The Golden Girls – The Complete Fourth Season
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B-
One of the few hit series NBC had in the 1980s that really
holds up is The Golden Girls.
Now, The Complete Fourth Season from 1988-89 (26 half-hour shows) and the
show is as funny as ever and just about every live-action sitcom since. Susan Harris had triumphed once again, as
she had since Soap, and though this series was not as quirky,
biting or daring as that, it still had plenty of moments that showed Harris’
authorship. Very few shows before or
since have been so dead on about women.
Ewe did not get a chance to look
at the previous season DVD sets, but thanks to the superior cast of Estelle
Getty, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur, the comedy is supported by
superior comic acting and underappreciated comic timing. Bob Hope and an unknown Quentin Tarantino
are among the known faces that surface, while the usual parade of great
character actors continue, let by Herb Edelman as Dorothy’s (Arthur)
ex-husband.
If you have not seen the show,
Dorothy is the occurrently unhappy divorcee trying to get through life no
matter what dysfunction comes her way, Getty is Dorothy’s mother, who has a
brain issue that does not allow her to hold back what is on her mind, White is
the lovable airhead Rose Nylund, and McClanahan is Blanche Devereaux, who still
likes to sleep around after all these years.
As the 1980s kicked in, few great TV shows (especially sitcoms) have
surfaced and The Golden Girls is one of those last great
shows form talented creators from the 1970s who cared and knew how to ride the
TV grind before it got to the show. By
this time, the situation become more familiar, but was still pretty funny and
is definitely worth revisiting.
The 1.33 X 1 image has good color, but the analog
professional NTSC tapings were a little clearer that the versions presented
here with digititis issues. You may
find this a bit annoying, while this critic would like to know how it happened
in the first place. The Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo has poor surrounds and should only be played back in its original
configuration. The only extra is a
brief featurette on the Top Ten Guest Stars, but that is still better than Joan
& Melissa Rivers giving fashion commentary
- Nicholas Sheffo
