Let's Do the Time Warp Again!: 50 Years of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was not the first cult horror musical. Horror musicals go at least as far back as You'll Find Out (1940), starring Kay Kyser and his band. In fact, another horror musical, Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974), had come out the year before The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). It wasn't the first midnight movie either. The first true midnight movie is generally considered El Topo (1970). By the time The Rocky Horror Picture Show began its midnight run there had already been several midnight movies, ranging from older movies such as Freaks (1932) and Alice's Restaurant (1969) to more recent films such as Pink Flamingos (1972) and the aforementioned Phantom of the Paradise (1974). Regardless, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) is probably the most famous midnight movie of all time, and it certainly has had an impact on popular culture. Indeed, according to Guinness World Records, it holds the record for the longest continuous theatrical release. It has not left theatres since its release in 1975. Indeed, it was 50 years ago today, on September 26, 1975, that The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in the United States.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is an odd blend of sci-fi/horror spoof and musical, with references to everything from Forbidden Planet to Lili St. Cyr. It centres on a betrothed couple, Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) and Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors) who had a flat tyre on the way to visit their high school science teacher Dr. Scott (Jonathan Adams) following a wedding. They go looking for a telephone and find themselves at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), where Brad and Janet encounter such unusual characters s Frank-N-Furter's servants Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien) and his sister Magenta (Patrica Quinn, Lady Stephens). 

The origins of The Rocky Horror Picture Show go back to the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show. Richard O'Brien had been a stunt performer in such movies as Carry on Cowboy (1965) and Casino Royale (1967).  Unemployed in the early Seventies, he began work on a stage show. A fan of science fiction and B-movies since he was very young, he wanted his stage show to blend science fiction, classic horror films, B-movies, the Steve Reeves sword and sandal movies, and 1950s rock' 'n' roll movies. Transvestism would play a role in the stage play, although Richard O' Brien didn't mean for it to be as noticeable as it was in the end. 

It was during the summer of 1972 that Richard O'Brien met director Jim Sharman. Mr. Sharman cast Mr. O'Brien as an Apostle and a leper in a London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. He later cast him as the alien Willie in a production of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. Richard O'Brien showed Jim a portion of his script for what was then called They Came from Denton High. It was Jim Sharman who suggested that it be renamed The Rocky Horror Show. 

The Rocky Horror Show premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs on June 19, 1972, and ran until July 20, 1973. The original stage play included actors who would appear in the movie, including Tim Curry and Nell Campbell (billed as Little Nell). Following its run at the Royal Court Upstairs, the production moved to the Chelsea Classic Cinema, then the King's Road Theatre, and then the Comedy Theatre. 

It was in the winter of 1973 that record producer and movie producer Lou Adler attended a performance of The Rocky Horror Show in London along with his friend Britt Ekland. He bought the American theatrical rights, and as a result, The Rocky Horror Show made its American premiere at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. It was in August 1974 that the movie rights to The Rocky Horror Show were bought by 20th Century Fox. 

Filming began on The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) on October 21, 1974 and continued for eight weeks. It was shot at Bray Studios, where many Hammer Film Productions were shot. The country house Oakley Court doubled as Frank-N-Furter's castle. Hammer had a long history of using Oakley Court as a location. They had used it as far back as 1950  on such films as The Man in Black and The Lady Craved Excitement. It was used in several Hammer Horrors, including The Brides of Dracula (1962), The Old Dark House (1963), and The Plague of the Zombies (1966) Post-production was done at Elstree Studios, which had also seen its share of Hammer movies. Of course, along with the Universal monster movies and American B-movies, the classic Hammer films provided part of the inspiration for the original Rocky Horror Show.

Changes were made to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) from The Rocky Horror Show. The character of the Usherette in The Rocky Horror Show was entirely eliminated in the movie. "The Charles Atlas Song" from The Rocky Horror Show was reworked as "I Can Make You a Man" in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). In the original West End and Los Angeles productions of The Rocky Horror Show, "Sweet Transvestite" came before "The Time Warp." This was changed for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), so that "The Time Warp" came first. 

For the most part, roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show were filled with actors from stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show. Tim Curry originated the role of Frank-N-Furter in the very first 1973 production. Richard O'Brien had also originated the role of Riff-Raff. Patricia Quinn played the roles of the Usherette and Magenta in the original production, while Nell Campbell originated the role of Columbia. For the movie, the role of the Criminologist was filled by Charles Gray, who had appeared in the Hammer film The Devil Rides Out (1968) and played Blofeld in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971). 20th Century Fox insisted that two Americans be cast as Brad and Janet. The roles were filled by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon. At the time, Barry Bostwick may have been best known for playing Danny Zucco in the stage production of Grease, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Susan Sarandon had appeared in such films as The Apprentice (1971) and The Front Page (1974).

