cover of episode The Way We Met (Season 1, Episode 25)

The Way We Met (Season 1, Episode 25)

2024/12/23
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The Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast

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Jennifer Simard
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Patrick Hinds
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@Jennifer Simard : Rosetta Stone 是一款学习语言的好礼物,尤其适合节日赠礼。它不仅能帮助人们学习不同的语言,还能让学习者深入了解各种文化传统。Rosetta Stone 作为一个值得信赖的语言学习专家,适合任何人使用。 @Patrick Hinds : Jennifer 提到 Rosetta Stone 的快速语言习得方法,强调它不依赖英语翻译,帮助学习者真正学会用目标语言思考、倾听和说话。这种方法让语言学习更加自然和高效。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

Why did the first victim of John Wayne Gacy get identified six days after the episode aired?

Timothy McCoy, the first victim of John Wayne Gacy, was identified when his cousin read a book about Gacy's unidentified victims and provided dental records that matched Timothy's.

What significant event in Bea Arthur's career is highlighted in the deep dive of this episode?

Bea Arthur's role in the musical 'Mame' is highlighted, where she played the character Vera Charles, a best friend to the titular character played by Angela Lansbury. Her performance was highly praised and contributed to her and Lansbury's lifelong friendship.

Why did Blanche decide to kick out her previous roommates?

Blanche kicked out her previous roommates, two eccentric old ladies, because they wanted to bathe together and floss each other's teeth, which Blanche found too bizarre and narcissistic.

What historical event is referenced in the herring story?

The Battle of the Herrings, a real historical event that took place in 1429 between England and France. It involved an attempt by French forces to intercept and divert a supply convoy carrying herring for the meatless Lenten days.

Why did Rose decide to move in with Blanche even after her cat issue was resolved?

Even though Rose no longer needed a place to live because she gave her cat to a child in the grocery store, she decided to move in with Blanche anyway, possibly because she liked the idea of having roommates and a place to stay.

What did the producers of 'Mame' originally consider for the lead role?

The producers of 'Mame' originally considered Mary Martin for the lead role, but she turned it down. They then cast a wide net and considered actors like Betty Davis, Catherine Hepburn, and Judy Garland before Angela Lansbury was chosen.

How did the Golden Girls end up becoming roommates?

Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose all met through a series of coincidences and mutual need. Blanche needed roommates, Dorothy was introduced to her by a friend, and Rose needed a place to stay due to her cat. They decided to give living together a shot after a night of bonding over scary movies and cheesecake.

What is the origin of the song 'Kumbaya'?

The song 'Kumbaya' was first recorded by descendants of slaves in the Gullah Geechee community of Darien, Georgia in 1926. The original chorus 'come by here' in the Gullah accent sounded like 'kumbaya', leading to the modern version of the song.

Why did Bea Arthur stop the show during the preview of 'Mame'?

Bea Arthur stopped the show during a Broadway preview with her rendition of 'Man in the Moon', a song about a lady astronomer. The audience's laughter lasted a full minute, and Bea had to stand there with a telescope pressed to her eye before she could continue.

What was the role of Rosetta Stone in the episode?

Rosetta Stone is mentioned as a sponsor, highlighting its importance in language learning and its convenience for brushing up on languages, especially for travel.

Chapters
This section contains advertisements for various sponsors, including Rosetta Stone and NoCD.

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
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Because Rosetta Stone's all about the fast language acquisition, right? There's no English translation, so you really learn to speak, listen, and think in the language. I'm telling you, give your family and friends this gift of language. It's 50% off all 25 languages for a lifetime. Can I just talk about the speech recognition? Because that was the most helpful thing for me when I was back in the day learning my Spanish for my concierge job. The built-in true accent feature gives you feedback on pronunciation automatically.

It's like having a personal trainer for your accent. It really just helps you recognize how you can do your accent better. And the thing about Rosetta Stone is it's super convenient cheesecake. So cheesecake, don't put off learning that language. There's no better time than right now to get started. Today, Golden Girls listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime memorabilia.

Thank you.

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

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

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

Well, with NoCD, you can do live face-to-face video therapy with licensed therapists who specialize in OCD. And I love that. You know, someone who really knows their field and can really help you. Yes. So these NoCD therapists, they receive in-depth specialized training in exposure and response.

Bonds Prevention, or ERP as it's known, which is a type of therapy that was designed specifically to treat OCD. Right, and let's get to the bottom line here. NoCD accepts many major insurance plans. Oh my life changer. Yeah, and it offers always-on support between sessions, okay? So you can message your therapist, there's therapy tools, there's peer committees, support groups, and I find that

Really, really helpful. So if you think you might be struggling with OCD and want to learn more about therapy with NoCD, go to NoCD.com and schedule a free 15-minute call with their team. That's NoCD.com to learn more and book a free 15-minute call. Could be life-changing. You know what? Therapy is always life-changing. Truly. You know, it's self-care. So do it. Please.

Hi, Jennifer Simard. Hi, Patrick Hines. Hi, Cheesecakes. Welcome to the final episode of season one. I can't believe it. And this means nothing to you, Cheesecakes. You'll come back for episode 26 next week. But for us, we're just at the end of season one of The Golden Rose is Wild. Yeah. And we're about to take a little break. Once again, Cheesecakes, you'll never know the difference because we're on a schedule thanks to Natalie. Because you, dear star, are very close to just overreacting.

opening your Death Becomes Her on Broadway. Yeah, so we were very good students and we did our research paper ahead of time. We got very far ahead so Jen could take the next couple of months off. But again, that's not going to mean anything to you, Cheesecake. Everything is normal. It's all smooth sailing going forward. Are you excited? How's it going? It's going beautifully. It's such a good show. Yeah. You know, I'm just really lucky to be a part of such a great production. The day that this episode is being recorded, it just dropped that you're on the cover of Time Out New York with your show. I know. Introducing the season.

Yeah, it's just a beautiful job with marketing and advertising our show. They blow me away with everything they do day after day. Well, I saw the show in Chicago. You blow us away. I'm going to see it 700 times on the Broadway. Please, please. Shall we jump into our episode? Let's do it. All right, what are we doing today, girl? All right, so this is season one, episode 25. It's called The Way They Met.

And it's written by essentially the group that was at that dinner party with the coral napkins, right? There's so many, so many of them. There's a lot of writers in this one. Kathy Spear, Terry Grossman, Winifred Hervey, Mort Nathan, and Barry Fanara. Yay, directed by Terry Hughes. The original air date for this was May 3rd, 1986. That's right. Fun fact, girl. Rue McClanahan was nominated for an Emmy for this episode, which I thought was weird. Yeah.

Like you're not going to nominate her for the one where she was, that was sexual misconduct. Right. Nope. This is the one. This is the one. Just putting up an index card on a bulletin board. That's the one. I got some stuff that happened in the world this week. Me too. You go first. I'll go first because mine's a downer and we can end with probably you singing.

I just might. Does that happen? All right. Well, here's the deal. This week in the world, six days after the airing of this episode, the first victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy would be identified. Oh, God. He was 16-year-old Timothy McCoy of Omaha, Nebraska. He'd gone missing 14 years earlier on January 2nd, 1972. Now, if you're not one of our true crime people, if you don't know who John Wayne Gacy was, he was an American serial killer and sex offender who, gird your loins, this is a little dark, he assaulted...

tortured and murdered at least 33 young men and boys in Norwood Park Township near Chicago. And he buried almost all of them in the crawl space under his house. Like, it's very ghoulish. Yeah. And the murders were ghoulish. Everything about it is...

Like your worst nightmare. So Gacy was arrested in 1978 and that most of the bodies were exhumed. But it wasn't until this week in 1986 that Timothy's body was discovered. Now, he is known to have been Gacy's first victim for reasons I won't go into. He wasn't the first body exhumed, but they knew that he was the first victim. But they weren't, even though he was exhumed in 1978, they didn't identify him until 1986.

when his cousin read a book about Gacy's unidentified victims, and she quickly determined that the one that they had identified as his first victim bore so much resemblance to her cousin. And they had long suspected that he had probably been a victim of Gacy's because of the time and the place. They just weren't ever able to prove it. But they were able to provide dental records that were able to prove that he was, in fact, the unidentified first victim of John Wayne Gacy. Well... Dark! That's dark. Okay!

Do you have something that you're going to lift us up a little bit? Are you done with the dark? Yeah, I'm done with the dark. Okay, great. So, in other news, I'm going to give you something from May 16th because even though this aired on May 3rd, our girls took a summer vacation. Oh, right. So there was no other episode after this. We can talk about whatever we want. Something cool happened in July that year. Right, right. Exactly.

That's true. What happened in August? By the time we come back, we're going to be back to the fall, right? So on May 16th, everyone, Bobby Ewing, played by Patrick Duffy, comes back from the dead on the TV show Dallas. Yes, girl. And I watched that when it happened. Oh, my goodness. Is that like the Who Shot J.R. or whatever? It was his brother. Okay. But the actor left the show.

Patrick Duffy? Patrick had left the show and then the character. But that contract got miraculously negotiated in his favor. Something like that. But anyway, he came back on the show that night. And then I'm going to end with this. I'm not going to sing for you. Okay. But just know this. Life Magazine that month, the month of May, had some of Hollywood's most powerful women on the cover. Oh, yeah. In their words, powerful men. And, you know, Goldie Hawn?

was one of them. And she originated the role in Death Becomes Her, the film that I get to play on Broadway. So I'm not going to sing for you, but come see the show and then I'll sing for you all night long. I'm so excited. I'm going to see the show 800. You're going to be so tired of knowing that I'm there. And girl, before we jump in, I just want to remind the Cheesecakes...

I mean, we're at episode 25. You know this, but you'll be getting mini deep dives throughout the episode. And at the end, we do a fully researched deep dive from something from the Golden Girls universe. You're doing it today. Tell them what we're doing. Well, I'm going to do the musical Mame, which is significant because it was a really huge moment in the life of our dear Beatrice Arthur. Yes. Yes. Yes. All right. So that's coming up at the end of the episode. All right. Shall we get going? Let's do it. Let's do it.

