cover of episode Second Motherhood (Season 1, Episode 19)

Second Motherhood (Season 1, Episode 19)

2024/11/4
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The Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast

AI Deep Dive AI Insights AI Chapters Transcript
People
G
Girl
J
Jennifer Simard
P
Patrick Hines
Topics
Girl: 本部分主要介绍了强迫症(OCD)的症状、治疗方法以及NoCD这个线上治疗平台。她分享了自己的OCD经历,强调了公开谈论心理健康的重要性,并详细介绍了NoCD平台的优势,包括专业治疗师、ERP疗法、保险覆盖以及持续支持等。 Jennifer Simard和Patrick Hines: 她们讨论了《黄金女郎》第一季第19集“第二次为人母”的剧情,包括Blanche与一位富有的男朋友的恋情,以及她们试图自己修理厕所的经历。她们还对剧中人物的性格、服装以及剧中出现的性别歧视现象进行了分析。此外,她们还对剧中出现的配角进行了生平介绍,并对剧集的拍摄手法和演员的表演进行了评价。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

Why did Blanche hesitate to marry Richard despite his wealth and charm?

Blanche hesitated because Richard prioritized his work and children over her, making her feel third in his life. She wanted to be with someone who would make her a priority.

What was the main issue Blanche had with Richard's proposal?

The main issue was that Richard had two young children, and Blanche didn't want to take on the responsibility of being a mother again.

How did Rose and Dorothy attempt to fix the bathroom toilet, and what was the outcome?

Rose and Dorothy tried to fix the toilet themselves, but they ended up making a mess and causing more problems, ultimately needing professional help.

What historical event happened one week before the airing of this episode that had a significant impact on public health?

One week before the episode aired, a woman died from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules, leading to a public health panic and changes in how medications were packaged and sold.

What groundbreaking moment in television history is associated with 'All in the Family'?

'All in the Family' is notable for being the first show where American television audiences heard a toilet flush, breaking new ground in television realism.

How did 'All in the Family' contribute to the cultural dialogue in America?

'All in the Family' addressed controversial topics like bigotry and racism head-on, encouraging American families to have difficult but necessary conversations about these issues.

What was the significance of the character Archie Bunker in 'All in the Family'?

Archie Bunker represented a conservative, bigoted viewpoint in a rapidly changing society, serving as a mirror for audiences to see and reflect on their own beliefs and prejudices.

Why did CBS initially struggle with the success of 'All in the Family'?

CBS initially struggled because the show dealt with controversial topics and did not align with the network's 'family hour' values, leading to debates and eventual changes in its broadcast time.

What challenges did Kevin McCarthy face in his personal life, and how did it influence his career?

Kevin McCarthy faced significant personal challenges, including the loss of both his parents to influenza and being abused by relatives. These experiences influenced his sister, Mary McCarthy, to become a famous author tackling difficult subjects in her works.

How did the Tylenol murders impact the pharmaceutical industry?

The Tylenol murders led to significant changes in how medications were packaged and sold, including the discontinuation of capsule forms and the introduction of tamper-resistant packaging.

Chapters
Dorothy and Rose attempt to fix the bathroom toilet, leading to a humorous and chaotic scene involving plumbing expertise and misogyny.
  • Rose reveals her extensive plumbing knowledge from her farm days.
  • Dorothy faces skepticism and misogyny from the plumber.
  • Sophia's dismissive attitude towards Dorothy's plumbing aspirations highlights generational differences.

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

Girl, NoCD is a new sponsor. And look, I want to talk about something kind of serious here, something that usually gets a laugh line, but can be really serious, which is obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD as it's called. Yeah. And I have OCD myself, so I know firsthand. Yeah. And I'm happy to share that. I really do believe in mental health that one person raises their hand and then another and another. And that's how you destigmatize things. That's how you get healthy. To soothe my own anxiety, I need to count sometimes to the number eight or

Even numbers I found very soothing. Oh, wow. Or certain colors. And I would have to do that to calm my anxiety. And, you know, a lot of people just think it's about being neat. That's not it in its entirety. Because they say that OCD can latch onto anything, but it often focuses on the things we care about most, right? Our relationships, religious beliefs, our hobbies, our passions.

But you know, OCD is highly treatable, but it needs specialized treatment. Okay, tell me more. So NoCD is a virtual therapy provider for OCD that makes getting specialized therapy easier than ever. I like things that are easier than ever because I don't have a lot of time. That's how I was described in college.

Well, with NoCD, you can do live face-to-face video therapy with licensed therapists who specialize in OCD. And I love that, you know, someone who really knows their field and can really help you. Yes. So these NoCD therapists, they receive in-depth specialized training in exposure and response prevention, or ERP as it's known, which is a type of therapy that was designed specifically to treat OCD. Right. And let's get to the bottom line here. NoCD accepts many different types of therapy.

major insurance plans. Oh, my life changer. Yeah. And it offers always on support between sessions. OK, so you can message your therapist. There's therapy tools. There's peer committee support groups. And I find that really, really helpful. So if you think you might be struggling with OCD and want to learn more about therapy with NoCD, go to NoCD.com and schedule a free 15 minute call with their team. That's NoCD.com to learn more and book a free 15 minute call.

Cool. Could be life changing. You know what? Therapy is always life changing. Truly. You know, it's self-care. So do it. Please. Girl, NoCD is a new sponsor. And look, I want to talk about something kind of serious here. Something that usually gets a laugh line, but can be really serious, which is obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD as it's called.

Yeah. And I have OCD myself, so I know firsthand. And I'm happy to share that. I really do believe in mental health that one person raises their hand and then another and another. And that's how you destigmatize things. That's how you get healthy. To soothe my own anxiety, I need to count sometimes to the number eight or even numbers I found very soothing or certain colors. And I would have to do that to

calm my anxiety. And, you know, a lot of people just think it's about being neat. That's not it in its entirety. Because they say that OCD can latch onto anything, but it often focuses on the things we care about most, right? Our relationships, religious beliefs, our hobbies, our passions. But, you know, OCD is highly treatable, but it needs specialized treatment. Okay, tell me more. So, NoCD is a virtual therapy provider for OCD that makes getting specialized therapy easier than ever. I like things that are easier than ever because I don't have a lot of time, okay? That's how I was described in college. Yeah.

Well, with NoCD, you can do live face-to-face video therapy with licensed therapists who specialize in OCD. And I love that. You know, someone who really knows their field and can really help you. Yes. So these NoCD therapists, they receive in-depth specialized training in exposure and response prevention, or ERP as it's known, which is a type of therapy that was designed specifically to treat OCD. Right. And let's get to the bottom line here. NoCD accepts many different types of therapy.

major insurance plans. Oh, my life changer. Yeah. And it offers always on support between sessions. OK, so you can message your therapist. There's therapy tools. There's peer committee support groups. And I find that really, really helpful. So if you think you might be struggling with OCD and want to learn more about therapy with NoCD, go to NoCD.com and schedule a free 15 minute call with their team. That's NoCD.com to learn more and book a free 15 minute call.

Call. Could be life-changing. You know what? Therapy is always life-changing. Truly. You know, it's self-care. Yes. So do it. Please. Hi, Jennifer Simard. Hello, Patrick Patrick Hines. It's so nice to sit across the table from you. I love that I get to see you every week. Even though we're looking through paraphernalia. I know. She's gay. She can't see what our setup is here, but we record this on video. That's right. Obviously, so that you can, like, see some of the funny moments on our social media. Yeah. So we have to look through tripods and ring lights and computers and microphones. But I see you. I see you.

This room is eight square feet and we can barely see each other. I have to say, when you see the videos of today, though, it's a new day. I'm so glad I enlarged my font. Oh, yeah. And thank God I did because usually I wear contact lenses and my readers. Yeah. But I forgot my contact lenses, so I'm wearing Naria glass on my face. Naria. Naria eyeglass.

And I'm wearing no makeup. You look incredible. Oh, you're kidding me. No. They're a little circly. Please. I mean, we can't all be Jillian. It's true. She's always snatched on these things. But I should probably tell the listeners, too, like, I wear makeup for living every night. Yeah. So you're not going to be seeing me in a lot of makeup. That's you being you. You know what I mean? It's very, I want to say it's very Dorothy, but we all know that she wears a lot of makeup. Yes.

We all know that. Well, what are we doing today, Patrick? So, girl, today we're doing season one, episode 19, Second Motherhood. And at the end of the episode, you're going to do this week's deep dive on All in the Family. Girl, I can't believe we are on episode 19. We are six away from the end of season one. That makes me happy and sad. Happy and sad. I had this thought that at the end of season one, we should do a virtual wrap party with the cheesecakes. Oh, okay. You know what I mean? Like another virtual happy hour, but we'll call it like the season one wrap.

party. Oh, that's fun. Cheesecakes. It's going to be seamless. We're going right into like season two. We are not in seasons. The Golden Girls, the TV show is in seasons. We are never, this train is never stopping. We're in the seasons of our life. You know, aren't we all? So this episode was written by Christopher Lloyd, directed by Gary Shimakawa. Original air date, February 15th, 1986. You know, right off the bat, I have a little detail on our director, Gary K. Shimakawa.

Tell me everything. Well, I'm so excited. He's an Asian American. Yeah. Born February 13th, 1942. Okay. He's a director and producer, and he's best known for directing a lot of sitcoms like this one, Archie Bunker's Place, Night Court. Loved Night Court. Yeah, yeah. He's directed and produced over 40 shows and movies. Wow. Yeah, he was born in Los Angeles, and it's kind of, you know, one of those stories that we know of, and look what he did with his life. He is of Japanese descent, and he and his family were interned

at Manzanar shortly after his birth following the attack on Pearl Harbor. No way. Yeah, isn't that terrible? That is wild. Remember Executive Order 9066? Wow. Was that an American internment camp? You know how George Takei talked about it? Like a lot of Japanese Americans were unjustly interred because they were the quote enemy. Right. You know, it's just horrifying. Yeah. And look what he did. We're so excited that he directed this episode. And I have to say, I thought the direction was philanthropic.

