The Golden Girls (TV Series) The Engagement (1985) User Reviews

The beginnings of a show worth its weight in gold

[allexand · 7/10 · 25 June 2009]

Picture it: Miami 1985. Three women over 50 and their housekeeper are sharing a house together when their lives are turned upside down by the sudden arrival of one woman's 80-year old mother and the announcement that one of the women is engaged to be married...

The pilot episode of the Golden Girls, otherwise known as "The Engagement," kicks off this truly wonderful series. While it is certainly far from perfect, it does a great job in setting up what was yet to come.

It takes a while for any show to flesh out its main characters and the first episode of "The Golden Girls" does a commendable job. While there's not a whole lot of laugh-out-loud moments here, The opening monologue delivered by Dorothy about clashing with a student over her fashion sense and the monologue delivered by Rose about ending up alone are well-done and very memorable. Dorothy also spouts a few of her trademark deadpan sarcastic remarks here. Blanche doesn't have a lot to do in this episode but since she gets her chances to shine as the series goes on this can be overlooked. The housekeeper, Coco, is the weakest character in the episode and it's easy to see why they got rid of him. In fact, I watched these shows when they first aired and I don't even remember him from that first viewing.

While the other women are terrific, this episode truly belongs to Sophia. From the moment she walks through the door, she spouts hilarious one-liners at rapid fire pace and never lets up. Her timing is terrific and her delivery is so dynamic that you can't help but laugh even if the line wasn't intended to be funny. It's easy to see why the writers changed their mind and made her a series fixture. I do think that the explanation blaming her boisterous nature on a stroke just seemed like overkill.

The weakest point of this episode would have to be Rose suddenly developing reservations about Blanche's fiancée. It really comes out of nowhere, it's not explained well and it feels rushed. It also feels like it was written in just to introduce a conflict. At least they do manage to get a few funny moments out of it.

As with any pilot, it has issues that will definitely be worked out later. Even so, Susan Harris and the fab four will give you more than enough laughs to keep you coming back for more. One interesting side note is that this episode briefly features Meshach Taylor, who would go on to star in another show based around a quartet of women: "Designing Women."

They were Golden

[callanvass · 9/10 · 13 December 2013]

Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche are three women who share a house in Miami, Florida. All three are very close and share everything with one another. Dorothy's mother, Sophia, unexpectedly moves in when her retirement home burns down, and Blanche accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Harry after only dating him a week. Needless to say, the girls aren't to keen on this. I've always liked this show. I wouldn't call myself a die hard fan of it, but I watched episodes here and there when I was younger. Since I'm reviewing a lot of television shows lately, I thought I'd watch some Golden Girls, since I remembered liking it whenever it was on. If this pilot is any indication, this show is going to become very addicting for me. I know it's trendy to make fun of this show, but why? Its lots of fun, it's hilarious, and more importantly, innocuous. It's extremely successful for a reason. All the girls have great chemistry with each other. Bea Arthur has some great lines, and she's hilariously sarcastic. Betty White plays her dimwitted, yet well meaning character so well. Rue McClanahan is the energetic one of the bunch, whilst Estelle Getty is a scream as Dorothy's mom. She impulsive and lacks a filter. That's what makes her so great. This show is very funny. It has a good message how you shouldn't be too eager to make unnecessary steps in a relationship when you don't have enough background on someone. I also liked how the girls are struggling to move on. I'm definitely gonna continue watching this show. I liked it when I was younger, and love it even more now

Favorite quotes.

Rose: What a day, one sad person after another. Dorothy: Rose, you work at grief counseling, what do you expect, comedians? Rose: Well, it would be a change of pace

Rose: Sit down, you must be exhausted. Sofia: Why? I rode in the cab, I didn't push it!

9.4/10

Entertaining episode to start off the show

[davispittman · 8/10 · 23 November 2017]

It's 1985. Miami, Florida. 4 older women living together and sharing their lives with one another. This beginning episode introduces us to the lives of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia. This episode is very funny and sets the stage for the rest of the series. Everyone is great here, sometimes pilot episodes aren't all that great, but this one really is both entertaining. The plot of this one centers around Blanche and her getting engaged to a man she's seeing. Things turn out not to be as they seem.... but Of course the girls are there for here as they always are. I recommend the entire show, it's one of my absolutes favorites, I thought it would be fun to review every episode of The Golden Girls. 8/10 for this very first episode. Starts things off with a bang.

In the beginning...