Filming The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was not always pleasant for the cast. Oakley Court was both cold and damp, a situation complicated by the fact that the movie was shot in the autumn and the cast often wore scanty clothing. The pool scene towards the end presented an unusual problem with regards to Tim Curry's makeup  According to Peter Robb-King make-up artist on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in a post on Tim Curry's official Instagram, "The water enhances the make-up and sets it even more." Tim Curry would then come out of the pool looking better than they wanted him to. Susan Sarandon, who spent much of the film in flimsy underwear, caught pneumonia while filming continued on the movie.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) opened at the Rialto Theatre in London on August 15, 1975. It was on September 26, 1975, that The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened a the UA Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles. A week later it expanded to seven other cities in the United States. While The Rocky Horror Picture Show did very well in Los Angeles, it did poorly in the seven other cities. Indeed, its planned opening in New York City, slated for Halloween (October 31), was even cancelled. 

In October 1976, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was paired with the aforementioned Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and released to college campuses. Unfortunately, it did no better at the box office. Here it must be pointed out that Phantom of the Paradise (1974) similarly failed at the box office upon its initial release.

What saved The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was the growing phenomenon of midnight movies. El Topo (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), and even such older movies as Reefer Madness (1936--originally titled Tell Your Children) were doing very well as midnight movies. Looking to the success of such movies as Pink Flamingos (1972), young 20th Century Fox marketing executive Tim Deegan believed The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) could be a success as a midnight movie. He began talking to theatres across the United States about midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). 

He finally convinced the Waverly Theatre in New York City to show The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as a midnight movie. They started doing so on April 1, 1976.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) proved to be a success at the Wavelry, so much so that the film was soon being screened at midnight in such cities as Austin, Los Angeles, Seattle, and elsewhere.   In March 1976, the Varsity Theatre in St. Louis began showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as its main feature for three weeks, then the theatre brought it back as a midnight movie on weekends. 

Of course, audience participation has long been a part of screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Reportedly, at its original run at the UA Westwood in Los Angeles, the audience would sing along with the songs. Responding to the characters on the screen developed after the Waverly in New York City began showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a midnight movie. Louis Farese, Jr., Theresa Krakauskas, and Amy Lazarus, who went to see the film regularly at the Waverly, are credited with introducing talking back to the screen, as well as even incorporating props. This practice would spread to other theatres and eventually the responses to the screen would become ritualized, with specific responses made to specific scenes. Extemporisation was discouraged. It was by Halloween 1976 that people began going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1976) dressed in costume.

Eventually, audience participation would go beyond calling back to the screen, as audience members would essentially reenact the movie in front of the screen, complete with sets and even props. The first shadowcast, as the performers who reenact The Rocky Horror Picture Show at screenings of the movie are called, was started by Michael Wolfson in 1977. It began in the autumn of 1977 at the Fox Venice Theatre in Los Angeles. Like the callbacks to the film, shadowcasts would eventually spread to other cities.

It was before The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) became a cult film that a major change was made to prints of the film shown in the United States.  Producer Lou Adler visited various theatres to research audience reaction to the film. He thought the movie's original ending was too downbeat and so he had the song "Super Heroes," performed at the end of the film, significantly shortened, and had the more upbeat 'Time Warp" play over the closing credits. The full version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show did not completely disappear from the United States. It was shown for three weeks at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles. It would also pop up on various cable channels, such as HBO. The full version of the film would surface in theatres in the early Eighties. It would also appear on VHS and later on DVD.

The success of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) would lead Richard O'Brien to write a sequel in 1979. Neither Jim Sharman nor Tim Curry wanted to participate in the project. Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien then made Shock Treatment (1981), another film featuring Brad and Janet (this time played by Cliff De Young and Jessica Harper). Over the years, Richard O'Brien made other attempts at a direct sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but none ever got off the ground.

Today The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) remains popular. Fifty years after its release in the United States, it is still playing at American theatres. At the same time, it has a somewhat complicated legacy. Many of the early fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) came from the LGBTQ community. For many, the movie worked as a celebration of queer identity and sexual liberation. One has to suspect that for many LGBTQ youth in the Seventies and Eighties, the midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show were one of the first times they could be themselves. 

That having been said, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is very much a product of its times and as a result, it is dated. The movie conflates the terms transsexual and transvestite, the latter term now considered offensive for many. There are those who find the character of Frank-N-Furter problematic, seeing him as a poor representation of trans individuals. Indeed, sexual coercion plays a role in the plot, something that makes for uncomfortable viewing even for some supporters of the film. Of course, in the end, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is very much a product of the 1970s, and a good deal has changed since then.

While there are those who find The Rocky Horror Picture Show problematic, for many others it remains a celebration of both self-expression and queer identity. Indeed, many may see the movie as so campy and so ridiculous that in many ways it is hard to take seriously. Regardless, fifty years after its release, not only is it still popular, but it is still playing in theatres. It seems possible it might still be playing in theatres fifty years from now. 

Sixty Years of Hogan's Heroes

The sitcom Hogan's Heroes debuted on CBS on September 17, 1965. It is then sixty years and one week old. From the beginning, Hogan's Heroes has been a polarizing show. Depending upon whom one asks, it is either one of the most brilliant comedies of the Sixties or a tasteless show that desensitized people to Nazis and the horrors they committed. Either way, not only is Hogan's Heroes remembered to this day, but it is still widely available. 

