The Golden Age of Television: The Golden Girls in the 1980s and Beyond Debuting on September 14, 1985, the NBC series The Golden Girls, starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClannahan, and Estelle Getty became one of the most important series of the 1980s. While The Cosby Show attracted a multicultural audience along racial and gendered lines, The Golden Girls also captured queer viewers. Unlike series like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Murder, She Wrote, Cheers, 60 Minutes, and Dynasty, which were the first through sixth most-watched series, The Golden [...]