Further Reading
Fletcher, George P.A Crime of Self-Defense: Bernhard
Goetz and the Law on Trial.Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1990.
Lesly, Mark.Subway Vigilante: A Juror’s Account of the
Bernhard Goetz Trial.Latham, N.Y.: British Ameri-
can Publishing, 1988.
Mark S. Joy
See also African Americans;Bonfire of the Vanities,
The; Brawley, Tawana; Central Park jogger case;
Crime;Do the Right Thing; Howard Beach incident;
Racial discrimination.
Golden Girls, The
Identification Television comedy series
Date Aired from September 14, 1985, to May 9,
1992
The Golden Girlswas often extremely controversial, tack-
ling topics that, during the 1980’s, were taboo for network
television—and often in society at large—including homo-
sexuality, menopause, gun control, domestic violence, sui-
cide, cross-dressing, HIV/AIDS, lesbianism, euthanasia,
chronic fatigue syndrome, artificial insemination, and se-
nility.
The Golden Girlswas an American situation comedy,
created by Susan Harris, that originally aired Satur-
day nights on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. The
show followed four older women who shared a fash-
ionable house together in Miami. Blanche owned the
house; Dorothy and Rose responded to an ad seeking
roommates on the bulletin board of a local grocery
store. The three women were later joined by Doro-
thy’s mother, Sophia, when Sophia’s retirement home,
Shady Pines, burned down. The show starred Bea Ar-
thur as practical Dorothy Zbornak, Betty White as
naïve Minnesotan Rose Nylund, Rue McClanahan as
sexy Southern belle Blanche Devereaux, and Estelle
Getty as the wisecracking Sicilian Sophia Petrillo,
Dorothy’s mother. In many episodes, the ladies ate
cheesecake at the kitchen table—a familiar set in al-
most every episode—as they talked about their prob-
lems or reminisced about the past.
During the seventh season, Arthur decided that
she wanted to leave the series, so in the last episode
of that season, her character married Blanche’s Un-
cle Lucas (Leslie Nielsen). The other three protago-
nists, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia, continued in a
spin-off series,The Golden Palace, but it lasted only
one season. After the end ofThe Golden Palace, Getty
joined the cast of another sitcom,Empty Nest, making
far more frequent appearances as Sophia in the
show’s final years than she had earlier as a recurring
guest.
During its original run,The Golden Girlsreceived
sixty-five Emmy nominations and won eleven Emmy
Awards (including Outstanding Comedy Series),
four Golden Globe awards, and two Viewers for
Quality Television awards. Most unusual, all four
lead actresses won Emmy Awards for their perfor-
mances on the show.
Impact The Golden Girlscombined humor, warmth,
and relevance to become one of the most popular
and successful television programs of the 1980’s and
one of the few shows to develop new fans years after
its original run. The show, featuring four women of
middle age or older, was highly unusual in a time
when broadcast television relied on young, attractive
stars to attract viewers. In that context,The Golden
Girlswas as significant as wasThe Cosby Showin diver-
sifying the casts and audiences of network sitcoms.
Further Reading
Colucci, Jim.The Q Guide to “The Golden Girls.”New
York: Alyson Books, 2006.
Mitz, Rick.The Great TV Sitcom Book. New York: Put-
nam, 1988.
Martin J. ManningSee also Age discrimination;Cosby Show, The; Sit-
coms; Television; Women in the workforce.Goldmark murders
The Event A Seattle family is murdered on
Christmas Eve
Date December 24, 1985
David Rice killed a Seattle family on Christmas Eve, be-
cause he mistakenly believed the family to be Jewish and part
of a communist conspiracy. The murders drew attention to
the growth of right-wing extremism and anti-Semitic terror-
ism in the United States.
On December 24, 1985, David Rice forced his way
into the Seattle home of Charles Goldmark using424 Golden Girls, The The Eighties in America