Hogan's Heroes centred on Colonel Robert Hogan of the United States Army Air Forces, a prisoner of war in a fictionalized Stalag 13 during World War II. Colonel Hogan was the leader of a group of Allied prisoners who operated as a covert team of spies and saboteurs using Stalag 13 as a base. Unknown to their captors, Colonel Hogan and his men not only had secret radios with which they communicated with Allied command, but several network tunnels through which they could leave the camp any time they chose. It was in this way that they gathered intelligence and disrupted the Nazi's operations.

Colonel Hogan's men were a diverse group. Hogan himself was both charismatic and charming. He was also a master of manipulation, a skill that came in useful in keeping his captors from ever discovering the Allied cell of spies operating from their own camp. French Corporal Louis LeBeau (Robert Clary) was a gourmet cook and an extremely patriotic Frenchman. He was also a master of covert operations and was good with animals, so good that he was able to befriend Stalag 13's guard dogs. 

Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk (Richard Dawson) was the con man, pickpocket, card sharp, magician, forger, and safe cracker of the group. American Staff Sergeant James "Kinch" Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon) was the team's electronics expert. He was responsible for the group's communications through radio and telegraph. He was also multilingual, able to speak both French and German. Kinch was a revolutionary character at the time. He was not only one of the few Black supporting characters on television at the time, but one of the earliest Black characters to be portrayed realistically and not as a stereotype. Technical Sergeant Andrew J. Carter (Larry Hovis) was the team's chemistry, explosives, and demolitions expert. Ivan Dixon left the show before its sixth season. Kinch was then replaced by Sergeant Richard Baker (Kenneth Washington). 

As to the Germans, the commandant of Stalag 13 was Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer). Colonel Klink was rather incompetent and always fell for Hogan's schemes. Often Colonel Hogan and his steam had to ensure Klink remained in command of Stalag 13, lest someone more competent be put in charge of the camp. Sergeant Hans Georg Schultz (John Banner) was the Sergeant of the Guard. Schultz was good-hearted and, unlike Klink, suspected Hogan and his men were engaged in covert operations, but chose to ignore it ("I know nothing" was his catchphrase).

Today many might be surprised to learn that some of the actors on Hogan's Heroes playing Germans were Jewish, and there was one cast member who had served during World War II. Werner Klemperer was the son of conductor Otto Klemperer and the first cousin of scholar Victor Klemperer. His family moved from Germany to the United States in 1933. Werner Klemperer took the role of Colonel Klink on the condition that Klink would always lose. If Klink ever won, he would leave the show. John Banner was also Jewish. He left his native Austria after Nazi Germany annexed the country. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. Sadly, Mr. Banner lost many of his family members back in Austria in the Holocaust. Leon Askin, who played the recurring role of General Burkhalter,  belonged to a Jewish family in  Austria and fled to the United States in 1940. Sadly, his parents were murdered in the Treblinka concentration camp. Robert Clary was a  Jewish Frenchman who was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Other members of his family were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Sadly, he was the only one of his family to survive. 

Hogan's Heroes did not begin its life as a military comedy, let alone one set in a POW camp. Its creators, Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy (both of whom were Jewish), developed an idea for a television series titled The Heroes set in a penitentiary. Messrs. Fein and Ruddy spent four years trying to sell the show with no luck. Bernie Fein often told a story that they changed the premise after he saw a fellow passenger on a plane reading Von Ryan's Express, a novel about Allied POWs during World War II. In truth, the premise appears to have been changed because of another prospective show. In 1964 there was news of a prospective sitcom created by Von Ryan Express author David Westheimer. Campo 44 was set in an Italian POW camp and would centre on the American and British soldiers held there. It was planned to air on NBC in the 1965-1966 season. It was apparently after news of Campo 44 came out that Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy changed the setting of their prospective sitcom from a penitentiary to a German POW camp during World War II.  As to Campo 44, a pilot was shot and would later air on NBC in 1967. It is unknown why NBC did not pick up Campo 44, but it seems quite likely that it was because CBS picked up Hogan's Heroes first.

Hogan's Heroes would result in a plagiarism lawsuit. The 1951 play Stalag 17 was written by playwrights Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. After playing on Broadway, it was adapted as the classic movie Stalag 17 (1953), directed by Billy Wilder. It was in January 1967 that Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski filed a lawsuit against CBS and Bing Crosby Productions (the production company behind Hogan's Heroes). They claimed that in 1963 they had based a one hour script based on Stalag 17 that CBS rejected. They further claimed that CBS then hired other writers to create a similar series, saving the network money. The case would not go to trial until after Hogan's Heroes ended its original network run. The jury actually decided in favour of Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski, only to have the judge reverse their decision. Quite simply, the judge found "striking difference in the dramatic mood of the two works." Of course this would be expected given Stalag 17 was a drama and Hogan's Heroes was a comedy.

