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By
NICK ZEGARAC
In 1985 television was
introduced to rambunctious "The Golden Girls," a
wacky troupe of over-the-hill ladies living in the
posh pastel surroundings of Miami. Hard driving,
no-nonsense, Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur),
the dim-witted fluff ball, Rose Nylund (Betty
White) and haughty Blanche Devereaux (Rue
McClanahan) shared their deluxe accommodations
with Dorothy's mother, Sophia Patrillo (Estelle
Getty -- actually, the youngest in the troupe)
after Sophia's retirement home burnt down.
The first season follows the girls as they go
through a series of adjustments and failed
attempts to find marital happiness the second,
third and tenth time around. Each episode is a
gem, but aficionados will note that in the first
two episodes the girls (except for Arthur) look
considerably older than they do in the rest of the
series. The laughs come fast and furious.
Highlights include Rose's lover dying of a heart
attack after a night of passion, Blanche's planned
affair with her personal trainer and Dorothy's
failed reunion with her ex husband, Stan (Herb
Edelman). For outright riotous fun, this is one
series from the '80s that -- despite its dated set
décor and costuming -- hasn't dated in terms of
humor and great fun.
Unfortunately, Buena Vista's 3-disc DVD collection
presents a series of problems for certain DVD
players. If you discover cut outs in sound in
episodes 3-7 and 11 and 15, or experience sudden
fades during the opening theme music, it's an
interesting anomaly that only seems to happen on
certain models of DVD players. By that measure, I
can't really fault the disc mastering entirely.
But I can fault Buena Vista for presenting "The
Golden Girls" in a rather inconsistently rendered
batch of transfers. Colors vary widely from
episode to episode. Flesh tones are sometimes too
pink, sometimes too orange, and other times nicely
balanced. There are a barrage of glitches
associated with digital tape that crop up
throughout the episodes, including blips and lines
running up and down the image. This isn't a
stellar presentation of one of the most successful
sitcoms in television history and it's certainly
not the way I'd like to remember "The Girls" for
years to come. |