[skmcg_man · 19 February 2006]

In this classic pilot episode we discover that man-hungry Blanche (McClanahan) plans to marry Harry (Aletter) at the house after a whirlwind romance. Blanche's roommates Dorothy (Arthur) and Rose (White) react with surprise, shock and suspicion. Dorothy thinks it's too soon for Blanche to get married: "You've only known him a week!"; Rose worries that when Blanche gets married she will be turfed out: "Dorothy, we'll become bag ladies!" To complicate things even more, Dorothy's mother Sophia (Getty) turns up unannounced, claiming that the retirement home has just burned down. She now needs a place to stay. On the day of the wedding, Rose, acting on a hunch, intends to tell Blanche that Harry is not the man for her. She claims that her hunches have never been wrong. Dorothy doubts Rose - she even throws her in a closet to keep her quiet! Dorothy wants Blanche to be happy; she believes marriage will be good for her. That, however, never comes to pass. After waiting for hours for Harry, a cop arrives to say that Harry has been arrested for bigamy. Blanche is crushed, but soon recovers when she realises she has a new family: Dorothy, Rose....and Sophia.

The perfect start to a much loved comedy.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 5 November 2022]

Dorothy, Rose and Blanche, three women under the same house, but that blissful arrangement is threatened when owner of the house Blanche, is about to marry.

Brilliant first episode, almost forty years on, and this is still belly laugh humour, the script, the writing, the characters, the delivery, all are on point.

A wedding, it's a big one to start a series with, it's normally a way of ending one, but it just works on every level, I didn't stop laughing.

I cannot pick out one Golden Girl ahead of the other, they are all incredible, however there is one scene that made me spit my coffee out, that moment where Sophia describes the rather vivid scene at the nursing home, with the alarm bells ringing. Every line Sophia has is like liquid gold.

I love the fashions, the eighties was such a smart, chic era, if you appreciate fashions, you'll enjoy this.

9/10.

The fancy man

[Calicodreamin · 8/10 · 22 September 2021]

Pilot for one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. It comes out of the gate with a lot of laughs and a lot of heart. The girls have instant chemistry and set off the vibe for seven fantastic seasons.

Golden Girls Off With A Hit!

[IcyRoses · 9/10 · 17 April 2010]

The most brilliant comedy series in history, The Golden Girls, starts off with an impressive and hilarious first episode.

The very first episode deals with Blanche, and her engagement to a suspicious man. However, it's really Dorothy, Rose, and the introduction of Sophia that steal the episode.

This first episode is crucial, because it makes us realize who these women are. Dorothy is intelligent and sarcastic, Rose is dimwitted, Blanche is sexy, and Sophia is grumpy. All are explored in this classic first episode.

The only complaint is Coco, who thankfully was written out of the series after this episode. His character goes nowhere, and is borderline offensive.

Three TV legends and one future TV legend start their 7-8 year journey.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 21 January 2020]

Bea & Rue were on "Maude"; Rue & Betty were on "Mama's Family". Bea & Betty had worked together on a TV variety show. Add in "Torch Song Trilogy" Broadway star Estelle Getty and you've got the makings of sitcom history that 35 years later is still a fan favorite. Bea and Rue started on the stage, so they had pedigree in dealing with live audiences, while Betty had been around on TV longer even than Lucy. In fact, as "Golden Girls" began its run, so did Lucy's last TV show, "Life With Lucy", a short-lived failure that indicated that not just any golden girl could pull in the ratings. Elaine Stritch, who auditioned for the role of Dorothy (which went to Bea), ended up stealing every moment she was on "The Ellen Burstyn Show", another short-lived sitcom that didn't get its chance to gain success by word of mouth. But "Golden Girls" had a built-in audience. Fans of "Maude" and "Mary Tyler Moore" and "Mama's Family" tuned in to see these witty women, and they were not disappointed.

The pilot episode features different furniture for both the living room and kitchen as seen in episodes which followed this. It also featured Coco (Charles Levin), their live-in gay cook who was obviously not needed after Sophia moved in. Estelle Getty got laughs through throw away lines such as "You must be blind!", responding to Blanche's fiancee (Frank Aletter) whom we know from the beginning will not end up walking down the aisle with the man-hungry Blanche. Rue had been the ditzy Vivian on "Maude" but switched the roles with Betty who went from man-crazy as Sue Ann Nivens to dim as Rose Nylon, and the switch of characterizations according to Bea is what interested her in taking on another iconic role.