As mentioned above, Hogan's Heroes would prove controversial because of its setting. Many feared the series would make light of Nazism and, as a result, trivialise the horrible truths behind Nazi Germany. In its "television and radio" reviews from September 18, 1965, The New York Times commented, "There's something a little sick about Hogan's Heroes..." The controversy would only be made worse by remarks from Bob Crane in an interview with Stan Freberg published in the September 19, 1965 issue of The Sunday Times. Asked by Mr. Freberg what some of the other amusing aspects were, Bob Crane replied, "German police dogs, machine guns, the Gestapo..." Unfortunately, Mr. Crane's quote would later appear in Newsweek.

While there were those at the time who thought Hogan's Heroes was in poor taste, the show proved to be successful nonetheless. During its first season, it ranked no. 9 for the year. What is more, it was nominated for awards and even won a few. In its first season alone, Hogan's Heroes was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and Bob Crane was nominated for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series, and Werner Klemperer was nominated for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series. It would go on to be nominated for nine more Emmys, of which it won one (for Werner Klemperer for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series). In August 1967, at the first annual NAACP Image Awards, it was recognized for "the furtherance of the Negro image" alongside Daktari, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, and Star Trek

Hogan's Heroes would also continue to do well in the ratings for much of its run. It ranked no. 17 for the year in its second season. It moved from its original time slot on Friday night to a new time slot on Saturday night. There it aired opposite NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, which ranked no. 10 for the year. As a result, ratings for Hogan's Heroes tumbled to no. 38 for the season. Its ratings would remain more or less steady for its fourth and fifth seasons. It ranked no. 39 both seasons. For its final season, Hogan's Heroes was moved to Sunday nights, where its ratings dropped once again.

While Hogan's Heroes dropped in the ratings in its sixth and final season, this was not the only reason that CBS cancelled the show. Quite simply, Hogan's Heroes was cancelled as part of the Rural Purge. It was in the 1970-1971 season that CBS decided to cancel shows whose audiences were too rural, too old, or too young (children don't count when it comes to the Nielsen ratings). Much of the audience for Hogan's Heroes was children, and so the show was cancelled as part of the Rural Purge. Of course, much of the reason for the Rural Purge was the FCC regulation known as the Prime Time Access Rule, which would take effect starting with the 1971-1972 season. Because of the Prime Time Access Rule, the networks lost three hours of programming once considered part of prime time. 

While Hogan's Heroes ended its broadcast network run, it did not disappear. It went on to a successful run as a syndicated rerun. In addition to local stations, it has also aired on such cable stations as WGN, TBS, Nickelodeon, TV Land, and the Hallmark Channel. It has aired for many years on MeTV. Hogan's Heroes is also available on streaming on Prime Video and Pluto TV. The series's first season was released on DVD in 2005 and the following seasons would be released over the coming years. A boxed set of the complete series was released in 2009, with a repackaged box set of the complete series released in 2020.

Despite the success of Hogan's Heroes, the controversy over the series upon its debut in 1965 has never quite gone away. In its October 25, 1998 issue, when the possibility of a movie based on Hogan's Heroes was being discussed, The Boston Globe stated "...under no circumstances should a film of Hogan's Heroes be made," claiming it "...presented the Nazis as the biggest cutups since the Keystone Kops." In his 2000 book The Powers That Be, David Halberstam's examination of the rise of modern media, the author referred to Hogan's Heroes as a "...program with an almost obscenely comic view of the Third Reich..." In 2002, despite the fact that the magazine had given Hogan's Heroes good reviews in the Sixties, TV Guide ranked it as the fifth worst show of all time, primarily because by that time they thought the show was offensive. The Forward recently published an article, "Did critics of the POW sitcom Hogan's Heroes actually have a point?," that examines the various points of view regarding Hogan's Heroes.

Chances seem good that people will always argue over whether Hogan's Heroes is offensive, but it seems as if the show isn't going anywhere soon. For better or worse, it seems likely it will still be on the air or on streaming sixty years from now. 

The Late Great Sonny Curtis

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and leader of The Crickets following Buddy Holly's death, Sonny Curtis died on September 19, 2025, at the age of 88. The cause was pneumonia.

Sonny Curtis was born on May 9 1937, in Meadow, Texas. He was born to a musical family. His uncles were The Mayfield Brothers, a west Texas band who were among the pioneers of bluegrass music. Sonny Curtis learned to play guitar by the time he was four years old. 

Sonny Curtis was 15 years old when he met Buddy Holly. With Buddy Holly's friend from high school, Bob Montgomery, they formed a band. They performed on bills with such artists as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. He wrote the song "Rock Around with Ollie Vee," which Buddy Holly recorded. He played on that recording, as well as on Buddy Holly's recording of "Blue Days, Black Nights."

Sonny Curtis went onto tour with Slim Whitman, during which time Buddy Holly formed The Crickets. It was in late 1958, not long before Buddy Holly's death, that he joined The Crickets. Following Buddy Holly's death, Sonny Curtis took over as The Crickets' leader. He was drafted in 1959 and it was during basic training that he wrote "Walk Right Back," which was recorded by The Everly Brothers. 

