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 Girls has endured in the popular zeitgeist and has been continuously on the air on Lifetime, WE, Logo, or other channels since it stopped producing new episodes in 1992. In this talk, Alfred Martin discusses the production of the series and the ways it captured a wide audience, finishing its first season as the seventh most-watched television program (tied with Dynasty). But Martin also explores the ways the series endures through its fandom, particularly among Black women and gay men.
The Fall 2025 Brown Bag Lecture series feature presentations of new works by School of Communication faculty. The series will be held in Wolfson 1021, from 12:00–1:15 p.m. Please feel free to bring your lunch. Desserts will be provided.