Fans of "Designing Women" (which premiered a year later) will recognize Meschach Taylor as the police officer who comes to tell Blanche about Aletter's secret, and F. William Parker is very funny in his bit role as the preacher backed up in Miami with funerals. Charles Levin's "Golden Boy" might have made a nice recurring character, but no mention of Coco is ever made, and the switch of furniture in the following episode isn't as jarring as it could have been. Everybody in the cast gets their chance to shine and reveal a bit about their characters. Bea's insights into Dorothy reveal her insecurities but her intelligence, while Rue as Blanche show off both her narcissism and her sensitivity as she laughs at Sophia's cut downs at her expense. Sophia steals every moment she is on screen and you know that she's going to be the break-out star, dominating not only all seven seasons of this but "Golden Palace" and several other spin-offs (official and unofficial as well). It is easy to see that they through a party and the biggest gift was revealed to be the great reviews and instant high ratings, a rarity in TV sitcoms.

The Engagement (#1.1)

[ComedyFan2010 · 7/10 · 7 January 2014]

Blanche is getting engaged to her boyfriend that she just started dating recently. Rose is both worried about having to look for a new place and as well that the man that Blanche is about to marry is suspicious. And Sophia moves in with him for some time because her retirement home burned down.

A pretty good start of something that looks like a promising comedy. The characters are introduced very well and we have an idea about ho they will be in the show. Many funny one liners and jokes. As well as it starts with positive message of how much they love living together. I only couldn't understand why Rose was suspicious of the groom.

Plenty of good zingers in this endearing pilot.

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 28 January 2022]

Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), and Blanche (Rue McClanahan) are three seniors who share a house in Miami. The main through line of this pilot is that Blanche has been proposed to by a man (Frank Aletter) who has only known her for a week. Rose has a negative gut feeling about the guy, but Dorothy doesn't want her to spoil Blanches' happiness. Meanwhile, Dorothy's mother Sophia (Estelle Getty) comes to stay after her retirement home burns down.

Four very talented ladies make the most of this script by Susan Harris that does a superb job of balancing some hilarious comedy with some poignancy. Indeed, there's something to be said here about the need to appreciate friends & family, as well as the need to remember all the good things in life. At her age, Blanche is worried that she won't have many more chances to be truly happy. But, as the theme song for this series so succinctly puts it, true friends will always be there for us, through the ups and the downs.

The dynamic between the characters is so well set up here, with Getty especially funny as the feisty 80 year old Sophia. Both she and Arthur have a real flair for delivering one-liners. In fact, Getty proved to be so popular with test audiences that she was quickly graduated from recurring guest star to full-fledged co-star, with the cook character Coco (Charles Levin) dropped from the series.

Good fun for classic sitcom fans, with a brief appearance from Meshach Taylor (as a cop), who subsequently went on to fame on the sitcom 'Designing Women'.

Eight out of 10.

One of the f the best even after 25 years

[emergefanny · 10/10 · 13 September 2021]

This is really awesome, all actresses are so talented and lots of time I can't stop laughing. If u want to have a good laugh, this is one of the top choices I will suggest!

Start Of a Great Show

[shelbythuylinh · 8/10 · 13 December 2021]

It is even popular in reruns there. And how that Sophia was suppose to be a recurring character but that she became so popular she was made into a regular role.

As it is about four women, Dorothy the pragmatic and wisecracking woman, Rose a naive and sweet woman from Olaf MN, man crazy and owner of the house they are in Blanche, and last but not least elderly mother of Dorothy and scene stealer Sophia.

The reruns are just as popular there.

Promising Beginning

[infoed-01836 · 8/10 · 23 March 2024]

I was right there when it all started -or at least in my family living room on September 14, 1985. It was quite a night. The Chief had died on "Gimme a Break", Edna's Edibles burned down on "The Facts of Life" and now this new show.

While this is not one of my favorite episodes - it's the pilot, so things are still being worked out- it has a lot to recommend it. Beatrice Arthur is still very much in "Maude" mode here but looks refreshed and has some good zingers already.

What is interesting about the pilot is how much of it rests on the shoulders of Arthur and Betty White. Sure, the episode deals with Blanche's impending marriage but take note of how often Blanche is actually out of the room, leaving a lot of the dialogue to be between Dorothy and Rose. Rue McClanahan's Blanche is not the character she becomes and the writers of this episode don't give her a chance to shine.

Good beginning to a good first season. Develops more into the show we love with subsequent episodes.