Enough Wicker: Intellectualizing the Golden Girls

In this Very Special Episode, we are joined by Dr. Elizabeth Yuko, an award-winning journalist and an adjunct professor of ethics at Fordham University. We found Elizabeth through her 2016 Ted Talk called “Everything I Know About Bioethics I Learned from The Golden Girls," which, as we continue to navigate a global pandemic, has never been more relevant. Elizabeth shares specific examples of how t...

Ah, yes a clip show. The first of Season 3! This is just pure, old-fashioned fun. Plot holes abound as we see the short-lived Miami Mom's Catering, which may have gone under due to their first gig being canceled or a total disregard for food safety. There's a Brooklyn flashback featuring the incomparable Lynnie Greene nailing those DZ mannerisms as always, and perhaps most famously, a dance marath...

In this first episode of the third season, we discuss the adorable relationship between Sophia and Alvin, and reflect on what makes the diagnosis of Alzheimer's--for Alvin and anyone else affected by this awful disease--so devastating. Because the A-story is so heavy, the B-story has to be equal parts ridiculous and hilarious, and that is exactly what we get when little Daisy (aka Jenny Lewis) bea...

We've made it to the dreaded Season 2 finale--Empty Nests! We're joined by a very special guest Mr. Matt Browning, a writer and the site runner of EmptyNestTV.com. Matt shares with us some behind-the-scenes info that might explain why this backdoor pilot was such a flop, and makes a compelling case to give the real Empty Nest series a chance. Plus, we talk about Matt's forthcoming book The Definit...

A young and hunky George Clooney and his gruff but handsome partner Al are a couple of unconventional (and unethical, seemingly untrained) detectives using the Girls' house for a stakeout location, just like real cops on TV. You could cut the tension between Al and Dorothy with a knife from the very beginning, and this episode invites discussions of love/hate romances, knowing yourself enough to k...

What do Cheryl Strayed, Señor Frogs, and DZ Discovery Zone have in common? They’re all mentioned in this episode! This clip show is the penultimate episode of the second season and includes Dorothy’s birthday party at Mr. Ha-Ha’s Hotdog Hacienda, a flashback to the Petrillo home in Brooklyn, an utterly heartbreaking monologue from Betty White as a recent widow back in St. Olaf, and culminates in a...

Hello Mother Dorothy. Kate and Dennis come back to Richmond Street amid marital discord. Dennis cheated, and Dorothy, still reeling from Stan's habitual infidelity, is heartbroken at first, but that quickly turns to anger, confusion, and disappointment when Kate decides to stay with Dennis. Someone is projecting, hence the title of this episode. Plus, Rose and Blanche stay up all night watching I...

The girls are putting together a charity banquet for a local hospital and Blanche falls for the hunky, yet unrefined caterer. Why we need to hold fundraisers for medical expenses in America is a topic for another time, but this episode is not without critical discourse. The class divide between Blanche and Jake, who pushes his food with his fingers and wears white after labor day, seems to be the...

The Golden Girls had a ton of celebrity guest stars, pop-cultural references, repeat guest appearances and more. To help us recall all those who are so famous they need not be mentioned in this description, we called in some help. Our friends George and Kristin who host Meanwhile at the Podcast are experts on pop culture, fandom, and comics (you'll be surprised how much Batman 66 comes up!) and th...

Mario Lopez guest stars in this wildly problematic episode, which has not one, but two offensive and outdated storylines! The A-story features Dorothy tutoring Mario, played by Mario Lopez, a gifted young writer (despite his trouble spelling 'February'). Eventually, we learn that Mario is undocumented and facing deportation, and that's where the 'rah-rah America' of the Reagan-era seeps through, w...

Rose is a burgeoning filmmaker in this one and decides her first (and to our knowledge) the only documentary will be a day in the life of her roommates. Sophia sees it as a great opportunity for free publicity (for only $5.99 the recipe can be yours) and Dorothy, who receives crueler treatment in this one than usual, is hesitant at first but eventually comes around. But Blanche provides the focus...

Guest star Nancy Walker returns as Angela, Sophia's sister, who has decided to move from Sicily to Miami (with only a single piece of luggage). Angela overstays her welcome with the girls as her apartment search becomes more and more complicated; none of these places have enough room for a goat! Sophia grows impatient and everything boils over when it looks like Angela has slaughtered and deep-fri...