The Cricket's first single without Buddy Holly was "When You Ask About Love," which written by Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis. It was in 1960 that The Crickets recorded "I Fought the Law," which was written by Sonny Curtis. Although not a hit upon its release in 1960, it would be a hit for The Bobby Fuller Four in 1965. Sonny Curtis continued to perform with The Crickets until bassist Joe B. Maudlin died in 2015.

Sonny Curtis also wrote jingle for commercials. as well as the theme to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Love is All Around." Sonny Curtis also had a solo career as a country starting in 1966. Over the years he wrote several songs recorded by other artists. His song "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" by Keith Whitley was named the 1989 Country Song of the Year. He also wrote "Honky Tonk Song," recorded by Webb Pierce, "More Than I Can Say," recorded by Bobby Vee, "Don't Breath a Word," recorded by Ricky Nelson, "The Straight Life," which was recorded by Glen Campbell, and "A Fool Never Learns" by Andy Williams. 

Alongside Buddy Holly and the other Crickets, Sonny Curtis was a pioneer of rock 'n' roll. In particular, he helped shape what would become garage rock, which would in turn lead to such subgenres as power pop and punk. Of course, Sonny Curtis was nothing if not versatile. While he performed rock 'n' roll with The Crickets, he also recorded as a Country artist himself. He also wrote songs in a variety of genres. "I Fought the Law" is rock 'n' roll. "A Fool Never Learns" is a ballad that charted on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (Andy Williams's version went to no. 4 on the chart in 1963. Sonny Curtis was a remarkable talent who has had a lasting influence on music that is still felt today. 

The Golden Girls Turns 40

Historically, most broadcast network shows run their course and then disappear. A lucky few may find new life as a syndicated rerun for a few years after their network runs have ended. Even rarer still are those shows that are rerun for literally decades after their network runs have ended. Among such shows are I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and M*A*S*H. The Golden Girls also numbers among these shows. It debuted on September 14, 1985 on NBC, and original episodes of the show ran until May 9, 1992. Forty years later, it is still being aired on various channels and is widely available on various streaming services.

The Golden Girls centred around four older women, although by today's standards, they wouldn't necessarily be considered that old, who shared a house in Miami. Blanche Devereaux (Rue Devereaux) was the widow who owned the house. She rented rooms in the house to fellow widow Rose Nylund  (Betty White) and divorcée Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur). In the pilot, the retirement home where Dorothy's mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) burned down, so she wound up living with the three younger women. The four women had distinct personalities. Blanche was a Southern belle who was both man-hungry and vain. Rose was a Minnesotan of Norwegian descent and a bit scatter-brained, although also very caring. Dorothy is sarcastic and even short-tempered, but she tends to be the most practical of the four women. Sophia was brutally honest and sharp-witted, but she ultimately cared for both her daughter and her younger roommates.

The origins of The Golden Girls go back to August 1984 when the fall preview special for the coming season was being filmed at NBC's Burbank Studios. One sketch meant to promote the police drama Miami Vice and the detective show Remington Steele featured 59-year-old Doris Roberts (then playing secretary Mildred Krebs on Remington Steele) and 63-year-old Selma Diamond (then playing bailiff Selma Hacker on Night Court). Warren Littlefield, then senior vice president of NBC Entertainment, liked the sketch and thought a comedy based around "geriatric humour" could work.

It was not long afterwards that Paul Junger Witt (who had produced shows from Occasional Wife to It's a Living) and Tony Thomas (who had produced Benson) met with Warren Littlefield to pitch a show about a female lawyer. Warren Littlefield rejected the show about a lawyer, but asked if they would consider a pilot for a series about older women instead. The two producers approached their usual writer about the project, but he declined. Paul Junger then approached his wife, Susan Harris, who had created both Soap and Benson, about it. Susan Harris was interested in the concept, realizing that it was a demographic that network television had never really addressed.

The pilot for The Golden Girls would differ slightly from the regular series. In the pilot, a gay houseboy named Coco (Charles Levin) lived with the women. Ultimately, it was decided that the character of Coco was not going to work out and he did not appear following the pilot. It was during the process of creating The Golden Girls that changes would be made concerning the character of Sophia. Originally, Sophia was only meant to be a recurring character, but the character proved so popular with test audiences that she was made a regular. Arguably, Sophia proved to be the most popular character on the show. She not only appeared on the show's spinoffs Empty Nest and The Golden Palace, but also on the sitcom Blossom and the Empty Nest spinoff Nurses.

It was the character of Sophia who would be the first to be cast. Estelle Getty had a successful career on stage and had appeared in the movies Team-Mates (1978) and Tootsie (1984). She particularly impressed the producers in her audition, particularly Tony Thomas. Some concern was expressed over her age. At sixty-one, some thought she was too young to play Sophia, who was supposed to be much older (here I must point out that Estelle Getty was one year younger than the actor playing her daughter, Bea Arthur). In the end, Estelle Getty had to audition four times before landing the role.