Direction's flawless. I've got one other thing that's going on in the world this week. Okay, tell me. So one week to the day before this episode aired, so on February 8th, 1986, so the previous Saturday to the airing of this episode, 23-year-old Diane Ellsworth and her boyfriend Michael Notranicola returned home to his yonkers' house after a night at the movies. Diane had a headache, so Michael gave her two extra-strength Tylenol capsules and she went to bed. The next day, he and his mother found her dead in his bed. Dead?

So during the autopsy, the medical examiner detected the almond-like odor of cyanide and did further tests and determined that Ellsworth's death had been caused by cyanide. And when authorities inspected the bottle that had contained the Tylenol capsules she'd taken, they found several other pills that had been contaminated with brown cyanide powder. The lethal Tylenol had been purchased at a local A&P like the grocery store. And just two blocks away at a Woolworth, authorities found five Tylenol capsules that had also been spiked with cyanide.

Authorities determined that the killer had been able to unseal the Tylenol bottles, then open the Tylenol capsules themselves, removed the Tylenol powder, and replaced it with cyanide powder, and then, like, resealed the capsules. I remember this panic that we were all in at this time. Because this was a copycat. This was a copycat from a series of murders that had happened in Chicago four years prior. So in that case...

Seven people were killed, each after taking Tylenol capsules that had been laced with cyanide in exactly the same way. And just like the New York case, there was never a named suspect and no one was ever charged in those murders either. Isn't that terrifying? Yeah. And this is probably what led to like Keplets instead of Kept

That's exactly right. So in 1986, after the death of Diane Ellsworth, Tylenol discontinued the making of the capsules, which contained the powder, and switched to caplets, which were solid. So these are like the famous Tylenol murders, Diane Ellsworth's murder, and there were several others like it throughout the decade that were copycats. No one was ever charged. No suspect was ever caught. I don't want to out this person by name, but someone I know for Halloween around this time went as a Tylenol capsule because it was terrifying. No!

No. Yes, because it was terrifying. I mean, that is absolutely terrifying. Yeah. So it's one week to the day before the airing of this episode. So Diane Ellsworth, may she rest. Well, should we get started with the episode? Yes. Do you mind if I launch it? Yeah, no, take it. All right. All right. So we open with a plumber. I'm going to call him Plumber A. Okay. Walking out to the living room from the bathroom with Dot and Rose. Dot wearing a signature purple sweater. And...

kind of like the security system quote they got from your they are not happy with the quote the plumber has given them it's three thousand dollars for this work on the bathroom toilet which in 1986 for inflation correcting for inflation today that would be about eighty six hundred dollars oh my god that's a lot of money it is a lot of money and i have a note here too like more to dot's outfit okay she can

a lot of shit for being ugly. She is not. No. She looks good. She wears her clothes well. This is like a nice outfit she's wearing. Like you said, her signature purple. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She looks really good. Well, she gets most of the shit from her mother who's just horrible to her in this. I know.

So I would like to say, you know, obviously we've given her some shit or not, you know, her specifically, but we've given her shit, but she's looking good. I know that I've been saying this a lot. I feel like Dorothy actually dates more than anybody else in this episode. I've got another running list because her mom is really on her in this episode because we're going to learn that Dorothy's really excited about learning the trade of plumbing. And like, I think that is very in line with her character. I think it makes a lot of sense. We're going to get there. By the way, we've said lately, Cheesecakes, that there should be a podcast called We'll Get There or We're Going to Get There.

I think about it when we record TCO all the time now. And we're going to get there. We'll get there. We'll get there. I have a note there when we get there. When we get there. But she's positively giddy at the notion of plumbing. I know. It's true. Like, she's shaking. She's so excited. I want to also point out that, like, seeing the plumber in the living room, it's always jarring to see a man in their house. So whenever there's a man in the house, it feels like a disturbance. Get out. Even, like, the fabulous Dr. Jonathan Newman. Hey, plumber, get out of here. Get out.

Get out of here. Get out of here. All right. So the plumber is basically saying to them, like... Frankly, I wouldn't even bother getting another estimate. With that bathroom repair, that's the lowest you're going to see. Are you kidding? This is the highest I have seen. Look.

There's so much misogyny in this episode.

Oh, my God, yes. These men believing, A, that these women have no idea what they're doing, they're not capable, that they're just going to take his word for it and not call in a second opinion. And it just starts here. And he says it, you know, to your point of misogyny. All right, all right. I guess you ladies are going into your feminist phase a little late in life. Well, I'll go. You'll call me back. You know why? Because as we say in the plumbing game...

A little late in life. Wow. Them's fighting words. Also, I hate to say it, but I don't think that Rose would enjoy being called a feminist. Oh, no? I feel like Dorothy is for sure. Like, Rose and Blanche would not like being called feminists. Right. I agree with you. One time when I was, like, very young, when I was, like, probably 10 or 11, my mom called me a feminist. I didn't know what that was. I thought she was just calling me feminine.

Oh, yeah. Which everybody gets good. I demanded that I was not a feminist and my mom was really offended, but I didn't. I thought she was just calling me a little girly boy. And you're just like, I said, good day, sir. I said, good day, ma'am. We're like, I said, good day, sir. Yeah.

But here we have the first, there'll be a callback of this later, but when he's going to leave, it's very hilarious. He says, oh, I'll go. You'll call me back. You know why? Because as we say in the plumbing game. Slam. Yep. Dot slams the door. There really is nobody better in the throwing people out of the house game than Dot. Dot is really good at it. Or Rose, for that matter. Or Rose. Because Dorothy is saying like he must think we're really stupid. And this is where we learn that Rose is a plumbing expert. Yeah.

of that man trying to intimidate us. I mean, he must really think we're stupid. Really stupid? How could we possibly need three dozen spud gaskets? What, spud gaskets? That's what goes on the end of a hose bib.

We couldn't need more than a dozen at most. Rose, how do you know about this? Oh, I know a lot about plumbing. We always did our own plumbing on the farm. Of course, we didn't actually get plumbing until I was 18. I mean, she knows all the phrases. Spud gaskets? What the hell is a spud gasket? I don't know, but I smell merch. I know. Spud gasket. Totally, I'm going to make a note of that. You know what it is? It's a jock belt. Totally.

A spud gas. Like a dance belt? It's a spud gas. Oh, that's good. That's good. See the merch table at Death Becomes Her Cheesecakes. But we learned that Rose's family always did their own plumbing. That's how she became so good at plumbing. She said they didn't get plumbing until she was 18, which would have been 1948. I googled it. Apparently, we know for a fact that Rose was born on March 12th, 1930. Wow. I don't know when we learned that. Happy birthday, Rose. But it's back on the internet.

She gets the rose. Now, at this point, they have said these lines while in the kitchen. They've entered the kitchen and Sophia is in there looking like she's making some warm milk for herself, right? That's on brand. You know she's going to spike brandy. A little hot toddy sitch. You know, maybe some turmeric. The inflammation. You know. Here's where we get excited Dorothy. She's just like, tell me something. How difficult would it be for us to repair that bathroom ourselves? And she's like,

I know. Even Dorothy is hard on herself for how much she wants to learn plumbing. Yeah, yeah. And I'm like, Dot, it's a fine hobby. Look, we already saw you fix the sink. Yeah. We know you're the house undertaker. Remember, she was the only one that would deal with Rose's dead body. We haven't seen you fix the roof, but we know you could. We know you could. Like, it's perfectly fine that you want to learn the plumbing game you're going to learn from Rose. This is wonderful. If they had TikTok or Instagram back then, they would have created a whole account where Rose is teaching Dorothy how to replace a toilet. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Can you imagine the Golden Girls TikTok? You know what? Some drag queen should get on that, like recreating as though it's them, like in the actual time. You know, Dorothy's like, forget it. It's a crazy idea to which her mother agrees. This is the first of the many sort of, you know, insults. But to some degree, I do think it's the voice of reason where it's like, if you're going to learn plumbing, start with the sink, Dorothy. Like, let's not start with the toilet. Right. You know what I mean? And she tells her, you know, you were never mechanical for the first three months of your life. You tried to breastfeed off my cameo.

Which a cameo apparently is some kind of pin. Oh, I did a whole thing about cameos. Oh, you did? Yeah. It's a brooch and it's usually of a woman from the bus stop, usually looking to the right. Okay. But if they look to the left, that's quite rare. Oh, does it mean they're a lesbian or something? That should be some sort of signal. It means they're feminists.

Leave me alone. Leave me alone. I said good day, sir. I said good day. All right. Me, like a little 11-year-old boy. 11-year-old boy thinking that his lesbian mother was calling him gay, all of which was true. I said good day, mom. I said... All right.

But Rose is saying like...

And then Dot gives a genuinely hard hand slap to Rose. And in this case, I thought inside it, it felt like it was a little bit Bea Arthur giving a hard slap to Betty White. Totally. On the word give. Like, you could tell it genuinely hurt. Yeah. I mean, like you pointed out, she's got those flappers. Then let's...

Give it a shot. Sophia says she's got this great joke, to which I said, can we stop giving her shit? She had Dr. Elliot Clayton. She had that re-romance with her husband. She had that gym teacher. Really great sex with Glenn. Everyone's really hot for Dorothy. I think she's doing just fine. Just fine. Now Blanche enters looking stunning. Stunning. Ravishing. In this perfect

Purple sparkly top and satin pants. Now, the purple pants are tight. Like, they are very, like, they accentuate everything. And she wears this outfit for most of the episode. And she looks incredible the whole time. All her clothes in this episode. She also wants to borrow Dorothy's jewelry. She is always borrowing Dorothy's jewelry. It's wild. I know. Dorothy has a great collection. Her, like, long rhinestone chain, apparently. Yes. And again, this is where I'm like, Sophia, I'm like, I have genuinely awful. I know.

