Lack of Continuity (family members)

[McGillicuddy]

The one thing I hated about the Golden Girls is the lack of continuity especially regarding family members. I know different actors are brought in because the original is unavailable, but the replacement never looks anything like the original. The original Rebecca Devereox was overweight, then a tall thin girl replaced her and the 2 Kirstin Nylands looked nothing alike.
Other inconsistancies:

Rose refers to her mothers grave in one episode and in another episode, her mother Alma comes to visit. They never refer to her mother passing away.

When Blanches grandson comes to visit (whose about 16) she's talking to his mother Janet on the phone, and later in the series Janet appears with a little girl and Janet looks like she's about 28. What was she 12 when David was born?

When Big Daddy comes to town, he announces he sold the family home it Atlanta, and later in the series when he dies Blanche is in the home with Virginia. And where was Charmaine and Clayton, and his second wife Margaret?

Who are all of Blaches children? Rebecca, Janet, Matthew, Bif, Doug and Skippy? Do they all really exist?

Theres so many can you think of others?

[JL82]

I also thought it was a bit extreme that:

- all of them were having feuds with their sisters
- all of them are on bad or questionable terms with their kids, some of the time
- all of them had their parents object to their partners
- all their husbands cheated (remember the episode about George's son David - and yet, except for the ongoing Dorothy/Stan saga, that's the only time they think about that). Dorothy's daughter's husband also cheated, as well as the husband of Blanche's sister, Virginia

All these things happen in real life, of course. It just seems extreme to have four people in the same house all having those same issues. But I suppose it was the reason the Golden Girls became one another's family?

And, as Markway has already said, more than one sibling or child per family isn't inconsistent in itself, but you never got the whole families together, even on occasions when they should have been: Michael didn't come to Kate's wedding, or Kate to Michael's. When Clayton "comes out" to Blanche, there is nothing about how the other sisters feel. Gloria doesn't come to Phil's funeral. Etc.

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by JL82

I also thought it was a bit extreme that:

- all of them were having feuds with their sisters
- all of them are on bad or questionable terms with their kids, some of the time
- all of them had their parents object to their partners
- all their husbands cheated (remember the episode about George's son David - and yet, except for the ongoing Dorothy/Stan saga, that's the only time they think about that). Dorothy's daughter's husband also cheated, as well as the husband of Blanche's sister, Virginia

All these things happen in real life, of course. It just seems extreme to have four people in the same house all having those same issues. But I suppose it was the reason the Golden Girls became one another's family?

And, as Markway has already said, more than one sibling or child per family isn't inconsistent in itself, but you never got the whole families together, even on occasions when they should have been: Michael didn't come to Kate's wedding, or Kate to Michael's. When Clayton "comes out" to Blanche, there is nothing about how the other sisters feel. Gloria doesn't come to Phil's funeral. Etc.

Actually, I don't think Charlie actually cheated on Rose, since they determined that he and Blanche were not together, because the photos were double exposures, and did Salvadore ever cheat on Sophia???

[djhsolara]

A dearly departed friend and I had created this listing of this exact subject several years ago. I know some of them have already been listed, but here is our whole list...