So we open on an exterior of the house and it's an evening shot. And I don't know why that is so comforting to me. I love knowing we're at home in the evening with our girls. There's just something very like, I want to put on my bathrobe right along with them. Most of us, not everyone, but most of us, you know, we come home at the end of a long day and it's time for bed. And so you want to feel safe. It's a little cozy. And we've had so many cheesecakes tell us that they make, the Golden Girls make them feel safe at the end of the day. Totally. And I'm imagining like in that house, I bet the cross breeze was great.

You open a window and then you open the door to the lanai. You might need to grab a sweater. I know. Well, Lord knows they're layering. So grabbing a sweater is not going to be a problem unless you're Rose's blind sister. Do you know what I mean? I do. And then we see Rose, once we're in the interior of the home, we see Rose sneaking into the kitchen in the dark looking for something, question mark? What is she, me, sneaking back out to the living room bar after she's gone to bed? I'm not sure, but I do know that she is wearing the Arnie cruise ship pink satin robe. Yes.

Dorothy then enters wearing her black and blue checkered number. From the 1800s. That's right. And then she flicks on the light to which Rose screams, which then makes Dorothy scream. Yes.

Oh, Dorothy, what do you mean sneaking up on me like that? You scared me half to death. I'm sorry, Rose. Next time I walk into a dark room in the middle of the night, I'll send a mariachi band ahead of me. What are you doing up? I thought I heard a strange noise. What kind of strange noise? Like someone walking slowly up creaking stairs.

We don't have stairs. And Dorothy reminds them that they don't have any stairs, to which I thought, answering the question, is there or is there not a basement? There isn't. I guess we know there's not a basement. No. I guess in Florida, you don't have basements because they flood. No, that's a Northeast thing. Oh, it is? Yeah, we have to have basements in the Northeast because the pipes would freeze.

Huh? Is that where all the pipes are? Yeah. But what keeps them from freezing being in the basement? They can't be underground. Oh, so we had to like create an indoor space for them to be? Yeah, we had to create like an insulated space because it's too damn cold. Oh my God. And then in Florida, they're just building the house right on top of the earth? Well, I'm not a builder in Florida, Patrick. I'm doing the best I can over here. I'm not Dorothy, for God's sake. How do the houses not just slide away in the wind? You know what I mean? Like what's rooting them to the... Well, they have crawl spaces. Yeah.

They have John Wayne Gacy crawl spaces in Florida. Dot, how many bodies have you buried in the crawl space? Oh, geez. Now this brings out the artist in me. Okay, please. No, but like, where's Coco, everybody?

Look, it's... Where is Coco? If there was ever a more appropriate time to ponder that question in the final episode of season one, you know what I mean? This is now. This is the moment. This is the moment. Where is Coco? Justice for Coco. We need Justice for Coco merch. But Cheesecakes, Dorothy, too, suspects foul play. She thinks she's heard a prowler outside. A prowler. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I thought I heard a prowler outside. Oh, my God, Dorothy. Why didn't you call the police? Oh, no, no. It turned out it was a neighbor's cat trying to mate with our plastic flamingo. My thing about this is, like, you know that, like, even if they had called the police, they would have given Dorothy a baseball bat and sent her out. You know what I mean? Oh, 100%. She's definitely, like, you know, we know she's the plumber. We know she's the undertaker. She's definitely the burglar. Listen, we're going to see it coming up, but who's pushing the grocery cart, I ask you?

I'll give you three guesses. Good. And I'm just surprised that Rose isn't at the end of the, like, holding on while Dorothy's pushing it. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Blanche enters swinging a golf club. Looking amazing. And, like, the peach layers. Like, she's just layered for bed for days. Oh, yeah. My thing with Blanche and the golf club is, like, I'm sorry, but Blanche definitely reminds me of that kind of, like, Florida living, like, Southern Republican with a gun in the nightstand. Right. You know what I mean?

I mean, you know she's packing. I don't know why she's carrying this golf club. Well, we know Rose was packing. Right. Right. I know. And of the three of them, we have since discovered that she's the conservative. She's the Republican. She's the Republican. That's true. I hope they got that gun away from Rose. Honestly, I don't think Blanche votes. I don't.

I really don't. Yeah, I guess you're right. She's just like, I just want everyone to get along. You know, I can only... In my bedroom. Right. And we'll get there with some episodes because, you know, like the Bush presidency was going on during this time and they taught politics. Like, I wonder what the political conversations would have been like in that house around election time. Yeah, exactly. Things weren't as fraught then as they are now, but still, Blanche doesn't vote. Oh, my God. That, like, made my heart race. Everyone vote. Like, cheesecakes, go register. You gotta vote. Exactly. You gotta. Yeah.

Blanche heard screams, you know, obviously from our two girls, right? Yeah, and everyone's wondering what the hell is going on. And it turns out that everyone is just scared because they all got together and watched Psycho earlier in the night. Dorothy says she avoided the picture for years. She makes a joke here that I don't get. Okay. She said... For 25 years, I have avoided that picture. Even when Stan invited me to the Roxy instead of over to his mother's house for dinner. And it turned out that my instincts were right.

Norman Bates is scarier than my mother-in-law. Wouldn't the joke be that the mother-in-law was scarier than Norman Bates? I'm not a comedy writer, Stan. Wait, right. So she didn't want to go to the Roxy to see Psycho. Right. She chose the mother-in-law. And as it turned out, the instincts were right. That she was right. That Norman Bates was scarier than her mother-in-law. So the joke is that she's letting us know how scary the mother-in-law was. By saying that Norman Bates was scarier? Yes. Her instincts were correct. Uh-huh. Meaning...

If she had gone to see the movie, she would have said, oh, my gosh, Norman Bates says the mother is terrifying. But the joke is about the fact that the mother-in-law is terrifying. The joke is about the mother-in-law. I just I'm not following it, girl. Well, by saying Norman Bates is scarier than my mother-in-law, she might as well have just said my mother-in-law is really scary. OK, perfect. You understand that now? OK. Yes.

The look of pity on your face trying to explain comedy to me. I don't know. Steve, maybe I want Steve to listen to this and maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I take it. I was just like, I really sat with this for a little while today. I was like, I don't really understand this joke. If I'm right though, you got to grant me one of these. So Blanche says, Oh, I never should have watched it either. It always upsets me, especially that shower scene. But it's the reason I prefer not to shower alone.

Sure, Blanche. And Goldilocks and the three bears is why you prefer not to sleep alone. It's the reason she doesn't like to shower alone. And honestly, who does? You know what I mean? Sometimes I like to shower alone. Do you? But sometimes I don't. But sometimes... Get out of here. Get out of here.

And Dorothy, of course, is giving her shit like sure, Blanche. And any opportunity to make fun of Blanche for being a little loosey goosey. So I have a little itty ditty on a part of Psycho. Oh. I actually think we should do a further deep dive on Psycho because there's just too much juicy information. Well, and we also, there was one of the other actresses in, wasn't she somehow involved

in Psycho? Yeah. Alma, I said it before, but Alma was one of three women's voices and we can go further into that, but they bring it up so much here that there's just too much information. But I did want to refer to the shower scene. Oh, please. Because of this shower joke. Just as a source note, there's an entire documentary dedicated to the shower scene from Psycho. There is? Yeah, it's called 78 slash 52. 78 52. And it's

And all of the following information I'm about to tell you comes from an article interview with that documentary filmmaker. Oh, my God. Alexander O. Philippe. Okay. So the shower scene consisted, and I knew this because actually I saw this in Hollywood on the Universal Backlot Tour. Yeah. But the scene consisted of 78 camera setups and 52 cuts and took an entire week to film. 78 setups? Yeah. And I remember looking at the shower and seeing a bunch of cameras just here, here, here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It took a whole week.

for this one scene. Can you imagine? No. And the scene itself only lasted 45 seconds. Yeah. One interesting thing they said in this documentary, apparently, is that the scene contains, and I agree, obviously, having seen it a million times, but the scene contains layers upon layers of voyeurism. And I didn't know this. So first, the

painting that masks Norman's peephole. So if those of you who don't know, he has a peephole that he looks into the shower. So it's the painting that masks Norman's peephole. It's called Susanna and the Elders, and it's about men spying on a woman while she bathes. Oh, my. So he removes the voyeuristic painting to become the voyeur looking in on the shower. And this is creepy also, like,

the male crew members. In reality, it's very meta. They're above the shower filming this. Voyeurs, so to speak, out of frame. There are all these people watching her. They watch her. Norman watches her. Hitchcock's camera watches her. And of course, we, the audience, are watching her. Yeah. All right. Now, this is going to sound funny, but I don't mean it to be. They used a cassava melon for the sound of the stabbing. Oh. Yeah. So when Hitchcock and his sound got... You're trying not to laugh. I just don't know what a cassava melon is. I've never heard of a cassava melon.

- Listen, Cassava Melon, you take it down a notch over there. - I don't have time to pick up the phone. This is cork cheese all over again. - I know. Wait, hang on, I'll look up a Cassava Melon. - Oh my God. - I'm looking it up. Cassava, a large round to egg-shaped melon with a thick rind and a creamy green flesh.

Not as controversial as quark cheese, I will say. Not as controversial. So when Hitchcock and his sound guy searched for the perfect stabbing sound, they didn't turn to, you know, stock Hollywood effects. They did, in fact, turn to these melons. They laid out an epic spread of every kind you can imagine until they found the perfect sound.

And they made it sound even more realistic when they interspersed it with a slab of steak. Oh, God. I know. They did 26 takes of the spinning eye shot emerging from Janet Leigh's eye. Yeah. And the last thing I want to touch upon is Janet Leigh had a body double in the shower. Yeah. And this woman was a Playboy cover girl. Look, if you're going to get a body double, that's going to be my body double too, girl. Well, her name was Marlee Renfro. She was 21 years old when she landed the role. And this

part is troublesome to me, but she had to strip down for Alfred Hitchcock and for Lee to make sure she was a good match. No. Yeah. Anyway, so here she is, you know, working for seven days on that single scene. And here's the last interesting fact. It's her hand that you see clenching the curtain as the life ends from our... Yeah, the Playboy model? Yeah.