Why not? What's Dorothy going to do with it? Snake out a toilet? Snake out a toilet? Damn. Savage. My thing about this is like, what does it say about you, Sophia, that your daughter isn't going on a date tonight? Because that is what this is all rooted in. This,

You know what I mean? Right, right. Like, she's only upset because of whatever it says about her. You're not genuinely worried about Dorothy's happiness. If you were, you'd cut her a little slack. It was jarring. Blanche is saying, everyone's saying, us and the women are all saying that Blanche looks so great. And Blanche is saying it's always so hard to dress for these dates with this guy, Richard, because you never know where you're going to end up. Last week, we were supposed to go out for lunch. We ended up horseback riding. Right. We find out here that she's dating this man and that he happens to be very rich. We also find out that she's falling in love. This happened.

really fast with these characters. You know what I mean? Like, these women are in the market to get remarried, all of them. Yeah, I guess so. But, you know, like, Rose is saying that she doesn't really like rich people because she thinks that they're all about money. And I thought this was a pretty, like, in line with Rose's sort of, like, Protestant up

bringing that like, like talking about money is kind of gauche. And she just likes people who are just kind of like plain, simple people. Not like, not the flashy rich people. Right. And Blanche says that, well, Richard's nothing like that. And I don't think he ever could be. He is simply the sweetest, kindest, most handsome man I've ever met.

Only I do have a small problem with his money. Why? You don't think you'll live long enough to spend it all? Now, this is one of many times where Dorothy makes a joke, but like really overdoes it. Like she's really pleased with the jokes that she makes throughout this episode. You know what I mean? There's so many times. She bods herself at one point. I want to see you do that on stage. When you do something really funny, you add lips and you clap for yourself. God, I am good. I am good.

And I'm like, it's not even that funny, Dorothy. It's not funny, but she's just proud of it. But Blanche is like, no. And I love the layers of Blanche in this episode. But she says, I just don't want him to think that's the only reason I'm attracted to him. Right. You know? And Dorothy's just saying, like, would you really be as attracted to him if he didn't have all this money? And Blanche says, of course I would. I would just have to date other men behind his back. Right. And then she says, oh, come on. And, you know, she's obviously kidding. Yeah. Now we fast forward. We're on Richard's jet. He has, like, private plans.

Private jet. And before we get to what Blanche is doing, let me just say that I, just for some context, I was trying to look up what the cost of a jet might be in 1986. Like to purchase a jet? To purchase a jet. Oh, wow. Now, a used jet. Here's an example. I found an article that said Warren Buffett, B. Warren Buffett, bought his first jet in 1986. It was a used Falcon for $850,000. Oh, my God. Which is a lot of money, but also it doesn't seem like a lot of money at all.

you know, when you think of what private jets cost these days. Anyway, he sold it only three years later. And in 1989, he upgraded for another used jet for six point seven million dollars. Oh, my God. So that's quite an upgrade. Why are these people buying used jets? I don't know. I know. Well, now he owns a fleet of jets. And so for context of modern things, Kim Kardashian's private jet allegedly cost around one hundred and fifty million dollars. How does

Kim Kardashian have $150 million. She's a mogul now. I mean, she's a billionaire. And that doesn't even take into account like the operating costs. This is what I read. I think it was all the upgrades and the cashmere seats and whatnot. $150 million. Can we curate, please? I know. You know what I mean? I know. My God. Yeah. Well, I love that like Blanche is alone in this private chat and she's doing what we all do.

It's the equivalent of opening someone's medicine cabinet, right? She's looking around. She picks up a remote control and all of a sudden music starts playing. Yes, yes. Now, the Golden Girls apparently only got the rights to one song. It's that Glenn Miller band. Because as soon as the record starts playing, it's that same song that like Rose and Arnie were dancing to at one point, like in episode three. We said then that they just love this song on the Golden Girls. It's a great song, I gotta say. It's very romantic. So Richard enters through a very tiny doorway. Ha ha ha!

I hadn't really noticed that, but now that you mentioned it, it is very small. And I got to also say, there's not a lot of room in this private plane. It doesn't seem like a big jet. I feel like Kim Kardashian might be disappointed. Well, I think his tiny jet, it's more on the Warren Buffett used Falcon size, right? And let me just say this about Kim Kardashian. You know, like Jeff Bezos has a private jet. I think he has several, his own little fleet, you know? And I will say this, let's not

give Kim Kardashian any shit if you're not going to give Jeff Bezos shit. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you know, these bitches, they've become like, you know. It's more like the carbon footprint than anything else. It's like Taylor Swift, stop taking your jet to the grocery store. No, no, I know. I have no issue with people. It's wild when you look at like the Oscars. I saw a map on TikTok

the day after the Oscars and it showed the sheer number of private jets leaving Los Angeles. I know. There was like 300 private jets leaving Los Angeles that day. I will say this, though. Like, I bet she has a lot more problems. We're going off the rails here, but I bet she has a lot more problems with Paps, the paparazzi. Taylor. Taylor and Kim than a Jeff Bezos. Oh, 100%. So, like, in that sense, I really understand a private jet situation because it's like your family is at risk. Sure. You know, I'm

You spend your money, but... But I used to be like, oh, it's the end of Western civilization. And then I kind of turned a corner with all them. I was like, you know what? Yeah. They just sort of got it done. And no one ever criticizes a lot of these male billionaires like they do the women. You had it negotiated into your Death Becomes Her contract that you got your own private jet. Like, was that a major negotiating point? I get my own private jet to and from the show. Well, that makes sense. That makes sense. You live, what, like 40 blocks from there? Were they expecting you to walk? That's right.

Right? Can you imagine? Richard has entered and, you know, he's saying that Blanche is right at home in a private jet. We learn that they are flying to Atlanta for dinner. I know. And Blanche, to her credit, she is trying very hard to not look overly impressed. And she's doing it by perching her hand up, which I love. She's like, I'm just casual. I'm light. I'm breezy. Oh, well, it's a perfectly lovely jet, Richard, but there was really no need to fly all the way to Atlanta for dinner. Yeah.

I'm just an old-fashioned girl. I would have been very happy with a quiet dinner at home. You would? Absolutely. I'll just tell the pilot to turn the plane around.

And of course, we have sort of that, we made a joke earlier about, you're a very attractive woman, Blanche. I know. And it happens here too. He says to her, Blanche, you're adorable. I know. It's so good because it's right after he's handed her the bowl of caviar that she starts eating with her fingers. Yes.

I forgot that it's with like just the finger.

But now we get this great Blanche moment because he gets up to like make a drink and she is sitting in this like reclining chair. And she's me because she does this thing where she pulls a lever and all of a sudden the thing goes flat. It's a great physical comedy moment. And she you can see the actress knowing what her cue is because she's timed it out for his monologue ostensibly when he has his back turned. And so she says she asked the question, oh, really? Chair back.

And then he goes on with, no, I started out in the shipping department. Meanwhile, the struggle bus is for real behind him. Oh, it's so funny. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And by the end, he says, the work is just as exciting to me now as it was the day I started. She becomes upright. Yes. And he says, how about some

some champagne. Never the wiser. Never the wiser. I'm glad you pointed out that moment because I have this note that I know that this is Blanche's moment. Yeah. But we learned Richard's whole backstory and how he worked his way up and now he owns all these companies and the work is just as exciting to him. I was saying to somebody the other day, I've been making podcasts for a living for almost 10 years now. I bound out of bed every morning. I get up sometime between like four and five in the morning most days. I cannot get to my computer fast enough

to begin my work day. I love your job. I love it so much. I never take for granted that I do what I love to do. And I love that we get that moment with Richard because I like I identified with that moment. I thought that was pretty cool. And I have that now with you. Let me just as a personal note, I just went home to visit family before I go underwater with this Broadway show for the next year plus of my life. And I was walking the same route that I used to walk every day during the pandemic and

And I was thinking how I used to listen to TCO and now here we are together. And I don't take it for granted for a moment either. Honey, I love you. I love you too. This is so fun. It's just like such a wonderful thing to get to do with people that I love. Yeah, agreed. Thank you. So he hands her the champagne and, you know, he's saying, This isn't meant to impress you. This is just to get you tipsy. Richard, you rascal. You know, I've made a lot of money and I've seen a lot of the world.

But there's still one thing in my life that's missing. What? Someone to share it with. I was hoping you'd say that. Did that champagne kick in yet? No, but if you're ready to make your move, I can pretend it did.

But this is where we start to see where this is going because he's saying, I have everything. I have the jets. I've got the job. It's just missing one thing. Yeah. So, I mean, can you imagine anything more romantic than eating caviar with your hands and like drinking champagne with the other hand? On your little flight to the city and a state. To Atlanta, which is like

you know the city where she probably knows people sure you know maybe her friends will meet them for a drink before dinner to impress with like the boyfriend with the private jet blanche you're really doing it girl yeah i got a little deep dive on this actor let's hear it this is pretty interesting his name is kevin mccarthy and he's got a really interesting backstory so kevin mccarthy was born on february 15th 1914 in seattle the son of roy winfield mccarthy and the former therese preston which

I thought the former Therese Preston, which is how Wikipedia describes his mother, like she lost her identity the minute she married his father. The former. Oh, my God. When she made her Broadway debut. Yeah, exactly. She had to use her husband's name. Exactly. But get this. Both parents died in the influenza epidemic.

