The Operation (Season 1, Episode 18)
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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. Girl, Rosetta Stone is a new sponsor this month. Let me tell you, Rosetta Stone is the most trusted language learning program available on desktop or as an app.

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which means medium rare. And my dad was like, good, Jennifer. I'm like, I know. I know. Look, I was a hotel concierge for 10 years. I was learning Spanish. My favorite part of Rosetta Stone was the speech recognition. So basically the true accent feature gives you feedback on your pronunciation. Mine was real bad. And the feedback on the pronunciation made me actually sound like not an idiot speaking Spanish. Like now you mean speaking English. You're making very good points. No. And like,

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lifetime membership for 50% off. Visit rosettastone.com slash golden girls. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com slash golden girls today. Do it, Cheezys. Bonjour. Hi, Jennifer Simard. Hi, Patrick Hines. Hi, Cheesecakes. How's everybody doing? How's everybody doing?

You know, we're at almost 3,000 people in the Facebook group. Isn't that wild? Not only wild, it's wonderful. It's wild and wonderful.

A WW situation. It's going so fast. We're at episode 18 already. Yeah. 3,000 people in the Facebook group. It's just growing, Jennifer Simard. Thank God they didn't end with one season. It's all Zyce got to say. The golden palace of it all. Oh, my goodness. Cheesecakes, if you want to join the Facebook group, it's the Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast Discussion Group. I strongly suggest you get in there. I'm in there all the time. Yeah. Jay Simard is in there all the time. Jay, you're the best.

Making friends. People are just, I don't know, people are sharing the stuff. They're finding each other. It's a great place to be. You reminded me, that was my nickname as a kid, JJ. JJ? Yeah, yeah. Really? I know, I liked it. In fact, when I became an actress when I was 12, I used to think if I become an actress, I was going to have a stage name. Uh-huh. It sounded like a porn star. What was it? Or a soccer player. You ready? Yeah. JJ Stryker. Yeah.

Striker? Where did Striker come from? Well, I liked the name Stryver, but then I thought, oh, that's striving. That's not something admirable. That's not being, that's striving. So I was like, what's Stryver? Striker. Oh my God. Do you know, I did the same thing. I had a stage name that I was going to be, and I even developed a signature. I would practice my signature in Spanish. Do you want to know what it was? What was it? Seth Parker. Seth Parker.

Seth Parker. I had a crush on a boy named Seth Doan, who was so cute. He became like a local weatherman. You can look him up. He's very cute. And my mom's maiden name is Parker. So I was going to be Seth Parker. It's a new sitcom on NBC starring Seth Parker and J.J. Stryker. Well, now, listen, cheesecake, someone hop on there. We don't get to it first. Let's do a poll. Yes. If you had a stage name, what would it be? Good one. Put it in the Facebook group. All right. So if you're new here, we do a recap.

of the episode of the Golden Girls with mini deep dives sprinkled throughout. And then at the end of the episode, one of us does a fully researched deep dive into something from the Golden Girls universe. Why don't you tell the Cheesecakes what our deep dive is today? Because you're doing it today. Yeah, today I'm doing the deep dive. I'm doing the deep dive on the Maude abortion episode.

episodes written by Susan Harris, who created the Golden Girls. It was a really obviously like groundbreaking thing for television, but it's one of the things before the Golden Girls that Bea Arthur was the most famous for. It was one of the reasons why they didn't want to give Bea Arthur that gig on the Golden Girls because her Q score, the thing like that rates your popularity among like television viewers was kind of low because of the abortion episodes. So there's a lot to unpack. I was very excited to learn about it. And I can't wait to share with the show.

And I'm glad it's today because of all the Golden Girls, I'd say she's the featured performer this week if there is one. Yes. You know what I mean? So, yeah, good timing. All right, girl, what are we talking about today? Today, as you said, we're up to episode 18 of season one, and this is entitled The Operation. It was written by Winifred Hervey, directed by Terry Hughes, and it aired on February 8th, 1987.

That's right. So before we jump in, you know, I always like to find at least one cultural event to talk about that happened the week the episode came out. So the week that this episode came out, February 8th, 1986, Whitney Houston's How Will I Know hit number five on the Billboard chart.

It had debuted at number 60 on December 7th. It was recorded for Whitney's debut self-titled album. It was the third single, and it would be Whitney Houston's second number one song. Now, did you know this? The song was originally written for Janet Jackson in 1984. I think I knew that at the time. I just almost...

Yeah. I can't hear her voice singing this. I mean, it's so iconic, Whitney's version. Right, I know. And I just remember it so well, too. Every girl at that age, myself included, wanted to sing it. Of course. But Janet's team passed on it for her. They felt that it was not a compatible fit with the material they already had in development for her. And this happened right at the time when Clive Davis was putting together the songs for Whitney's debut album. And he later said they had lots of R&B tunes and a few ballads, but they didn't have a pop crossover hit. Mm.

When they heard How Will I Know, he knew it was perfect. Now, interestingly, when the song hit number one on February 15th, it knocked out Whitney's cousin, Dionne Warwick. Her song was That's What Friends Are For, which we covered a couple weeks ago. Keeping it in the family. I still remember I had the single sheet music of How Will I Know. Really? Yeah, and it was very colorful. Now, gosh, I hope off the top of my head, but she was in a seated position, kind of like, like,

with her, like, arm around a knee and, you know, sort of like a thing tied up in her hair. Totally. That amazing Whitney Houston hair. And, like, that color scheme we keep talking about, like, you know, like peach and blue, turquoise, you know, that kind of stuff. I can see the album cover. I can see it, like, right now. Yeah, and also, let me just say this. Janet Jackson, incredible singer. Whitney Houston, incredible singer. But two very different sounds. Yes. You know what I mean? And Whitney, that's the first time we heard this really, like, raw,

Round sound. Oh, yeah. She just had such pipes. Mary J. Blige originally recorded Sia's Titanium, if you know that song, but it never got released and you can listen to it and it's beautiful, but it sounds nothing like Sia's Titanium. So it's like, isn't that wild how those songs, you know, how that happened? Equally great, but different, right? But different. Yeah. So to the episode proper. ♪

Here we are. We open on my favorite, Cinderblock Alley. Patrick, Cheesecakes, they just love Cinderblock Alley. I know. So much so that I timed it. We have a solo screenshot of Cinderblock Alley for 11 seconds. Oh, my God. Really? 11 is a long...

A long time. That's a lot of real estate in a 22-minute show. That's 11 seconds before a human being shows up. Yes, and what's wild about it, too, is that if you look at the actual house that this house is based on, Cinderblock Alley is real. So Rose is the first human that we see. She's followed by Blanche propping up Dorothy, who we presume has hurt herself, right? And Patrick, Dorothy's wearing a different yet same-ish purple shirt from the Star Trek collection. She bought the whole line.

Right? I gotta tell you, I have a note here that your costume deep dive really did me right. Good. All I could do was like look at their costumes as they're sort of walking into the living room because, you know, no one ever wears the same color in a scene. No. Rose is in red and pink, Blanche is in blue with like a matching blue shoulder bag. Dorothy is in her signature purple, but her outfit is kind of, it's a

beautiful sweater combo. It looks really good on her. She's wearing leg warmers. It's very cats. Well, they all are. We see when you finally see that when they go into the kitchen, I think. And Sophia's in yellow. And like I was staring at them because their outfits really do sort of match the furniture and like match the wallpaper. Like, yeah, it's

so well coordinated. Like, you would, I mean, how many times have we watched these episodes? I never thought about it. So Sophia's been knitting and she's immediately on her feet worried when she sees Dorothy hobbling in. Oh my God! What is it? What happened?

What happened? Nothing. Nothing, Ma. Don't worry. I'm just fine. Yeah, it's nothing serious, Sophia. Probably just a poor muscle. It happened in class when she tried to do a six-count Cincinnati riff with a double pullback. My favorite is the overreactions when Dorothy thinks there's something wrong with Sophia and when Sophia thinks there's something wrong with... It's as though they're dead. She thinks Dorothy's been shot. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Now, we find out...

She was not shot. She was injured in tap class. Yes. They bring her to the couch. So she's sitting down and Rose says it happened when she was trying to do a six count Cincinnati riff with a double pullback. It goes something like this. And then Rose demonstrates.

It's so good. It's really good. Do you know what isn't really good? What? The canned applause that happens right after. The canned applause happens throughout this episode. And it is so jarring to me because one of the great things I've loved in the first 17 episodes is they really let the audience laughter. Stan Zimmerman was telling us about like riding the applause. Yeah. Because we'll hear some over-the-top queen is the only one laughing, but they let us hear.

hear it. Yeah. Or everyone's laughing or the times that the jokes fall flat and nobody laughs. Like it's all part of the world of the show. So this canned applause that doesn't sound anything like any applause we've ever heard on the show. I wonder why they did that. It's so weird. Maybe they didn't get as much applause as they thought it would. They put it in post. Could be that or maybe they, who knows why they did it, but they do it a couple of times. I mean, that little slide forward she does, that was worth a standing out. It's really true. I mean, these ladies can really dance.

So Sophia makes a joke about how Margaret Weinstein did the same thing when they changed her medication. And now we're just basically, we're learning that Rose and Sophia and Dorothy have like a recital performance coming up. And now they're afraid they're going to be one person short. So my point is just that Dorothy, Blanche and Rose are prepping for this dance recital. Does or does Rose not have Lady Macbeth to be performing very, very soon? Yeah.

I think that Rose is a little overextended. You know what? No, she can do drama, musical comedy. She can do it all. It's funny that The Golden Girls is not episodic because if it was, we'd be watching Rose in every episode trying so hard to memorize every line of Macbeth. And then like season one would end with Rose's amazing performance.