The roles of Blanche and Rose would be filled by two actresses who had appeared on NBC's recently cancelled show Mama's Family, Rue McClanahan and Betty White. Curiously, the two actresses were not being considered for the roles that they would eventually play. The producers wanted Rue McClanahan to play Rose. She had played the somewhat scatterbrained Vivian on Maude. They wanted Betty White to play Blanche. She had played the lascivious Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It would be director Jay Sandrich who would be responsible for the two actors being cast in the roles for which they are now known. When Rue McClanahan was auditioning for the role of Rose, he asked her to switch to Blanche. This made Rue McClanahan happy, as she thought the role of Blanche was perfect for her. It was then that Rue McClanahan was cast as Blanche and Betty White as Rose.

While the role of Dorothy was originally written as a "Bea Arthur" type, it was Elaine Stritch who was first considered for the role. As it turned out, Elaine Stritch's audition went badly. It was then that the producers began courting Bea Arthur for the role. Initially, she was not interested. They asked Rue McClanahan to approach her old co-star, but she was initially reticent. For Bea Arthur, with Rue McClanahan playing Rose, it would be too close to Maude, in which Bea Arthur played a sarcastic Maude to a dingy Vivian. It was after Rue McClanahan told Bea Arthur that she and Betty White switched roles that Bea Arthur became interested. She read the script and was impressed enough to take the part. 

In addition to its four main characters, The Golden Girls would have several recurring characters over the years. The most frequent to appear was perhaps Dorothy's ex-husband Stan (Herb Edelman), who had left Dorothy for a much younger flight attendant. Sid Melton appeared as Sophia's husband and Dorothy's father Sal in flashbacks. Bill Dana and Nancy Walker appeared as Sophia's brother and sister Angelo and Angela. Later in the run of the show, Harold Gould played Rose's boyfriend Miles Webber. There were several other recurring characters throughout the show's run. 

Upon its debut, The Golden Girls received largely positive reviews. Associated Press television writer Fred Rothenberg said of the show, "The result is easily the funniest new comedy of the season." Columnist Karl Vick described The Golden Girls as "..probably the best of the fall crop." Jay Bobbin of The Star Tribune wrote of the show, "The Golden Girls offer high promise for an evening where originality in TV humour has languished since Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart left the night." 

The Golden Girls also proved to be a hit in the Nielsen ratings. Its premiere had the highest Nielsen ratings in two years, with a 25 rating and 43 share. It was the no. 1 rated show for the week. Ultimately, it would rank no. 7 in the ratings for the 1985-1986 season. It did even better in its second season, when it ranked no. 5 for the season. Its ratings went up again for its third season, when it ranked no 4 for the year. For its fourth and fifth seasons, it came in at no. six for the year. It was with its sixth season that its rating slipped to no. 10. The Golden Girls' ratings faltered even more in its seventh and final season, when it dropped to no. 30. The drop in the ratings in its seventh season may have been due to the fact that The Golden Girls had been moved from its original 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central time slot on Saturday to 8:00 PM Eastern/7:00 PM Central.

Through the years The Golden Girls would often tackle serious topics, some considered controversial at the time. The sixth season episode "Sisters of the Bride" featured Blachen's gay brother Clayton (Monte Markham) having a commitment ceremony with his partner, this twenty-four years before marriage equality was legalized in the United States. In the fifth season episode, "72 Hours," Rose becomes concerned after receiving a letter telling her that she might have contracted HIV from a blood transfusion years ago. The Golden Girls addressed sexual harassment multiple times. One notable episode was "Adult Education" from season one, in which Blanche's psychology professor offers to give her an "A" if she has sex with him. In the fifth season episode "Not Another Monday, Sophia's friend Martha asks Sophia to assist her in her suicide. During its run, The Golden Girls also addressed such topics as age discrimination, agoraphobia, artificial insemination, elder care, homelessness, immigration policy, menopause, and many others.

The success of The Golden Girls would lead to the spin-off Empty Nest. Empty Nest centred on paediatrician Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), whose two adult daughters move back in with him. Dr. Weston was a neighbour of the Golden Girls, and Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose all appeared on the show. Sophia appeared frequently enough on Empty Nest that she could be considered a recurring character. Empty Nest debuted in 1988 and ran until 1995. It would have its own spinoff in the form of Nurses, which debuted in 1991 and ran until 1994. Both Rose and Sophia would appear on Nurses as well. 

After seven seasons of The Golden Girls, the contracts for the four leads were up. While the other three actresses consented to do an eighth season, Bea Arthur decided not to do so. Quite simply, she thought the show had run its course. With Bea Arthur's departure, Susan Harris then created The Golden Palace. Like Mayberry R.F.D.with The Andy Griffith Show and Archie Bunker's Place with All in the Family, it is debatable whether The Golden Palace was a continuation of The Golden Girls or a spin-off. In the final episode of The Golden Girls, Dorothy remarried and moved out of Blanche's house. With the first episode of The Golden Palace, Blanche had sold her house, and Blanche, Rose, and Sophia invested in a Miami hotel called The Golden Palace. In addition to Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and Betty White, The Golden Palace featured Don Cheadle as the hotel's manager Roland Wilson, and Cheech Marin as the hotel's chef Chuy Castillos. 