Oh, God. Jesus. Listen to this description. Oh. Oh.

so badly abused in the years after their parents died from the relatives in Minneapolis that they were removed from the home, went to live with the maternal grandfather. So his sister, Mary, becomes a famous author. She wrote the bestseller called The Group, and many of her works were influenced by the trauma of her and her siblings' tragic, difficult, and often abusive childhood. Mary could totally get her own deep dive. I'll spare you, but according to her Wikipedia page, which is insanely long, she's this

unbelievably accomplished novelist, critic, and political activist. She has honorary degrees from Bard, Bowdoin, Colby, Smith College, Syracuse University, the University of Maine at Orono, and the University of Aberdeen. But my absolute favorite thing about her is that she had a feud with fellow writer Lillian Hillman that was so epic that it formed the basis for the play Imaginary Friends by Nora Ephron. Oh,

I got goosebumps. Isn't that wild? Which I saw on Broadway. It was just revived recently, wasn't it? When you said it was revived recently, I'm going back to like early 2000s. Yeah. And I remember liking it a lot more than the critics did. Like, I just, the fact that this actor's sister was so famous that she had such a feud that was so famous that Nora Ephron wrote a play about it.

wild, right? Jesus Christ, wow. So anyway, in the 1930s, Kevin moved to New York where he made his Broadway debut in 1938 in Abe Lincoln in Illinois. He also became a member of the famed actor's studio along with Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe in the inaugural class. Wow. In 1949, he was cast in the original London production of Death of a Salesman as Biff

the shallow elder son of Willie Loman. So he didn't do it on Broadway, but he did the second production, which was done in London. He was then asked to repraise that role in the 1951 film for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Isn't that wild? Despite the Academy Award nomination, this is my favorite thing, the film he's probably best known for came to him five years later when he was cast in a low-budget B-movie about a small California town where the residents are gradually replaced by

by pods from outer space. The pods resembling giant cucumbers bubble and foam as they slowly turn into creepy, emotionless duplicates of townspeople. Do you know what movie we're talking about? I certainly do. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

And this becomes like his thing, his calling card. And he eventually like accepts it. He understands that like this is what people love him for. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected for the National Film Registry in 1994 and named one of the top 10 science fiction films of all time by the American Film Institute in 2008.

Wow. Wild, right? Over the years, Kevin McCarthy played hundreds of roles in television and film and appeared in 18 Broadway shows. I love it. McCarthy died of pneumonia on September 11th, 2010 at Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts at the age of 96. Cape Cod Hospital was my local hospital for all of my growing up years. What a life. Like literally a mile from my house. That's incredible. I'm so glad you got to do

him then. I was so excited to like learn about him and like what a wild, like Academy Award nominee. And I know it's not influenza, but that obviously produces lung problems and it's kind of full circle that he died of pneumonia. Oh yeah. At the age of four, both of his parents died, you know? And to be abused like that. I know. Horrifically. I know. I know. Awful. But you know, he and his sister and his siblings all turned out okay. They all have like pretty interesting, amazing careers. God. Because what a, you're a parent, like what a parent's

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So back to the episode, we go into the only seen once world's greatest bathroom. We go into this bathroom that we've never heard of, never seen before. We've never seen it. It is also in different places throughout the episode. Oh, for sure. It's like they enter in one location, they leave in another location. Oh, yeah.

One of those hair pulling out. I don't understand the layout. A 200 square foot bath. It is enormous. But this is the start of a truly hilarious scene with a hilarious delivery. So Rose has been tapping on the wall above the toilet with a wrench. Yes. Dorothy comes in. She has scared Rose. And Dorothy just so casually says, honey. Dorothy, you scared me. What are you doing up so late? Honey, do you know what's behind that wall that you're banging on? What?

A lateral fusion pipe. And do you know what's on the other side of that lateral fusion pipe? No. My head! My head!

Yeah. So Dorothy's room is on the other side of that wall. Listeners, I will spare you. Like, I know this is so annoying. They know. Right. Like, I know you don't care, but watching the episode, it's like they come out of the bathroom in the area that we know is Sophia's room. Right. But then we see them another time going into the bathroom.

bathroom in the area that we know as Rose's room. It's just wild. One of the cheesecakes posted a meme on the page way back when of like this little girl like crying at a table. It's like, you know, like us trying to figure out the layout of the Golden Girls house, you know, just

Just pulling her hair out. It's so funny. Like, my other favorite part of this scene is that Rose is really excited because she literally says, and I think she's right. Yeah. She might have stumbled on something that could change the face of plumbing as we know it. We never find out what it is. I know. But I will say, like, I kind of believe Rose. Oh, yeah. Like, she really did discover something in this moment. She's an idiot savant. Totally. Totally.

Oh, my gosh. But Blanche enters. She enters and, you know. Still looking incredible. Still looking incredible. But, you know, she's about to express what's going on with Richard. But kind of like our pilot episode, there's no mention of what will happen to her roommates. Right. About what's coming up.

Because I'm here like, now would be a great time to say, me and this very rich man who owns a jet can afford to have you stay here rent-free indefinitely. But that's not what's going to happen. Because what you're saying is that we're going to learn that she wants to marry him and she thinks that he wants to marry her. And whereas in the pilot episode, Rose is very concerned about what's going to happen to them. Neither of them are worried. And they are just so thrilled

for her and yet no one's even talking about it anyway. It's funny because Stan Zimmerman was saying to us in his interview with us that like eventually in later seasons the people who are writing for the Golden Girls are fans of the show. Yeah. So there are people that like know the lore they know the characters but like right now in season one it's a grab bag of like sometimes they care about these things sometimes Blanche sleeps with married men sometimes she doesn't like it's not really consistent but it's very good. Well before we get there this is a very funny joke and to

Patrick's point, we never get to hear what Rose has discovered. So Blanche says, oh, girls, I'm just...

so glad you're still up. Wait till I tell you about my date. Rose then says, wait till I tell you about my discovery. Yes. To which Dorothy says, let's hear it. And Rose says, it came to me when I was enjoying my second cup of Ovaltine. And of course, we all know Dorothy meant Blanche. Yeah, nobody cares. Dorothy, this is kind of like, it's consistent throughout. She's not very invested in her friendship with Rose. Right. Because if she was, this could have changed their lives. What if Rose really did discover something brand new about plumbing? Dorothy kind of just

thinks that Rose is an idiot and just wants to hear about Blanche's fancy date. It is sort of like the boy who cried wolf, right? There have just been one too many St. Olaf stories already. That's very true. The girls find out that... Richard flew me to Atlanta for dinner in his private jet. You're kidding. That's when it hit me. We don't even need our sludge tube. Rose.

And then for dessert, he took me to this most romantic little bistro. And while the waiter was glazing my peaches, Richard leaned over and took my hand, and you know what he said? What? Our biggest warrior will be tank sweat.

Sorry. Our biggest worry will be tank sweat. Oh, sorry. Like, it's really funny. The whole thing is funny. Anyway, you're wondering if it's going to be a proposal, but it's basically the last step. Before a proposal, he grabs her hand and says, I want to introduce you to his family. Yes. And Dorothy is just very happy for her. Oh, that's wonderful. Blanche is so excited. And she's imagining being Richard's wife. Yeah. Imagining being married to this gorgeous, intelligent man. She'd be loving it.

Living like a queen. Yes. And then Sophia shows up. Now, when an old lady needs to use the bathroom, anybody with like an older parent or guardian or something, like an older person, you don't make them wait. That's right. And they're like having this conversation and Sophia just screams, think about it in your room, Highness. I need to use the throne. And also I have here, how are they using this throne exactly? I know.

Right. Because it's been disconnected. Right. For like a week. So somebody should tell Sophia. You know what I'm saying? The thing is, in other episodes, we've seen Blanche has a bathroom in her room. Rose has a bathroom in her room. And Dorothy has a bathroom because Gloria, Dorothy's sister, comes out of the bathroom. Rose is...

father in the dream comes out of Rose's bathroom Blanche is getting ready for her wedding and the pilot in her bath this house is a five and Sophia we've determined doesn't have a bathroom so she needs to use this bathroom but you think she could borrow one of the girls bathrooms no question but this bothers me throughout the episode it's so the show can happen but that toilet is not working don't let her use that

Don't let her use it. The end of this scene, we see them. I know, Cheesecake, it's going to make you crazy. I'm going to let it go. We see them leaving the bathroom and you can tell by where they're walking out that it is the last door down the hallway on the left. Earlier, when they came into the living room, they came out of the first door on the right. I want my money back. I have to let it go. It's so, it's so, it will just make you crazy. It will just make you crazy.

Do you have OCD? I really don't. I do, though. I have a little OCD. That's part of my neurodivergence. I don't notice details. I don't notice anything. But like, it just made me crazy. All right. So Dot and Rose enter the living room, presumably the next day-ish, right? They're wearing different outfits. They're wearing different outfits. And we know that this is

an epically long week of fixing the toilet, right? Yes. Anyway, and their clothes are dirty. You specifically see Dorothy's more presumably because hers isn't a pattern. It's yellow and solid. Well, and I also do think that Rose is putting her to work. Oh, yeah. She's ordering her. Because it does make me laugh. I can't find nary a smudge on Rose's shirt.

But I also think that Dorothy wants to learn. She loves it. She was under that sink in that green cowl neck. I loved every second of it. She loves it. She got some peace and quiet over there. I know. I know. I mean, I'll say it here. It comes up later. Do you know, I looked it up because of the misogyny. Yeah. Only 3.4% of plumbers are female. Oh, I believe that. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's a very male dominated industry. I would believe that. But Dorothy would make a great female plumber. She would. She really would. You okay on that chair over there? Yeah. I'm pulling down my shorts.

My shorts are real short today. I hope that sound came through. And Jennifer, don't cut it out. Him just bouncing up and down like a bouncy house at a party. I love it. My shorts are real tight. I was just pulling them down. So Rose tells Dorothy she's a great plumber's assistant, really knows her way around a snake. To which Dorothy says, I've had a lot of experience. After all, I was married to one for 38 years.

Oh, we're right on schedule. We ought to have that toilet tank in by sundown. By sundown. By sundown! Oh, this is such fun!

I know. This is so exciting. This is so depressing. Oh, it's Saturday night and I'm all nervous and jumpy because in a few hours there'll be a handsome new toilet at my door. And I'm like, Dorothy, just get into it. It's okay to like have a new hobby. It's okay to be good. It's okay to learn a new trade. Power of three. Yeah. She starts with, oh, this is such fun. This is so exciting. This is so depressing. Yeah.

