“Betty, White Hot!” a series of periodic flashbacks to key moments in Betty White’s amazing television career, continues.
On September 18, 1992, CBS introduced “The Golden Palace,” the short-lived sequel to NBC’s “The Golden Girls.”
“Girls” ended memorably in May 1992 with Dorothy (Bea Arthur) marrying and moving away. The producers pitched NBC on a continuation of the series that would find the remaining “Girls” running a hotel, but the network passed – allowing CBS to pick up the new series and use it as the kickoff for a revitalized Friday night lineup that also included “Designing Women” and “Major Dad.”
The first episode opens on the “Girls’” familiar living-room set, where – as movers cart away the furniture – viewers learn Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Sophia (Estelle Getty) have invested their life savings in the Golden Palace, an art deco hotel in Miami Beach.
The women soon learn the Palace’s charms mask several shortcomings, including little staff and lots of debt. They go to work shoring up the business – Blanche is the boss, Rose cleans the rooms, Sophia runs the kitchen – discovering a new lease on life in the process.
As White explained in her 1995 memoir “Here We Go Again: My Life in Television,” the new series reflected the changing role of women in society, much as “The Golden Girls” had done when it debuted.
For seven years, the “Girls” had been living together, as much as a hedge against loneliness as for economic reasons. But they had always faced life from the shelter and security of their home. Now, by leaving that familiar setting, these characters, whom the audience knew so well, would be forced to do what so many women these days were having to do in real life – meet the world as it comes through the front door and deal with it.
“Palace” featured a zippier version of the “Girls” theme and three new cast members: Don Cheadle as Roland, the sharp-tongued young manager; Cheech Marin as Chuy, the temperamental chef; and Billy L. Sullivan as Oliver, a 12-year-old street kid who becomes Roland’s ward.
Most of the action took place in the lobby, the dining room and the kitchen, where the women gathered for their traditional late-night cheesecake sessions, except now they were joined by the other characters.
The hotel setting also allowed for guest stars to check in, including new suitors (Eddie Albert, Barry Bostwick, Ricardo Montalban) for the women, family members (Ja’net DuBois appeared twice as Roland’s mom, Ned Beatty played Blanche’s brother) and old friends (Herb Edelman as Stan, Harold Gould as Miles).
The Associated Press’s Scott Williams described the new series as being “as much fun as the old one, and maybe a little more. … With [Arthur] gone, McClanahan, White and Getty are freed to find new comic orbits of their own, and they do. The chemistry is still sharp, and maybe a little sharper, since the writers won’t have to gearshift a gag through four characters.”
The Washington Post’s Tom Shales saved his highest praise for White, calling Rose “one of the great creations of a glorious comic acting career. … [W]ithout Betty White, this is one show that clearly could not go on.”
“The Golden Palace” finished 24th in the Nielsens its first week but the ratings softened as the show struggled to find its niche; as White recalled in her book, last-minute script rewrites were common.
By the end of the season, the stories had improved and the show appeared headed for renewal. The night before CBS fall announced its fall 1993 schedule, executives shuffled the Friday lineup once more; “Palace” was cancelled and disappeared after the summer reruns.
The next “Betty, White Hot!” installment will be posted October 2.
Also on TV
On September 18, 1992, CBS also aired the debuts of Bob Newhart’s sitcom “Bob” and the David E. Kelly-produced drama “Picket Fences.” ABC broadcast the season premieres of “Family Matters,” “Step by Step” and “Dinosaurs;” the debut of “Camp Wilder,” a sitcom that featured Jerry O’Connell and Jay Mohr; and “20/20.” Fox showed “America’s Most Wanted,” “Sightings” and the you-solve-the-mystery crime show “Likely Suspects.” NBC offered the debuts of “Final Appeal,” an “Unsolved Mysteries” spinoff, and the young-people-living-in-Washington drama “The Round Table.”
The Record
During the week of September 13, 1992, the number ones were Stephen King’s “Gerald’s Game” (novel), Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” (song) and “Sneakers” (movie). Meanwhile, new research suggested rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was more damaging than previously believed.
Caption: “The Golden Palace” profile from TV Guide’s September 12, 1992, fall preview issue (photo by Jeff Katz).
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