Yeah, so it's her hand, not Janet Leigh. Wow. You know, grabbing that curtain. So interesting. Yeah, so that's a little Sousan on Psycho. It's the shower scene. I love it. Well, back to the scene. You know, Rose is saying, at least they're not alone tonight. There's nothing worse than being alone and scared. Right, and Dorothy says, oh boy, you know, there is nothing worse than being wide awake and scared and by yourself. And now we are going to have Cheesecake properly introduced as their late night naughty snack sit around and chat situation.

Oh, yes, there is. Being wide awake and scared and by yourself without a double fudge chocolate cheesecake in the freezer. That's right. And I do love that we have a nice right upper lip snarl from Rose to introduce this moment. It's the scared and scared. Yeah, I can't even do it. I can do it on the left side. Yeah.

Without a double fudge chocolate cheesecake in the freezer. That sounds, I wouldn't like that. I wouldn't like it either. I barely like cheesecake as it is. A double fudge chocolate, it just sounds like, oh my, I would have one bite of that. Right, not to mention these broads house the entire thing. I know. But they're all excited. Blanche is like, oh, I'll get that.

silverware and I'll feel better already. I always love those lines where Dorothy like has to make a meal out of it even though like she's across the room. I feel better already. She's basically shaking her shoulders. I feel better already. But now we learned something interesting. We learned that Blanche had roommates before Rose and Dorothy and Sophia. Yeah, we learned it right along with them. You know,

I never used to do anything like this with my old roommates. But you had roommates before us. I never knew that. Oh, yes. Two very eccentric old ladies who used to bathe together and floss each other's teeth.

I kicked him out one morning and that very afternoon went down to the supermarket to advertise for new ones. That was when I first met Rose. Don't we just call them girlfriends? You know what I mean? I guess so. Oh, and I love it's a callback to like showering with another person. Blanche, you said that you love to do that. I know, but I also am so- Now these old lesbians that live with you aren't allowed to do it? Well, it's just so awful. The next part is so narcissistic. Blanche, I kicked them out one morning. I know.

I mean, I have a big question mark. I was like, why? And that very afternoon went down to the supermarket to advertise for new ones. Now, I said, I'm like, we got to slow down on this. Yeah. Heartless Blanche throwing out two elderly lesbians who just want to have good oral hygiene. Yeah.

You know what I mean? I know. Because I was like, Blanche, what do you mean you kicked them out? Like, did you give them any notice? Like, did you pack their shit for them and they came home to boxes on the street? I don't know. But if I were Dot and Rose, I'd give like, you know, the fish eyeball. Like, you know, like. Right. You know, like. No one is safe. Is that going to happen to us?

And honestly, like the fact that she kicked them out for that and not Dorothy early in season one for that anger management problem. Oh my God. Oh my God. Like Dorothy, you are so lucky to be here. How about Rose for firing a gun at her and her date?

You know what I mean? Don't you dare floss each other's teeth. But by golly. Shoot at me. Shoot me. Shoot me, baby. Because Rose is about to also destroy another precious family heirloom. I know. You know what I mean? I know. Like, Rose has got to go, if you ask me. Carla only has the best tech. Can't connect to network. But she didn't have the best internet. So she got Cox Multigig speeds to power all her...

Now, all her tech is connected. Exactly. Step it up with Cox Multi-Gig Speeds. Available everywhere. Two gig download speeds. Individual speeds vary. See cox.com for details.

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So the next scene, so this is a flashback to now we're going to see how Rose and Blanche met. So Blanche walks up to this community bulletin board. She's wearing a lovely peach suit. I always love it when she wears clothes like this. Rose walks up carrying a cat. Yeah, just like a gray kitten. Yeah. And, you know, Blanche just starts making conversation. Are you okay? I'm fine.

Oh, I know exactly what you're going through. I can read it in your face. You can? Oh, sure. Your husband or your boyfriend dumped you. Oh, honey, don't let it get you down. It's just the nature of the beast. They'd do it in the mud if they had to. You just go sleep with his best friend. That'll even up the score. Am I on candid camera?

To which I wrote, good advice. I know. But Steve tells me I'm his best friend, so I'd have to go do number seven, be to myself? You'd have to go fuck yourself. Right.

So Rose looks around adorably and she like really can't believe like she's like, what is going on here? And she goes, am I on candid camera? And we have a lot of young listeners. So I'm just going to in one sentence tell you that camera was great. It was. But this was an American hidden camera reality television series before reality television was all the rage. And it was all like in good

fun. It was not about like making people look stupid. But it was on the air for a long time from 1948 until 2014. I remember Dom DeLuise is the host. Yeah, I remember that too, but I'm sure he wasn't the only one. No. Yeah. No. Anyway, go look it up. So, you know, Blanche is saying you didn't get dumped in

we learn like Rose's situation is that she did get dumped but she got dumped by her landlord because she has this cat that she found a week ago and the building's been sold and they won't let her keep the cat and now she's gonna become homeless in order to keep a cat she's had for a week right I mean I guess it's kind of important to find out that like Rose just got the cat last week but she says I wouldn't feel right having a home if he didn't I was like girl why not like do you

Take him to a no-kill shelter. He's going to be fine. You know what I mean? You're going to become homeless. Exactly. You know, Kirsten, your daughter, is already frustrated with you, girl. Like, you're not going to live there. This is where Blanche, we've seen her put the index card up. So she says, you know what? I think that shows great strength of character. I like you and I like cats. I also happen to have a room for rent and the name is Blanche Devereaux. And we get a great, I don't care what anybody says, this is a great joke from Rose. Yeah. Why would you name a room Blanche Devereaux? That's Blanche.

I like a roommate with a sense of humor. My last two roommates were two old sticks in the mud from Minnesota. Tell me a little about yourself. Well, my name is Rose Nyland, and I'm from Minnesota. Oh.

Stop it, girl. You're killing me. And I love the choice that Rue and Blanche make here to decide that Rose is joking. Yeah. She doesn't understand that like Rose is being serious. But my other note in this section is remember when you had to go to like a community bulletin board to like put up like call me to be your babysitter. In a way, it feels so much easier.

No, and there was a very famous equity lounge on the second floor of the Actors' Equity building. That's the Actors' Union for those who don't know. Actors' Union. Yeah. And on the second floor, that's where all the auditions were, but there was a giant wall-to-wall bulletin board, and that's where you found many people trying to sublet their apartments. Oh. Also get roommates. The same thing, because actors are always going out of town for jobs and that kind of thing. Oh, that's so cool. That's how you met.

meet people, you know? I remember when I was looking for like survival jobs, you used to just walk in off the street and fill out an application. And I was always all personality. So I would always get hired. But when that changed to like, you have to submit an application online, it becomes impossible because it's like, I can't like charm you with like, I'm not getting the job based on the headshot I attached to that email. Charm-a-con. I'm just...

Curious. No, okay. It starts with charm and ends with God. It starts with a C. Okay, yes. It's a great choice to your point because she doesn't know that Rose really is this naive and I loved it too. And I also love the writing that it's such a perfect setup for who Rose is. Yeah, and Blanche is saying I love a roommate with a good sense of humor. I always found this tricky because she says my last two roommates were two old sticks in the mud from Minnesota. Right. And I'm like, well, they did base together. Right. They were so close.

It's the kind of fun you just didn't want to have, Blanche. They weren't sticks in the mud. They were having their own kind of fun. They didn't need you, girl. Exactly. And it's funny, since now we've seen that big bathroom that Dorothy and Rose were fixing, there was that enormous shower that easily two lesbians could fit into. Exactly. And floss their teeth at the same time. I don't see the problem. Well, and the...

As long as the teeth are getting flossed, who cares who's doing it? And she would have said if they're sisters and she never does. So, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Blanche asked Rose to tell her about herself. And once again, Rose makes her laugh. And this part I love because Rose is trying to say to her, I am no stick in the mud. And Blanche loves it. She thinks that Rose is going to be a

party girl. And I was like, you look a little more excited than you would actually be. Like, Blanche, you want to be the center of attention. You don't actually want to live with a party animal. But she's excited about the idea that Rose might be one. And Rose is like, I'm not a stick in the mud. I can let my hair down with the best of them. This is what's great, too, because her delivery, she says these really innocent things so salaciously. I eat raw cookie dough. Oh, my God.

And occasionally, I run through the sprinklers and don't wear a bathing cap. And at Christmas, I've been known to put away more than one eggnog. What's the matter?

I think I better keep looking. And Rose asks her, what's the matter? And she says, I think I better keep looking. Yeah. You know, honey, we have nothing in common. We're two different kinds of people. So Blanche just kind of walks away. Yeah. And like leaves Rose in the dark. And like Rose, who cares? You meet this person for 20 seconds. It doesn't matter. But she's in a pickle, you know? She's in a pickle once again because she's going to be homeless to save this cat that she met a week ago that she easily could bring to a no-kill shelter. She's making some questionable choices. True. But have no fear because Tiny Tim walks up to Rose. Yeah.

This adorable little boy walks up to Rose and asks her if he can pet the cat. Now, it is so unsanitary to bring an animal into a grocery store. Completely. In the first place. I know. This morning, I really had to run into the grocery store to get milk for my daughter, but I had my dog and I could not go in. And I was like, maybe I could get away with it, but I'm not going to do it. Not to mention. I'm a good citizen that way. Like the most tranquil cat in the world. Because let me get this straight. Yeah. How far from the grocery store is your apartment, Rose? Right. You walked there? Yeah.

Or you drove there and then you picked up the cat and then you're walking around without a carrier. I know. You're just holding this cat. Just holding your cat, walking through the grocery store. Walking through the grocery store. And then this little child has to hold it. I mean, I just don't get it. I know. Well, we learned this poor little boy had a cat and his cat was named Harpo, but the cat just died and he's very sad.