You know, and to Stan Zimmerman's point, there's a great turn there, right? Yeah, totally. It goes from joy, joy, sad. Yeah. And then Sophia enters and says like, oh my God, I walk into the bathroom and instead of a toilet, there's a hole in the ground for a minute. I thought I was back in Sicily. This is really true. Like, I mean, you know, I traveled a bit in Europe and even like in France, in London, there are some bathrooms I went into like in restaurants where there are holes in the ground. Oh, for sure.

me too yeah but I feel like Sophia might be constipated this whole episode because she's just she really is cranky the entire episode it's really and she's gotta go to the bathroom a lot she's trying nothing's coming out because Rose says like you can't use the bathroom down the hall but you use Blanche's and Sophia's like I don't like it there's plants everywhere and I was like I noticed in a recent episode that Blanche has really leaned into that Martinique aesthetic yeah exactly there really are plants and

florals everywhere in Blanche's room. So the doorbell rings and Rose, everyone hopes it's the new toilet. Now that's a sentence you don't hear every day. Look, I got to tell you, this is another moment where Dorothy is so proud of her own joke. Oh yeah. She claps for herself. Open the door. There's a plumber there holding a toilet, which does look very heavy. Yes. And he says, Plumber, could I see some identification? Oh,

She gets such a kick out of her own joke here. Oh, yeah. She shakes her head to the side. It's true. And she's like, come on in. You know? Oh, it's like she might as well have said, oh, you, to herself, right? Oh, God. Before we go any further. Sure. I have a little deep dive on the history of the toilet. Oh, my God. Lay it on us. I'm telling you, this is going to blow your mind. I didn't know you did that. That's so great. There is a factoid here. When I read it this morning, it was a factoid.

It blew my goddamn mind. So the first modern flushable toilet was described in 1596 by Sir John Harrington, an English courtier and the godson of Queen Elizabeth I. Harrington installed a working model for Queen Elizabeth at Richmond Palace, where she lived. However, it was in the late 19th century that a London plumbing impresario named Thomas Crapp

Yes. Manufactured one of the first widely successful lines of flush toilets. Crapper did not invent the toilet, but he did develop the ball cock, an improved tank filling mechanism still used in toilets today. Crapper's name would become synonymous with the devices he sold, thanks in part to American servicemen stationed overseas during World War I. The soldiers, unfamiliar with the relatively newfangled invention of the toilet, referred to the toilet as Crapper.

crappers due to the crapper brand's ubiquity in England and France, meaning the name was like literally stamped on the toilet. Yeah. But get this. That's not where we get the word crap. The word crap is a Middle English word for things that are discarded or thrown away. It's first recorded application to

bodily waste, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, appeared in 1846, 10 years after Crapper was born. Meaning, when Crapper was 10, before the toilet was even a twinkle in his eye, we were using the word crap to describe human waste. What on earth are the odds that the word that had come to mean human waste would be the main part of the last name of the man who revolutionized the toilet? So the refuse was before this man, is that right? We were using the word crap to describe human waste when Crapper...

Crapper, who revolutionized the toilet, was 10 years old. But this is my point, though. So he was born with a pretty shit-tastic name. Literally. Literally. His name is Crapper. Oh, God. Our kids are going to make fun of me.

You know what I'm going to do? My name's Crapper. God damn it. Yeah, literally. The guy named Crapper revolutionized the toilet. Jen, I want to make a podcast just about that. This is Dan Taberski written all over it. 100%. Dan, Dan, make a podcast. His name is Crapper. Crapper. He revolutionized the toilet. I can't get over it. Which came first, the toilet or the crapper? But I mean, he literally...

No, but he literally... Which came first, the toilet or the crapper? No, but he literally probably was drawn to it. He's like, well, my name is already crap, so I might as well. It's my calling.

But then we started calling the toilet the crapper, not because that's where you put your crap, but because the name of the guy who invented the thing was called the crapper. Are you okay? Do you need a tranquilizer? I really, I was reading this this morning and I was pulling, I couldn't, but it was why this podcast was invented. Oh my gosh. Was so that we could give the cheesecakes this fact. So I can't, I cannot get over it. You know what? I think we should end the episode there. I think we should. Well, that's wonderful.

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So the plumber here, he says, the crapper in this case, he says the two of you are the proud parents of the new Dolan Standard low boy. Yeah, he's very impressed with their choice of toilet. I will say this, though. A higher profile would be easier to age in. What do you mean? Well, I mean...

mean this anyone who has an aging parent or who has aged themselves knows that it gets hard to transfer as you can get older and that's why there are a lot of those seats that you put over the toilet yes you're saying that the low boy is too low it's too low you know what I mean like I know Sophia's tiny but yeah I was gonna say she's pretty sure anything bigger might be hard for her to get up onto well Dorothy good luck

I really mean no offense. With her legs all splayed out in front of her. I'm just saying, my friends make fun of me. No one thinks about aging in place more than I do. I know, I know. The two first things I think of when I'm looking at a new property of any kind is, where's the nearest hospital and how many stairs does it have? And I would be like, is that a Dolan Standard Lowboy? I can't. I couldn't possibly live here.

All I can think about are Dorothy's nine foot long legs like splayed out in front of her like a baby giraffe. Just trying her best. Just just. Yeah. She'd be out in the backyard with a fedora and a trench coat just coughing a squat.

Oh, my God. The guy who revolutionized the toilet's last name is Crapper. I can't get over it. So anyway, he asked them, like, when and where should he install it. They tell him they're going to do it himself. He cannot accept this. No. Hold it. You're not serious. Why not? Oh, ladies, the installation of a toilet's a very delicate procedure. You got to go to school. You got to be a trained technician. You got to be a man, for God's sakes. Oh, my God.

You know, to tell you the truth, Lou, women are capable of more than just cleaning these things. Is that so? Well, as long as you ladies are playing plumber, why don't you play moving man, too? Fine, fine, we will. You gotta be a man, for God's sakes. And, like, we don't even get one of those, like...

from the audience like you would today. They just like, yeah, what's the problem here? Blanche is over here punching people left and right when they say the wrong thing to her. Dorothy and Rose kind of just let it go. They let it go. And he's like, this is so shitty. He just like leaves this like 200 pound toilet in the middle of their living room, knowing they're not going to be able to move it on their own. Exactly. Now, folks, you may recognize Lou, right? He, of course, comes back as the unforgettable Mr. Ha Ha. Right, the clown.

Yeah, a little ditty on Lou. Yeah. All right, because we love him. We do love, well, we don't love Lou. We love Lou, but we love the actor's place. And Mr. Ha Ha is pretty great. Mr. Ha Ha is pretty great, and clearly the Golden Girls universe loved him because they brought him back. Yeah. This actor is named Alan Blumenfeld. He was born September 4th, 1952. He's a character actor. He's best known for his role in the NBC TV series Heroes as Maury Parkman. Did you watch that show?

No, I tried. I couldn't get into it. So Maury Parkman, he was the... Plus, Hayden Bennett's year was mean to me once. Oh, I'm sorry. And so I can't ever get over that. Okay, all right. All right.

As mean as Bea Arthur was in Boston? No, Bea Arthur was mean to me for like several hours. Hayden Panettiere was only mean to me for about three minutes when I was just trying to help her find her jacket at a hotel that I worked at. She was not happy that somebody who was not me lost her jacket and I was the one receiving end of the abuse from Hayden Panettiere. Geez. I know. All right. Yeah. And I will name names. Celebrities. You're going to be mean.

You might want to assume the person's going to get a podcast someday and have some shit to say. All right. Well, he was on this show as Maury Parkman, and that was the telepath father of Matt Parkman. Okay. He's been acting since the age of seven and has appeared as a guest star on more than, count them, 300 television shows. Whoa. Yeah, and performing in several dozen films. So snaps for Alan. No, if you are a guest star on like 300 TV shows, is that enough to like make a living every year? No, I mean, because your residuals become less and less and less. Yeah. You know, so I mean, no. Okay, thanks.

I mean, it's lovely, though. Yeah. It's lovely frosting on the cake. Sure. You know, it's a reel for days. I mean, why do you think he brought him back as Mr. Ha? Exactly. All right. Exactly.

Anyway, I'm very impressed with anyone who has that kind of a career and that length. Yeah, I love these guest stars. So as he's leaving, Sophia comes running out of her bedroom, which was in the previous scene, the bathroom. But I digress. Yes. And she's like basically chasing him out the door because she can't believe that Rose and Dorothy would allow a plumber to just leave. Exactly. But I do love this joke that Dorothy has. Sophia says, was that a plumber? Dorothy says, no, ma, no, it was a little girl selling Girl Scout toilets.

I just love the idea of a Girl Scout toilet. Well, I love the idea that now Rose and Dorothy are going to try to lift this toilet themselves. The way Betty White commits to the noises...

Nods inside. Ooga booga dooga booga dooga. Baby noises of a few episodes ago. Betty White really commits. Yep. She's just using those legs and they can't do it, folks. She won't budge. She won't budge. And then we see now Blanche is trying to come in with Richard and we hear her say, I'd love for you to meet my roommates. She opens the door as Rose is literally sitting down on the toilet in the middle of the living room and Blanche quickly closes the door. And I love moments like this because it feels like a play. Oh,

Oh, yeah. It feels like a farce. Well, this is why I said it was beautifully directed and also beautifully acted. It was reminiscent of the shrimp moment. Oh, totally. It was that same kind of turnaround that she does. And also just set up perfectly. You know, Rose is genuinely trying to think. She says, oh, come on, give me a minute. I'll think of something. So there's the course. There's many layers here. There's the hilarity of people thinking on the toilet. So she sits down on the toilet and then the door opening and the spinning around. I mean, it's

just perfectly timed. It's so perfectly timed and it really does feel like a play but it's also like so Richard comes in and sees that like you had a toilet delivered like what you know what I mean although in Blanche's mind she does not know what is going on here. She's not really privy to this. She's got her own bathroom in her room. She does not care about the the

moving toilet down the hall. Correct, correct. And she's looking fetching here in head-to-toe yellow. We've seen this outfit before. And the yellow bag, too. Yes, yes. And, like, it's a bright yellow. It looks, it's a very, like, Miami in the 80s outfit. It looks amazing on her. Yes, yes. So she comes in and she's, you know, she's not upset at all. She's like, forget it, forget it. I have some very important news to tell you. She shows them this big honking ring he proposed.

