After TGG, I started on “Empty Nest” since it was a spin off and I vaguely remember it as kind of background noise from my childhood. Ended up pausing that to check out “Hot in Cleveland” after someone mentioned to me it was basically a modern version of TGG.
It’s not a 1:1 remake, but there are a lot of overlaps in the premises:
- Four women over 50 (with the exception of Jane Leeves in season 1 who was 49 at the time) living in the same house as roommates/friends.
- Lots of talking around the kitchen table
- Betty White (who basically plays the Sophia in this version)
- The characters are roughly analogous to their unofficial TGG counterparts:
- Elga (Betty White): Basically Sophia who knows how to use the internet. Imagine Sophia but as a Twitter troll.
- Joy (Jane Leeves): The sharp-witted, sarcastic “straight man” acting as the Dorothy
- Victoria (Wendie Malick): The fading starlet / soap opera actress taking up the reins as the Blanche of the group. She also has a lot of echoes of Nina Van Horn from “Just Shoot Me” (also played by Malick)
- Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli): The bubbly/naive “mom” type acting as the Rose.
- Several episodes are pseudo clip shows where they’re sitting around the table telling stories with the episode being made up of those flashbacks (a frequent framing device used in TGG)
- Lots of plots revolve around the interaction/combination of the 4 familiar character types.
It’s also a bit of a running “Frasier” reunion since Leeves and Malick were both cast members. “Frasier” alums I’ve noticed so far are Peri Gilpen (Roz), John Mahoney (Martin), Millicent Martin (Gertrude Moon), Tom McGowan (Kenny), and Jean Smart (Lana “PUT YOUR BROTHER ON THE PHONE!” Gardner).
If you liked TGG and haven’t seen this, I can confirm it’s accurate to call it a spiritual successor and recommend checking it out.
There is also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Palace
I’m aware of it as the official sequel but haven’t seen it. Assuming there’s a good reason it only lasted one season.
Found Frenchie’s account.
Perhaps you would like Designing Women as well it’s a bit similar.
I’ve heard of it but will have to add it to my watch list.
This is some niche interest. I remember really getting a kick out of Golden Girls when I was a kid. Somehow I think it was a precursor to Sex in the City but don’t know if it’s relevant.
