Golden Girls - Tales From the Lanai

The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is a rich collection of essays and interviews that explores the cultural impact of that iconic and comforting American sitcom. Featuring twelve original essays and in-depth interviews with producers, the book offers rare insights into the show’s creation, its beloved characters, long-lasting life in syndication, and appeal for marginalized viewers, especially Black, queer, and female audiences. Perfect for both fans and scholars alike.

List of contents

Introduction:  Thank You for Being a Fan: 40 Years of The Golden Girls

Section 1: Industry and Historical Context

Chapter 1:  “Picture it, U.S. 2020…”: Sitcom Nostalgia During the Pandemic, Kate Fortmueller

Interview: What did you do on The Golden Girls?

Chapter 2:  Disney’s Renaissance Woman: Susan Harris, The Golden Girls, and Touchstone Television, Peter C. Kunze

Interview: Creating the Golden Girls

Chapter 3: Golden Girls Again: The Golden Girls in Rerun Syndication, Taylor Cole Miller

Interview: Thank You For Being a Friend

Chapter 4:   Golden Memories: Narrative Complexity and Flashback Episodes in The Golden Girls, Jessica Hoover

Interview: The Weekly Schedule – Taping Seasons 1-3

Section 2: Text

Chapter 5:  Enquiring Minds: The Golden Girls and Tabloid Culture, Claire Sewell

Interview The Weekly Schedule – Writing Seasons 5-7

Chapter 6: I Need a Cheesecake: 1980s Diet Culture and The Golden Girls, Ashleé Clark

Interview: Working with the Girls

Chapter 7: “AIDS is not a Bad Person’s Disease, Rose”: Contagion and Comedy on The Golden Girls, Andrew J. Owens

Interview: Photographing the Girls

Chapter 8: Sex and the “Biddy”: An Examination of Age and Sexual Performance in The Golden Girls, Jared Clayton Brown

Interview: Editing and Laughter

Chapter 9: Thank You for Being a Mom: Contradictory Lessons in Mothering from The Golden Girls, Beth L. Boser

Interview: The Great Herring War

Section 3: Audiences & Reception

Chapter 10: Golden Girlfriends: Black Women’s Fandom and the Implicit Blackness of The Golden Girls, Alfred L. Martin, Jr.

Interview: On Bea and Betty

Chapter 11: Smut Upon a Time in Miami: The Golden Girls' Camp Comedy, Ken Feil

Interview: Why It’s Still Popular

Chapter 12:  Thank You for Making Drag Safe:  Mainstreaming Queerness Through Live Golden Girls Stage Productions, Eleanor Patterson

Interview: From The Golden Girls to Golden Palace

Notes on Contributors

Notes

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
 
 

About the author

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 Department 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.
 

Product details

• Authors: Alfred L Martin, Taylor Cole Miller, Taylor Cole Martin Miller
• Assisted by: Alfred L Martin (Editor), Alfred L. Martin (Editor), Taylor Cole Miller (Editor)
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.09.2025
• EAN: 9781978836846
• ISBN: 978-1-978836-84-6
• No. of pages: 268
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet