The Golden Girls Best Episodes
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"The Triangle" (Season 1, Episode 5)
Dorothy and Blanche's friendship is tested early on when Dorothy dates a handsome doctor — and then the sleazeball makes a pass at Blanche. Thankfully, both ladies kick him to the curb, where he belongs.
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"In a Bed of Rose's" (Season 1, Episode 15)
Rose lives out every mature, sexually active woman's nightmare when the gentleman she sleeps with is dead the next morning. She starts to think she's cursed, because her husband Charlie died in bed, too. Fun fact: Betty White won an Emmy for this episode.
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"The Way We Met" (Season 1, Episode 25)
The series started out with Dorothy and Rose already living with Blanche, so this flashback episode goes back to show us how the three came to be roomies. Their bond is sealed, of course, over a late-night cheesecake. And hey, Rose had a cat back then!
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"Ladies of the Evening" (Season 2, Episode 2)
The girls go out on the town hoping to catch a glimpse of the very handsome Mr. Burt Reynolds. But when they hang out too long at a hotel bar... whoops! They get arrested for prostitution and thrown in the clink. Thankfully, the man himself shows up at the end for a brief cameo to make all that jail time worth it.
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"Isn't It Romantic?" (Season 2, Episode 5)
Sweet, dim-witted Rose proves to be irresistible to Dorothy's friend... Jean. (Yep, that's a woman's name.) The girls grapple at first with having a lesbian in their midst, but Blanche doesn't mind: "Isn't Danny Thomas one?" "Not Lebanese, Blanche," Sophia corrects her. "Lesbian!"
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"Big Daddy's Little Lady" (Season 2, Episode 6)
The main plot here involves Blanche's father Big Daddy and his young fiancée, but the highlight is Dorothy and Rose writing a new jingle for the city of Miami. Oh, you know the one: "Miami is nice, so I'll say it twice..." (And the finished product is actually pretty catchy!)
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"The Actor" (Season 2, Episode 14)
A famous actor is in town starring in a play, and he starts up affairs with Blanche, Dorothy and Rose. He tries to keep the liaisons separate... but joke's on you, buddy! They all live together! This one also has a great sight gag when Blanche boosts her bosom by stuffing balloons in her bra — and they deflate onstage.
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"To Catch a Neighbor" (Season 2, Episode 24)
The ladies' house gets invaded by the fuzz when two cops move in to do a stakeout on the neighbors. And what do you know? One of the cops is played by a young George Clooney! But it's actually the older cop who catches Dorothy's eye. (See, Clooney wasn't a silver fox yet.)
The Golden Girls
"One for the Money" (Season 3, Episode 2)
A chat about money leads to a series of cash-related flashbacks, including one back in Brooklyn with a young Dorothy and Sophia, and a fiercely competitive dance marathon that spawned a thousand YouTube mash-ups. Man, Betty White's stunt double can really move!
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"The Artist" (Season 3, Episode 13)
Another love rectangle ensues when a world-famous Hungarian sculptor comes to Miami to show his work — and charms three of the roommates. Soon, they're all competing to pose nude for him so he can immortalize them in a sculpture. It's all very Jack and Rose from Titanic.
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"Grab That Dough" (Season 3, Episode 16)
The girls bicker and eventually turn on each other when they fly to California to compete on a cheesy game show. If we have to explain why Bea Arthur grabbing cash in a wind-filled glass booth is funny, we don't know what to tell you.
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"Valentine's Day" (Season 4, Episode 15)
Another cheesecake-fueled set of flashbacks, this time with a romantic theme. The vignettes include a trip back to Brooklyn for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (!) and the girls discreetly shopping for condoms — "Condoms, Rose! Condoms!" — before ending up at a nudist colony.
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"Till Death Do We Volley" (Season 4, Episode 19)
Dorothy is wracked with guilt after she thinks her childhood rival Trudy has died while they're playing tennis together. But it's just a practical joke, sparking a vicious prank war between the two. Man, did '80s sitcoms love prank wars or what?
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"Love Under the Big Top" (Season 5, Episode 5)
TV legend Dick Van Dyke makes a guest appearance here as Dorothy's boyfriend lawyer who wants to give up his career... to become a clown. Yeah, you can imagine what a field day Sophia has with that one.
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"Sister of the Bride" (Season 6, Episode 14)
We already knew Blanche's brother Clayton was gay, but now he wants to get married to his boyfriend Doug. Blanche is in deep denial, but she has a change of heart thanks to Sophia's stirring defense of gay marriage — in 1991, mind you!
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"What a Difference a Date Makes" (Season 6, Episode 22)
Barney Miller's Hal Linden guest-stars as Dorothy's old prom date John, who never showed up on prom night. Turns out Sophia turned him away because of his shabby clothes... and Dorothy ended up with Stan as a result. Want a do-over on that one, Sophia?
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"Henny Penny – Straight, No Chaser" (Season 6, Episode 26)
Dorothy's directing the school musical, but all the students get sick with the measles, so she and Rose and Blanche have to step in and take over the lead roles. No, it doesn't make a ton of sense, but it's worth overlooking the logic to see the three of them onstage in chicken outfits.
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"The Case of the Libertine Belle" (Season 7, Episode 2)
The gals put on their thinking caps for a murder-mystery weekend, and Dorothy (of course) loves showing off her sleuthing skills. But those skills are put to the test when Blanche is accused of — gasp! — actual murder. And yes, we'd totally watch a Murder, She Wrote reboot starring Dorothy Zbornak.
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"Journey to the Center of Attention" (Season 7, Episode 18)
Blanche loves to hold court down at the local watering hole, the Rusty Anchor... that is, until Dorothy drops by and steals her thunder. Worth it just for Bea Arthur's killer cabaret rendition of "What'll I Do."