Episode 1: Who Actually Created The Golden Girls? The Executives and Producers S [16:33-19:39]

You looked at him, you know, you looked at him as four older women being together down there. The pilot did have a gay guy that worked for them as sort of a butler that they took out after that just didn't test well. But they had gigantic appeal. In 1849 audience, that was always way up there. It wasn't an old audience because they were old. I argue that today. I argue that with everybody just because you have older people doesn't make it old. So many times you think, well, they said, oh, they're actor and older actors. It's going to help skew at all. No, they can be funny. They can be funnier than anybody else out there. And they just played it often because of the characters being again so well defined when they got in. And the actress is being so good at delivering these lines. They had arcs that could go for each one of them over years. And it just I think it's still one of the highest shows that rates when they run them on reruns and stuff. I mean, God knows lifetime is running every 30 minutes. So it holds up. And it was it was star-studded. It was there. You couldn't you couldn't be more proud to be associated with anything. Not only did it do ratings. It won awards. I was glad when each one had finally won one. It was nice. But it was it was there. It was everything you could want in a television show. So the producers certainly were hands-on producers were a giant. You had an involvement other than more than just a cheerleader on this one. I was again a little closer, a little more supportive. You know, now it was new. So I was I was a little more involved. But I wouldn't say that I was giving Susan Harris notes. What was your involvement? You know, taking it over here in the idea, bringing it to Brandon Tartico's office, sitting with a pitching it, reading it, giving notes. But I always have understood that if you have the right people, and you just talk about things, they they get the right things done. Susan, I mean, when they do write the history of the business, she's one of the greats. Paul and Tony are just we're two fabulous producers. From a bit called Miami Nice to Susan Harris's masterful script to the network deal that gave the show a home. Next time, we hear from a few of the show's unforgettable stars. From a clan of hand, the Arthur and Betty White. They had the four of us come in to read for the suits at NBC. And we laid them low. And that's the way they cast it. For full interviews and additional content, visit our website, televisionacademy.com slash interviews. And throughout the season, keep an eye out for our golden nuggets, short bonus stories from the archive to enjoy in between episodes. If you like to make a donation to support this podcast, please visit emis.com slash give. This podcast was produced, edited and narrated by Arianne Mays, audio engineering by Eduardo Vian Skoski and production support from Vieta Benton. Thank you for listening.