It’s said that Rue McClanahan gave her reluctant Maude co-star the final push, convincing her to give The Golden Girls a chance.
According to McClanahan herself, she phoned Bea Arthur and asked her incredulously, “Why are you going to turn down the best script that’s ever going to come across your desk as long as you live?”
The Episode Based on Harris' Life
The two-part episode entitled “Sick and Tired” was autobiographical about the show's creator, Susan Harris. It was centered around her real-life struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome. Dorothy’s struggle finding a doctor who would take her symptoms seriously is still relevant for many women today.
In fact, a 2011 study showed that 62 percent of doctors referred men to cardiologists when they complained of chest pain and/or shortness of breath, while less than 30 percent did the same for their female patients. Instead, the doctors advised the women to “take it easy” and prescribed them anti-anxiety meds.
Dorothy Couldn't Walk in Heels to Save Her Life
Ever noticed how Dorthy, as stylish as she was, always sported flat shoes? Well, the nearly 5-foot-10-inch actress once told an interviewer how when she was younger she dreamed of wearing heels, but that would have meant towering over most of her dates in high school, then later over the fellow actors she worked with.
But by the time “heightism” was no longer a huge concern hers, she discovered that she couldn’t even balance properly or walk in a pair of one-inch heels.
NBC Didn't Want to Cast Bea Arthur
Initially, Susan Harris wrote the role of Dorothy with Arthur in mind, having worked with the amazing actress on several episodes of Maude. However the NBC president at the time, Brandon Tartikoff was against the idea, claiming that Arthur’s “Q” score (a rating system of a performer’s audience appeal) was low— meaning she was recognizable, but not exactly “loveable,” thanks to Maude’s rather liberal beliefs.
Interestingly, the broadway legend, Elaine Stritch, was a contender for the part, but she ruined her chances when she tried improvising her dialogue and then dropped the “F” bomb during her audition.
The Golden Girls Introduced Some Floridian Lingo
The show introduced a new word to its viewers. Most non-Floridian viewers probably weren't familiar with the term lanai. Which, architecturally speaking, is a porch or veranda with a cement floor and an awning, sometimes enclosed by screens. Of course, we can always count on miss Sophia to simplify matters.
Remember this scene? "Dorothy: We are throwing a surprise birthday party for Blanche. I want you to go out to the lanai and mingle with the other guests. Sophia: Check! ...What's a lanai? Dorothy: The porch! Sophia: Excuse me, Krystle Carrington!"