So then Rose says, well, you know, would your mother let you have another kitty? And then like the kid's like, sure. And she gives the cat to the kid without checking with the mother. Yeah. To which I was like, what if the mom hated the cat and was so thrilled that old Harpo finally kicked it? What if the mother literally dropped that cat off like a lot of parents did in the 70s? Totally.

It's horrible. Totally. You know? I know. I know. And now this crazy old lady just handed her son. She thought the grocery store is the one place. Yes. The kid's surely not going to be handed a cat for nothing. Right. Can you imagine? But it happens. The mother is like, she's in the soup aisle. Totally. And here comes Tiny Tim. Mom, look. This crazy old lady just gave me a cat. Can you imagine? Steve Tipton would levitate off the ground with fury. I know.

I know. Absolute fury. He was like, did it have its shots? Right. Did it get neutered? I mean, I mean, oh my goodness. So the kid just renames the cat Harpo and walks off to find his mother. And I said, I think we also missed a valuable teaching moment here, right? Like, doesn't the kid need to know that your cat dies and you don't just immediately meet an old lady at a grocery store and get a new cat? You know, it was Syzygy. He didn't plan it. She didn't plan it. I guess so. It was meant to be. Right. But,

Quick interruption. I've got a little deep dive on this boy. His name is Eden Gross. And I became a little obsessed with him, and I'll tell you why. But he was born October 10th, 1978. So he was eight when he made this episode. Both of his parents are rabbis. At this age, the age he was when he was shooting the Golden Girls episode, he was obsessed with martial arts.

Oh. He would go on to earn Black Belt and second degree Black Belt by the time he was 14. Jeez. Yeah, he worked a ton as a kid. He had guest spots on Northern Exposure, Married with Children, Murphy Brown, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, New Heart, Highway to Heaven, and Herman's Head. And my favorite fact about this kid is that he was a voice in those child's play movies. Oh, yeah. Like the Chucky movies. Yeah, okay. So he was the voice of the good Chucky doll because like that Chucky doll was supposed to be like a nice little thing that was like possessed by the devil or whatever. He was the voice of good Chucky, but then...

Then, this is why I was obsessed. In real life, he booked the gig of voicing an actual talking doll. Oh. So there was a talking doll named Corky, which was in the Cricket doll family. I have not heard of any of these, which is shocking because as a little gay boy, I was...

absolutely obsessed with boy dolls because my sisters had dolls and I wanted a doll so bad. There was a doll called My Buddy. Do you remember that? No, I don't. My buddy. Oh, I do. I remember the jingle. My buddy and me. I had the My Buddy doll, but apparently there was this quirky doll. He was the voice of the doll. Then books the role in the Chucky movies, the child play movies. Yeah. Goes to see it. Gets so...

Yeah. Oh, I bet. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

so well known that he had to start having his martial arts trainer accompany him to set as his bodyguard. Oh my goodness. He was getting like fan mail. He needed a bodyguard, right? Get it, Tiny Tim. I know. Then he started in his teenage years, the work started drying up and he went to Berkeley and got a business degree. He began his professional career selling vacuums door to door. He went on and on about how much he learned doing it. He loved it. He's like, he learned how to be a great salesman. Then he fell in love with commercial real estate, which he still does in the Los Angeles area. I'm

I know. What a cool life. He seems like a very happy guy. That's great. I know. So the child, he just, you know, thanks her. Thanks a lot, lady. And Blanche is smiling having witnessed all of this by the rice-a-roni. Yeah. And, you know, she comes back. She approaches Rose. Say, Rose, look, now I'm not making any promises, but how would you like to take a look at that Blanche Devereaux room? Really? I'd love to. Come on, let's go. By the way, what's your name?

It's perfect. And like they walk off. Blanche laughs at the joke. It's great. And on the exit, I have to say, Patrick, a person I'd like to be my roommate approaches the neighborhood bulletin board. Oh, yes. Tell me more. Gorgeous, tall African-American man. I'm like Blanche, Blanche, turn around, Blanche. Turn around. Here's my question about Rose, though. She no longer needs a place to live because she just got rid of the cat. So why is she moving now? I mean, wow. Yeah.

Did I just end the Golden Girls? I think you ended the universe has split. You know what I mean? It's one of those things where moving is such a pain in the ass. Like now you don't have to. So just go home, girl. I bow to you. I'm not worthy. Get it.

at it, Patrick. Like, Rose, what are you doing? Well, even more reason for Blanche to turn around and get the hot guy to be the roommate. Oh my God. This is interesting. We're back in current time, but we don't see them. It's just a voiceover. Which is funny. The voiceover sounds like they recorded it in a voice studio. Yeah, exactly. So it's a transition.

That's right, it's transition. And Blanche says that last remark, referring to Rose's, again, not knowing her name. Yeah. That last remark was the reason I didn't let you move in that same day. But then she explained she was interviewing all these other people that were all nightmares. And so like Rose, you ended up looking like a gift from heaven.

And so we're back at the house and we're watching Blanche interview this other potential roommate. In flashback. In flashback. And this is Madam Zelda, who I'm kind of obsessed with. Caricature of a psychic or medium, right? Totally. Madam Zelda is getting vibes. Was a young woman in a nurse's uniform murdered in this house with a handsaw? Hell no.

Ha ha ha ha!

And I have here, attagirl. It's so good. And like Madam Zelda, she's got some ulterior motive because she's telling Blanche she's got to move out right now. The house is possessed by an evil spirit. Get this. But Blanche says, actually, it's possessed by Miami Federal. And at 7%, you couldn't blast me out of here. She's talking.

about her mortgage interest rate. Yep. And I was like, was 7% a good mortgage rate at the time? No, I have it here. That was a common interest rate back then. I looked it up. The average in 1986 was 10.39. Yeah, I was going to say it got up to like 13 at one point. They were always high back then. It is wild. Yeah. I mean, like the interest rates now, people complain about nothing.

nothing compared. Well, it's around, they've gone up to like six or seven. They've gone up enough. Yeah. But like 10.39 was the average in 1986. Yeah, just so expensive. Absolutely crazy. There's a doorbell. And I have a note here. Before we get to who's on the other side of the door, can we just say that if Madame Zelda would lighten up for a minute, she'd be a great roommate. I'd love her. Like all like the witchy shit. We'd be doing Ouija board Wednesdays. Probably. But you know, I will say the amount of makeup, I don't think, to your point earlier, I don't think Blanche would like the competition.

No. She's a little too flamboyant. There's only room for one peacock in that house, right? And Coco had to go. Coco had to go. That's why she had Coco killed. That's right. So as you said, the doorbell rang. Blanche answers the door. It's Sophia and Dorothy. And I love that like Dorothy is immediately trying to put on like a professional face. I know. And Sophia sticks her head in and just starts looking around. I know. And I have here, Patrick, what I wouldn't give for a five. Hello, hello, hello, hello. Or just a hi, Charlie.

Hiya, Charlie. So good. And I have here, they also have Dorothy in the wonderfully matching colors of tangerine, orange, and lavender.

And that Sophia is most definitely not in her original wig. No, not in the original wig. She's wearing like a house dress. But it's really, I like it because the challenge of pretending they've never met these characters. I know. And so Dorothy's like trying to like be all buttoned up. It feels like Sophia's trying to ruin it for her. It certainly does. You know? She's really mad about Shady Pines. Right. So Dorothy says, you know, I'm Dorothy Spornak. This is my mother, Sophia Trillo. We spoke on the phone. Blanche says, yes, come on in. Madam Zelda is not giving up. She says to Dorothy. Oh.

Move in this house and you'll die an agonizing death. Which the audience gets a real kick out of because it's like, you know, Dorothy just does not suffer fools like this. Right, right, right. You know? And Blanche quickly gets Madam Z the hell out of there. Yes. She tells them, you know, to please sit down. And she asks them, Are you ladies considering taking both rooms? Oh, no, just me. Mother lives at the Shady Pines Retirement Home. Oh, the Shady Pines. I know the Shady Pines is a lovely place. It's a prison. Yeah.

They lock us in our rooms and force us to look like we're having fun. Then they take pictures for their brochure. Ma, you know that's not true. You'll have to excuse my mother. She recently had a stroke and her perception is a little, you know, distorted. Oh, yeah, I understand. No, you don't.

Mother. That's roomy. Mother, first of all. No, it's just funny that she calls her mother and it's clearly intentional because at this point she's called her mom. So like this is clearly meant to be like a flashback. Right. She's trying to be professional. Conservative and, you know, sell herself. Be as beige as possible. Exactly. Exactly. Now, Dorothy does that hand cloth

thing to her mother that like subtle ma you know that's not true and I just note here that like my mom today is my mother's 80th birthday the day that we're recording this birthday mrs grandma cheesecake cheesecake exactly my mother loves living in a nursing home like I cannot even tell you if we were to try to move her out of there she would not have it good it's the

It's the kind of thing where, like, if you're a very social person, like, she's just surrounded by people at all times. Did she like it immediately or was it just, okay, good. No, she liked it immediately because she was living independently and she didn't get to see that many people. And now she lives in a, like, she's just constantly surrounded by people. I like the idea of those assisted living places. Well, let me start with over 55 communities or assisted living places. Because as a New Yorker, we live in apartments, right? And so I find it very comforting to know there is someone on the other side of the wall, but I have my own space. Totally. So those places...

places, as long as you have your own space. I have to admit, I wouldn't want a roommate on the other side of the bureau. I wouldn't like having a roommate in my room. It's funny because I agree with you totally. And I have this note all over my notes for this episode. This episode makes me want roommates because it's so much about like there's so much togetherness in this episode where there's like sitting around the table reminiscing

and just sort of like being up late and like eating cheesecake. And like, it is why this show is such a comfort show. Right. And if you want to be alone, you have a door and you can go be alone. Right. Yes. So then Blanche offers a tour and then says, after that, we'll sit down and go over that application you filled out. Great. And Patrick, I have, let's go slowly through this. Okay.