• Becky was played by two different actresses – one fat, one thin
• Big Daddy was played by two different actors – one tall, one short
• Gloria was played by two different actresses – one blonde, one redheaded
• Kiersten was played by two different actresses – one blonde, one redheaded
• Kate was played by two different actresses – one long-haired, one short-haired
• Dennis was played by two different actors – one tall & thin, one heavier w/longer hair
• How many children DOES Blanche have? (Janet, Matthew, Skippy, Becky, Biff & Doug – has 5 sons??)
• How many children DOES Rose have? (Adam, Charlie Jr., Kiersten, Janella, Bridget)
• How many kids DID Phil & Angela have? One episode says 10 – one says 6
• Why didn’t Phil’s kids come to his funeral?
• Why was Phil’s funeral in Miami & not New York?
• Why is the “family plot” in Miami & not in Brooklyn? (So where is Sal actually buried, then?)
• When David comes to visit, how come Melissa (his sister) isn’t mentioned?
• Why would Sophia go to her grandson’s graduation if she hated Angela (Big Sally)?
• Sophia talks about getting along with Phil’s wife in one episode
• Rose is inconsistent in her description of Charlie’s abilities as a salesman (good vs. bad), as well as what he sold (insurance/horseshoes)
• If Rose is allergic to cats, how come she had Mr. Peepers?
• If Rose can’t take pills, how come she got addicted to painkillers & went to rehab?
• Rose talks about not being able to drink hot milk, but makes & drinks it in several episodes
• What was Blanche’s mother’s name – she says Samantha Roquet, Big Daddy says Elizabeth Bennett
• How could Rose be in a sorority (the Alpha Yams) if she never really got her high school diploma?
• And Rose said she didn’t go to her high school reunion due to mono – no diploma, no reunion!
• Rose mentions she was left on a doorstep in a basket, but also says she was in an orphanage
• How come the girls don’t dress like they live in Florida???
• The layout of the house is TOTALLY inconsistent!
• What happened to the houseboy Coco that they had in the first episode?
• If Rose couldn’t have plastic surgery ‘cause it’s drastic, why did she admit to having a nose job?
• Sophia’s inconsistent in who she was supposed to marry – two different people (Luigi the pig boy & also Guido Spirelli)
• How come Clayton & Charmaine weren’t seen at Big Daddy’s funeral?
• How come Clayton wasn’t mentioned as a possible kidney donor for Virginia?
• Dorothy mentions her grandmother died when she was 6 – another episode has Dorothy older & the grandmother is alive
• Blanche is inconsistent in her descriptions as a child – sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly
• She was fat in the photo album – but said she was a pencil-thin, flatchested, 4-eyed nerd
• Kiersten sometimes lives an hour away – sometimes in St. Olaf
• When they went to the mountains – was this supposed to be in Florida?
• Their kitchen was different in the first episode
• How come they only have 3 chairs for the kitchen table?
• In the first episode, Blanche’s bedroom was where the lanai is
• Rose’s room sometimes has a window
• How can Rose be afraid to give a eulogy for her aunt, but did for Lenny Lenderhoff?
• Dorothy admitted to having her ears pinned back in one episode, but only her eyes done later
• Two different guys played Dorothy’s lover Glenn – Alex Rocco & then Jerry Orbach
• How many boyfriends named Al did Rose have? The one she killed & the one who was going to sail around the world
• What ever happened to Michael & Lorraine’s baby, esp. after Lorraine threw Michael out?
• How come Angela says that everyone else in the original family is dead when Angelo is still alive?
• Why wouldn’t the girls have recognized George when he was back from the dead? They wouldn’t have seen pictures of him before?

[djhsolara]

And a few more...all relating to people on the show...or as we called it "recycling the Golden Girls cast..."

• Sal also played the fool in the episode where Dorothy dates Hal Linden
• Mrs. Claxton played Dorothy’s Italian “mother”, too
• The guy in the sperm bank was one of the guys rolling Rose into surgery & a waiter at the Jasper DeKimmel art showing
• The caterer at Sophia’s wedding to Max was the caterer at Dorothy & Stan’s wedding
• The guy who played Patrick Vaughn also played Eduardo the hairdresser
• The Saint Olafian at the homeless shelter owned the diner at Christmas
• Sophia’s friend committing suicide was also the old woman in the Mother’s Day episode
• The guy who played Enrique Moss also played the boxer the girls “bought”
• The guy who played Rose’s molesting dentist ALSO played Dorothy’s doctor
• Dorothy played her maternal grandmother
• One of the guys in the Bahamas played Dorothy’s old student who owned Borealis
• One lady was Lillian from Shady Pines, a woman at the hospital & a nursing home person
• The lady who played Myra also played Candy the airline stewardess
• The guy who played Blanche’s menopause psychiatrist, played another one later on when the girls went to therapy together
• The guy who asked Blanche (“What can I get for you, sweetheart?”) was the waiter when Dorothy, her date & Sophia were out for dinner

[JL82]

Originally Posted by markway895

Actually, I don't think Charlie actually cheated on Rose, since they determined that he and Blanche were not together, because the photos were double exposures, and did Salvadore ever cheat on Sophia???

After the girls get the visit from David, who says George, Blanche's husband, was his father, Rose later admits that Charlie cheated on her - with a farmer's daughter when he was traveling as a salesman. Not with Blanche.

[McGillicuddy]

2 more inconsistancies with Bid Daddy's Funeral:

Where was Margaret his 2nd wife

He said he sold the family estate to become a singer, but Blanche and Virginia are back in the house.

[McGillicuddy]

Sophia's familys' link to Sicily is kind of confusing:

Sophia still lived in Sicily as a young woman because she married Guido Sporelli there, but she she and Salvadore meet/marry in Sicily or Brooklyn?

At some point Sophia's parents both came to America, because they're both seen in flashback episodes when they're older.

Both times Angela came to visit, she arrived from Sicily, but in the '50's they're refering to a Christmas party in Brooklyn where Sophia & Sal and Angela & her husband Carmine are. (Did Angela move back to Sicily after Carmine died?)

And later, when Angelo comes to Miami, from Sicily he makes no mention of Angela, as Angela never made mention of him, claiming she was the last of the original family there.

[djhsolara]

Originally Posted by markway895

Sophia's familys' link to Cicily is kind of confusing:
Both times Angela came to visit, she arrived from Cicily, but in the '50's they're refering to a Christmas party in Brooklyn where Sophia & Sal and Angela & her husband Carmine are. (Did Angela move back to Cicily after Carmine died?)

Actually, I think there is some sort of reference to the fact that Angela moved back to Sicily after Carmine died.

[Lakeboy]

Why was Phil’s funeral in Miami & not New York?
• Why is the “family plot” in Miami & not in Brooklyn? (So where is Sal actually buried, then?)


Good Point!!! I never really thought about this but why would Phil's funeral be in Miami. Why would Angela allow this??? Also, all of his "poker buddies" (cross dressers) came from New York to Miami for the funeral????

[Lakeboy]

The one that gets me in the episode where the heat goes out and they are all snuggled up in one bed. Blanche says "My bed has never been so cold especially on a Saturday night". Dorothy later says "I have to go to work early in the morning."

Since when do school teachers go to work on Sunday.

[Smartboy]

The fact that this thread is now near the top of the page has inspired me to bring up a continuity issue regarding an episode that I saw either one or day days ago. Dorothy reminised about a time when she and Stan had come upon hard times and she resorted to asking Stan's mother for help. She said that five hundred dollars would do it and the old lady gave her a thousand. The flashback could not have taken place too long before the fact because Stan had already lost most of his hair and Dorothy was quite grey. Mrs. Sbornack acted as if she did not like Dorothy and that Stan hand traded down by hocking up with her. I believe that it was in the sixth season in which Dorothy agreed to go to therapy with Stan to help him deal with closure. Several times in their innitial meeting Stan did a Fraudian slip by saying Sophia when he really meanth Dorothy. The doctor figured out that he was looking for approval from Sophia to compensate for the fact that his own mother did not love him. Stan had previously mentioned how his mother had died before they got to work their issues out. I am not sure if it was ever stated how old Stan was when his mom died, but I got the feeling that he was still relatively young. Furthermore, why would Mrs. Sbornack give Dorothy a thousand dollars is she did not even love Stan? It makes no sense to me at all!

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by Lakeboy

Why was Phil’s funeral in Miami & not New York?
• Why is the “family plot” in Miami & not in Brooklyn? (So where is Sal actually buried, then?)


Good Point!!! I never really thought about this but why would Phil's funeral be in Miami. Why would Angela allow this??? Also, all of his "poker buddies" (cross dressers) came from New York to Miami for the funeral????

I can't understand why they didn't just have the girls fly to Brooklyn for the funeral. It would have been so much more realistic. Otherwise, its a great episode. I don't remember there being a sub-plot, where one of the girls needed to stay in Miami. Very strange. Atleast Big Daddy's funeral and family plot was in Atlanta, where it made sense!

[JR1]

I laughed reading over those- so true! I don't know what's so dofficult about keeping character tidbits straight. It's one thing to have actors play different toels, or have different actors play one role, but some of those tidbits/facts, just laziness on the part of the writers, really.