year, and now it's stolen Betty White, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday.

Betty had big plans for her big day, but now her living celebration will be a tribute instead.

For those of us lucky enough to have grown up in the 1970s, we fell in love with Betty approximately 30 years into her career.

At the time she got her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1973, she had been in the business for just under 30 years with just 11 projects under her belt.

As Sue Ann Nivens, Betty showcased her impeccable comedic timing and proved that a gorgeous woman with a little nasty in her could steal the show.

After The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Betty had a short-lived series titled The Betty White Show and recurring roles on shows like The Love Boat...

Betty White, the beloved TV star of hits including “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls,” died December 31 at age 99, just weeks away from her centennial. Now, her famous friends and fans are sharing tributes to her online.

“Rip Betty White, the only SNL host I ever saw get a standing ovation at the after party. A party at which she ordered a vodka and a hotdog and stayed til the bitter end,” Seth Meyers posted on Twitter.

And Ryan Reynolds, with whom White had a long-standing, joking flirtation with online and in the press, wrote, “The world looks different now. She was great at defying expectation. She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough. We’ll miss you, Betty. Now you know the secret.”

White was the last remaining star of “The Golden Girls,” the NBC hit that ran from 1985 to 1992 and co-starred Bea Arthur,...

Five-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, game show panelist and prolific actress Betty White has passed away at the age of 99. Long the subject of internet death hoaxes, the actress’ death was confirmed by her her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas.

White was the last living member of “The Golden Girls,” which ran from 1985 to 1992. She played good girl Rose Nylund opposite Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. The popular sitcom, which has continued to run on various channels in syndication, spawned a one-season spin-off starring White called “The Golden Palace” in 1992.

Working well into her late 90s, White had memorable supporting roles in feature films like “Lake Placid” and “The Proposal,” and starred in the sitcom “Hot in Cleveland” from 2010-2015. She most recently lent her voice to the Disney+ streaming series of shorts “Forky Asks a Question,” as the character Bitey White opposite colleagues Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner,...

Legendary actress, producer, animal-rights activist and all-around sweetheart Betty White died Friday at the age of 99.

“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” said Jeff Witjas, White’s agent and friend, in a statement to People on Friday. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”

More from TVLineWWE Wrestler Bray Wyatt Dead at 36 - Cause of...

Legendary actress, producer, animal-rights activist and all-around sweetheart Betty White died Friday at the age of 99.

“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” said Jeff Witjas, White’s agent and friend, in a statement to People on Friday. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”

More from TVLineBetty White Remembered by Co-Stars, Hollywood Admirers: 'My God,...