Please. Take it away. So as they're walking out to the lanai, Dorothy says, you know, oh, wonderful. Your house is just breathtaking. I know. And then Sophia has to ruin it. She says just loud enough for Blanche to hear. You said it looked like a dump from the outside. So loud. So loud. And Dot covers her mother's mouth. Like, hey, mouth. You looking for me, mouth? You looking for me, mouth?

So they go out to the lanai and Blanche explains that the lanai is great in the summer because you can sunbathe with your top off. And Dorothy, rightly so, asks, so really? And the neighbors can't see in? Oh, sure they can.

The woman has sloth embroidered on her underwear. I mean, that didn't take long. I mean, truly. And it's just like, can you imagine if this were real life? I mean, they'd be out the door. They'd be out the door. Because they go back inside and they sit down to go over the applications, which is just, it's funny that like for the timing of the show, she offered a tour, but only showed them the deck. I know, exactly.

They didn't get to see the kitchen. They didn't get to see any of the bedrooms, the bathrooms, anything else. Exactly. So Blanche says she's running a little late. She just wants to ask her a few questions. Dorothy says, well, of course, go right ahead. The first thing she says is, what do you call an inhabitant of Guam? I don't know, Guam.

Guamanian, I guess. What does this have to do with renting the room? And Blanche says she just wanted to finish the crossword puzzle. I looked it up. Dorothy is correct. You do call the people of Guam are called Guamanians and the indigenous inhabitants are called Chamorro. I love that you've looked that up. Of course. But I love narcissistic Blanche. Just, I mean... Well, the thing about that too is that like, if that's the last clue you have in the puzzle, you can't ask something. You know what I mean? Then you can do it yourself. Exactly. Well...

Okay. Okay, rules, McGee. Oh, my God. You're the crossword Nazi. You can't have any points.

Listen, we take the New York Times games very seriously. I'm telling you, we wake up and the first thing we do is go to our phones and we play the spelling bee, which is one of, it's like seven letters and how many words can you make? And like a certain number of points, you get to genius. The first 15 minutes of our day are very intense. I mean, we go right to Wordle. I see it. We do the Wordle really fast. Then we move on to the crossword or the mini if we don't have time. See, I love those penny press books. And the only things I really like though, are like match up. Like when you look at the

pictures and there's a search word but like no i know but a match-up where like there's one thing off in these which you know which turtle's shell is different from the others so we are not the same i like to relax i don't i don't like to have puzzles that make me nervous oh my gosh that's the lady who's about to carry a 30 million dollar broadway show on her shoulders

She doesn't like to relax. Cheesecakes. Probably right. So Blanche continues with the interview. Now then, Dorothy, would you say you are a very neat person? Oh, yes. Very, very neat. Please, you're neat and I wear a D-cup.

I'm trying to understand. Is Dor— Like, the house is never a mess. You know what I mean? I know. Is Dorothy a neat person or not? I think so. She's responsible. She's always going to fold her clothes and put them in the drawers. She's not going to let them strewn about. Do you think I'm a neat person? No. No.

I am not. I mean, I've also listened to, first of all, I've listened to TCO. So yeah. So you know, I know the half and half. We all know. Everybody knows Patrick. Cheesecakes. If you don't know, my morning routine is I wake up at four in the morning. I'm not bragging. It's not bragging if it's true. I wake up at four in the morning and I begin my workday and I make coffee and I take the half and half out and I pour it in my coffee and I just leave it on the counter. Right. Until God only knows when. Right. But now that I know you. Yeah. And I'm sure this is not insulting. No. I would say, no, you're not a needy. No.

Do you think I'm a neat person? I do. I think you are a neat person. I am. I can be messy. That's usually when I'm just overwhelmed with my time management has been poor. But the minute I get a chance to tidy, it just makes me feel better. Like my dishes are going in the sink. I'm never, they're never going straight into the dishwasher. I'm like, I will get dressed out of the folded clothes laundry basket that my husband has put together rather than ever putting my clothes away. Well, no one ever does that. No one ever does. Oh, my husband does. Oh, Steve Tipton certainly does.

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get a little something for yourself too shop deal week from december 17th to 23rd and save up to 25 on gifts discounts vary minimum spend maximum discount and exclusions apply so now we get a voiceover from dorothy that of course because her mother was so horrendous she thought she had totally blown it but then she says i met rose and i realized i could have shown up naked playing a ukulele and still got in the room which is just not a nice thing to say no it's terrible dorothy

hates Rose. That's where it starts to change, too. Like, you know, Dorothy doesn't suffer fools at all. No. We're not the same because I'd be codependent Kathy and just trying to be nice and trying to get... And Dorothy's just like, she is all out of fucks to give immediately, right? Yeah.

Like, we have to remember her 38-year marriage fell apart two years ago. I mean, I kind of admire it, really. Same, same. So here we are. We're in a visual flashback now. Yeah, it's move-in day. That's right. And Rose enters the living room from the lanai with flowers. Now, I said this is where I accept that I absolutely am Rose. She's in a great mood. She's moving into this new housing situation. She's so excited. She comes in and she's like, oh.

It's been such a lovely day. Mr. Sunshine really gave us one of his biggest and brightest smiles. Oh, I feel like putting my arms around Mother Nature and giving her a big kiss. Hi, you must be Dorothy. And you must be Mrs. Rogers. No, but we have a Mrs. Rogers at the Grief Center. Oh, and there's a Mrs. Rogers lives across the street. And then, of course, there's Dale Evans, the most famous Mrs. Rogers of them all.

Now that's a comment on Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. And of course, there's Dale Evans, the most famous Mrs. Rogers of all time. I didn't know who that was. I had to look her up real quick. Oh, am I wrong that it's not? Well, Mrs. Rogers, the most famous of them. I think you're right. Is it Roy Rogers? Roy Rogers' third wife was Dale Evans, an American actress, singer, songwriter, and the third wife of singing cowboy film star Roy Rogers.

but I think you're right in terms of like Mrs. Rogers, meaning like the wholesome Mr. Rogers, you know, like all the people in your neighborhood. Did he ever get married? No. That's a good question. Well,

Was he like a bachelor with a best friend that slept over sometimes? Maybe. I don't know. We don't know. I don't know. Mr. Rogers could get it, I'm telling you. You think? Yeah, like a tall, drink of water, smarty pants, great sweaters. I mean, I'm sorry. I'm not sure I'm really going to want to get it on with the man who plays with puppets in the land of make-believe. I just... Listen, there is a lid for every pot, girl.

I'll live for every pot. There you go. Dorothy introduces herself. Yeah, she's been loading in boxes from the front door. And Rose says, Blanche has told me all about you. Sorry your husband dumped you. You can borrow my bubble bath anytime you want. That'll help ease the lonely nights. Thank you, Dorothy.

Patrick, I have here dumped. Whether it's true crime or comedy, can we just... What a terrible word. You're absolutely right. We don't say dumped for bodies and we don't say dumped for spouses. Okay, thank you. You know what I mean? We stipulate. Yeah. So Blanche enters from the kitchen. She sees that they're all getting acquainted. Dorothy says she's going to take herself

After her room, we get a moment here because Dorothy's saying second down on the left. And I love that Rose stands up for herself. And she's like, oh, sorry, like Blanche promised that room to me, which, you know, seems a little out of character that Rose might have been a little bit of a pushover and just like let her have it. But she asserted herself. That's right. And Dorothy said, well, Blanche promised it to me, too. Didn't you, Blanche? I have your trouble in River City. Right. Blanche obviously knows that that's the better room. That's right. And she doesn't even apologize. Whoops.

Right. And Dorothy's like, oh, great, great. What are we supposed to do now? Rose says back in Minnesota, we'd settle this kind of dispute with some good-natured log rolling. I love that it's good-natured. And it's dangerous. I've done it in real life. No, you haven't. I did it once. I don't remember where I was, but I was on a trip. I mean, I stayed on the log for literally 0.8 seconds. I mean, Cheesecakes, am I alone that you want to see video footage? Because I do. I did log rolling once, and I also did one of those mechanical bulls once. Oh, Jesus Christ.

Do you have video of this stuff? There might be video. Don't tease us. I know. There might be video of the mechanical bull. I'll have to see. I don't have video of the log rolling, but I definitely did it. Listen. I know. If you want to see, if there is, and you haven't joined the Facebook group yet,

This is the only way you're going to see it. I know. Totally. We're going to have to put it exclusively on the Facebook group page. I'm going to comb through it, see if I can find it. Oh, God. Well, they decide to flip a coin. Rose calls Tails. It's Tails. I just thought they handled this so, like, such grown-ups. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because it's kind of a big deal. Like, this might be the last bedroom any of them ever live in. Yeah, and Dorothy, I thought she was a really great loser. She's like, okay, Tails, you win. Dorothy's used to getting the tails into the stinger. You know what I mean? I do. And Rose was really kind. Yeah.

I'll make it up to you, Dorothy, I promise. Listen, if there's ever a night where you can't sleep, I'll come to your room and sing Kumbaya. Rose, I don't know what to say. Yes, I do. Don't ever do that.

It reminded me of that line where she goes, go to sleep, sweetheart. Pray for brains. Exactly. So good. I've got a Kumbaya mini deep dive. Oh, fun. This is one of my favorites. This is really interesting. So people know Kumbaya as a folk song. But what people don't know, however, is that the song was first recorded by descendants of slaves in the Gullah Geechee community of Darien in southeastern Georgia.

