In Defense of “The Golden Palace”

[TMC]

https://medium.com/rants-and-raves/i...e-235964e9447f

But, for me, The Golden Girls never really declined in quality. Like numerous sitcoms, the show did vary more in quality toward the end of its run. The show was still producing all-time classics, but they were less frequent and sprinkled in among filler episodes that got increasingly cartoonish or relied too heavily on guest stars. (Will & Grace, Friends, and Modern Family are other examples of shows that followed this trajectory.) But some of my favorite episodes of the series came from its final season and the spectacular series finale always left me wanting more. (Click here for my retrospective of The Golden Girls.)

Several years ago, I discovered that there was a website specializing in rare DVDs that provided a full series set of The Golden Girls that was essentially comprised of all 24 episodes of the series recorded off of Lifetime, which briefly aired reruns of the series in the 1990s. I ordered them and devoured all 24 episodes.

To my surprise and relief, The Golden Palace is not nearly the disaster many recall it as. In fact, it is quite good. Its worst episodes play like middling filler episode of The Golden Girls in which the plots go nowhere and the jokes fall flat. (As good as The Golden Girls was, it certainly had its duds.) But its best episodes rivaled some of the greatest episodes of The Golden Girls. Notably, The Golden Palace’s truly great episodes by and large are the ones that dive head first into the pool of Girls nostalgia, suggesting that the show’s only hope of ever working was as a victory lap as opposed to a fully independent series.

The two best episodes are (unsurprisingly) the two where Bea Arthur returns and fights to get her mother back. Arthur’s Dorothy Zbornak is a brilliant comic creation and she does more in two episodes than even gifted actors do in a full season. The season also features the return of Miles (twice), Stan, Rebecca, and other characters from the Girls universe. That’s in addition to an impressive slate of one-off guest appearances that includes George Burns, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Nanette Fabray, Ned Beatty, Joely Fisher, Dick Van Patten, Eddie Albert, and Ricardo Montalban.

The spinoff takes a bold move by adding two new supporting characters who are not only male and significantly younger, but also people of color. Both work surprisingly well. Don Cheadle, who would later become an Oscar-nominated dramatic film actor, displays a great flare for comedy and demonstrates wonderful chemistry with the ladies as Roland Wilson, the hotel manager. Silly and stereotypical writing often sidelines Cheech Marin, but his character of Chuy the hotel chef works more often than it doesn’t and Marin demonstrates great commitment to the role. (The less said about the brief tenure of Billy, the tough talking foster kid, the better).

But despite all of the familiar faces and fresh blood, what makes the spinoff work is that the three returning Girls are nothing less than spectacular. Rue McClanahan in particular is a force of nature, anchoring the series well in Dorothy’s absence with her ability to balance broad comedy and nuanced dramatic material. Betty White continues to delight as Rose and gets some terrific material throughout the course of the season. Estelle Getty’s Sophia also gets more room to shine (probably because she has to fight with one less Girl for screen time) and has some of her most ruthless one-liners of the show’s run.

The writing stumbles a bit as it tries to make the plot transition and incorporate the new characters and, just as was the case with the original series, there are a handful of subpar episodes that get way too silly. The show also takes some questionable plot turns, such as the ugly resolution of Rose and Miles’s romance. But the writing generally works quite well, with hilarious one-liners, excellent character development, and mostly well-conceived plot lines. The show also tackled big issues fairly well, with episodes about Confederate pride, stigma against the intellectually disabled, and animal exploitation being particularly memorable. The writers also dropped in numerous references to events and characters from the original series that are delightful “Easter Eggs” for fans.

Ultimately, I am not surprised that The Golden Palace didn’t survive. Bea Arthur was such a powerful force on the series that there is something undeniably missing without her and when the spinoff was great it was mostly playing to nostalgia as opposed to being something new. But it is a consistently funny, occasionally inspired, and superbly well-acted season of comedy that deserves to be seen. And now, thanks to Hulu, it will be.

[BestTVever]

Golden Palace was not a disaster but it was not good. I found all characters to not have any depth and each script written for laughs instead of substance. Very similar how the last season of the Golden Girls was written. The new characters were boring and everyone was so plastic. It was very typical of sterile sitcoms. Nothing really funny just simple cheezy jokes every 43 seconds.
The best episode was when Dorothy came back and not because of Dorothy. The script was real and a little dramatic, she was checking in on Sophia and wanted to take her away from the hotel.
They all dressed in those loud early 90s colors, everyone dressed like a fashion page including the kid. They should have had a bad kid or something. Everything was just so plastic.