That's so funny. Throughout all of this, too, have you noticed, too, that Dorothy's really playing it down? Oh, yeah. Of course. Big time, right? She does not want any attention called to her injury. And speaking of attention, she tries to shift the attention by asking her mother what she's knitting. Yes, yes. And we find out that Sophia is knitting a bottle cover for the sherry. No, hang on a second. Yeah. A bottle?

Middle cover meaning, like, you know how, like, those of us who drink in public with dignity put it in a paper bag and go sit on a park bench and just hope that nobody notices? I know. Or we demurely pour it into our Dunkin' Donuts cup. You know what I mean? Like, there's a way to do it. Right. You're telling me that Sophia is knitting a thing to slip, like, a fifth of vodka into or whatever? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, because she wants to take it to the park. I know.

I know. Knitwear goes with her disguise. I love it. Well, tell us what's going on with Sophia. So she says, you know, it's a bottle cover for the sherry. And Dorothy asks, why do you need to cover it? She's like, not the sherry here in the house, the sherry I take to the park. You drink out of a paper bag in the park and suddenly everybody's your friend. Oh, Sophia, I don't think it's a good idea to drink in the park. Hey, I do it once a month with the girls from the Cloud Society. So we know now that Sophia watches porn. She drinks in public. Right.

And Patrick, I've done a little, a very mini deep dive on the origin of sherry. Oh. If you want to hear it. I thought you were going to do a mini deep dive on the origin of drinking in public. Next week, the origin of pornography. So the very first mention of sherry wine comes from the Greek geographer Strabo in the first century BC. Sounds handsome. In his book, Geography Volume 3. I think he did the audio book as well. He

He writes that the first vines were brought to the Jerez region by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC. Now, you might be wondering, what is the Jerez region? I was, I mean, I'm probably pronouncing it wrong. Is it Jerez? I don't know. I can think of nothing else until you give me the answer. Probably Jerez, but it's J-E-R-E-Z. It is part of the Sherry Triangle, which sounds like a mystery where boats and airplanes go down. But it is a region...

It's a region in the southern part of Spain. And Phoenicia, I'm glad I looked this up as a Catholic. You know, that's always like Phoenicians, the Thessalonians. They're all like, what, who? Anyway, Phoenicia is an ancient region along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean that corresponds to modern Lebanon, adjoining modern parts of Syria and Israel. And that's my deep dive on the origin of sherry.

Do you know what I took away from this deep dive? That since human beings came to be on this planet, we've been trying to find a way to get hammered. You know what I mean? From the minute we found grapes, we're like, how can we turn this into booze? Exactly. They're like, in 1100 years, there's going to be some guy named Christ.

And I need a drink. Yeah, and I need a goddamn cocktail. I need a cocktail. And that's all there is to it. But my thing, too, I just love that Sophia drinks in public because we learn that she's part of what she calls the Cloud Society. Blanche says, I can't do it justice, but the way Blanche says cloud. The Cloud Society? Yeah, we stake out a bench, knock a few Sherries back, and discuss what we think the clouds look like.

Clouds. Like she says it. Like cloud. The diphthongs alone. Totally. I know these are back to back. I got a deep dive on the cloud society too. Is that a real thing? Listen to this. Okay. Patrick, I looked it up. I did a goog as you would say. Yeah. There is something called the cloud appreciation society. And they say on their page, quote, if you like us believe that clouds are the most evocative and dynamic of nature's displays, you will be welcomed into the cloud appreciation society with open arms. Otherwise, you've come to the wrong place.

Furthermore, Patrick, they have a manifesto. They do? Here's the manifesto of the Cloud Appreciation Society. We believe that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them. We think that clouds are nature's poetry and the most egalitarian of her displays, since everyone can have a fantastic view of them. We pledge to fight blue sky thinking wherever we find it.

Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day. We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere's moods and can be read like those of a person's countenance. We believe that clouds are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save money on psychoanalysis bills. And so we say to all who listen, look up.

Marvel at the ephemeral beauty and always remember to live life with your head in the clouds. I mean, if this doesn't appeal to Sophia Petrillo, I don't know what does. You know what I mean? And that's the end of our episode, Cheesecakes. Thank you, Cheesecakes, for coming. It's too good. This is going to be a two-hour-long episode.

I hope your commute is long. You know what's wild about clouds? Clouds may save us all. The New York Times did a whole thing recently about how we could potentially solve global warming by brightening clouds to reflect more of the sunlight back into the heavens to take the heat off the planet and reflect it back up. Clouds, they need a raise. I know.

Clouds need their own union. They need a union. They need a union. They need to unionize. A raise. Four weeks of vacation a year. But this is where we learned that Sophia and her girlfriends go and sit on a park bench and get hammered and stare up at the clouds and see what they see. Yeah. And Sophia says, One afternoon, I thought I saw Pat Sajak riding side saddle on a dolphin. Now, I've got some bad news to break to you. I've got a Pat Sajak deep dive. Oh.

Cheesecakes. You've given us too much free reign. I don't even know. This is just a deep dive podcast. We're not even talking about the Golden Girls anymore. We're not there. We're on something completely different. I think we're on the love boat right now. Mine's a little quick, but I'm going to give you a callback at the end of this deep dive. So Pat Sajak, best known as the host of Wheel of Fortune from 1981 to 2024.

This very year he retired. He's now also a consultant for the show because, of course, he is. Yeah. He was nominated for the Daytime Emmy for his work on Wheel of Fortune 19 times, winning three times. Wow. In 2019, he was recognized by Guinness World Records for having the longest serving career as a game show host, surpassing that lazy bastard Bob Barker. Ha ha.

That's on the prices, right? Yes, exactly. Pat Sajak is the most well-known for hosting Wheel of Fortune, but did you know he was not the first host? Did you know that? I did, but I can't remember the first host. I could see his face, though. Wheel of Fortune premiered in 1975 and was hosted by Chuck Woolery from 1975 to... Chuck Woolery!

Woolery. He's the love connection guy. There you go. So he hosted from 1975 to 1981. It was Merv Griffin who asked Pat Sajak to take over the hosting gig in 1981. But the president of NBC rejected the hiring, claiming that Sajak was, quote, too local. But then Merv Griffin responded by putting a moratorium on new tapings until Sajak was hired. Oh, that's the way to have someone back you. Power move. Yeah. Power move. But getting back to the cloud zone,

global warming, not to be a major downer, but we all know Pat Sajak's a pretty big conservative. Sure. And his thoughts on global warming and climate change are banana pants. Okay. And if you want to read his tweets, just go Google the unhingery because it is wild. Well, you know what his nickname is? Pat Sajak. What? Fat paycheck. Ha!

Is that right? Pat's paycheck. Fat paycheck. His net worth is $75 million. Fat paycheck. Just retired this year. Just retired this year. So Blanche is going to retire to the kitchen because she needs something to eat. Okay. And she recommends the salad in the refrigerator for everybody, which I thought was a little bit of shade.

And I also feel like, has anyone ever been like, I'm starving. Let's go have a salad. Well, I think there's a reason because they have to wear those leotards and tights for the show coming up. They don't say it, but I think we need to infer it. I just have this note that I'm constantly craving chicken fingers. And if they're not on the menu, I'm not having lunch. You really are. You're a five-year-old. It's true. Mac and cheese, chicken fingers. And chicken fingers. Sophia says, no, she can't come. She's got to finish this knit one, purl two, to which Rose chimes in a five, six, seven, eight. And she falls.

She slaps her way into the kitchen. She like taps her way over to the kitchen door. Exactly. And we see at this point that they're all wearing their leg warmers, which I find adorable. Yes. So they go into the kitchen and Rose is lamenting about getting too excited about things. It's just that I've always dreamed about learning to tap dance. And I guess I get too gung ho about things. When I was a child, I used to get overexcited and pet the cat too hard.

Now, I love this continuity of character because we've talked about it and we talked about it with Stan Zimmerman that like in the beginning, episodes were written by various people. You wouldn't have necessarily seen episodes where like little character development, like for example, Blanche in one episode says she's never slept with a married man, but in another one talks about all the married men that she slept with. Right, right, right. But I love the continuity. Remember like Rose in the bowling? Yeah. Like Rose, she's a

psychopath about winning. Yeah. And I love that that is carried through to this episode. Oh, I do too. Yeah. So Dorothy is carrying a bowl of rolls back to the kitchen and she falls into the table in pain. Yeah. And they have her sit down and she's still in denial. She's like, nothing, nothing. I'm all right. I'm fine. Everyone's just saying like, we're tired of seeing you suffer. Like,

That's right. Something is wrong with you. You need to go to the doctor. Like, if you're in this much pain, we need to carry you down Cinderblock Alley. Like, you got to go get it checked out. Blanche says, you know, Dorothy, this could be more serious than you think. Now, why didn't you have a doctor look at that foot? Dot says, I already have. When? 1965. You don't want to miss the recital. It is fine. Oh, really? Let's see you do a Cincinnati time stamp. Fine. Mm-hmm.

and find and oh it just was very well timed it's funny because I was like these women really can dance there's a video that for some reason gets served to me on TikTok all the time of Betty White and BRH yeah I've seen it all the time it's the

Pre-Golden Girls days. Yeah. And they're on some TV show, like Dinah Shore is there. And they're doing, like, they get up and they do, like, a tap dance time step or whatever to 42nd Street. Like, they really can dance. Oh, yeah. So Dorothy finally agrees and she's grasping their hands. And I love, she says, I'll go, I'll go. For the sake of the act. Right.

Like we're in vaudeville. It's so fabulous. It's very good. It's very over the top. And we are going to learn that Dorothy has some trauma around why she hates going to the doctor. Legitimate trauma. Legitimate trauma that's real and like made me really sad. So we'll talk about that when we get there. We'll get there. Yes. But let's just finish out this scene where Blanche says, if you really want to do something for the sake of the act, have one of those two left feet made into a right one. The thing that's important here is not the line. It's Bea Arthur holding her fork like a ship. Yeah.

It's very funny. It's really good. Very good. I feel like Bea Arthur is one of those artists who is going to fight. She's going to use every tool at her disposal to drive a joke home. Because she also has that, like, remember the episode where she was washing dishes at the sink? How fun! She's got that same look on her face because she's smiling at Blanche's joke. Yeah, while she's killing her in her head. I know.

Now, Patrick, I want to know the very first things you wrote in this pair, because I'll tell you what I wrote. So for the next scene, you mean? Yeah, yeah. So I just wrote next scene, living room, Blanche and Rose. This is a classic scene. The first things I wrote were Betty White's legs. Oh!

In a good way or a bad way? In a good way. Betty White is smoking hot. There's no way around it. I mean, they both look great. Yeah. But I just was like, damn. I know. And she really looks like a dancer in this. She really does. They've got the carpet rolled up. Like, this is one of the scenes I conflate with other scenes because, you know, throughout this,

series. We have them like dancing at various times or whatever. This is the original. They've got the carpet rolled up. The floors look great. They're practicing their dance routine, right? They look so cute. Rose is wearing a cute little black tap skirt and a green paisley top. She looks sort of like a nurse straight out of South Pacific. Totally. And Blanche is wearing tap pants, a red shell, and she's covered in what looks like a man's shirt. Oh, yeah.

I believe that story. Can you imagine? Like, I love the idea of being an actor and getting one of those costumes and having the body confidence to just be like, I'm just going to put this on. Seriously. You know what I mean? I mean, there's... When I was, like, a kid doing, like, community theater or high school drama club, I'm like, oh, God, when are they going to find out that I'm a size 40-inch? Right. I mean, thought...

And TV puts on 10 pounds, so you do the math. Anyway, they look amazing. But they're doing their routine and they're sort of like, Rose does her little bit and then it's like Blanche and then Blanche does her little bit and then they're like Dorothy and Dorothy's obviously not there. Rose says, go Dorothy, go! Dorothy! Go Dorothy, go! Gosh, I didn't realize how long Dorothy's solo is. Dorothy!

I sure hope the doctor says she's going to be all right. And they realize how long Dorothy's solo really is. Yeah. It's all just like fun and hilarious. And they're like, you know, it's the kind of thing now where like you see them as quote older women, but we know that they aren't really, you know what I mean? Like they're energetic and they're like, they're fit. And they're like, this just seems like so much fun. So much fun. I have a question for you. I have a note to ask you. Sure. There's a lot of dancing in this episode. Yeah. And in a sitcom schedule for the week like this, like everything,

How is this built in? Do they hire a choreographer and then like Betty White and Ru have to go to like dance rehearsal on Tuesday or whatever? I can't answer for this specific situation, but I can answer with a modern version. And she's a friend of ours. You know, Sarah Jenkins-Bredis. Yes. So she has choreographed several episodes of Girls by Veva. Yes. And that's exactly what happens. They rehearse. Yeah. They have rehearsal time in a studio and

They learn the dance and then they go film. Yeah, exactly. Exactly what you think. And it must be fun. You know what I mean? Like, what a way to get to like flex all your muscles as an actor. And it's different. Yeah. You know, it's sort of like the on set, on location in the garage thing, you know, at Sunset Gower where, you know, we're like, that doesn't happen every day. Oh my God. Remember the scene of Rose running through the parking garage? Yeah.

And I learned I can take care of myself. So as we end this moment with Blanche and Rose doing their routine, we get the canned applause again. And it's so jarring every time. It's like so clearly not real. I know. Was it added later? Like, did they do those scenes not in front of the live studio audience? Like, I don't know. I don't know. But it's very weird. Well, Sophia's entered from the kitchen to witness the end of the dance and the canned laughter. Yeah.

I won't dance, don't ask me. Just as Dorothy enters in the front door with a cane. Yes. And everyone's asking if she's okay. Like, clearly there's something wrong. But like, Dorothy's immediately once again trying to downplay it. Yeah. You know, and she's like, it's not as bad as it looks. The doctor says I'm fine. I just have to take it easy for a few days. That's all. Now, Sophia knows that Dorothy's lying. Yeah. Do you love this? Because I loved it and I'm not a parent. It's funny because I was thinking like,

I don't know that I always know when Daisy's lying. She's only 10. I'm still getting to know the kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because Daisy is like a steel trap. Like she's very talkative when she wants to be, but if she doesn't want you to know something, like she won't tell you. There are days she'll come home from camp and I'm like, sweetie, how was camp? And she was like, I'm not saying. As though she murdered eight kids. Ha!

Do you know what I mean? I know, but, you know, it makes sense what you say. Like, she's 10, you know. Sophia's had half a century with Dorothy. And then some. And then some. A mother knows when her child is lying. It's like back radar. Now, what did the doctor really say? He said I have to have surgery. Surgery for what? For kicks, Rose. Now, I have a condition called Morton's neuroma.

Oh, I think I had that once. But how the heck did you ever catch it in your foot? She's got a thing called Morton's neuroma, which I looked it up. It's a condition that involves the thickening of the tissue around the nerves leading to your toes. And I was like, Dorothy doesn't need any more of this. No. You know what I mean? What did we say? I'm a theater actress. I think I'm getting Morton's neuroma for all the high heels. It's

True. I want, yeah, it's painful. It says it can cause a sharp burning pain in the ball of your foot. You may have singing burning or numbness in the affected toes. And like, yes, like it's corrected with surgery. Yeah. And Blanche makes a hilarious STD joke here. Ha ha.

Blanche. Blanche. Dirty. Dirty. So Dorothy explains it's going to be a small procedure. She'd just be in the hospital overnight. She's not going to do it. But what I love is that she says, so when are you going to have the surgery? Never. I'm like, she has control issues. Dot has control issues. Yeah. I mean, I can't decide if this is in character or out of character for Dorothy because Dorothy seems the kind of person that's like, I need surgery and I'm just going to face it head on and just go do it. Well, I like that

question and I have I think an answer for you at least in the writing of it yeah I love when they make their characters layered and they surprise us remember how Dorothy was afraid of the mouse so her performance here is kind of the same I said it's like a little kid that fear she's like oh really Rose what about blood what about death what about those nighties that don't close up in the back

You know, she's just very cute. And the point is, everyone is afraid of the hospital. And I made the note that like, especially as we age, I think that probably gets worse. Like they're not quite at the age yet. You know, the three younger ones where it's like, if I check into the hospital, am I ever coming out? Right. We do know that like in previous episodes, they are thinking about their mortality. They like hospitals are a scary place.

place even for overnight surgery or whatever yeah and i love that blanche is charged here with what is typically the dorothy speech yes you know she's the one talking rationally to the irrational person you know she's just saying like you got to take care of your health and maybe she's thinking like especially you really got to start like we're getting older you got to do it now but then i said sofia wastes no time using whatever emotional manipulation she has to to get dorothy to do it fine don't have the surgery let me suffer

Ma, it's my foot. Your foot? My heart? Do you have any idea how much a mother suffers when she sees her child in pain? Ma, Ma, don't do this. I'll tell you how much. Worse than the 23 hours of labor it took to bring you into this world. Worse than the burns I got working nights as a fry cook to help put you through college. Worse than the time... All right, all right, Ma.

Worse than the burns I got working nights as a fry cook to help put you through college. Worse than the, okay, fine, I'll go.

You win, you always win, but you don't play fair. And she says, that's why I always win. And we've seen that, Cheesecakes. Totally. Sophia does not give a shit. She's not trying to, you know what I mean? She's not trying to be anyone's best friend. She's just trying to get it done. That's right. Have you ever wanted to learn another language? Maybe it's something you've always wanted to do. Or maybe you're planning a trip abroad, but trying to memorize endless vocabulary words never works.

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So next scene, we're in Dorothy's hospital room and Dorothy is wearing that sexy pink nightgown. Well, it's like it's been sewn together. It's like combination of the frumptastic Betsy Ross, you know, bib front and the hobbled together pink satin arms. The arms with the shoulder pads. Yes.

And I was thinking, like, if you're going to the hospital for an overnight, you want to be comfy, Dot. Why are you wearing the one, like, sexy, uncomfy nightgown? You got the Betsy Ross one. You know the hospital's going to actually be cold. I know, but she might meet a doctor. You never know. Right, exactly. I also love, too, that the hospital room seems big enough for a dresser that Dorothy might have sold at the antique store she would have opened with Stan if they had kept that property from their honeymoon. Remember when we learned that Dorothy, all her life, every, the live long day, all she could

think about opening that antique store with Stan. Exactly. You know, Blanche was trying to say like, I don't know what you have been complaining about, Dorothy. I think this is a very good hospital and a perfectly lovely room. Isn't it a lovely room, Rose? Very lovely. I just keep wondering how many people have never left this room. Where are they, Rose? Hiding in the shower?

She means a lot of people have probably croaked in here. And also, just to say it out loud. I know. Right? It's just so innocent. You're like, God, Janet. I know. I know. But, you know, Sophia tells Dorothy to stop being such a baby. And she's telling the story about how, like, girl, I had my appendix out in Sicily where they didn't believe in anesthesia. And this is going to come back later. Yeah. Because Sophia says...