Once again, everyone is so happy for her. Suddenly, we're only like 12 weeks into them living together. Rose is no longer concerned about the living situation. No one is mentioning it. I have it here. No one is mentioning it. I know. But, you know, she's just saying that, like, he proposed and she said yes, and everyone's really happy for her, but then she drops the bomb. She can't marry him. Yeah. Dorothy says, why can't you marry him? And this is what I have written here. This is what the line should be. Because we're roommates. I love our new life. And what would happen to you? Yeah.

But instead, she says, well, if you remember, but you know, she says, well, you remember I told you Richard wanted to introduce me to his family. I thought it would be his little old gray haired mama and his spinster aunt. Turns out he has two kids. Well, Blanche, we've all got kids, but these are seven and nine. Raise my family. I don't have the energy to go through that again.

Blanche. How could you accept his proposal? Because it was the moment I'd been dreaming about and everything was just so perfect and only now I have to tell him no. But how can I say no to the man I love? I can't even say no to the man I like. How is she just finding out he has two small children and what happened

What happened to the kid's mother? Same question. Was he married? Is he divorced? Is the mother dead? No, she has to be dead. How old was the mother? Were the kids adopted? I need answers, Richard. I know, because her big issue is that she doesn't want to be a mother again. Right. To which everyone should be saying, well, you're not going to have to because the mother of these children who clearly never has to work again. Right. Because she either, we're hoping, divorced Richard will be raising the children. Like, I had the same thought. She must have died.

I'm guessing she died. Yeah, I'm guessing she died. And I also think I wouldn't just assume she was a much younger woman. If Blanche is around, what, 50, early 50s. Yeah. You know, like you can still have kids. Sure. You know, in your 50s, actually. And you can still have them in your 40s. I'm guessing, taking one look at Richard and his private jet, that she was 22. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Maybe she ran off to New York to be a rock cat like Blanche. If that is the case, we'll never know. We'll never know. We're speculating. But I mean, I have even more respect that he's marrying someone closer to his age. Well, now I'm really curious because she either died or she abandoned the children. So like if she abandoned the children, now Blanche really has to be a mommy. And then I guess I watch too many crime shows because I'm like, he murdered her. I'm convinced that Richard is a murderer and he murdered his wife.

Flew her to the Bahamas where he buried her at the beach. She was cheating on him with the exercise instructor. Totally.

He clearly murdered her. He threw her off the private jet. He had Princess Di on board. She opened the hatch. She knows how to open a hatch. I do have those questions. Maybe the cheesecakes feel differently, but if this were me and we have gotten to the point intimately where it's appropriate to be proposed to, the fact that you're choosing the proposal date to inform me that you have two children under the age of 10...

- I'm gonna say as a deal breaker, it's certainly a pause. Like, I'm gonna need some time, Richie, to get back to you on the fact that you've ostensibly been lying to me by omission. - Yeah, back to the world of the episode as we know it, not the Dateline version that we've invented.

You know, Blanche just doesn't want to be a mom again. They all go into the kitchen and they're trying to suss this out because Blanche has said yes. Because she says everything went exactly as she always dreamed. Excited in the moment. Yeah. But now she's like, I don't want to be a mom. And now like Dorothy and Rose are kind of going back and forth over like the pros and cons of being a mom again, which is really the main issue here. And completely understandable. Yes. Yes.

Absolutely. And it's like Dorothy and Blanche are me. Like, they're like, we should be grandparents now. Like, we shouldn't be, you know, like raising children. But Rose is like ducking the nostalgia of being a parent. To which I said, Rose strikes me as one of those people for whom parenthood was the fulfilling thing. You know what I mean? And it's a thing that she was sad about

ended and wishes that she could like do again. Yeah. And it's just from a technical point of view, too. You and I have waxed poetic a couple of times on here of how we didn't really realize in real time how much they were making Rose the very genuine voice. Yeah.

of apple pie. Yes. And, you know, and wholesome traditional values. And so then this is another just thing to push the story along. A hundred percent. Right. And they're kind of just going back and forth and they end in this really great place where it's Rose who says to Blanche, like, girl, give it a try for a weekend. Like, you don't know, maybe you'll love it. Maybe you'll love the kids. Maybe there's 500 nannies and you won't have to actually do anything. Good suggestion.

You know, and Blanche is kind of like, huh, I hadn't really thought of that. Yeah, exactly. I guess that is what I will do. And for the cheesecakes here, a lot of them have posted on the Facebook group about cars that they've bought and looking for names from the universe of the Golden Girls. And so just before this, in her monologue about the good old days, Rose has talked about her cat named Mr. McTavish. So just file that away.

For any of you who need to name your car, that's a possibility. Mr. McTavish. We're going to get 10 of those now. That's great. I love that. I also made a note here that during Rose's monologue, Blanche is actually eating the salad that she's taken out of the fridge. Well, and I have to say here, I made a note like she's eaten what appears to be the group salad. She doesn't pour it in a narcissistic Blanche. And also the narcissism does as they're debating back and forth. She says, girls, I thought we came in here to discuss my problem. Wow.

While she's chowing on the cantaloupe that looks like it's for everyone. It's just for her. I love that she was eating the caviar with her hands. I just, I can't get over it. I love it so much. And so we get this great end to this scene where Sophia, when she chased the plumber out, hadn't seen the toilet sitting in the living room. So now she comes in to apologize to Dorothy. Dorothy, I gotta talk to you. I owe you a big apology. For what, ma? For what I said before, you know, about you not knowing a thing about plumbing.

Dorothy, you're a genius. Ma, wait a minute. What are you talking about? I walk into the living room and there's a toilet in front of the television set. It's an old lady's dream come true. And she kills the audience. It's probably the biggest laugh of the episode. It

It's an old lady's dream come true. In front of the television set, essentially. Can you imagine? I think about this with incarcerated people, too. Just pooping in front of other people, I just can't imagine it. It's not my thing. No. But I'm sure there's a market up.

there like sophia just doesn't care that she's gonna be like on the toilet in front of the tv doing her business no matter who's watching hey she's got her programs she's got her pornography i was gonna say we know she loves watching porn so hey sophia you do you girl so the next day we're still at it yeah uh trying to fix this toilet and i was saying that like the bathroom looks like what it would look like if i was trying to fix the toilet which is like the wall is blown out there's

Tile and plaster everywhere. Dorothy's got her hand up the wall. Yeah. And there's no explanation of how they did, in fact, move the toilet into the bathroom. That's true. Or, like, I want to see Rose with one of those HGTV mallets where she's breaking down the wall. You know, totally. Because it's true. Rose is at the sink working.

with the manual and Dorothy's doing all the work. Yes, exactly. So like she's got her hand up the wall and Rose misreads something and slime on your elbow or whatever. Scum. Yeah, Dorothy rips her arm out of the wall and finally Dorothy is starting to be like, what are we doing? We're never going to do this. Like we got to

figure something out because this is not happening. So Rose turns the cold water spigot on the sink and the shower comes on and it won't turn off. And I just wrote, this is noises off level farce. And I just love it. Give me a shower that turns on for no reason. To shower too, that's not a traditional shower where you're looking into the shower head. It's a shower head like in the middle of this bathtub. I'm trying to imagine any of them taking a shower in there.

There's no shower curtain. It also doesn't make sense with those hairdos because, you know, they must have a lot of shower caps because as a woman, I know, like they're not getting that hair wet every shower. No way. That is a set right there. Yeah.

Oh, my. No. You know, they're like, oh, my God, Rose, turn it off. I can't make it stop. And just then, plumber number two, Lou, comes in. Yeah, he goes right over to the wall where Dorothy was, reaches inside, turns off the water, but it looks like it hurts. Yeah. Like, he's got to turn it so tightly, it looks like it hurts his hand. That's right. Didn't see a lot of scum on his arm after, but... But Sophia had kept his card. He's back. He's basically just saying, like... Ladies, with all due respect, I think it's time you threw in the dish towel. I mean, trying to fix it yourself was...

Once again, they come out of the room that is formerly we know as Sophia's bedroom. Ha ha ha!

Drags him to the door. And he says it's fine with him. The longer I let you do it yourself, the more I'm going to get paid when you finally call. And we get another moment where Dorothy gets to slam the door in his face. He says, you haven't seen the last of me. And you want to know why? Because as we say in the plumbing game, it's never slam. Great callback. So Blanche enters drinking the petites little ice. It's the petites most feminine iced tea I've ever seen.

She explains that she was in Bermuda with Richard's kids. And we start to see the real problem here. Yes. The real problem is that Richard is just busy. Like they were in Bermuda just for the day, which I think is hilarious. Yes. But like she and she doesn't say she got stuck with the kids, but she was kind of with the kids all day when it was supposed to be her and Richard and the kids. Right. Because he had a last minute meeting. Right. And this is the third time in the last couple of days that this has happened. And she's been with the kids all by herself. Well, I hardly ever see Richard.

Little Richard was in Bermuda?

And Dorothy says, yes, Rosie was burying Fats Domino in the sand. Now I've got a little ditty on Little Richard and you've got one on Fats Domino. I do. I told Patrick this morning. So that's great. You want me to do mine first? You do yours first. Well, here's the thing. Little Richard in my brain was always like a queer icon. Yeah. But I never knew anything

about him. So I was really excited to do this little dive on Little Richard. And I got to tell you, I like learned a lot. Yeah. Like Little Richard was a true pioneer and icon, but he really, really struggled. So Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Pennyman in Macon, Georgia on December 5th, 1932. In childhood, he was named Lil Richard by his family because of his small skinny frame.

From a very early age, Richard struggled with his sexuality. He said his father brutally punished him whenever he caught him wearing his mother's makeup and clothing. And because of his effeminate mannerisms, his father kicked him out of their family home when he was 15. In 1985 on the South Bank show, Richard explained, quote, my daddy put me out of the house. He said he wanted seven boys and I spoiled it because I was gay.