Georgia. So the Gula Geechee people are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and brought to the lower Atlantic states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia to work on the coastal rice, sea island cotton, and indigo plantations. They also created a new language, Gula, which is a Creole language spoken nowhere else in the world. Now, the first recording of Kumbaya was made in Darien, Georgia in 1926, sung by a Gula Geechee man named H. Wiley. The

chorus was actually get this like the hairs on my arm stood up the chorus was actually come by here which in the gulas creole accent sounded like kumbaya oh that makes sense over time that pronunciation was transformed into what we know today is kumbaya so for decades the dominant narrative was that a white evangelist the reverend martin w fray had originally composed kumbaya and

And this story was spread in part by Mr. Frey himself, who got a copyright on the song in 1939, claiming to have written it in 1936 based on a prayer he'd heard in Oregon. But around 2015, Professor Stephen Winnick, along with Gulagichi native Reverend Griffin Lotson, debunked this theory by finding the original recording.

So Mr. Winnick worked at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and he'd heard that there was a recording of the song that predated that white guy's claim that he'd written the song in 1936. So this guy, Mr. Winnick, contacted the Gulagichi native and mayor pro tem of Darien, Georgia, this guy, Reverend Griffin Lotson. And Lotson did the research and with the help from the representatives of the Folklife Center in the Library of Congress, get this. Mm-hmm.

They found the first original wax cylinder recording of Kumbaya. It was captured in 1926. So 10 years before that white guy with the copyright claimed to have written the song, the recording is what we talked about of H. Wiley singing Kumbaya here in the Gula accent that sounds like Kumbaya. And then in 2017, the song was recognized as the official state historical song of Georgia by the Georgia State Senate. Okay. I have lots of things. I have lots of questions. I have lots of things to say.

what about the royalties? What about all the royalties that went to that white guy? Right. Like he obviously ripped it off. So burn in hell. Yeah. Yeah. That's number one. I mean, just the appropriation of it all. It's horrendous. Yeah. But also just like the archiving that like that this man had heard that there was a recording that predated when this white guy said he wrote it by like 10 years. They went and found it on a wax cylinder. I looked it up on YouTube. I wasn't able to find the actual original recording, but they're

is a man who's singing what the original wax recording sounded like. And it's beautiful. And you can hear come by here as I come by. I come by is in the accent. And that's how we came to Kumbaya. Interesting. It's fascinating. You should go listen to it. It's a really interesting story. So back on move in day, Blanche says, well, Rose, what do you say we help Dorothy move her things? Okay. And I have like, well, what if,

Dorothy had won the coin toss because it seems to me Rose has been there for a while. So what are we going to do? Move all of Rose's belongings out of the bedroom? Yes. That's all I'm thinking about. So Rose is saying like, oh, it's so fun already being roomies with you two. I made the note that all of Dorothy's earthly possessions fit into three boxes that each weigh about a pound and a half. Exactly. Because they picked them up with no problem. But then again, I once again am Rose, bull in a china shop, because as she's like carrying one of the boxes down a hall, she knocks something over and destroys it and like Blanche screams. Oh.

I'm so sorry. Oh, I'll buy you another one. Well, you can't. That was one of a kind. Oh, no, well, don't feel bad. I never really liked it much anyway. It's just that my grandmother gave this to me on her deathbed. She was very, very sick for a very, very long time. I loved her very, very much. Blanche, why don't you just grind the broken pieces in her hand?

A funny joke, but also I'm like, it's move-in day. It's move-in day. I mean. We got shit to do. Oh, man. But Rose wants to make it up to Blanche, invites them out to dinner. She's like, it's our first night together as roommates. Let's all go out to my favorite restaurant. And like, the look in Dorothy's eyes for a free meal, like she's, I mean, over the

moon this one. Oh, yeah. Well, Stan never took her out to dinner. Exactly. I'm sure. Exactly. And so, you know, as they're running out the door, Rose is like, well, we better hurry because the Strawberry Blizzard special at the Dairy Queen only lasts till five. Come on, I'll drive. And the instant regret on Blanche's face. Yes. And the great joke from Dorothy. She goes, oh, let's not drive. Let's skip there. There. There.

Back from commercial, we're present day in the kitchen. They are chowing down. Dorothy actually eats. I'm like, well, it is cheesecake. You know, I could just see her on filming day like, hey, Lou, can we take it again? Take it from me, too. I just need another bite of this.

Well, it's 2 a.m. and none of them are tired. I mean, they're all just talking about like before they met, they never like really stayed up that late. You know, you know, before I met you two girls, I was never up this late. Except, of course, during the Jerry Lewis telethon. Of course, I was never a night person either until I blossomed into young womanhood and realized I was even more devastating by moonlight.

Of course. That I was even more devastated by moonlight. It's so good. Because she says, I'll never forget the night I made that discovery. Like, you've never met anybody with body confidence like Blanche. And like, don't we all wish we had this? She goes, it was during spring cotillion. I was wearing a long white dress and my first push-up bra. And Bobby Buck McAllister and I were enjoying a glass of punch out on the veranda when a beam of moonlight hit my cleavage.

Suddenly, the band began to play. It was at that moment I realized my bosoms had the power to make music!

It's so good. I have girls same. And then Dorothy makes like not that funny of a joke. She says, didn't Bette Midler win a special Grammy for that? She laughs at her own joke. Dorothy thinks it is the funniest 2am joke. I know. I have fake laughs between Dorothy and Rose. And also how weird Dorothy caresses Blanche's cheek in this moment. She does? Just go back and look. Ew. Just a gentle little caress. No.

It's just like, you know, to me, it seemed more like bee caressing Rue. You know what I mean? Like, that's my old friend. So, you know, Rose is just saying, like, isn't it so great that we always have such a good time together? And then Dorothy has to remind them, girl, please. Remember like that first time we all went shopping together? So now we're back in a flashback. Exactly. And I have the note here. They all agreed to go in on everything equally for grocery shopping, which just seems like a recipe for disaster.

Oh, yeah. Like, why would you do that? No, I know. And you think you're going to save money, but never split something evenly like that. Oh, gosh, no. So they're just kind of walking through the store and Blanche grabs a bunch of tins of smoked oysters. And of course, Dorothy is the Steve Tipton putting the kibosh on it all. What's this, Blanche? Smoked oysters. Oh, come on. Now, I know we said we'd go in on everything equally, but this is four dollars a can. We have to have these. They're absolutely essential. Oh.

You'll be prying him off the wall!

Your blanch is so good. Thank you. What she's saying is that, like, apparently smoked oysters are Viagra. And Dorothy pretends to not care, but as the other girls walk away, like, behind her back, she reaches in and grabs a bunch of tins of the oysters. Oh, no. So funny. Look at it. Dorothy's sexual reawakening is about to begin. She doesn't even know. She's got that Dr. Elliot Clayton ahead of her. I know. She's got that Glenn guy who killed all those people in Boston. Jesus.

Killed all those people. Damn. He drove a car. I know. He went to jail for murder. Well, he went to jail for beating up the owner of a diner. Yeah. If you all haven't listened to the deep dive in the episode where Dorothy is dating the gym teacher, that gym teacher in real life has a crazy backstory and it is the deep dive. Go check it out. So this moment is so good. We have to do it. Okay. Blanche walks over to the cantaloupes and she's standing there looking at them. I'll be the stock man. Yeah. He walks past her and goes, those are very nice cantaloupes. Well, thank you.

Now, the audience goes bananas. It is the funniest joke this audience has ever heard. By the way, I have let's crawl through this next section. Yes, yes, yes. Because each roommate now comes over and has to demonstrate their way of telling if a melon is ripe. That's right.

But this one's ripe. And how do you tell, Dorothy? Well, you smell the tip of it. It's an old Sicilian method my mother taught me. Oh, Dorothy dear, the best way to tell if a melon is ripe is southern. You thump it. Well, actually, roomies, I have the best method, the farm method. It works every time. And what might that be, Rose dear?

Well, actually, roommates, I can't even get through it. Well, actually, roommates, I have the best method, the farm method. It works every time. She pulls a switchblade out of her purse. It starts hacking away at the melons like it's a scene from Psycho. She's like, no. Yeah.

Better. But she's literally, she's holding the melon in one hand. She's got the knife and she's like, Betty White is hacking away with this knife. She's destroying them and then throwing them back in the pile if they're not good enough. I'm telling you, she's got away with weapons. She's got the knife. Later down the road, she's going to have the gun. I mean, her roommate, she has driven them away. Yeah.

Yeah. So now we're at the checkout. Oh, God, this is so good. Yeah. And of course, Blanche wants every trashy tabloid, right? That's right. The Tattler and the Midnight Star and the Inquirer and the People magazine to find out what's really going on in the world. That's right. But the best part is when the cashier starts ringing them up. And I swear to God, Rose becomes my husband because she starts telling the cashier that she's undercharging them for things.

Excuse me, you made a mistake. Those peaches aren't 59 cents a pound, they're 89 cents. Honesty is the best policy. What are you trying to do, Rose? Qualify for some kind of scout badge? I can't help it if I'm an honest person. Obviously something you don't know anything about. What are you talking about? Well, you bought pantyhose in fatigue. Everybody can see you couldn't get those past your knees. You're gonna see.

I'm not going to say that to your landlord. I know. I'm telling you, this is where the house common charges come from. It's this interaction. She's like, you're going to call me out like that. You're going to pay your rent and the common charges. And not only that, let's keep going because like right where she lives. I mean, this is so important to Blanche. Like, oh my God.

Like, sweetly savage? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, she just thinks she's hilarious, you know? I'm speechless. I'm absolutely speechless. So then, this is my other favorite part. Blanche pulls out a pork loin that she's going to use as a weapon. Dorothy grabs it, sees how much it is, and decides that, and I quote, $15 is too extravagant. I want to say, she is responsible for one-third of that $15. Mm-hmm.

$5 for a pork loin dinner is too extravagant for Dorothy. What did that man do to you? Well, I was going to say $15 back in 1986. Sure. But let's even say it's a $10 pork loin per person or whatever. I was just like, oh my God, $5 is too extravagant? I think someone's not allowed to order chicken wings when they get home. I know.