They had a nurse hold a pillow over your face so the other patients couldn't hear your screams. You had to pay extra for that. Just to have the pillow. Just to have the pillow. Oh my God. I have to tell you, I had my appendix taken out. Was it painful? Oh, sure. So I had surgery recently and I had it on my lower back, which meant my buttocks were exposed. Now, when I picked my surgeon, who I found like on the internet, I picked like the oldest, ugliest man I could find because I could handle him seeing my butt

all day long. I didn't realize there was going to be other doctors in the surgery room and the two doctors who came to introduce themselves to me beforehand were these young, sexy doctors and I was like, oh God, you poor people. Listen. What you're about to experience. Maybe they like your bottom. You don't know. But I gotta,

to tell you, like, at least nowadays, they give you, like, before they put you under, they give you a drug to, they literally say it's like giving you six margaritas all at once. And I was like, doctor, surgeries are great. Surgeries are a blast. You know, and very quick, because this is quick, since we're there. Yeah. I have a small deep dive on anesthesia and appendix removal. Oh, shit. All right. So in 1735, Dr. Claudius Amiens,

A-M-Y-A-N-D, Amiant, performed the world's first successful appendectomy at St. George's Hospital in London. An 11-year-old boy whose appendix had become perforated by a pin he had swallowed. What? Ew! Can you imagine? He swallowed a pin? He swallowed a pin and it perforated.

Oh, no. Oh, God. Anyway, the first successful operation to treat acute appendicitis was performed soon after in 1759 in Bordeaux. Okay. And finally, general anesthesia was not available until 1846. So these operations...

required many assistants to restrain patients during what were undoubtedly very painful procedures. To Sophia's point. Let me die. Just let me die. Oh, my God. Can you imagine? If I'm swallowing a pin...

You know what I mean? You can imagine they're putting a big stick in your mouth so you don't swallow your tongue. Totally. You know? And also just to scream, to bite down. Oh, my God. That was brutal, Samar. Brutal. There you go. Enjoy. So the nurse enters. She says visiting hours are over. Everyone jumps up to leave. Including Dot. Including Dot. And the nurse is like, girl, get back in bed. Visiting hours are over, ladies. Everybody will have to leave. Well, where do you think you're going? You said everybody. Get back in bed.

Now, I've got a deep dive on this nurse. I'm a little bit obsessed with her. So her name is Belita Moreno. Belita Moreno has a fascinating career. So she grew up outside of Dallas, Texas. She was a graduate of the esteemed theater department at Southern Methodist University, which I looked it up. Apparently, like, is SMU. Yeah, I had friends who went there. Yeah. OK, wonderful. Soon after moving to Los Angeles. Great. I'm going to go fuck myself now.

All right, go ahead. You know what? If you don't mind, I'm going to fuck myself. Soon after moving to L.A. in the late 70s, she met film director Robert Altman, who cast her in small roles in three of his films in the 70s. Okay. In 1982, Belita makes her Broadway debut in a play called The Wake of Jimmy Foster.

This was written by the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Beth Henley. She'd won the Pulitzer the year before for a play called Crimes of the Heart. The Wake of Jamie Foster had a really amazing cast, including Holly Hunter, Patricia Richardson, who would go on to become famous for playing Jill Taylor on Home Improvement in the 90s. And the great character actor, Stephen Tobolowsky, is that how you say his name? Sounds good. Best known as...

Ned Ryerson in Groundhog's Day. Oh, yeah. Remember him? He was the guy that was in everything. Despite this incredible cast, the show closed after only 24 performances, 12 previews, and 12 regular performances. I read the New York Times review, and it was bad, girl.

It was real bad. Basically, Holly Hunter is barely mentioned. Belita is only mentioned to describe her as a matronly woman. And the play was basically described as like a less good rewrite of Crimes of the Heart. But despite all of this, Beth Henley, the playwright, becomes obsessed with Belita and just starts writing roles for her in future plays, including the 1984 off-Broadway production of a play called The Mrs. Firecracker Contest and the 1987 production of The Lucky Spot.

Both of these productions were directed by the great character actress Stephen Tobolsky, which I just thought was pretty cool that they formed like a little company. I love that. I love that. Through the early 80s, Belita does bit parts in movies and TV shows, including this episode of The Golden Girls, which she shot in 1986. And her first big break in TV came later that same year when she landed the role of Lydia Markham, a newspaper reporter on Perfect Strangers. Oh, wow. I loved that show. I did too. I totally remember her on it. She was on 46 episodes between 1996 and 1992. I love

her. Then get this, we're not done. There's a 10 year period where she's like working sometimes, mostly raising her kids and like just kind of living her life. Then in 2002, she lands probably the most important role of her career, the role of Benny, George's mother on the George Lopez show. Oh,

Oh, yeah. She is in all 120 episodes. Get it, queen. Isn't that incredible? Yes, it is. And since then, she's, like, worked pretty steadily. I love that. What a cool career doing TV. What a great career. Film. See, you don't always have to be the household name to have an amazing career. And that's most people. Right. I tried to find, like, usually you can find an article that will give you one or two interesting facts. It really isn't, like, nobody's ever interviewed her. She's never been, like, the...

She's made a lot of money and she's had a really satisfying film career, really satisfying theater and TV career. That's awesome. And you know what? I love that you chose her to do because, and Cheesecakes, we have a lot of guest actors in this. Some weeks we don't. But this week we had four and there's so many interesting things that we were like, which actor do we want to highlight? But that's nothing against the priest. No. Nothing against the doctor who comes up next because it's one of the best.

performances ever. It's wonderful. He's so funny and cute. So funny. And of course, Bonnie, which breaks your heart, right? She's so damn good. Yes. So just credit to them. But I think that was a great choice. Thank you so much. All right. Moving on. All right. So the doctor has entered and Dorothy's face acting in this scene is so good. And

And he's so good. Hello, Mrs. Bornack. My name is Dr. Revell. Oh, hello. I'm here to tell you that Dr. Ashton won't be able to perform your surgery tomorrow. He's been subpoenaed in a malpractice suit. You are kidding. I'm afraid not. He's a damn fine doctor, too. I wish I were half the doctor he is. By the way, I'll be performing your surgery tomorrow.

By the way, I'm going to be doing your surgery tomorrow. So funny. She says, you know, very logically, couldn't the surgery wait until the other doctor gets back? But no, unfortunately, because he could be going away for three to five years, depending on the jury. Yeah, it could be hostile jury. You never know. Oh,

Oh, my God. And we learned that this, like, malpractice case is over a, quote, mix-up. And Dorothy screams. Yeah. Like, a mix-up? Yeah. What are you talking about? Like, all of her worst nightmare fears, worst case scenarios are coming true right now. Right. And he just, you know, gaslights her. Did I say mix-up? I didn't say that. And there's no one here to prove that I did. And he's, like, chuckling the whole time. Now he's trying to get her to sign paperwork that absolves the hospital in case of death. The unlikely event. And I love it. She's like...

I'm having a simple operation. How could I possibly die? Oh, it's possible. Believe me. Just ask Dr. Ashton. Listen, you know, I really don't think this operation is a good idea. Oh, Mrs. Bornack, relax. You have nothing to worry about. It's a simple surgical procedure. I'm sure everything will be fine. Here. I'll leave these forms so you can look them over, and I'll see you in the morning when I get back from court.

But wait a minute, wait a minute. I want to hear more about this mix-up. I don't know what you're talking about. Night. Believe me. He chuckles. And I was just thinking, like, when you're the actor auditioning for this, can't you see all the other actors doing it really seriously? And he's like, I'm just going to laugh.

And like that's the thing that stands out in the audition. That's my guess. Well, not only a laugh, but a very well executed one. Very, very, very funny. So he leaves the paperwork for her to sign or not, I guess, depending on what she wants. He leaves. Now, Dorothy has a moment to close her eyes to sort of process the information she's just been given. We see a man, a priest, enter the room. She doesn't know. Walks over to the bed and puts on his collar and then starts spraying her with holy water.

Yeah, he's anointing her. Because he's there to deliver the last rites. That's right. And it gets in her left eye. I know. Now, as a Catholic, you probably know what last rites are, right? Yeah, well, it's like what they give you right before you die. It's like the last prayers and ministration, you know, that they give, you know, before death. And, like, it's a case of, like, he's got the wrong room by a floor. He's looking for, like, 322. She's in 220. Whatever it is. Yeah.

But it made me think, like, again, all of her worst nightmare scenarios are coming true. And I wrote about this in my book that I used to be a very nervous flyer and I would always look for signs that this was the flight to not get on because I was going to die. You could find them anywhere, I'm sure. Yeah, exactly. So one time, I have two stories. One time I was supposed to meet a friend at O'Hare in Chicago on a connection because she was flying in randomly in the same time. Right. And my first flight was delayed.

And so I texted her like, sorry, can't meet you, running to my gate. And when I got to my seat on the airplane and I sat down to make sure that the text had gone through, I had mistyped it as running to my fate. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Well, that's really true. Yep. And then another time, Steve and I had to book like a semi-private. It was the only way we could get to where we were going. It was not as expensive as it sounds, but we had to book a semi-private flight to go see my mom because my mom was sick and it was the only way we could get to her. That's so funny. I had to buy a private jet. I had to buy it. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, it's not as expensive as it sounds. But now you have something to do with that jet hangar that you've always had on your private property area. I know, yeah. But the point is, when they called to confirm our reservation, literally the person's name was Heaven. We got a call from Heaven to confirm our flight reservation for the next day. Oh, and you lived to tell the tale? I barely lived to tell. In both instances, I was like, get me off this plane! And the thing I get from all of this is you question whether or not you're Rose Nyland. I know. Tell me.

