Sweet Tea & TV

S8 E6 - Golden Girls Extra Sugar: The Golden Girls: 40 Years of Laughter and Friendship

As we begin to close out our “The Golden Girls” coverage (cue all the tears), we were THRILLED to learn about a special episode of ABC’s “20/20” celebrating the 40th anniversary of the show! We knew it was our responsibility - nay, duty - to report back to “ST&TV’ about it. 

Let’s chat about the highlights of this true love letter to the fans, including the things that surprised us! The things that didn’t. And what we wish we could’ve gotten a little more of!

As Cindy Fee would sing, thank you for being a friend!

S8 E7 Golden Girls: Love, Loss and Cheesecake

Whether it was losing spouses, finding love again, or facing the future alone, the Golden Girls never sugarcoated the realities of aging - but always kept the humor. In this week’s convo, we talked about the stories of grief, romance, and reinvention through a few key episodes:

• S1 E13 - A LIttle Romance
• S4 E6 - Sophia’s Wedding
• S4 E10 - Stan Takes a Wife
• S5 E11 - Ebb Tide
• S6 E9 - Mrs. George Devereaux
• S6 E12 - Ebbtide’s Revenge
• S7 E17 - Questions and Answers 

S8 E7 – Golden Girls Extra Sugar: ST&TV Book Club – Golden Girls Forever

As we start the final lap of our coverage of “The Golden Girls”, we needed to make a pit stop at the preeminent, yet unauthorized look behind-the-scenes of the show via Jim Colucci’s “Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai”. 

Jim’s book - a staggering 10 years in the making!! - offers a toooooon of episode-specific behind-the-scenes info, background intel, and loads of interviews with not only the girls themselves, but also the huge cast and crew that put this classic together.

It’s worth saying: the ST&TV Book Club is no different than any other book club. Reading the book is not required. Just ask Salina. ;)  

For one of the last few times: thank YOU for being a friend! 

S8 E8 Golden Girls: Whadwe Miss, Whadwe Miss? The Catchall Episode

Call it a smorgasbord, a potpourri, a catchall. Whatever you call it, we’re chatting about the ‘golden legacy’ — the spinoffs, the legendary guest stars, their immense staying power.

And courtesy of our amazing listeners, we’re also covering these ‘can’t miss’ episodes before we leave Miami for good: 

• S1 E7 - The Competition (A Nikki fave - this is where we see Rose’s competitive streak first emerge)
• S1 E18 - The Operation (Classic tap dance scene) 
• S2 E14 - The Actor (I feel like there’s a treat in this episode that will make you chuckle, Salina) 
• S3 E25 - Mother’s Day (Alice Ghostley episode) 
• S5 E18 - An Illegitimate Affair (Dorothy and Sophia’s mother-daughter performance is *chef’s kiss*)
• S2 E24 - “To Catch a Neighbor” (We get a huuuuuuge guest star in this one.) 

Thank YOU for being a friend! 

S8 E8 Golden Girls Extra Sugar: Golden Palace - Return of the Zbornak

We simply couldn’t leave Miami without spending time with our gals at the not-quite-as-legendary Golden Palace. And for those who’ve been with us a while, we’re going back to our roots: we’ll rate it, talk about references…alla the things.

It’s the two-parter where Dorothy returns. Don Cheadle is there! Cheech Marin. And we finally get to go to the infamous—and perhaps misunderstood—Shady Pines.

We laughed. We got sad. We laughed again. 

Thank y'all for being a friend! 

Special Episode: Mannequin - Building this Dream Together

As we wrap up our Golden Girls era and prepare for season nine (!!!), we needed a pop culture bridge: something to connect the worlds we’ve already talked about with where we’re going next. 

So, why ARE we watching this? Well, first, we’re never ones to shy away from a trip down Nostalgia Lane. But ALSO, it stars Estelle Getty - one of our Golden Girls - Meschach Taylor - one of our Designing Women bestied - AND one other connection to the future of ST&TV, but ya gotta listen to catch it! 

Let us know - are you a Mannequin fan or…are you Roger Ebert? 

S9 E1 Sex and the City: Your Passport to SATC

“It’s like the riddle of the Sphinx. Why are there so many great-unmarried women, and no great-unmarried men?” 

We’re back and ready to spend this season watching Ms. Carrie Bradshaw and her besties address this critical question. 

Along the way, we may even discover that “...nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style.” 

S9 E1 Extra Sugar: Our Pop Culture Love Letter to SATC

If “Sex and the City” had given us nothing else, it’s incontrovertible that it served the best fashion.

Fortunately, it gave us so much more and we’re exploring that in this week’s “Extra Sugar.”

SATC said: be fabulous, be broke, be late, be complicated—and somehow make it iconic.

Was it realistic? Absolutely not.

Was it influential? So ab-so-duck-ing-lute-ly influential we’re still talking about it. 

S9 E2 – Sex And the City: Charlotte York Elizabeth Goldenblatt: Park Avenue Princess

It’s time to explore the “Rose” of SATC. Our “good-on-paper” girl. Our “sweet one.” Our “one-cardboard-baby-away-from-a-crashout” ball of sunshine. That’s right - it’s Charlotte’s turn to get the ST&TV treatment. 

We’ll talk about the highs and lows of her character, Charlotte’s funniest moments, her “Charlotte-iest” moments, and all the things that didn’t age well this time around.

S9 E2 –Sex And the City Extra Sugar: What SATC Taught Us About NYC

We could cue this one up with a bunch of puns and song lyrics, but hey, that’s what the episode is for. 

In this week’s Extra Sugar, we’re talking about SATC’s fifth main character: New York City (but like, really Manhattan, which the show largely favored of the city’s five boroughs).

The show lets us know – from the very first frame in the pilot that this is first and foremost – a NYC show. We love it. Honestly, after back-to-back traditional soundstage sitcoms, we’re just glad to be outside! 

So let’s see if two Southerners can do the ‘city that never sleeps’ any ding-dang justice. Unclear but join us anyway, if you don’t like it, you can judge it – and that’s almost as good as liking something for real.