I think someone has to eat the groceries. Did I tell you that story? That's why I'm bringing this up. I think you're projecting a little bit. It could be. After a recording last week, all I wanted was to go home and I was the wing stop girl from TikTok. I worked 10 hours. All I want is wing stop. I was that girl. And my husband insisted that we were going to cook the food we had in the house. And I was not given a choice. I was like, all of my autonomy was taken away from me. And I

And I ate the food that was presented to me. Well, someone's going to get to retire to that nursing home you can't wait to go to. Thanks to Steve.

Well, at this point, they all decide they're going to go their own ways. They're not going to share grocery costs. They're going to do their own thing. It was the pepperoni was a step too far for Blanche. It was. And I do have to just imitate her because I just love the way she did it. It's obnoxious. Yeah. Well, remember the episode where Sophia was starving and all she wanted was pepperoni? It's the only thing that doesn't repeat on her. I will say the pepperoni is exceedingly phallic. I mean, it kind of was obnoxious. Yeah. So they get home. They're all coming in with all their grocery bags. They're slamming.

their bags down everywhere. They are all pissed. Just really funny bag acting here. Just noisy, you know, like a rhythm section. Bag acting. Bag acting. Dorothy puts her Raisin Bran in the refrigerator and it absolutely incenses Blanche. Do you have a problem with that? Yes, I do. I have two problems with it. First of all, there isn't room for it in there. And second of all, it doesn't go in the refrigerator. It goes in the cabinet. It does not go

in the cabinet. It stays fresher in the refrigerator. No, it's not stayed fresher in the refrigerator. If it stayed fresher in the refrigerator, there would be a sign on it saying refrigerate.

I know we're supposed to laugh at the cheated you out of raisins, but visually appealing? You know what I mean? Like the idea that like a canister of raisin bran is visually appealing? I'm going to text you something, okay? Okay. Tell me when it comes through. All right, got it. Oh!

Oh my God. Is this your house? Yeah. So I... This is very visually appealing. Thank you very much. I stand correct. These are canisters full of shit. What's in there? Okay. So I have canisters filled with protein powder and coffee filters. And this brings me back to the question earlier, am I neat? So I bought matching jars for all my spices. Because you know what? Sometimes in stores, you get a variety of all different kinds of bottles. Do you cook a lot?

Yeah. And so I labeled them all with this kit that came with its own little labels and stuff. And so they're all neat and matching. And I just dumped the spices into these beautiful bottles. Can I ask you a favor? Yeah. Do you mind if I go fuck myself? Because I stand fully and firmly corrected. Oh. You and Rose Nyland are correct. It is visually appealing. Isn't it? Yeah. And you can see where you don't have to hunt for anything. No.

Unless you don't know what a macaroni noodle is, you know? What is that? What is that spiral goodness? Boy, I wish I had a label on the side of a box to tell me. So now they just have to confront the fact that they probably aren't going to make good roommates because they fucking hate each other. I know, and that's really scary. It is. Even though I know they're going to be roommates, I actually was like, oh, God, no. Well, my...

thing to them is like, you know, you don't have to go grocery shopping together. Like you don't have to do everything together. Like, I don't, are you out of heirlooms for Rose to break? Like, I think it's going to be okay if you all don't like force yourselves on each other at all times. Exactly. But here is Rose to save the day. Yes. She sits down and the ladies do too. And we basically go into one of our Rose Nyland stories. Yeah. You know, she knows they're not going to be good roommates because of what happened during the great herring war. And Blanche is like, the

the great herring war and rose says yes between the lindstroms and the johansons and dorothy just shouts oh that great herring war it's so good the whole thing here is like rose is telling this story that gets more and more ridiculous that one family wanted to like you know sell the herring or whatever the other family wanted to train the herring for the circus yeah exactly the johansons wanted to pickle the herring and the lindstroms wanted to train them for the circus

Weren't they kind of hard to see riding on the elephants? Oh, not that kind of circus. A herring circus. Sort of like SeaWorld, only smaller. Much, much smaller.

And what starts to happen, and you see this clip on TikTok a lot saying like, oh, this is Bea Arthur and Ruma Clanahan breaking, but it's not. Yeah, but I think they genuinely are laughing though. I think they're laughing too because there's that one moment that Bea Arthur can't get it out. She starts to say the line and she has to stop herself and then she finishes it. Because you asked me in a prior episode, are they really laughing? And in that moment, to me, it looked like they were just the characters laughing. But here, it looks like these old friends are having fun. Yes. Yeah. Tell me, Rose, um,

Did they ever shoot a herring out of a cannon? Only once. But they shot him into a tree.

What is so amazing about it, too, is that Dorothy and Blanche are just, they're laughing hysterically. Rose is keeping it fully together. Like, she's got a story to tell. Like, this is exactly why they're not going to be good roommates together. Exactly. And then by the end of it, you know, they're all laughing so hard. Oh, girls. Girls, do you realize what just happened? Well, I know I've been having a very good time and there wasn't even a man in the room. Oh.

You think it was just a fluke or do you think we could learn to like each other? Well, I think it might take time, but it could be worth it. Let's give it a shot. Breathe. I'm gay. Once again, it's like you guys are spending too much time together. You know what I mean? Like that's not what your lives are really going to be like. You know, like you're three interesting, fun women, whatever. And they decide it's worth giving it a shot. Exactly. You know what? Real quick, I've got to tell you something, Patrick. What, girl? There is something actually called Battle of the Herrings. What?

Really? Really. What is it? It was way long ago in 1429. Okay. It took place between England and France. Uh-huh. The immediate cause of this battle was an attempt by French forces to intercept and divert a supply convoy headed for English forces. It consisted, the convoy that is, of 300 carts and wagons carrying crossbow shafts, cannons and cannonballs, but also barrels of herring. Okay.

And as a Catholic, you'll understand this. The latter were being sent since the meatless Lenten days were approaching. So they were sending the herring because they couldn't have beef? Can we call off the biblical rules in times of war? Even Jesus is like, girl, have a burger. It was the presence of the fish that would give it the unusual name of the Battle of the Herring. It

Interesting. Yeah, anyway. You know, when I grew up, the herring runs were like a really big thing on Cape Cod, where during herring season, you would go to the herring runs, and, you know, the herrings swim upstream, and it's oftentimes uphills, these streams, and you would get nets, and you would take them, and you would scoop them up, and you'd run them up to the top of the river for them. Is there video footage of you doing that? I have pictures. Okay, good. If nothing else, I have pictures of me at the Brewster Herring Run. I know some of you know what that is. I mean, I feel like we buried the lead. I know.

You gotta post these. Oh my God. I will post them. I was rocking my green sweatpants, which I wore all the time. They were my favorite. I will put them in the Facebook group. So they all continue to put away their groceries after deciding to give their living arrangement another shot. Yeah. And Blanche spots Rose carrying a pink box, which is clearly from the bakery. Right. And she's like, she doesn't know what it is. She says, okay, wait a minute. What's that? Wait a minute.

What's that? Oh, I'm sorry. I know it's awful, but I have this incredible sweet tooth. What is it? Cheesecake. What kind? Chocolate. Oh, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And honestly, this moment made me tear up. It's their origin story. Yes. You know, like, not since Prometheus has there been such a great...

Totally. Well, the thing is, too, that, like, I love that we're finally to, like, the cheesecake being the fifth roommate, you know? I know. Like, all of us who've watched this series a million times know that we eventually cheesecake is the thing. But, like, now they're kind of inventing the cheesecake lore. Right, right. You know, which I just love. So we're back in the kitchen. Present day. Present day. The trip down memory lane has taken their minds off of Psycho. And they decide they're going to leave all the dishes until the morning. They get up to go to bed. And all I'm thinking is...

It's Florida. Ants. They left everything on the table. Oh, God. Right? You can't do that there. You can't do that. No, so they're about to walk out the kitchen door where Sophia, who's been suspiciously absent from most of this episode, bursts in waving a butcher knife and screaming. Just like looking like Norman Bates dressed as his mother. Ma, that is not funny. Are you kidding? It's a riot.

I pulled once on old man Peterson. After we saw Psycho at the home, they had said he would never walk again. He walked. Would your mom have done something like this? No. My mom would have. Really? And actually did. Really? Yeah. My brothers and father watched the movie The Shining. Oh, God. You know, terrifying movie. And my brothers weren't, you know, small children, but they were, you know, young preteens, early teens. Right. And they were so scared.

that I had one of those trundle beds that pop up. Yeah, oh yeah. And like, you know, really wide. My sister had one. Yeah, so we slept. They came into my room and slept sideways in my room all night because they were too scared. And then just as they started to drift off to sleep, my mother opens the door with a flashlight under her chin. Stop it! And she just went...

shining. No! And my brother's bodies went straight up like cats. You know how cats jump straight up and down? Yes. But their horizontal flat bodies went about three feet in the air. Ha ha ha!

She laughed. The savagery. Oh, my mother was so damn funny. Oh, my God. That is so good. Oh, I say this because Dorothy says, Ma, that is not funny. Well, Yvette would think it's very funny. It absolutely was. So, Sophia exits. They decide they're going to stay up and finish the cheesecake. Sounds good. Yeah. And Blanche says, Do you know what would go so good on this cheesecake? Is those chocolate sprinkles. Which they finished an hour ago. And Dorothy says...

We could crush some Oreos on top. We ran out of those two hours ago. It's also like, ladies, slow down. Like, it's too much. I know. Don't you remember Sophia and the gallbladder problem? I know. But Dorothy says, how about some whipped cream? I think we still have a can. I'll get it. It's in my bedroom. Never mind. Cheesecakes don't go away when we come back. Jen is going to do her deep dive on Mame. I'm so excited. Mame. Mame.

