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The Golden Girls

Tales from the Lanai

Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin

Paperback

$29.95

Hardback

$69.95

eBook (ePub)

$29.95

eBook (PDF)

$29.95

Quantity

Price:: $29.95
ISBN:: 9781978836846
Published:: Sep 09, 2025

Release Date:: 9th September 2025
Publisher:: Rutgers University Press
Imprint:: Rutgers University Press
Pages:: 260

Description
Praise
Contents
Authors

The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is an accessible collection that explores the cultural, industrial, and historical impact of that beloved American sitcom. Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin, Jr., this anthology brings together a diverse range of voices that model different media studies approaches to researching and critically analyzing television texts. The Golden Girls reclaims the production history and development of the show, opens new conversations about audiences–especially Black, queer, and female audiences–and provides new insight into the meteoric rise in popularity of The Golden Girls as a 2020s cultural phenomenon. With twelve original chapters and extensive original interviews offering readers rare insights behind the scenes, the book is a long day’s journey into the marinara of The Golden Girls–an immersive, engaging opportunity for readers to learn more about the show. It truly is the golden age of The Golden Girls.

"I was blown away by this book."
---Out on the Lanai podcast

"It is a lesson on chosen family and how we can talk about difficult topics through humor and a slice of cheesecake."
---WGN-TV Weekend Morning News

"Academic yet accessible. Part cultural analysis, part fan love letter, all wrapped in the charm of four women eating cheesecake at midnight. . . . A smart, engaging tribute to one of the most iconic shows ever made. For super-fans, it's full of golden nuggets (pun intended), even if a few points get recycled. So grab some cheesecake and dive in!"
---Nerdy Nerdy Book Book

"These tales offer an amazingly detailed history of the Girls, full of in-depth analysis, revealing interviews, never-before-known facts, and sly references to our favorite funny moments and one-liners. Like Dorothy, it's super-smart. Like Sophia, it'll have you laughing out loud. And like Vanna White's memoir, it's just a helluva book!"
- Jim Colucci

"Miller and Martin have expertly curated an impressive collection of essays that capture the wit and the heart of The Golden Girls while simultaneously offering an essential contribution to the field of television studies. This is the book that fans and scholars have been waiting for."
- Racquel J. Gates

"This book is a testament to both the emotional truth and sociological power this powerhouse television show created. It is a glorious and fascinating look into the writing, the performances, and most of all, the many lines they crossed. I say this from the bottom of my heart to the humans involved in this book: Thank you. For being a friend."
- Alexandra Billings

"This book is more fun than a herring circus. Martin and Miller have put together a collection that deftly illustrates the depth, significance, and risk taking that define The Golden Girls. It's an important addition to work on eighties TV and a must-read for fans of the Girls. It made me feel like I just won Butter Queen."
- Kelly Kessler

"Weaving together witty commentary, behind-the-scenes perspectives, and solid research, this book allows the reader—from casual fan to die-hard fanatic—to reflect upon The Golden Girls phenomenon in fresh and thought-provoking ways."
- Maria Carpiac

Introduction: Thank You for Being a Fan: Forty Years of The Golden Girls 1
Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin Jr.
Part I. Industry and Historical Context
1. “Picture It, U.S. 2020 . . .”: Sitcom Nostalgia During the Pandemic 19
Kate Fortmueller
Interview: Meet Our Special Guests and Their Little Slice of
The Golden Girls 33
2. Disney’s Renaissance Woman: Susan Harris, The Golden Girls,
and Touchstone Television 37
Peter C. Kunze
Interview: Creating The Golden Girls 53
3. Miami Thrice: The Golden Girls in Rerun Syndication 57
Taylor Cole Miller
Interview: “Thank You for Being a Friend” 75
4. Golden Memories: Narrative Complexity and
Flashback Episodes in The Golden Girls 79
Jessica Hoover
Interview: The Weekly Schedule: Taping Seasons 1–3 93
Part II. Text
5. Enquiring Minds: The Golden Girls and Tabloid Culture 99
Claire Sewell
Interview: The Weekly Schedule: Writing Seasons 5–7 113
6. I Need a Cheesecake: 1980s Diet Culture and The Golden Girls 119
Ashleé Clark
Interview: Memorable Moments with the Girls 133
7. “AIDS Is Not a Bad Person’s Disease, Rose”:
Contagion and Comedy on The Golden Girls 137
Andrew J. Owens
Interview: Photographing the Girls 149
8. Sex and the “Biddy”: An Examination of Age and
Sexual Performance in The Golden Girls 153
Jared Clayton Brown
Interview: Editing and Laughter 165
9. Thank You for Being a Mom: Contradictory Lessons in
Mothering from The Golden Girls 167
Beth L. Boser
Interview: The Myth of Ad-Libbing the Great Herring War 183
Part III. Audiences and Reception
10. Golden Girlfriends: Black Women’s Fandom and the
Implicit Blackness of The Golden Girls 187
Alfred L. Martin Jr.
Interview: On Bea and Betty 201
11. Smut upon a Time in Miami: The Golden Girls’ Camp Comedy 205
Ken Feil
Interview: Why The Golden Girls Is Still Popular 219
12. Thank You for Making Drag Safe: Mainstreaming Queerness
Through Live Golden Girls Stage Productions 225
Eleanor Patterson
Interview: From The Golden Girls to Golden Palace 241
Notes on Contributors 243
Index 247

Taylor Cole Miller is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Alfred L. Martin Jr. is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Cinematic Arts at the University of Miami. He is the author of Fandom for Us, by Us: The Pleasures and Practices of Black Audiences and The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom, and editor of Rolling: Blackness and Mediated Comedy.

Related topics: Social Science / Popular Culture