It was in early 1992 that executive producers Susan Harris Tony Thomas, and, Paul Junger Witt pitched The Golden Palace to NBC. NBC agreed to an order of 13 episodes for the upcoming 1992-1993 season. CBS, whose sitcoms beyond Evening Shade, Murphy Brown, and Love & War weren't performing particularly well, made an offer to pick up The Golden Palace for an entire season. The executive producers asked NBC to make a better offer, but the network turned them down due to the original show's declining ratings. The Golden Palace then wound up airing on CBS.

CBS scheduled The Golden Palace on Friday at 8:00 PM Eastern/7:00 PM Central. The show did well in the ratings for its first few weeks. Unfortunately, its rating gradually dropped as the season progressed. In the end, The Golden Palace came in at no. 57 for the season. According to Rue McLanahan in a Television Academy interview, CBS had renewed The Golden Palace for a second season, but then cancelled it only a few hours before the upfronts for the 1993-1994 season.

While The Golden Girls was still on the air, NBC ran repeats of the show on weekdays from July 3, 1989 to September 1990. It was in September 1990 that reruns of the series were syndicated to local television stations. Since then The Golden Girls has aired on various cable channels. Lifetime began airing reruns of the show in March 1997 and continued to do so until March 2009. Since the show has aired on the Hallmark Channel (where it still airs), WeTV, TV Land, Logo, and  CMT. The Golden Girls is currently available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.

The first season was released on DVD in November 2004. Over the next several years, seasons of The Golden Girls would be released, with the seventh and final season released in February 2007.  A box set of the complete series was released in 2010.

At the time that The Golden Girls debuted, its characters were considered old and some even described them as elderly. Except for Sophia (who was in her eighties), this would not be the case today. Betty White and Bea Arthur were both only 63 when the show debuted. Even by the standards of the time, Rue McClanhan would not have been considered old. She was only 51 when the series debuted. 

Regardless of how young or old one considers the lead characters on The Golden Girls, at the time and even now very few shows centred on women of that age. In fact, in the Eighties, it was rare to see very many lead characters over the age of 40 on American television shows. As noted earlier, Susan Harris thought it was a demographic that had not really been addressed before. This probably accounted for the show's popularity at the time and its continued popularity as well. Older people could see themselves in the characters on the show. Younger people could recognize the older people they knew in the characters on the show. Many people probably knew older women like Blanche or Dorothy or even Rose or Sophia. Of course, it helped that the characters were well developed and the episodes well-written. The show was nominated for and won multiple Emmy Awards.

The Golden Girls was one of the most successful shows of the late Eighties and early Nineties. It continues to be popular to this day. It seems likely people will still be watching it forty years from now. 

The Late Great Robert Redford

It would not be an overstatement to say Robert Redford was a legend. In fact, I think he may have been the last matinee idol, the last movie star to have the same sort of charisma as such matinee idols from the Golden Age as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and so on. Of course, Robert Redford was much more than an actor. He directed several films that were loved by both critics and audiences. Mr. Redford not only produced several films and TV series, but through his Sundance Institute, he supported independent films. It probably isn't possible to calculate the influence of Robert Redford on the modern-day movie industry. Sadly, he died on September 16, 2025, at the age of 89.

Robert Redford was born Charles Robert Redford on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California. His family later moved to Van Nuys, California. He attended Van Nuys High School where among his classmates was future Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale. He graduated in 1954 and then attended the University of Colorado in Boulder for a year and a half. After dropping out of the university and following his mother's death, he travelled throughout Europe. After he returned to the United States, Robert Redford studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and then acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Robert Redford made his Broadway debut in a small role in Tall Story in 1959. In the late Fifties, he also appeared on Broadway in The Highest Tree and Little Moon of Alban. He made his film debut in an uncredited role in the movie adaptation of Tall Story in 1960. He made his television debut in the Maverick episode "Iron Hand" in 1960. That same year he guest-starred on the shows Rescue 8, The Deputy, Playhouse 90, Moment of Fear, Tate, Perry Mason, Our American Heritage, and Play of the Week.

The Sixties would see Robert Redford go from guest appearances on television and smaller roles in movies to movie stardom. His first movie role in the decade was a supporting role in War Hunt (1962). One of his last roles in the decade was the Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). During the Sixties, he also appeared in the movies Situation Hopeless--But Not Serious (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), The Chase (1966), This Property is Condemned (1966), Barefoot in the Park (1967), Downhill Racer (1969), Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), and Little Fuass and Big Halsy (1970). He guest-starred on the shows Play of the Week, Naked City, The Americans, Whispering Smith, Route 66, Bus Stop, The New Breed, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, Alcoa Premiere, The Untouchables, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Dick Powell Show, Breaking Point, The Virginian, and The Defenders. He appeared on Broadway in Sunday in New York and Barefoot in the Park.

In the Seventies, Robert Redford starred in the movies The Hot Rock (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), The Way We Were (1973), The Sting (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Three Days of the Condor (1975), All the President's Men (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Electric Horseman (1979), and Brubaker (1980).