Lauren and Sarah are joined by Dr. Kate Browne, a culture writer and essayist who wrote The Golden Girls edition of the TV Milestone Series. Kate holds a PhD in English studies from Illinois State University and researches pop culture and body-based autobiography. In this episode, we go chapter by chapter with an in-depth look at Kate's book. First, we look at Dorothy's sometimes unconventional ge...

Enough Wicker takes a scholarly perspective when it comes to dissecting and discussing the greatest TV show of all time: The Golden Girls. New episodes Saturday’s at 9pm

Dorothy's romantic escapades are the center of this one. She really should have made that pamphlet. Laying the groundwork for Fleabag, Dorothy develops a crush on a hip teacher she hopes is wearing a Nehru jacket, but he turns out to be a priest. Blanche insists she go for it anyway, Rose is distracted by the tushie of love, and Sophia, in between writing letters to Hugh Downs about her corrupt Bi...

If nothing else, this episode offers shoutouts to Lauren's stepdad, a long-time fan of chipped beef, and our rad friend and unofficial Sicily researcher Gina. Bedtime Story is a flashback episode of the Golden Girls; it's pretty out there, but there are a couple of LOL moments. We're laughing WITH the writers, not AT them as we take a look back at this Season 2 clip show. 

On the Eve of our Dear Betty White's Birthday, we bring you this LOLfest. Sophia enters a walkathon and while she initially shows a strong performance in the 80+ category, she experiences every runner's worst nightmare and hits the wall. Meanwhile, the other girls decide to babysit the children of the race participants and have two notable guests: a little punk named Norman (whose father is played...

Anyone who knows the kind and gentle Rose Nylund knows she would do anything for a friend or a neighbor, even if that included making two wedding cakes. This attitude gets the best of Rose and she ends up in the hospital with what thankfully turns out to just be an esophageal spasm (try to say that three times fast).  After what she interprets as a near-death experience, Rhonda (oops, we mean...

Merry Christmas waterliles! Our gift to you is this LOL-filled episode featuring Mr. Patrick Vaughn, the hunkiest hunk that ever hunked! The Actor is in town to join the cast of what we always thought was a local production of Our Town, but is actually a parody of the Paul Newman show, Picnic. The girls each vie for his affection, though Blanche inflates her efforts (da-da-ching). Meanwhile, Sophi...

In this season 2 gem, Blanche dates twins and Stanley undergoes heart surgery. Truly, everyone in the house is doubling up on their vitamins! In this one, we take a scholarly look at the relationships between Dorothy, Stan, and Sophia, and ask ourselves why so many women find themselves bending over backward (like Doug) doing emotional labor for men who don't deserve it. 

I'd like to write a description here but I hate your mother. Kidding!  Dorothy recruits Blanche and Rose (reluctantly) to help her surprise Sophia with what she thinks is a great birthday gift--a surprise visit from her sister Angela. The two women haven't seen each other in decades, and it turns out, there's a reason for the distance. Nancy Walker guest stars in this hilarious episode. 

There is nothing worse than watching your friend suffer because their romantic life is in the garbage. Well, actually catfishing that friend by assuming the identity of one Mr. Issac Q. Newton, a citrus farmer from central Canada might be. Blanche and Dorothy have their hearts in the right place, but no one knows where the hell their brains are when they try to trick Rose out of her dating slump....

Dorothy's job hunt isn't going well, so Blanche insists she comes and works with her at the museum. It sounds great at first, but when their loser boss Mr. Allen asks Dorothy to discreetly work on something, Blanche gets territorial. Specifically, she tells Dorothy to 'eat dirt and die, trash,' so things get a little tense at home and in the office.  All the while Rose introduces us to the fi...

Ok now everybody SHUT THE HELL UP. We're talking about Vacation, arguably the goofiest episode of the first season. Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose go on a vacation that starts with a skeezy motel and ends with the three of them shipwrecked on a deserted island thanks to the subpar sailing skills of their new friends. Meanwhile, Sophia tries to woo the gardener, which is mostly cute to watch, though he...

When Dorothy's son Michael and Rose's daughter Bridget visit at the same time, the seemingly inevitable happens, and the two share a night of so-so sex (too much wine) in Blanche's bed. Because this is a sitcom, all four of the women walk in on them, and the awkwardness makes for a really awkward and icky confrontation between Dorothy and Rose.