Hmm.

But then...

Then, in 1962, he was persuaded to come back to music to tour Europe, where the Beatles opened for him on several tour dates. Wow. And the Beatles would go on to describe him as a major influence, and they covered a lot of his music. Throughout his career going forward...

He's described as, quote, the architect of rock and roll. The Beatles would describe him as a great inspiration. They would go on to cover a number of his songs. He's cited as one of the first crossover black artists reaching audiences of all races. His music and concerts are described as breaking the color line by drawing black and white people together, despite attempts to sustain segregation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986.

He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, to name just a very few of his accolades. But his sexuality was always a struggle for him. In 1982, he went on David Letterman and claimed that God had cured him of his homosexuality. Then in 1995, he told Penthouse that he always knew he was gay, saying, quote,

all my life. Then in 2017, he once again denounced gay and trans people in an interview with the Christian Three Angels Broadcasting Network. So it was a mess. Like his sexuality was like kind of plagued him all of his life. Then he died in 2020. But I was really glad to learn that

what a true pioneer and legend he was. Because he, like, in pop culture, he's always kind of a joke. I had learned a lot of what you talked about. It does make me sad that he couldn't reconcile his self-love with his religion and his religious beliefs because clearly they were in conflict. So much of it comes from the way that, like, he was treated by his father. Yeah.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's difficult. It's very sad. Very sad. But, you know, good on you, Little Richard. You did so much pioneer amazing. Well, again, I have a little like a mini deep dive on Fats Domino, but there's a lot of parallels between. Yeah. He was born Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. on February 26, 1928. He was, as we know, an American singer, songwriter and pianist and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. He was shy and modest by nature, which I love.

But he made a significant contribution to this genre. And Elvis Presley declared that Fat Stomino was a huge influence on him when he started out. And when they first met in 1959, Elvis described him as, quote, the real king of rock and roll. Wow. End quote. Isn't that huge? That's amazing. And this is a parallel with what you were talking about. The Beatles were also heavily influenced by him. Wow. The Associated Press estimates that during his career, he sold more than $100,000.

10 million records. Whoa. He died on October 24th, 2017. That's something that's so recent. And that's when you said that Little Richard died in 2020. I mean, this was these were just five minutes ago. And it wasn't COVID, I should say. Yeah, that was my first thought. Yeah. It was related to bone cancer. Oh, how awful. Horrible. What a horrible way to die. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you to both of them. Yeah. Just their incredible artistry. So next

scene we're back on the private jet now blanche who in the first private jet scene looked like awestruck and she was so excited eating caviar with her fingers yes she now looks sad and angry because we see richard on the phone once again his back to her and he's just like business talking yeah yeah and i will say this is as far as what she's wearing yeah i just thought she looked beautiful i have this like like that harlequin pattern on the dress right yeah right and because you i had

this later, but I'm going to put it here because you mentioned it. I think she decides here with him on the phone. You can see a look on her face because if you recall what she said to the girls, she said, I'm going to ask him straight out at dinner tonight. I just hope he has the answer I want to hear. Yes. And she says to him here, I'm

She says, Richard, there's something I have to ask you. But if you notice, she doesn't ask. Right. She informs him. And so, like I said, it looked to me that she made the decision on the phone. Yeah. Well, he's on the phone because, you know, she's understanding that this is what their marriage is always going to be. He's always going to be on the phone doing business. And that like she'd made the point elsewhere that it's not that she thinks he doesn't love her, but she does think that he is saying that these kids need a mother. And that might be really why he's marrying.

her. Yeah. And also I just said to myself, I was like, this is the layering that actress Rue McClanahan wanted for her character in action. Right. And it just shows that Blanche is not so shallow after all. Yes. And that's right. Because, you know, you might think that Blanche would do the mothering, maybe be a shitty mom. Because she has a big rock on her finger. Exactly. If she's going to have all the money in the world and the private jets and she doesn't care, you know. And that she would take that responsibility seriously. Yes. Yes. Right. So when she finally gets him to stop talking about the business,

and the honeymoon and all of this. She tells him there's a problem. And I love the way the actor responds because he has a glass of champagne and he says, there's a problem. Let's look at it. And he really does it like a businessman. He puts the champagne down. He turns his seat into her and like he's handling it like a man who runs companies.

And let it be a lesson to all of us, too, about how to regulate your emotions in a relationship. Yes. That there's no sort of insecure attachment style. Like, you know, there's no sort of like, oh, God, oh, God, what is she going to say? Yeah. It's like uncomfortable conversations have to happen in relationships in order to be healthy. I think he's right.

he thinks he knows he's good at resolving problems. That's why he's been successful. So he wants this woman. He's going to have her no matter what. He's going to be able to solve whatever problems she has so he can get what he wants. I love that you pointed that out because I thought it and didn't make a note. And 10 points for Gryffindor because I'm glad you brought that up. And he's great. Academy Award nominee. Or sorry, you're Hufflepuff. 10 points for Hufflepuff. But she says... I'm third in your life.

Richard, you know your work comes first, then the children, then me. And that kind of marriage just can't work. At least it can't for me. Blanche, I can be there for all of you. I know I can do this, too. Richard, nobody can do it all. Now, as well as I get along with those kids, they need you. They're growing up without you, Richard, and it's hurting them.

Right now, the most important thing should be the children, not getting married. And she's going to walk away from the billions of dollars in the private jet because she wants to be with a man who's going to make her a priority. And I don't think that Blanche is saying, I want to come before your kids. No, she's not. She's saying, I know your kids have to come before me, but the work comes before all of us. That's right. And as you say, she's going to exit through a tiny,

We need a little dollar. Yeah, because she breaks off the engagement and she turns to leave. She has forgotten that she's on a plane. Exactly. And it's so funny because, you know. Sweet. Yeah. And she turns back around and I just kept thinking like, of course, the scene is going to end here. Yeah. But what was the rest of that plane ride like? Like, where were they going? Well, this is one thing I love, too. I'll make a note now here that both of them, the way that

when she turns around and their body language and their faces. It really is two grownups breaking up. Yes. And that's one thing I love. There's no drama. He's not opening the hatch of the plane to kill wife number two. No, exactly. Exactly.

But it's funny because it's like he does seem significantly older than her. Right. You know what? I have that here. He appears retirement age. And even if he isn't, he can afford not to work at this point. So she has a point. Yes. And her whole point in this monologue is go be with your kids. And I actually got emotional writing this down. Yeah. Because she was saying your kids are growing up without you. They need you. You know, my daughter's 10. His kids are 7 and 9. And I work a lot. And I feel a lot of guilt about that.

that. And, you know, she was saying, like, forget about me. Turn this plane around and call your kids and tell them they're going to spend their night with their daddy. And I got, like, really emotional about that. Because it's like, you know, whatever happened to their mother, like, that would mean a lot to the kids. Let me tell you something, Patrick. True Crime Obsess and Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast need you, so don't even think about turning this plane around. Listen, my work comes first, then my children. Your work comes first, mister!

No, but it is. It's like you're saying, because she isn't fully breaking it off. She gives him the ring back. Yeah. And she says, like, go focus on other things that should be priorities and let me know down the road if you still want to get married. And this is so the show can happen. Yes. Because obviously we're not going to take the roommate away. We still have six seasons to go. I had the thought, based on how much wealth he has, that he could have solved the problem by saying, you know what?

you're right. I love you and I love my children and I'll stop working or, you know what I mean? The thing about that though, he's the kind of person that if he stopped working, like he's a much older man. And I think if he stopped working, his age would show instantly. I think if he stays young and virile, not for his woman, not for his children, it's because he really, his work is his love. Yeah. And that's his passion. And I know what that's like. My work is one of my spouses. Yes. You know what I mean? Same. I mean, truly, truly. So we're back

in the bathroom with Rose and Dorothy everything is fixed it's the final scene and it's the big moment in Toilet Gate Dorothy do you want to do the honors maybe later in private

No, I mean fasten the floor, Flange. That's all we have left to do. No, honey, you go ahead. Later, I'll break a bottle of champagne over the flush valve. Why do we have to think about Dot pooping? Like, that's all I can... As soon as she says that, all I can think about is Dorothy pooping. I know, I know. So Blanche enters, and we get the sense that some time has passed because she's been depressed and they've been worried about her, but she's feeling better. Yeah. And she's proud of them, and they're proud of her. She's taken to her bed for a few days. Yes. Yeah.

Well, I guess you can cry just so long and eat just so much. Then you have to pull yourself together and get on with your life. Besides, there'll be other Richards. Of course, they won't be as charming or as handsome or as rich.

Sophia enters. And, you know, like, everybody wants Sophia to be really impressed by how Dorothy and Rose really made the bathroom happen. That's right. Sophia's like, it looks like a bathroom. Like, it's not that big a deal. Yeah, I have here in parentheses, she's so bitchy. This whole episode, just bitchy. Sophia!

Sophia, look! Isn't it wonderful? What do you think? Looks like a bathroom. A bathroom that works, and you were so sure that we couldn't do it ourselves. Watch, girls, come on. One, two, three. Oh!

Knock it off. It's water, not oil. Help me out here. You saw all three work because all I saw was Dorothy turn the knob. Yeah, because Dorothy is stealing all the focus in this scene. Oh, okay, okay. It's another time in the episode where she's really proud of herself. So, so,

So Sophia says, knock it off. It's water, not oil. To which I was like, all right, that's the final line. It's very funny. But I was like, my God, no wonder Dorothy turned out the way that she did. Like anything to get her mother's approval. Anything. She was so constipated. That's just my take on it. Yes. I'm speculating like Richard's first dead wife, but I suspect Sophia's constipated. Yes. Cheesecakes don't go anywhere when we come back from our break. Jen's going to do a deep dive on all in the family. Speaking of toilets. Sorry.