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All right, girl, we're getting a Mame deep dive today. We are. And you know, Cheesecakes, we're doing this because of Bea. I know. This was really the thing that sort of put her on the map. Yes. You know? If I could get in the time machine and go back and see one thing, it would be Bea Arthur and Mame. Right? You know. Flawless, I'm sure. Yeah. All right. So let's get started. Let's not waste any time. Please. I'm going to start with the origin story of Mame. Oh, yes. Which is actually based on a novel called Anti-Mame. Yes. 1955. Or Anti-Mame, depending on what part of the country you're from. I feel like as a homosexual, I should know all of this, but I know none of it. Oh, I'm so...

so honored to make me gayer. Help your gay portfolio. All right. Yes, ma'am. Just overall, Auntie Mame, it's an irreverent escapade, a novel by American author Patrick Dennis, and it chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy

a boy. His name is Patrick Patrick. That's right. Growing up as the ward of his aunt, Mame Dennis, who's the sister of his dead father. Now, it was a true story about how this author was orphaned when he was just a little boy. Oh, wow. Yeah. And that this aunt was glamorous, irrepressible, and taught him how to live like a bohemian.

Whoa. All right. So people were crazy about this story of Dennis's life, right? Because the characters are so appealing. And because Little Patrick's life was his, with this madcap on, it was such an exciting and delicious adventure. It was a New York Times bestseller. Wow. I mean, it just took off, right? Okay. So it was then adapted into a stage play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert

Edwin Lee in 1956. Oh, wow. So look at that timeline. That's like a year later. Oh, yeah. So no one wasted any time, right? They got those rights and were like, there you go. By the way, the rights to my book are available. You know what? No joke. I was in the Barnes & Noble up on 82nd and Broadway yesterday. Oh, yeah?

True crime crossover. I finally bought John Douglas's book, Mindhunter. Oh, yeah. Do you know what I mean? And I just was like, I really want to read this. Totally. But I walked right past your face. Oh, my goodness. Was the book facing out? Facing out, Patrick. Stop it. Yeah, I should have taken a picture. Oh, that's so nice. I mean, I didn't buy it.

but it was there. Anyway, back to Mame. This stage play ran on Broadway from October 31st, 1956 to June 28th, 1958. That's almost two years. That's a nice, healthy run. For a play, that's a long time. At the Broadhurst Theater. And when I hear that, I get tingles, like just the history of it. I know. You know? I love that you and I both love the Broadway theaters. Well, and also just that when I hear this kind of story, read this kind of story, I'm reminded, you know? Oh, yeah. It's just crazy. Sometimes I walk into the St. James, like I walked into the stage where I once looked onto the stage. I'm like, that's where

the original Oklahoma was. Correct. Like you look at, you're like, the original Oklahoma happened right there. Insane. Wild. So the original Broadway production starred Rosalind Russell in this title role. So in 1964, a little bit later, producers Joe and Sylvia Harris, they teamed up with Robert Fryer and Lawrence Carr to adapt Auntie Mame into a musical.

So let me talk about assembling the main creative team. So Lee and Lawrence were tapped to write the libretto and Jerry Herman was brought in to write the music and lyrics. And the libretto for the Cheesecakes Who Don't Know, that's like the script. That's like the script, the book, the lines, the spoken word. Now regarding the show's director, you might have heard of him. It's Gene Sachs.

before becoming one of the theater's most renowned directors, he was an actor. He appeared in a lot of stage productions, such as A Shot in the Dark, The Tenth Man, Middle of Night, et cetera, et cetera. But he then moved into directing, and he did that at the urging of his wife, who? Actress Beatrice Arthur. Oh, Beatrice.

And here's a quote from Bea in an interview she did. She said, quote, I pushed him into it. I was aware long before Gene was of his ability to work with actors where so-called directors couldn't. So Gene accepted the offer to direct Mame. And regarding the casting of Mame, it's quite interesting. Mary Martin allegedly said,

repeated down the role several times, repeatedly. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's who they were thinking of. And so when she turned it down, the producers cast a wide net for the role. And I just have to read you some of the names, not all of them, of actors who were considered for the role of Mame. Betty Davis, Catherine Hepburn, Greer Garson, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Lucille Ball, Maggie Smith, Judy Garland, and because of the Golden Girls connection, Elaine Stritch. I just had to end with her. Oh, she would have been great.

So it was writer Jerome Lawrence's idea to bring in Angela Lansbury for an audition. From the very beginning, the producers and Gene were at odds about who they should hire for the lead. Gene wanted to cast Beatrice, his wife, B, RB, of course. And after a lengthy casting search was concluded, it finally came down to a vote. And the majority ruled in Angela Lansbury got the part.

Wow. So Bea was up for the lead. She was. She wanted it. She was very upset that she didn't get the role of Mame. Yeah. That's got to be tough at home. It is. And it's kind of a testament to these two women. Yeah. Because I'm going to talk more about it, but not only in this, but a deep dive we did on Angela Lansbury, as you know, that

Listen to this quote. Angela said, I know she wanted to play Mame regarding Bea. And I think that Jean Sachs, her husband, probably put her forward as a possibility to play before I kind of came into the picture. And so I don't think she ever quite got over it. I can say that in all honesty, and I think she would agree. Wow. Yeah.

But Bea did take the role of Vera, which, frankly, thank God she did, right? Yeah. So this was Vera Charles was Mame's best friend. So once the cast was in place, the road to Broadway was very, very smooth and very quick. Seems like it would be. I think it took like six months, they said, to write the score. Wow.

The show had a successful tryout in Philadelphia. And after that, you're going to love this story, Bea demanded a proper celebration. This is according to Jerry Herman. And he says, we were ready to come into New York. That called for a celebration. So a group of us went out to dinner. Angie and her husband, Peter Shaw, Bea Arthur and Gene Sachs, who was her husband at that time, and me. And me meaning Jerry Herman.

So he says, we went to this wonderful old Philadelphia restaurant called Bookbinders. I love that name. I just, I'm imagining this dinner. You know, they're all chain smoking and drinking martinis. Here we go. Listen to this. So they went to this place called Bookbinders. It was famous for its seafood. He says, we all sat down and the first thing Bea did was to order a drink. Yeah, of course. I am terribly sorry, the waiter told her, but we have a state law here that we cannot serve alcohol on us.

Sunday. You do not deny that woman alcohol. I did that once and it did not go well. Well, poor B groaned apparently. And after the waiter left with the order, Peter Shaw said, I hear that some restaurants in this town will serve you a drink and a teacup. So the next time the waiter came to the table, B looked up at him and bellowed, tell Mr. Bookbinder to bring me a cup of vodka. I love that story.

Yes. That's amazing. So Bea, apparently in a Broadway preview, stopped the show, unsurprisingly, with her rendition of Man in the Moon. I thought you meant she, like Patti LuPone style, stopped the show to yell at somebody. Oh. So listen. So here's an excerpt from Herman's memoir. It says, Wow. Wow.

After that, I had the great fun of writing The Man in the Moon for Bea Arthur to sing in the antique operetta in which she plays a lady astronomer. At the first preview, Bea came right down to the edge of the stage and sang very earnestly and sincerely directly to the audience. The man in the moon is a lady. A lady with lipstick and a curl.

Well, the roar that went up from the audience lasted a full minute. Oh, my God. I can see it. I can see it. Yes. All those looks we see on the Golden Girls, folks. Here we go. Bea had to stand there forever with that telescope pressed to her eye before the audience would let her go on. Wow.

Talk about stopping a show. Oh, to have been there. You know what I mean? With that dry delivery, that low voice delivery. So Mame premiered on Broadway, meaning the opening night. We've been in previews, kittens, cheesecakes, pussycats and cheesecakes. What that means is you're rehearsing during the day and making changes. And then opening night, those stop. So the show opened May 24th, 1966 at the Winter Garden Theater. It received a positive review in the New York Times after opening night.

Saying, Theater, Mame is back with a splash as musical. Angela Lansbury stars as the zesty Aunt Frankie Michaels and Beatrice Arthur excel. Beatrice Arthur plays a sodden stage star, the bosom pal of Mame and a viper in her bosom. Miss Arthur gives a caustic musical comedy performance that is fluent in skill and superb in timing. There is a particularly long pause that Miss Arthur takes, a very risky moment, that she judges to fine hair exactness and crowns with a perfect payoff. Wow.

The show was later moved to the Broadway Theater, which, for those of you who don't know, is straight up the street about two and a half blocks. And it's huge. And it ran for over 1,500 performances. Wow. 1,508 total performances. Wow.

So here are some awards won by the Broadway production of Mame. Best Actress in a Musical, Angela Lansbury. Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Frankie Michaels. And Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Beatrice Arthur. Yes! So here's where it starts to take a sad turn. So Mame the movie, and Bea actually attributes this film to her divorce from her husband, Gene Sacks. Yeah. The production itself became a huge hit, and it spawned this 1974 feature film, and it starred...

infamously Lucille Ball in the title role. Yeah. Not Angela Lansbury. But they did invite Bea to reprise her supporting role as Vera. This was a debacle of a film version. Yeah. And he's directing the movie. He's directing the movie. And Bea said, look, that was horrible. She said, I wish I'd never done the movie. I hated making it. Can't bear to watch it. But I was married to the director and he said I owed it to him. I listened. The whole thing was a shambles.

That's such garbage. You owe it to me. Fuck off, Gene Sacks. I know. And this is sort of the end. Sorry, this line is the end of my main deep dive, but me and Gene divorced in 1978. And I have here Patrick. Hey! Hey!

Wah, wah, wah, wah. So there's my Mame deep dive. Oh, you know what? They can't all end on a happy note. You know what I mean? Anyway. Yeah. That was a great deep dive, girl. You know, it was sweet. Yeah. The Mame. The Mamester. The Mamester. The Mamorama. The Mamorama.

Cheesecakes, we love you so much. Don't forget to join the Facebook group. It's the Golden Girls Deep Dive podcast discussion group. We've got over 3,000 members in there. It is wild. It is so fun. What else do they need to know, girl? What you need to know is if you have suggestions for deep dives or just information that you want to impart, write us at info at goldengirlsdeepdive.com. Yeah, and you can always follow us on the Instagram and the TikTok. It's at goldengirlsdeepdive. It's really fun. That's where we, like, you'll see all of our videos, all of the funny moments, and they, like, just come and hang out with us there. That's all.

All right. We love you, Cheesecakes. We love you. Bye. Bye.

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