The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is an accessible collection that explores the cultural, industrial, and historical impact of that beloved American sitcom. Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin, Jr., this anthology brings together a diverse range of voices that model different media studies approaches to researching and critically analyzing television texts. The Golden Girls reclaims the production history and development of the show, opens new conversations about audiences–especially Black, queer, and female audiences–and provides new insight into the meteoric rise in popularity of The Golden Girls as a 2020s cultural phenomenon. With twelve original chapters and extensive original interviews offering readers rare insights behind the scenes, the book is a long day’s journey into the marinara of The Golden Girls–an immersive, engaging opportunity for readers to learn more about the show. It truly is the golden age of The Golden Girls.
The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is a rich collection of essays and interviews that explores the cultural impact of that iconic and comforting American sitcom. Featuring twelve original essays and in-depth interviews with producers, the book offers rare insights into the show’s creation, its beloved characters, long-lasting life in syndication, and appeal for marginalized viewers, especially Black, queer, and female audiences. Perfect for both fans and scholars alike.
Arvustused
"These tales offer an amazingly detailed history of the Girls, full of in-depth analysis, revealing interviews, never-before-known facts, and sly references to our favorite funny moments and one-liners. Like Dorothy, it's super-smart. Like Sophia, it'll have you laughing out loud. And like Vanna White's memoir, it's just a helluva book!" - Jim Colucci (New York Times bestselling author of Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai) "Miller and Martin have expertly curated an impressive collection of essays that capture the wit and the heart of The Golden Girls while simultaneously offering an essential contribution to the field of television studies. This is the book that fans and scholars have been waiting for." - Racquel J. Gates (author of Double Negative: The Black Image and Popular Culture) "This book is a testament to both the emotional truth and sociological power this powerhouse television show created. It is a glorious and fascinating look into the writing, the performances, and most of all the many lines they crossed. I say this from the bottom of my heart to the humans involved in this book: thank you. For being a friend." - Alexandra Billings (actress and author of This Time for Me: A Memoir) "This book is more fun than a herring circus. Martin and Miller have put together a collection that deftly illustrates the depth, significance, and risk taking that define The Golden Girls. It's an important addition to work on eighties TV and a must-read for fans of the Girls. It made me feel like I just won Butter Queen." - Kelly Kessler (author of Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical) "Weaving together witty commentary, behind-the-scenes perspectives, and solid research, this book allows the readerfrom casual fan to die-hard fanaticto reflect upon The Golden Girls phenomenon in fresh and thought-provoking ways." - Maria Carpiac (professor and director of the Gerontology Program at California State University, Long Beach)
Introduction: Thank You for Being a Fan: 40 Years of The Golden Girls
Section 1: Industry and Historical Context
Chapter 1: Picture it, U.S. 2020: Sitcom Nostalgia During the Pandemic,
Kate Fortmueller
Interview: What did you do on The Golden Girls?
Chapter 2: Disneys Renaissance Woman: Susan Harris, The Golden Girls, and
Touchstone Television, Peter C. Kunze
Interview: Creating the Golden Girls
Chapter 3: Golden Girls Again: The Golden Girls in Rerun Syndication, Taylor
Cole Miller
Interview: Thank You For Being a Friend
Chapter 4: Golden Memories: Narrative Complexity and Flashback Episodes in
The Golden Girls, Jessica Hoover
Interview: The Weekly Schedule Taping Seasons 1-3
Section 2: Text
Chapter 5: Enquiring Minds: The Golden Girls and Tabloid Culture, Claire
Sewell
Interview The Weekly Schedule Writing Seasons 5-7
Chapter 6: I Need a Cheesecake: 1980s Diet Culture and The Golden Girls,
Ashleé Clark
Interview: Working with the Girls
Chapter 7: AIDS is not a Bad Persons Disease, Rose: Contagion and Comedy
on The Golden Girls, Andrew J. Owens
Interview: Photographing the Girls
Chapter 8: Sex and the Biddy: An Examination of Age and Sexual Performance
in The Golden Girls, Jared Clayton Brown
Interview: Editing and Laughter
Chapter 9: Thank You for Being a Mom: Contradictory Lessons in Mothering
from The Golden Girls, Beth L. Boser
Interview: The Great Herring War
Section 3: Audiences & Reception
Chapter 10: Golden Girlfriends: Black Womens Fandom and the Implicit
Blackness of The Golden Girls, Alfred L. Martin, Jr.
Interview: On Bea and Betty
Chapter 11: Smut Upon a Time in Miami: The Golden Girls' Camp Comedy, Ken
Feil
Interview: Why Its Still Popular
Chapter 12: Thank You for Making Drag Safe: Mainstreaming Queerness
Through Live Golden Girls Stage Productions, Eleanor Patterson
Interview: From The Golden Girls to Golden Palace
Notes on Contributors
Notes
Introduction: Thank You for Being a Fan: Forty Years of The Golden Girls 1
Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin Jr.
Part I. Industry and Historical Context
1. Picture It, U.S. 2020 . . .: Sitcom Nostalgia During the Pandemic 19
Kate Fortmueller
Interview: Meet Our Special Guests and Their Little Slice of
The Golden Girls 33
2. Disneys Renaissance Woman: Susan Harris, The Golden Girls,
and Touchstone Television 37
Peter C. Kunze
Interview: Creating The Golden Girls 53
3. Miami Thrice: The Golden Girls in Rerun Syndication 57
Taylor Cole Miller
Interview: Thank You for Being a Friend 75
4. Golden Memories: Narrative Complexity and
Flashback Episodes in The Golden Girls 79
Jessica Hoover
Interview: The Weekly Schedule: Taping Seasons 13 93
Part II. Text
5. Enquiring Minds: The Golden Girls and Tabloid Culture 99
Claire Sewell
Interview: The Weekly Schedule: Writing Seasons 57 113
6. I Need a Cheesecake: 1980s Diet Culture and The Golden Girls 119
Ashleé Clark
Interview: Memorable Moments with the Girls 133
7. AIDS Is Not a Bad Persons Disease, Rose:
Contagion and Comedy on The Golden Girls 137
Andrew J. Owens
Interview: Photographing the Girls 149
8. Sex and the Biddy: An Examination of Age and
Sexual Performance in The Golden Girls 153
Jared Clayton Brown
Interview: Editing and Laughter 165
9. Thank You for Being a Mom: Contradictory Lessons in
Mothering from The Golden Girls 167
Beth L. Boser
Interview: The Myth of Ad-Libbing the Great Herring War 183
Part III. Audiences and Reception
10. Golden Girlfriends: Black Womens Fandom and the
Implicit Blackness of The Golden Girls 187
Alfred L. Martin Jr.
Interview: On Bea and Betty 201
11. Smut upon a Time in Miami: The Golden Girls Camp Comedy 205
Ken Feil
Interview: Why The Golden Girls Is Still Popular 219
12. Thank You for Making Drag Safe: Mainstreaming Queerness
Through Live Golden Girls Stage Productions 225
Eleanor Patterson
Interview: From The Golden Girls to Golden Palace 241
Notes on Contributors 243
Index 247
Taylor Cole Miller is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Alfred L. Martin, Jr. is an associate professor and Department Chair of the Department of Cinematic Arts at the University of Miami. He is the author of Fandom for Us, By Us: The Pleasures and Practices of black Audiences and The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom, and editor of Rolling: Blackness and Mediated Comedy.