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All right, Cheesecakes. I am very, very excited for this one. So you're going to tell us all about All in the Family. Yes. And of course, the reason why we're doing this is because our Queen Bee got her major big breakout in Maud from being a guest star on this show. Yeah. And like, this is one of those shows that I've never really watched except for when I was working on my deep dive on the Maud abortion episodes. Yeah. So I'm very excited. All right. Well, here's a little taste anyway. And we should

Tell the cheesecakes that like it's way too comprehensive to do like a comprehensive. You're picking the things that you think are important that you think are fun to talk about. Yes. In general, you should know that about our show. It's like. How could we possibly? I mean, we can't do everything. But we know. But we know. We know. We know. So this is All in the Family. It was an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons from 71 to 79. Nine? That seems like a long time for Back to Home. It was a long time. Yeah. Yeah.

It was produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin. It starred Carol O'Connor, Gene Stapleton, Sally Struthers, and Rob Reiner. So I know you just said you don't know a whole lot about it. So here's the synopsis. The only thing I know is Sally Struthers from those like sad animal commercials. Oh, gosh, sure. I gotcha. And that she's a regular at the Agunquit Playhouse now in Maine. Is that right? Yeah, every summer. What is she, like Mame or whatever? You know what I mean.

You name it. It's a different show every season. All in the family focused on young liberal newlyweds, the Stivics, under the same Queens, New York roof as her parents, the bride's parents, notably her conservative and bigoted father, Archie.

Archie Bunker. The word bigoted, it really is like it's such a mean sounding word. Yeah. You know, it's exactly right for what it means. Well, also, OK, now you're going to. Oh, what did I? No, I just again, I'm going to give credit to Jillian, but pull over. It's like, listen, if you're a bigot and or you're racist, if you are, in fact, those things, I'm going to call you those things. Yes.

But a racist and bigot, they hate being called what they are. Of course. Because they don't think they're that. Well, sorry. Guess what? Guess what? You don't get to decide. I said what I said. Yeah, I said what I said. All right. So anyway, it focused on this average working class white guy. He was a dock worker. He lived in an average row house in an average neighborhood in Queens with his dutiful homemaker wife, Edith. Yeah. It was a groundbreaking show, primarily because

Norman Lear saw the disconnect between real life and the stories on television. Think about it. Think about those 1950s, 60s sitcoms that were all about... Well, that's why Roseanne connected. Right. Remember? Like in the first incarnation, same thing. That's right. And you have this idealized version of the world and you have, you know, what it's really like. Yeah. And so what's great about it too is...

part of it, you think watching those shows, as great as they were, well, something's wrong with me because this is not what my family's like, or this is not what I'm hearing, or this is not what I'm experiencing. So psychologically, I think it did wonders to move the ball forward that why people go to therapy now, all that stuff that, you know. And why it was so popular because people saw their own lives reflected and they are drawn to watching shows about that. Exactly. Exactly.

So networks at the time claimed that they wanted, quote, relevant shows. But an age-old problem, advertisers disagreed. You know, we heard that with Benson. Like anything that's going to move the football further down the field, if it's the first time you're doing it, people are scared. Yeah. And people are freaking out because it's going to cause controversy because you can't, what, please everybody. Right. ABC declined to pick up the series. And CBS finally, they did the brave thing and they decided to take a shot on this show, All in the Family. Right.

But they did it sort of with a caveat. When the show debuted, the very first episode, they issued a disclaimer, a warning. They put on the screen, the program you're about to see is all in the family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are. That's wild.

Yeah. Oh, my God. So they put a primer coat on, you know, just to soften the blow, I guess. To let you know, like... You haven't seen anything like this before. Yeah, yeah. So at first, the show did not attract a large audience, in part because the network did little to publicize the new series. Because, you know, you'd be like, we're just going to slip this in here. We're just going to see... See if anybody notices. And if they don't...

If they don't, hey, we didn't know. We had the whole disclaimer. We had the whole disclaimer. We didn't really know it was going to be like that. Totally. You know, and if they were a hit, they're like, oh, yeah, we do it all the time. Aren't we great? We're the brave ones that picked it up. Exactly. Also, the critics were split, you know, which you could also see because they haven't seen anything like this before. And some, I think, got it and some didn't.

Anyway, the show slowly gained momentum. But I'm going to say not too slowly because they got a big boost right after the first year winning an Emmy for Best Comedy, Best New Series, a Best Comedy Actress Award for Jean Stapleton. Wow. This is like your friend Tina Fey. This is what happened with the rerun. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. So by late May 1971, the show reached number one in the Nielsen ratings. Wow. Isn't that great? Yeah. And by season two, it was a bonafide hit. Yeah. Season two. That's why we're here, kids. It contained classic episodes, one of which was featuring Sammy Davis Jr. playing himself, but it also introduced Edith's cousin,

Maude, our girl Beatrice Arthur, who was such a hit that it led to All in the Family's first of seven spinoff series. Seven! But Maude was the first one. Wow. Isn't that great? That's amazing. And I just have to throw, it was seven, but other notable spinoffs, in my opinion, The Jeffersons and Good Times. Yes! And I love, love that The Jeffersons and The Good Times, these are two African-American-centric shows coming out of this era.

controversial show where there's, you know, bigotry and racism and talking about it in your face. Yeah. You know, I didn't know those shows came from, you know, so also I think it's just really it's also showing why it's so important to do these. Right. You know, it's also just like creating opportunities. Correct. You know what I mean? And like a visionary like Norman Lear. Yeah. Someone's got to do it. Someone's got to be the first. Yeah. Yeah. But despite all of the show's success, as you might imagine, it faced constant pushback.

And CBS was constantly battling with the network censors. And eventually, I think from all the pressure, CBS bumped All in the Family from its normal spot because it didn't align with, quote, family hour values. Oh, interesting. So All in the Family, it had been top rated for four seasons in its Saturday night slot from 8 to 8.30. And it was moved to Mondays at 9. And so you wonder, well, what's this going to do for us? Right. It's funny because the Golden Girls was a Saturday night show hit, too. I can't.

Let's imagine that that's the way the world still works. No. A Saturday night TV show. You know what I mean? Because it's like, are people home on Saturday nights? Well, I think, too, they were nervous. They didn't say this here, but, you know, you're competing with Monday Night Football. Yeah. But it continued to do well. This is interesting, though, and you might imagine this is true. The series team, though, was demoralized by the notion that their successful show that they created was good.

quote, not suitable for family viewing. Sure. That's like taking the wind out of your sails, right? I mean, it's also bullshit, though. It is. If it's number one, then that is not true. Listen, I'm saying this to a gay father of a little girl. It's like, who are you to say what family hour values are? Exactly. How'd you go fuck yourself? Don't ask.

Sorry. No, please. All right. In fact, please go fuck yourself. Okay, great. Yeah. Despite all of that, the legacy of the show still prevails more than anything. And I agree with this so, so much. All in the Family got American families to talk. Yes. Because guess what? American families didn't really talk about these things. That's really true. Because the families are seeing themselves reflected. How many children of

people of Archie Bunker's age had that and to this day have that conservative homophobic slightly racist or racist you know father that you still love and you're trying to communicate with and you're trying to teach listen even though I am definitely more of the Mike Stivick point of view I know that

Not everyone has my point of view. Not everyone has Mike's point of view. And they see themselves in Archie. And therein lies the recognition of yourself, what you're seeing on television. It's interesting because we were just recording the Winifred Hervey deep dive that you did talking about this time of change. Like the character of Archie Bunker, what makes him so interesting is that he is this person with this belief system who's living in a time of change, surrounded by people who are swept up in that time of change. And he's the unmovable person.

rock, you know, and the joke is always on him, right? Like that's the other thing that makes it funny. And to your point, that is brought up a bunch about the opening number. Those were the days that he and Edith sing at the piano. Right. How they're longing for this time of yore. And I think I didn't throw it in there because, you know, I get a little personally tired of the whole MAGA message, MAGA message of, I just want to go back to, you know, the good old days. The good old days for who? You know what I mean? We know who you're talking about. Exactly. It's the good old days for Archie Bunker. Correct. Correct. Yeah.

So All in the Family won several primetime Emmy Awards. Are you ready for this? Yeah. Outstanding Comedy Series in 1971, 72, 73, and 78. Like, come on. Carol O'Connor won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series four times. Wow. Gene Stapleton, who played his wife Edith, Outstanding Lead Actress...

three times. Rob Reiner won for supporting actor in a comedy series and Sally Struthers won for supporting actress twice. Wow. That's pretty great. Yeah. But I do want to tell you this just to close this out is that of all of its groundbreaking acts, my favorite factoid of all is All in the Family is the first time American television audiences heard a toilet flush. And on that note, goodbye, turd cake, I mean, cheesecake. Yeah.

Thanks for the all in the family deep dive, girl. Listen, it was, let me tell you, it was short and sweet because it was either this or one thing leads to another rabbit hole and another rabbit hole and another rabbit hole. Well, and Cheesecakes, if there's something specific about all in the family that you want us to deep dive, let us know. We'll do it. For example, the mod abortion episodes, you know, I'm not doing mod. I'm just doing the abortion episodes, you know, like, I think that's interesting. All right. Yeah. Cheesecakes, if there's something, if there's more, if there's, if you have specific thoughts or whatever, like, let us know. What's the,

email address, girl? The email address is info at goldengirlsdeepdive.com. Yes. And there are, you know, maybe we could do a second deep dive on All in the Family. The truth is that there's stuff about Carol O'Connor and his contentious relationship with Norman Lear, you know, all this stuff. Oh, interesting. But you go down one

rabbit hole and it's another and another and I'm like, you know what? It is the Golden Girls podcast after. No, you nailed it. All right. Cheesecakes, join the Facebook group. It's the Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast Discussion Group. It's starting to roll off the tongue. It's starting to. It's starting to.

to get there. I'm starting to be able to say it without having to roll my eyes into the back of my head. Exactly. I think I'm still there. I'm still there. Just like Blanche on her martini sheets. Those eyes are rolled back every time I try to say that. Rolled all the way back. We love you, Cheesecakes. We love you, Cheesecakes. And I love you, Patrick. I love you, girl. Bye. Bye. Bye.

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