and the card attached would say "thank you for being a friend"

I first fell in love with the "Golden Girls" circa 1989 or so, watching tv with my nanny. Why we were watching the "Golden Girls" is unclear to me, because when I revisited the series in high school, watching endless reruns on "Lifetime: Television for Women" Nanny said something like "damn, they're such bitches to each other".

I loved the show when I was little, though. Nan and I would sit and drink soda juice and eat feelings (I called cheese puffs feelings, maybe because of the strong feelings I have about how much I love them?) and watch the gals, Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia wisecrack their way through heartbreak, chaos, schemes and shenanigans. Actually, for all I know, we only did this once-- I remember just one episode in particular: the girls go on vacation somewhere, and Sophia tries to pack the hotel's towels in her suitcase to take home. Hilarious, thought the four-year-old me.

I started watching the series again in high school on TV, and then took to it in earnest in college when each season started coming out on DVD. I'm hardly the only young woman to be into the Golden Girls in a totally-not-ironic way. I had several girlfriends in college and high school who were obsessed with it too, probably because what other female focused show of the past twenty years deals with "gay marriage, menopause, gun control, impotence, drug addiction, safe sex, Empty nest syndrome, Infidelity, Interracial marriage, homophobia, Organ donation, fixed income, domestic violence, Problem gambling, suicide, cross-dressing, lesbianism, plastic surgery, child abandonment, euthanasia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, pregnancy, homicide, veganism, cocaine addiction, artificial insemination, health care, homelessness, immigration, sexual harassment, Illegal Immigration, and senility" ? (Thanks, wikipedia)

Seriously, these ladies are badass. They have tons of sex, they're independent and have careers, (though, Dorothy was so smart, why was she a part-time substitute teacher?) they're funny, and they're freaking OLD. Like, grandmother old, and so much cooler than most twenty-somethings I know. OK, the clothes are pretty heinous and the hair is AWFUL (pin curled mullets with wings, anyone?) but it was the eighties and most people looked like shit. The Golden Girls were completely comfortable with who they were, they were downright sexy and they rocked it. Must-see-TV just doesn't get any more progressive.

I have such a girl crush on my Goldens that while browsing the "network TV" section of our friendly neighborhood video store, I picked up the "Lifetime Intimate Portrait" series which profiles Bea Arthur (Dorothy) Estelle Getty (Sophia) Betty White (Rose) and Rue McClanahan (Blanche) in their real life lives. K made endless fun of me for getting it, and yeah, it was kind of boring and disappointing, but still. They're awesome: Bea Arthur keeps Dobermans, Estelle Getty dyes her hair blond and wears a crap load of eye makeup, Rue was married something like four times (surprise, surprise) but guess what? So was Betty White!

Sure, the episodes can feel a little formulaic. There's a conflict at the beginning that is (usually) solved by the end- unless it's a two-part episode!- wisecracks will be made all around, generally centering on Blanche's sluttiness, Rose's naive/stupidity, Dorothy's spinsterness, and Sophia's senility. But oh, those one-liners! The "Picture it-- Sicily, 1912" and the "Back in St. Olaf's". Not only is it a progressive, feminist television show, it's actually funny.

Vanity Fair recently did a cover story with a tag line something like "who says women aren't funny?" and the corresponding article was mainly about Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Sarah Silverman. Now, I don't want to hate on female comedians, because we need more of them, I agree with funny women on principal, and it's cool that they're ladies breaking into a mainly boys club. But come on! The SNL gals and Jimmy lame-o Kimmel's girlfriend have nothing on Miami's finest.

At their finest, courtesy of my pals at Lifetime: No Blanche, but god, I fucking love Bea Arthur.