Tell me another story, Patrick. Tell us another. Tell us another. I love it. I love it. And I love you. Yeah, and I love you. So Dorothy, like, you know, at the end of the scene with the priest, she like gets up, gets out of bed and runs out of the hospital. Yeah, grabs her coat. She's off. My note here is next scene, we're in Blanche's bedroom where she is just

sitting at her beauty table, luxuriating in her own beauty, femininity, and petite-ness. That's right. She's sitting at this table, spraying herself with perfume, which I imagine she's been doing for hours. Listen, I know there's a lot of anecdotes this episode. It's just us, kittens. We like it. But listen to this. I can't believe you said her petite-ness, because you know what came up today, Patrick? I had dental work as a kid. At 11 years old, I had to have sick

six teeth removed. And I told my best friend this, who I've known for 30 years. What in the goonies? She was like, I didn't know you had six teeth removed. I said, yeah. And it's a true story. And it only hit me after I told her. I said, yeah, they had to pull six teeth because my mouth was too petite. And I just started laughing. My mouth was too petite. I had too many teeth from a petite mouth.

So, yes, she's admiring her pettiness. And I got to say, as we get a wide shot, because we see Dorothy. Now, are we to assume that that back door in Blanche's room goes to the lanai? Yes, we are to assume that. Because she's got the best, quote, bedroom. So Dorothy is on the lanai. And as we get this wide shot so we can see Dorothy in the background, I noticed Blanche has really leaned into the Martinique aesthetic in her room. It's a lot.

The palm fronds. It looks good, but in the early episodes, it's just the bedspread and the wallpaper behind the bed. Now it's the drapes. Now it's everywhere. Her tampons are martini. You know? But she, if she's still having her cycle. I wasn't going to say. She probably is. She's so young. But her vagina is so petite. Their extra small tampons.

And by the way, she knows her atomizer, a very reasonable four sprays. Nothing crazy. I'm just like, Blanche, you must think. Nothing crazy. Because my other thing too is that like, I'm a very social person. So whenever I see these like four roommates doing their own thing and they're alone in their rooms, I'm like, that would be a night. If I'm their age and I'm living with you and Megan Hilty and Chris Sieber, which is what I imagine is going to happen. If any of you ever at like nine o'clock at night decide to go to your room and do your own thing, I'm coming with

you oh no we're breaking up you don't understand oh no no what was the evening that like blanche ended up retiring to her room to just spray herself with perfume for five hours listen i there's this great meme thing like those of you who have neurodivergence of any kind may understand this but it's like a neurodivergent when no one's around this is the best this is

♪ Being alone is the best ♪ - The first time Jillian and I ever traveled together, we went to a convention and it was like nine o'clock at night and Jillian was ready to go back to the hotel room and go to bed and I was like, "Well, aren't we going to dinner?" Like I didn't know what to do with myself. - Oh God. - I know. - I need lots of alone time. - Wait till you and me go on tour, girl.

Oh, God. You're going to have to make your boundaries real clear, girl. Oh, my God. Well, I'm always up for a good dinner. Yes, me too. But then bye. Okay, bye. So hilariously enough, she is, of course, spotted by Blanche. Darth? Yes, Blanche? Are you doing out there? Checking the sprinkler system.

Looks good. Good night. You get yourself in here. Get in here. Where in the world did you come from? The coffee shop at the bus station. I went there from the hospital to, you know, think things out. But this toothless old wino who claimed he was Elvis kept hounding me for bus fare to Graceland.

Just checking the sprinkler system. Looks good. Good night. But it's also like, another thing too is that like you see this person on the patio. Yeah. Like wouldn't you assume some crazed lunatic is trying to break into your house? Well, I think a crazed lunatic is because she's off her rocker here. She is off her rocker. So Rose comes running into Blanche's room delivering one of the most iconic lines from the entire series. She says, Blanche called the police. I just saw a big ugly man with a limp walk past my bedroom window.

He was wearing Dorothy's coat. But then again, it was dark and I tend to over-dramatize. And then she sees Dorothy sitting on the bed. But then again, it was dark and I tend to over-dramatize. I,

I just saw a big, ugly man. Oh, God. It's just genius. Rose asks, what are you doing home? Of course. And Blanche says, she explains, she snuck out of the hospital. She's too scared to have the operation. Yeah. And, you know, she just panicked, essentially. She's telling them she panicked. This is the second scene.

of everyone just saying to Dorothy, it's fine to be scared, but you just have to do it. Like, this could happen. Like, it happens to everybody. Right, right, right. But nothing happens. You're going to be fine. Then, of course, Rose has to be the downer and be like, except for that one summer I was a candy striper. Right. You wouldn't believe the things I saw. Lost patients, mixed up medication, botched operations. The same thing that just happened in the hospital. My only question is, who's letting Rose Nyland work in a hospital? Right.

You know what I mean? I know. But I mean, we just saw this in the hospital. The priest went to the wrong floor. The other doctor is a malpractice suit. So she's sort of confirming the worst fears, you know. But anyway, Dorothy says it's a great callback. She says, Rose, do a big ugly man with a limp of favor and shut up.

But now, of course, because we're in Blanche's room, Blanche enters the chat full narcissism, wants to make it about herself. And she's trying to equate Dorothy's fear of the hospital with her own personal fear of flying. And Dorothy cuts her off. She's like, girl, let me guess. One day. Don't tell me. Don't tell me. You met a handsome pilot. He invited you into the cockpit.

Of course you said yes, as you usually do in these stories. The two of you made passionate love, and now you cannot get enough of the friendly skies. No, that's not what happened at all.

But then how did you get over your fear? I never did, but thanks to Dorothy, I now have new hope. But it is funny that she knows her that well, because that sounds like an absolutely legitimate story. You can't tell me that Blanche has never had sex in a cockpit. It's called a cockpit. She's part of the Mile High Club. Totally. I love the idea that... Thrice over. How have I never been to a gay bar called The Cockpit? How have you never...

You should open a bar and call the cockpit. So right on cue, Sophia enters. And she's like, I thought you were here. What are you doing home? Dorothy's saying, I'm all better. But this is the...

This is the moment where we get the really sad story about why Dorothy is so... I have here, I think this is legit. It's legit. This is why she's so afraid of going to the hospital. And we learn that when Dorothy was a five-year-old kid, she had to have her tonsils taken out. And she was like essentially dropped off at the hospital, terrified. Her mom wasn't there because she had to be at Uncle Mario's funeral. Right. Which we get a great joke in this moment. I was in Cleveland at your Uncle Mario's funeral. Yeah, but Pop wasn't. Of course not. He hated your Uncle Mario. Yeah.

Everyone hated your Uncle Mario. That's how he died. 23 stab wounds during a block party and nobody saw a thing.

She says, Pop left a scared, sick five-year-old all alone in the hospital. Said he had to go to work. And this I will chime in on. Sophia says, he did have to go to work. How else could we have paid for the operation? And I have UGG so true. I know. I mean, this is the thing. A child doesn't understand these very grown-up problems. Of course. All they understand is, was my mommy or daddy present? Were they there? I mean... But this is health.

care in america folks sorry i mean it's just can i tell you like daisy last summer swallowed a quarter at camp and had to be rushed a lot no she was fine she didn't really she knew she swallowed the quarter and it didn't feel good we were very scared everyone was very scared that they could shift and it could block her windpipe we had to rush her to the hospital and she like had to have surgery she they put her under they intubated her like the whole deal and we were so ready for her to be at

Absolutely terrified. She couldn't get rid of me and Steve fast enough. She was so fascinated by the nurses and doctors. She's in the bed. They've got the IV in her arm. She's pushing us out the door to go to the waiting room so she can be alone with the doctors and nurses. Oh, yeah. You know, for most kids, the idea of being alone in a hospital, like going into surgery. Yeah. And I understand. Well, there's a big difference, sorry, too, between five and nine. Yes, definitely.

You know, I was nine when I had my appendectomy. Yeah. And I was so excited. Like it was cool to go to the hospital until it was painful. Yeah. You know, I know. And it's just like, you know, Dorothy says, like it was a trauma from her childhood that she's never over. And I don't think this born acts were big on talking about their feelings. No, they have to play cards to feel their feelings and discuss things. We know that. This is really true. Like trauma really can stick with you. She still has the phobia because of it. And so Sophia's had it. Well, it's about.

time you got over it. Blanche, get the keys to your car. We're taking Dorothy back to the hospital. Ma, I am not going. Okay, fine. So you don't want to go back to the hospital? No. You don't want the doctor to operate? No. Then it's settled. We'll do it here. Blanche, go boil some water and get me a pillow. Rose, sharpen my Ginsu knife.

Pick out a shoe you'd like to bite on. You're not serious. No, I'm just acting as stupid as you are. She tells Rose to sharpen her Ginsu knife. That's right, sharpen it. The look on Rose's face, like she really believes that A, Sophia has a Ginsu knife. Right, right. B, that she's going to cut Dorothy open right here on the bed. Right, and let's not forget Blanche boiling the water. I know.

You know? And Dorothy's like, you're not serious. And Sophie says, no, I'm just acting as stupid as you are. Yes. Which is a good psychology. Yeah. And Dorothy finally agrees. She's going to go back. She'll go, she'll go, she'll go. And this is very sweet. She says, you always win, don't you? Yeah. You're awfully good at this. I'm the best. Yes. So I thought that was so sweet. Pet imitations.