In the Eighties, Robert Redford appeared in the movies The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Legal Eagles (1986), and Havana (1990). In the Nineties, he starred in Sneakers (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993), Up Close & Personal (1996), and The Horse Whisperer (1998). He narrated A River Runs Through It (1992). In the Naughts, Mr. Redford appeared in The Last Castle (2001), Spy Game (2001), The Clearing (2001), and Lions for Lambs (2007). He was the voice of Ike the Horse in Charlotte's Web (2006).

In the Teens, Robert Redford starred in The Company You Keep (2012), All is Lost (2013), Making a Scene (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), The Glove (2014), A Walk in the Woods (2015), Truth (2015), Pete's Dragon (2016), The Discovery (2017), Our Souls at Night (2017), This Man & the Gun (2018), Buttons (2018), and Marvel's Avengers: Endgame (2020). He was the voice of the Redwood in the TV show Nature is Speaking and had a cameo as a chess player in the Dark Winds episode "Ye'iitsoh (Big Monster)."

As mentioned above, Robert Redford was a director as well as an actor. His directorial debut, Ordinary People (1980), won the Academy Award for Best Director. He was nominated for Best Director for his film Quiz Show (1994). Mr. Redford also directed the films  The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), The Horse Whisperer (1998), The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), Lions for Lambs (2007), The Conspirator (2010), and The Company You Keep (2012). He directed the segment "The Salk Institute" for the film Cathedrals of Culture (2014)..

Starting with The Candidate (1972), Robert Redford also served as a producer on movies other than those he directed himself. Among these movies were Promised Land (1987), The Dark Wind (1991), Incident at Oglala (1992), Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), The Unforeseen (2007), A Walk in the Woods (2015), The Big Bang (2017), and others. He produced several television movies and shows. He produced The Navajo Mysteries (based on Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels) for PBS's Mystery!, the documentary series Iconoclasts, Ocean Warriors, Arena, and Dark Winds (the AMC series based on the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels). He also produced several television movies. 

Among his many other achievements, Robert Redford also launched the Sundance Film Festival in 1978. It is now the largest independent film festival in the United States. It has spun off other Sundance festivals in other locations, including London and Hong Kong. Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981. The institute is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting independent cinema. It has several different programs, including programs for Feature Films, Film Music, Native American and Indigenous Films, Documentaries, and yet others.

For much of his career, Robert Redford was known for his appearance, and while he was certainly extraordinarily handsome, it was the least impressive thing about him. Quite simply, he was a talented actor and director who made enormous contributions to cinema. Indeed, as an actor Robert Redford was very versatile, to the point that some of his most impressive performances were on television rather than in the movies. Even after all the movies he made, he is still remembered for his performance in the Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark." In "Nothing in the Dark," he played an injured visitor to the apartment of Wanda Dunn (Gladys Cooper), who is deathly afraid of dying. In "The Snowball," an episode of The Untouchables, he played a small-time, but no less brutal bootlegger who sells to college campuses. In the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "A Tangled Web," Mr. Redford played a volatile professional burglar.

While Robert Redford played many remarkable roles on television, it is admittedly movies for which he is best known and he delivered many great performances in films as well. He was impressive as The Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the quiet, but no less deadly partner of Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman). It was opposite Paul Newman that Robert Redford gave another one of his great performances on film, playing Johnny Hooker in The Sting. Unlike The Sundance Kid, Johnny Hooker tended to be impulsive and arrogant, if even-tempered. He played another self-confident, if somewhat nervous character when he starred as the title character in The Great Waldo Pepper. Over his long career, Robert Redford played other great roles, including Barefoot in the Park, where he played Paul Bratter, the somewhat upright newlywed married to free spirit Corie (Jane Fonda). During his long career, Robert Redford played such remarkable movie roles as Jeremiah Johnson in the movie of the same name, Bill McKay in The Candidate. Hubbell Gardiner in The Way We Were, Bishop in Sneakers, and many others.

Had Robert Redford only been an actor, he would still be a legend, but he was also a great director. He directed some of my favourite movies of all time. Some critics were not impressed by The Milagro Beanfield War, but it remains one of my favourite films that Robert Redford directed, an offbeat ensemble movie that touches upon magical realism. A River Runs Through It is actually one of my favourite movies of all time. It not only benefits from beautiful scenery, but also from some great performances and a very intelligent screenplay. Quiz Show is another one of my favourites, a film centred on the controversy surrounding thee controversy over the NBC quiz show Twenty One (my only caveat is that the movie should have made reference to CBS, which was actually affected worse by the quiz show scandal than NBC). 

Of course, Robert Redford had an impact that went beyond acting and directing. Through both the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Institute, he offered valuable support to indie cinema. Among the films nurtured by the Sundance Labs were El Norte (1984),  Reservoir Dogs (1992), Twenty Bucks (1993), Mi Vida Loca (1993), Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), and yet others. Among many other things, Robert Redford was an advocate for Native Americans. Not only would the Sundance Institute support various Native American filmmakers, but Robert Redford himself produced two different TV series based on the Leaphorn and Chee novels: The Navajo Mysteries and Dark Wind (which turned out to be his final work). Robert Redford was not simply the last matinee idol, but a truly great man who used his fame to help others and change the world.