newYou can listen to Fox’s news articles!
“Golden Girls” It is widely considered a groundbreaking series to showcase the lives and friendships of women in their 50s and 60s when older women were rarely central characters on television.
Running for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992, the show told the comical stories of four single women who live together in Miami. Starring Betty White, Be Arthur, Lou McClanahan and Esther Getty, “The Golden Girls” became an instant hit, attracting over 21 million viewers when it premiered on September 14, 1985.
Betty White’s “Golden Girls” castmate called her the C-word, casting director claims
Just as “Golden Girls” celebrates its 40th anniversary, TV writer and “Golden to Gilmore” writer Stanzimmerman was Stanzimmerman who worked on the show during his first Emmy Award-winning season, recalled being surprised that some of the comedy Rasil jokes had passed censorship.
“We couldn’t believe what we escaped on the show,” Zimmerman told Fox News Digital.
Former “Golden Girls” writer Stan Zimmerman recalled being surprised that some of the show’s dangerous jokes had passed censorship. (Pork Drink Water/NBCU Photo Bank)
“I think once you hit it, you’ll run away more,” he continued. “I’ve been at some shows that aren’t that successful, so I think the network is far more nervous about not turning it off for everyone. We’ve got more runaway.”
“I was like, people say, ‘Oh, they’re just old women. They can say anything. They look so harmless.”
Zimmerman is Season 1 Episode “Adult Education” aired it and later became symbolic.
“Golden Girls” was run from 1985 to 1992. (ABC Photo Archives via Getty Images/Photos from Disney’s General Entertainment Content)
The line was delivered by McClanahan’s Blanche DeVerreau after being sexually harassed by a professor while taking night psychology classes at a local university. In the episode, Blanche’s professor offers to give him a passing grade in exchange for sleeping with him.
During the climax of the episode, Blanche uses a double entender when he tells the professor that she won’t sleep with him and declares that he believes he’s studied enough to win an A on the course anyway.
“Blanche tells her teacher, ‘You can kiss my A.’ And I think it’s never going to go,” Zimmerman recalls. “And that’s on the show. It’s on the t-shirt now.”
The show starred Bea Arthur as Dorothy Petrilos Bornek, McClanahan Street as Blanche de Brey, Betty White as Rose Nirndo and Estergetti as Sophia Petrilo. (NBC via Getty)
After his stint on “Golden Girls,” Zimmerman continued to write for other hit comedy shows such as “Roseanne” and “Gilmore Girls.” He also co-wrote the 1996 feature film, “A Very Brady,” and wrote and directed plays such as “Meet & Greet,” “Knife to the Heart,” “Have a Good One,” and “Yes Virginia.” Zimmerman recently directed the off-Broadway run of the comedy show “Hymyrov: Improv Under Hypnosis.”
On September 7th, Zimmerman’s Suicide Awareness Play “Fight I Go” began a three-week off-Broadway run at a New York tank.
Watch: “Golden Girls” writer said in the first season of the Emmy Award-winning sitcom “They ‘Runs’
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Zimmerman recalls his early career working in the room of “The Golden Girls” writers, and admits he felt terrified while writing jokes about the star-studded cast.
“I think this was not just a regular show, but there was pressure from the producers,” he recalls. “We can’t give them the usual jokes. They were the best and best, so we were able to give them the best.”
Zimmerman also scrunched the rumored feud between Arthur and White. (Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank)
Zimmerman also scrunched the prolonged feud between White and Arthur. Despite playing close peers in “Golden Girls,” the actress reportedly shared a less friendly off-screen relationship.
During a panel discussion in June, former Golden Girls writers, producers and staff gave a revelation about the duo’s difficult dynamics.
“When the red light was on [and the show was filming]there weren’t many more professionals than those women, but when the red lights were turned off, these two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together,” co-producer Marsha Posner Williams joked. Hollywood Reporter.
Williams claimed that Arthur complained to her about white off-camera, often calling her co-stars “c–.” During his 2022 appearance on the “The Originals” podcast, Thurm previously claimed that Arthur used the same language when talking about white in front of him.
“Golden Girls” won three Emmy Awards for their outstanding comedy series. (Ron Tom/NBCU Photo Bank)
“Literally, Bee Arthur, who I cast in something else, said with the words, ‘Oh, she’s f — ing c —‘,” Thurm explained. “…She called her the C-word, which means I heard it in my own ears, and so did McClanahan Rue. [the restaurant] Joe Allen. Bearthur [when she was] With a set of “Before Food and Selector.” ”
A Thurm spokesperson made it clear to Fox News Digital when McClanahan didn’t use C-Word to represent White, but instead the actress said White was “B —-” while out at Joe Arens.
Like what you’re reading? For more entertainment news click here
Co-producer Marsha Posner Williams claimed that Arthur called White the C-word. (Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank)
Zimmerman told Fox News Digital that he had never heard Arthur call White “C–” but he recently told him there was “tension” between the actresses.
“But they are such experts and they never get in the way of their work,” he said. “The show was the most important thing.”
“And you need to remember, I was there for season 1, so people were doing their best,” he continued. “People were very excited in Season 1 because at the time, no one thought a show about older women would be successful because they were talking about it in 40 years.”
“So there was this excitement just reading the set, the writer’s room and what we have every Monday at the table. “And no, they don’t like it, they love it. They’re obsessed with it. They didn’t get enough of those characters.”
Zimmerman speculated that Arthur and White could have collided due to different backgrounds in their acting. (ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images via Disney General Entertainment Content)
Click here to sign up for our Entertainment Newsletter
Zimmerman speculated that Arthur and White could have collided due to different backgrounds in their acting. After appearing on the hit sitcom “Mode,” Arthur was known for his Tony Award-winning work on Broadway before becoming a family name. Meanwhile, White has made fame as a comedy legend and sitcom star.
“It happens at any job,” Zimmerman said. “You just have a different work ethic. Bee Arthur came from the stage, so she wanted to stay with the character during the take.
In “The Golden Girls,” White starred as Rose. Rose is a gentle but dim Midwest widow, and Arthur plays Dorothy Zbornack, a sarcastic but caring alternative teacher.
Getty portrays the Catan-colored but charming patriarch Sofia Petrillo, the mother of Arthur’s character.
In 2011, White shared her views on why Arthur didn’t like her. (Desiree Navarro/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
After “Golden Girls” ended, White, McClanahan and Getty recreated their roles in the spin-off “Golden Palace,” but the show was cancelled after a season.
In 2008, Getty died at the age of 84 from dementia in Levy’s body. Arthur died in 2009 at the age of 86 from lung cancer. McClanahan died in 2010 at the age of 76 after undergoing a cerebral hemorrhage. In 2021, White died at the age of 99 after suffering a stroke.
In an interview with Village Voice in 2011, White shared her own views on the reasons behind Arthur’s hostility towards her.
“Bee had a spare,” White said. “She didn’t like me.”
“She sometimes had me pain in her neck,” the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” alum added. “It was my positive attitude, and it made Bee angry at times.
“If I was happy, she would be furious!”
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Golden Girls
Zimmerman’s memoir, The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, was published in February 2024. (Indigo River Publishing)
Despite off-screen tensions that may have existed between Arthur and White, Zimmerman told Fox News Digital that he believes the show’s lasting message is one of unity.
“I think one of the lessons we’ll learn from ‘Golden Girls’ 40 years from now is that there are so many people in different corners of this world with different perspectives. We now find a place where we can connect.
“And when we evolve as a nation, we feel that is the next step: finding an era where we have each other’s backs, like the ‘Golden Girls’,” Zimmerman added.
Click here to get the Fox News app