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So we're back in the hospital room. The nurse is back. Yep. Having a thriving theater career on the side.

I'm just thinking about this actress in the scene. I'm like, she's got people left and right writing plays for her in New York. Right. She's about to book Perfect Strangers if she hasn't already by the time she's shooting this. She's like, I hope you're enjoying your little gig at Golden Girls. I don't need this. I don't need to be the nurse. You're lucky I'm here. I gotta tell you, Bronson Pinchot, who plays Balki Bartokomos on Perfect Strangers, is give him a follow on Instagram. He's a fun follow. He makes videos every day. I love him. He's like funny,

He's wonderful. He still looks so handsome. Oh, I love that. All right. I also heard a story about him when he was doing Beverly Hills Cop. Yeah. He plays like a shopkeeper. So funny. They said Eddie Murphy told a story. He'd never seen this guy before. He shows up on set. Bronson Pinchot does one take and like had...

everybody in stitches just the absolute funniest like nailed it on the first take yeah I'm gonna do a Diddy and Bronson pin show Natalie add it to the list I'm doing pin show I once saw cousin Larry Mark Lynn Baker I once saw him on the subway and I like do you think that he would be excited if like 20 years later somebody's like I love perfect strangers I'm sure he would but

Like anything in life, it depends on the mood and like what the situation is, right? He was reading. He looked like he did not want to be disturbed. Well, yeah. So I hope you didn't disturb him or did you just saddle right up and kiss him on the neck? What did you do? Nope. I just stared at him awkwardly. Okay, great. Like everyone else does on the subway. Exactly. 100%. Good, good, good. All right. Dorothy is, you know, she's coming in on a wheelchair and the nurse says, oh, it looks like you have a new roommate. And this woman is named Bonnie. She introduces herself as Bonnie. And Dorothy is complaining about

everything dorothy is a real bummer i said bonnie has a certain santa claus quality to her does she not i mean i don't know what santa's you've been watching but i think she's less maybe mrs claus she just kind of keeps down the fort she's quiet she's here to be like the voice of wisdom you know what i mean i also love that earlier in the episode dorothy's hungry blanche suggested a salad bonnie is like probably 20 years older than dorothy standing at her bedside doing exercises

hoping it doesn't bother her. Exactly. And I guess I'm reacting to the fact that she's positive, but in a very calm way. You live your life, I'll live mine. Yes. And not absorbing any of that really hostile energy that's coming at her. You know what I mean? Like, she's just not letting it affect. She's observing, she's not absorbing it, which is great. If Dorothy Spornak, not Bea Arthur, but if Dorothy Spornak ever wrote a book, I want it to be called Hostile Energy. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like that describes her perfectly because she's fighting her own fear. She's like facing her fear. She's there to get the surgery, but she's not happy about it. So, you know, her and Bonnie start chatting. Here's one of the best jokes I have to say. Yeah. The whole thing. We start off right of the way. So she's exercising to your point. And she's like, I hope my exercising doesn't bother you. No, not at all. What is it? Some kind of therapy you have to do? No, I just like to stay healthy.

I have to break this to you, Bonnie. You're in a hospital. The exercises aren't working. Bonnie is not phased. No!

No. Not faced. No, exactly. But Bonnie is, you know, talking to Dorothy about how Dorothy clearly has surgery today. Bonnie's going to have surgery tomorrow. Right. And, you know. And she can't believe she's smiling about it. And Bonnie's just saying, like, it's not that I'm not scared. It's just that no one is really brave when they're facing surgery. That's right. She's just been through this before. That's right. You know, and Dorothy's like, wait, you're having, like, the same surgery twice. And we learn that Bonnie's having a mastectomy. She had a mastectomy three years ago. She's having another one now. And she's just saying to Dorothy, like, look,

I've gone through all the steps before. I have considered the alternatives, dealt with the reality. The last time, I think I started crying the moment the doctor told me and I didn't stop till they wheeled me off to surgery. And then later, I cried because there was so much pain, I didn't think it would ever go away. But it did. And it will again. You get through it.

Go on. And then she says, when it comes right down to it, what other choices did I have? It could have been a lot worse. I could have missed these last three years. Now, Bonnie faced down breast cancer, potentially terminal breast cancer.

breast cancer. Dorothy's got a bump on her ankle. Exactly. And to your point, she asked Dorothy, you all right? How do you feel? And Dorothy beautifully played. She says, like a fool, like a damn fool. And I have yet perspective. And she had tears in her eyes. Camera three. Did you get that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was really quite beautiful. I just wanted to go on record and say I really wanted to commend Bea Arthur for not hitting the second D in Damned.

Like a fool. Like a damn. Because at one point, Blanche will have the exact same line. Like a fool. Good point. Like a damned fool. I love that. And she hits the D real hard. Yeah. And we don't need it. We don't need a second D. We don't need it. Now, we're not going to do a full deep dive because like we said, we chose the nurse. But let me just say this actress, brilliant, Anne Haney. And go look at the scene from Mrs. Doubtfire. Oh, that's what I know her from. That's right. Where Robin Williams puts the meringue in his face. Yeah.

She's a social worker. She's wonderful. I always want to put an actress of that age in this time period in Cocoon. You know what I mean? Yeah, sure. I know, because that was the movie. God, I loved Cocoon. I know, I know. Next thing, we're back at home. Blanche is in the kitchen and something is wrong. Yes. Now, Rose comes in wearing a trench coat. Right. The trench coats are big in this episode. They are. Now, I have that Blanche is wearing like a teal version of Obi-Wan Kenobi's robe. Yeah.

Right. But really what it is, is they're covering up. They are underdressed for the next scene. Right. Exactly. So they're actually legitimately wearing their dancewear. Right. Underneath these coats. So there's a real reason for it, as well as it's actually appropriate because they are off to do the recital. Sure. And this is where we learn that Blanche really doesn't want to go. Blanche has stage fright. Performance anxiety. To which I say, how are you going to do Lady Macbeth, girl? It's the same thing. It's just like the bullfighting.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She wants to do it. And it's really great up until the moment. And it makes me wonder, is she really good in bed or does she get performance anxiety? Because, you know. Because she does say, I don't like to perform in front of groups that is. Yes, exactly.

So one-on-one sex for Blanche only. Yeah. And like, so Blanche now gives us her sob story where she basically says, what I didn't tell you, Rose, that when I was five, mama enrolled me in a tap dancing class. For six months, we practiced one hour a day, two days a week. And I was good. I was cute. I was good.

Real good. And then it finally came time for the night of the recital. There were 13 little girls up there with our Shirley Temple curls and our little starched white pinafores and our little Mary Jane shoes. Basically what happens is the recital starts and everything goes according to plan except that Blanche just freezes and then pisses herself. That's right, but she says, And one little girl wet her pants. That girl in the puddle was me.

That little girl in the puddle was me, you know? And then she's so unburdened. She's so relieved. And I love like for her unburdening, she's met with shark-eyed Rose. Because remember, Rose has to win. Rose has to win.

Hey, we've all got our sad stories. Look, Blanche, we've practiced for six weeks. We paid for our costumes. We told everybody we'd be there. Now you're not going to wimp out on me. You're going to go to that recital. And if you end up in a puddle tonight, well, you just better break into singing in the rain. You end up in a puddle tonight. Well, you just better break into singing in the rain. The audience goes nuts. Oh, yeah. It's Park Ranger Rose. We love Park Ranger Rose. I

I just have one quick story here because when Daisy was four, she took a dance class at Broadway Dance Center. Okay. And sometimes she really wanted to go and sometimes she really didn't want to go. And there were six other girls in the class and they were working on their little recital. They have a recital at the end of the year and it's like all of the classes. So like,

You know, it's a full day. And like you go and you watch the whole thing. You don't know when your kid's class is going to go. And we were really nervous. Like Daisy worked really hard. The teacher said that she was like really prepared. This was on a real legit stage in a real theater, like a union house. Like it was crazy. And Steve and I are so nervous. And Daisy and her little class comes out. The other six girls start dancing. Daisy walks to the foot of the stage and just starts doing this.

At the audience goes bananas. And all the little girls are doing their thing. Daisy gets one laugh. She doesn't stop. Daisy mugging to the audience just stood there the whole time making. Oh my God. That's funny. Is she a chip off the old block or what? I mean, a comedian. Just Fanny Bryce. Look at her. Oh my God. That's funny. Get it, Daisy. So next scene, we're back in the hospital room. Sophia is asleep in the chair next to Dorothy's bed. Dorothy startles her awake. What? What?

What are you doing here? You were operated on. You're my daughter. Where else would I be? How long have you been here? Since they took you to surgery. I haven't left the room, not for a newspaper, not for food, not for a cold drink. All day I've been right here. Ma, I love you. And we have a great reversal here because it's so sweet. It's so supportive. It's so loving. And Dorothy says, oh, Ma, I love you. Could you fluff up my pillow a little, please? What, I look like an orderly?

Push the button. Wake up a nurse. I'm just here for moral support. When she says moral support, Dorothy leans over to Bonnie's bed. She goes, I already got that from my room...

she's gone. And I never thanked her. And I just, my note was like, was Bonnie even real? Was she just some sort of surgery fairy? I know. Well, and it's so tidy. I'm like, did she die? Like, I legitimately thought that. I know. You know, we got real burned by like 80s after school specials where this shit would happen all the time. Wednesdays, man. It was a dark day at four o'clock at my house. I know. Seriously. And the bed is always neatly tied to like hospital corners. You know what I mean? You can bounce that quarter that Daisy swallowed.

