MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO, THE: 2006 WILLIAM S. PALEY TELEVISION FESTIVAL: THE GOLDEN GIRLS {TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL {23RD}} {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Museum of Television & Radio's William S. Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles. Held this year at the Directors Guild of America Theatre Complex, the festival celebrates the excellence and diversity of American television and is dedicated to television's creative community. This evening honors "Golden Girls," a comedy series about four older women -- two widows, a divorce and her mother -- who share a home in Miami and help each other to cope with growing older and being single again.
Ron Simon (curator, The Museum of Television & Radio) offers opening remarks and introduces the panelists: creator Susan Harris; writers Marc Cherry, Mitchell Hurwitz, and James Vallely; director Terry Hughes; executive producer Paul Junger Witt; and cast members Rue McClanahan (Blanche Devereaux) and Betty White (Rose Nylund). (Beatrice Arthur, who plays Dorothy Zbornak, was scheduled to appear, but was unable to attend). Harris introduces the premiere episode of the show, which is screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see T:13701.)
After the screening, Simon moderates a conversation with the panelists, touching on such topics as: the show's renewed success after two decades; what the show "meant"; how the show defined loneliness; Cherry and Hurwitz's current programs ("Desperate Housewives" and "Arrested Development") and how their work on "Golden Girls" benefited those shows; how exposition was subtly handled on the show; how White was almost cast as Blanche; why today's youths like the show so much; how each woman landed their respective roles; how the pilot was directed; and the show's ill-fated spin-off, "Golden Palace."
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics: how a balance between each of the four characters was struck; what drove the writers to be funny; what each character "represented"; bawdy talk on the show; who would be cast in a big-screen update; and how the show has influenced current culture.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: March 10, 2006 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:40:15
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:87879
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Moderator
- Marc Cherry … Panelist
- Susan Harris … Panelist
- Terry Hughes … Panelist
- Mitchell Hurwitz … Panelist
- Rue McClanahan … Panelist
- James Vallely … Panelist
- Betty White … Panelist
- Paul Junger Witt … Panelist