Right off that hospital bed. But no, Bonnie's not dead. Sophia sent her to the commissary or whatever, the cafeteria to get a sandwich. Which I love that like... I know. She's... Thanks, Bonnie. Thank you. Serious rap on Bonnie. That's right. So our girls enter with their canes and collapsible top hats. And they're like tap shoes. And I'm like, this is my favorite thing about the Golden Girls is that nobody ever goes home to change before they do anything. If a show has been done, they're going to come in their Henny Penny Goosey Lucy outfits wherever they need to be next. So the sitcom can happen. Exactly.

I love it. I love it. And so, you know, they're all happy that Dorothy's feeling really great. And Dorothy wants to know, like, how the recital went. And Blanche is saying, like, they loved us. We've been invited to dance next month at the Sunset Charity Ball. And there's even some talk about us going up to Palm Beach to be in the Cotillion. That's right. And Dorothy is so excited. She's like, woo!

and I'll be back in dancing shape by then. Oh, hey. Well, you don't understand. We've changed our act. We're no longer the Tip Tap Trio. Huh? Who are we now? Well, we're now known as the Two Merry Widows.

The two merry widows. And they pull the curtain divider, drop their coats. And then like by the magic of stage, they pull the curtain back open. They're wearing their full dance outfits. Now for all of the times we've heard the canned applause in this episode, this falls completely flat. I know. There's no reaction from the audience. There's not a, there's no. They look amazing. They look incredible. But I'm like, you're not going to give us the canned applause.

applause here. I know, I know. They looked fierce. They look amazing. And they do their tap dance. And my favorite part is when they start throwing her hospital flowers on her halfway through. Because Dorothy is pissed. It keeps getting to Dorothy, who's not enjoying the show. She's super mad. They finished. The fake applause is back when they finished the number. Correct. And then Dorothy asks for Rose's hat. She wants to congratulate her by holding onto her hat. And then Dorothy takes the hat, punches through it, and we get our first series closing credits for

freeze frame. Why do you think they freeze framed instead of just like letting it play? Because they buttoned it. Yeah. Like she has that weird smile on her, that rage smile. And you just made me think of something. It's like maybe the women were scared of the dancing and they did a close set. That's what I was wondering because the canned applause is so...

It's so weird. We'll ask our good friend Stan Zimmerman. Yes, absolutely. Yes, we'll send him an email. Well, that was fun. Oh, my goodness. Thanks for listening, Cheesecakes. Now, listen, when we come back from the break, I'm going to do my deep dive all about the Maud abortion episodes. Yeah. I'm very excited. I worked really hard on this one. There's a lot of research put in, so don't go away. So mad. Especially you, Mike Jensen, my friend. I'm going to quiz you on this later. Hey, Jensen. Pay attention. Pay attention.

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All right, cheesecakes. All right, my love. Are you ready? First of all, I love that I'm your love. You've always been my love. Oh, my. But it was so, honestly, it was so romantic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. We were looking deeply into each other's eyes. It was so, I mean, Steve shouldn't listen to this episode.

Well, what I loved about this deep dive was it gave me the opportunity to watch these episodes of Maud. Yeah. Steve and I started Maud during the pandemic and we didn't get that far into it because then like the world came back and things happened. Yeah. But I was happy to revisit it. But I wanted to start with a quick history of abortion in the United States from the American Revolution up to the Maud abortion episodes. Well, this would be a nice light fare. I know.

enjoyable moment in our lives. Well, get this. From the time of the American Revolution in 1775 until the formation of the American Medical Association in 1847, guess what? Abortion was not a controversial topic in the United States whatsoever. In that time, abortion was legal in all 50 states

states up until quickening, which is a term that means the moment in pregnancy when the pregnant person starts to feel the fetus's movements. So somewhere between 18 to 21 weeks. By the 1880s, all states had laws on the books to restrict abortion. And as abortion became criminalized, the stigma around abortion grew, obviously. By 1910, abortion was not only restricted

but outright illegal at every stage in pregnancy in every state in the country. These abortion bans had some exceptions in instances to save the patient's life, but it was a decision that only doctors, 95% of whom were men, had the power to make. And so, of course, unsafe and illegal abortions proliferate. By the late 1960s, a nationwide effort was underway to reform abortion laws in every state. In 1970, Hawaii became the first state to legalize abortions on the request of

the woman. Also in 1970, New York repealed a law from 1825 and allowed abortions up until the 24th week of pregnancy. Now, this is important to this deep dive because New York is where Maude lived. The Maude abortion episodes aired in November of 1972. So this is the world we're living in for these episodes.

Abortion was legal in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington State, and New York State where Maude lived. At the same time, 13 other states had enacted reforms that expanded exceptions, making it easier to get an abortion under certain circumstances. But the stigma around abortion was still very real. And that's a big part of what Maude sort of experiences in this episode. Right. So you're telling me that it was only legal in four states at that time. Yeah. And some had reforms. Yes, exactly.

Exactly right. I know that this will get there, but, you know, the thing I keep thinking of while you keep talking is, great, so what is the statute of limitations on rape again compared to murder? You know what I'm saying? Like, there's so many patriarchal male-centric things that... Yeah, it just...

And even in the part where you say that, like, in the time of the American Revolution, like, it wasn't controversial. But I don't think women were making decisions for themselves. You know what I mean? It was still like, if the husband said it was okay, or if it was the husband's idea, 95% of the doctors were men. And everything's a rabbit hole because it's not just in the case of rape. I'm just saying, you know what I mean? Like, it's still, you know where I stand on this. Yeah, and it's interesting. And we'll get into it a little bit more, like, when we talk about the actual episodes. But the daughter, played by Adrienne Barbeau, is really amazing because, like, she's 27.

years old. It's 1972. She understands that there's stigma and does not want her mother to feel that stigma at all and wants to create a safe space. And they say time and time again, like, you know, Vivian played by Rue McClanahan and the daughter and everyone is saying like, Maude, it's legal in New York. It's fine. When you were growing up, there was a big stigma and it was really unsafe. And it felt like people were dying from these procedures all the time. But it's not like that anymore. You know, I make a big point to say that like the episodes themselves are

Yeah.

You know, they want to say that like abortion is overwhelmingly safe. It's a very safe procedure. It's legal in these states now, you know. Just to note, two months after the airing of the abortion episodes on January 22nd, 1973, the Supreme Court would protect the right to abortion in all 50 states in its deciding of Roe v. Wade. That came two months after the airing of these episodes. That decision would, of course, be overturned 49 years later in 2022. So a

Quick backstory on the TV show Maud. Maud, of course, was the first spinoff of All in the Family. The center of All in the Family is the character Archie Bunker, played by Carol O'Connor. Archie is described as an outspoken, narrow-minded man, seemingly prejudiced against everyone who's not like him or who doesn't share his ideas of how people should be. So in season two of All in the Family, Norman Lear, the creator of the show, wanted to bring in a character who could really take on Archie Bunker.

He wanted someone who could, quote, kill Archie verbally that could destroy him. And so he decided the character would be the favorite cousin of Archie's wife, Edith, and that her name would be Maude. And that Maude would be everything Archie was not. She was a liberal, a feminist, an upper-middle-class Democrat. And then there's Maude! And then there's Maude! And then there's Maude!

That I'm compromising, enterprising anything but tranquilizing. Whereas Archie was a conservative, prejudiced, working-class Republican. Norman Lear was very good friends with a theater actress in New York named Bea Arthur. Yay! Doing like Fifth Around the Roof or whatever. I just got goosebumps, though. And I just love when, you know, there shouldn't be this big divide between Hollywood and theater. And it's not just...

the Hollywood people looking down on the theater people. I don't know how many times Hollywood people here have gotten a bad rap from... Oh, yeah. ...from theater snobs. Totally. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. When famous people come to do plays or whatever. Yeah. It's like, we can all get along. We can all get along. Well, her name is Bea Arthur. He wanted to write the part for her basing the character loosely on his wife, on Norman Lear's wife, Frances. Mm-hmm. So this is one of my favorite parts to the story. Okay, yeah.

Lee was pretty resistant to this idea, primarily because she didn't want to go to L.A. to film the episodes because she hates to fly. Oh, I didn't know she had a fear of flying. Big fear of flying. I thought maybe because she was like, this is going to lower my Q score and a Stelgetti. One day there will be a woman named Stelgetti who's going to kick my ass with a Q score. Right. The big thing was she didn't want to fly. But also Norman Lear was a really, really good friend. This interview I watched with her, she really drives home like he was

such a close friend. I was afraid, she said, he'd write something and I wouldn't like it and it wouldn't be good enough. Yes. Like being roommates with your best friend. Sometimes you shouldn't live with your best friend. Exactly. But Norman Lear understood all of this and he was fine with it.

He knew at one point that B was forcing herself to get on a plane to come to LA to visit her then husband who was directing a film out there at the time. So he decided that he would write the episodes and they would film them around that schedule. So she would already be in LA and he said to her, and don't worry if you don't like the material, we'll hire someone else to do it. Okay. So B shows up on the

set and it was like magic right away. The president of CBS instantly fell in love with her and with the character. And as Bea tells the story, he just said like, who is that girl? Let's give her her own show. It was that fast. Yeah. That's like the stuff of dreams. I know. She only did two episodes of All in the Family in season two and that was it. They gave her her own show. Jesus. So Maude, the TV show premiered in September 1972. In the show, Maude is 47 and she lives in suburban Tuckahoe, New York.

with her fourth husband, a household appliance store owner named Walter. Other characters on the show include Maude's 27-year-old daughter, Carol, and Carol's eight-year-old son, Philip, both of whom live with Maude and Walter. There's also the housekeeper, Florida, and Maude's neighbors, Dr. Arthur Hammond, and his, quote, scatterbrained second wife, Vivian, who's Maude's best friend, played by Rue McClanahan.

Oh, OK. Rue later confirmed that it was while she was filming an episode of All in the Family playing a different character that Norman Lear approached her about playing Vivian in Maud. She was a last minute replacement for Doris Roberts, who had been the first choice for the role. Oh, I can see that. Interesting, right? I love Doris Roberts. I only know her from, what is it? Everybody Loves Raymond? Everybody Loves Raymond. I met her when I was doing I Love You Perfect No Change in Los Angeles. Oh, wow. And she could not have been lovelier to me. She was at our opening night. Oh, wow.

It was one of those moments where a comedian whom you respect starts complimenting you. And I was just overwhelmed. Overwhelmed. It's like when I say something in here and you laugh. It's a true honor. Oh, that's nice. So right away, Maud was a very popular show. It was the fourth highest rated show in America in its first year. And right from the beginning, the show was quirky and took chances. So several episodes in the first season featured only Maud and her husband. And what amounted to half hour two-hander teleplays. So wait.

So Florida was their housekeeper. Wasn't Florida the wife and mother in Good Times? Yes. So Good Times is a spinoff of Maud. It's a spinoff of Maud. But I know in All in the Family, we claim that Good Times is in a pyramid. Yeah. It starts with All in the Family and then these subsets underneath. It's like Golden Girls. So like Empty Nest was a spinoff of Golden Girls and Nurses is a spinoff of Empty Nest, which makes it also a spinoff of Golden Girls. Yes. It's like Mary Kay Cosmetics. Yeah.

It's a pyramid scheme. It's a pyramid scheme. It's absolutely a pyramid scheme. So, like, it was quirky and did interesting things, like write shows where only the two actors, like, did the whole entire thing, like a play. Right, right. There's another episode called Maude Bears Her Soul, where Bea Arthur, as Maude, spends the entire episode speaking to an unseen psychiatrist. So it makes...

I remember, yeah.

They're episodes nine and 10 of the first season, and they aired in two consecutive weeks in November of 1972. I also love that it's the first season. Yes. It's like go big or go home, you know? Totally. Totally. And so the episode begins with Maude returning home, having just learned from her doctor that she's pregnant. She's not happy about it, especially given her age. At the time, the character was a 47-year-old grandmother with an

eight-year-old grandson. Her daughter, Carol, encourages her to get the abortion. Maude is initially resistant to the idea. And mostly over the course of the two episodes, Maude and her husband are just trying to guess what the other one wants. And like, it's very funny and it's all this miscommunication. But finally, at the end of the second episode, the two characters have a real conversation that

In the end, they decide that neither one of them wants to have the kid. So a couple of things really stood out about the episodes to me. First of all, they are unbelievably funny. They are so, so funny. They are not preachy about abortion one way or the other. Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan both look decades older than...

than they look in The Golden Girls, which wouldn't start filming for another 13 years. You know, some of that is that 70s aesthetic, you know, the thick polyester suits. Yeah, and like, Rue McClanahan has this like white hair. So like we were saying earlier, we didn't know if it was like... I think it's frosted tips. My mom did it too, and it could look... Because it looks now like an old lady wig. The other thing, there's a major push in the episodes to destigmatize vasectomies.

So like the whole thing is that that's what sounds preachy in the episode is the vasectomy talk because they're really wanting men to understand that A, the procedure is not painful and that having the procedure does not make you less of a man. And it's reversed. Like didn't Mike Stivick have a vasectomy on

all in the family. Oh, did he? I don't know. I have a vague memory of that. I might be making that up. There is so much conversation between the men about vasectomies and how it doesn't make you less of a man. Like, that's where it gets preachy. And there's a reason for that that we'll get to in a minute. Two quick random things that stood out to me in these episodes. So when Maude tells her husband, Walter, that she's pregnant, he literally chokes on a chicken bone. And it gets unconscionable

comfortable because Maude and her friends are playing cards and he's legitimately choking. Oh, God. And it goes on for like three minutes. Wait, not the actor. No, the character. Yeah. But he's like, cut. No, let him go. But this is what's happening in the scene because they're playing cards and they're like, oh, look at him. He's like really trying to take it in. One of the characters is a doctor. They don't recognize that he's choking. Jesus, God. They finally recognize that he's choking. And I'm screaming like, why aren't they giving him the Heimlich maneuver? They

sit him down. They try to calm him down to breathe slowly. They're shoving bread down his throat to get him to swallow. And I'm screaming, why aren't they doing the Heimlich maneuver? The Heimlich maneuver hadn't been invented yet. Oh my good God. The Heimlich maneuver wasn't invented until 1974, two years after these episodes came out. So before that, it was a loaf of bread. Shove the bread down the throat.

The other thing, at one point, Maude, trying to deal with the stress of like trying to figure out what she wants to do with the pregnancy, asks her husband to pour her a double bourbon. And they sit at the home bar having these huge drinks. Right. Talking about whether or not she should have the baby. And I looked it up and we apparently didn't fully understand the effects of heavy drinking during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome until 1973. A year after the episode was shot.

Wow. Right? Wow, wow, wow. You just see Maude. She's like talking about the pregnancy, downing a double bourbon. It's wild. That tracks with so many of my friends, though, that I know. I know. I'm not mean to be funny. No, I know exactly what you mean. I was reading an article in the New York Times about this, about how like mothers in like the 60s and the 70s were drinking martinis and smoking cigarettes. For sure. You know? I said to my brother the other day, it's a miracle we got out of the 70s alive. I know.

Like not kidnapped. I know. Honest to God. The shit we used to do. It's true. Fuck. Anyways. So the origins of the abortion episodes. This is going to sound so strange, but bear with me. Originally, the producers weren't even thinking about abortion for these episodes. There was an organization called Zero Population Growth that was offering a $10,000 prize for the best three

30-minute television episode produced on primetime TV that year that in some way promoted slowing population growth. So the writers all started pitching scripts about vasectomies, which is where all the vasectomy talk came from. So the original idea for the episodes was that Maude's neighbor and friend Vivian would get pregnant. That would lead to a conversation about contraception and whether Maude's husband Walter would get a vasectomy.

But after reviewing the first draft of the script written, of course, by Susan Harris, Norman Lear felt that the wrong woman was being funny. So Vivian was getting all the funny lines. And he decided that Maude herself would become pregnant. But if Maude was going to become pregnant, they really needed to deal with the pregnancy storyline. So he decided that it couldn't be a false pregnancy because that would be a cop

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Because Maude was a big hit, they said, okay. But the network asked that another pro-child side be shown as well. So they add a character and this character is amazing. She kind of like, she's a neighbor of Maude's and she runs in because she has to use the bathroom. And she's like a woman in her early 40s and she's pregnant again. And she's got like four kids in the car and she's very happy and very bubbly. And she loves being a mom. And Maude is like,

You're amazing. You're doing it all. And she's like, no, it's nothing. And the kids are in the car and Maude's screaming at the kids from the car. It's like a very cool, interesting character. She's screaming, hiya, Charlie. Hiya, Charlie. Hiya, Charlie.

And it's kind of this amazing moment and it doesn't feel forced. It really is a way of showing that like the show is pro kids if you want to have them, you know, like here's this lady who loves being a mom. Right. But even with this compromise, the network threatened not to pay for the taping of the episodes. But Norman Lear did not back down. And he told the network executives that if the shows weren't taped and aired, they would have to find another show to fill Maude's time slots. And the network's back down. That's the way to use your power. I mean, do it, Norman. Like, I mean, talk about feminist.

like really doing the right thing here. So according to the LA Times, the first showing of Maude's Dilemma was carried by all but two of CBS's nearly 200 affiliates. And that attracted nearly 7,000 letters of protest. And by the time the shows were repeated in August 1973, a campaign against them had been organized by the United States Catholic Association.

conference. The shows were broadcast, but nearly 40 affiliates opted not to transmit them. Not one corporate sponsor bought a commercial, and CBS received more than 17,000 letters of protest. Oh, I'm sure. But despite all of this, the episodes were a hit. In an era before cable TV and home video, the episodes together attracted 41% of the available audience and were not only number one in their time period, but also catapulted the series into the top

10 of the Nielsen ratings, CBS estimated that as many as 65 million people watched at least one of the episodes, either in its first run or in a rerun. Wow. That's it. Good job. Thanks. It all came back into the news and abortion has always been a very like hot button issue. Right. You know, always a majority of people polled in the country always are in support of a pregnant person being able to decide what to do with their own body. Also, where does it...

We'll see how the election goes. But where does it end? Like, what about birth control? Yeah. Do you know? These are very real issues. That's a new topic of conversation. So, you know, like, it's interesting reading these articles from 2022 when actors from the show and producers from the show were saying, like, we're still having the same conversation in 2022 and 2024 as we were in 1972. Yeah.

Well, that was my deep dive on the Maud abortion episode. I learned so much. Maud's a great, I mean, it is really funny. It is such a funny show. Well, you know what else is a funny show? What? The Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast. Oh, Cheesecakes, we love you. Join the Facebook group. It's the Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast discussion group. Tell your friends about us. Let's grow this community. Please, we're having a good time. Yeah, make sure you're following the show on wherever you're listening. That's all I ask of you today. That's all I ask of you. Let's see who can do it higher.

That was me. I win. All right. We love you, Cheesecake. Love you. Bye. This message comes from Roan. Progress isn't just what you do. It's how you live. Roan's premium apparel is built for performance and designed for the modern individual. Wherever you're headed, Roan helps you move forward.

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