Thanks for the memories!

Excellent but underrated film

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

When Dorothy Sbornak unexpectedly remarried and left the show, the surviving cast members moved away and bought a hotel. This was the premise of the one season "Golden Palace." It is absolutely amazing that the original show was so marvelous and this sequel was just the opposite in nature.There were two basic culprits why this show flopped. It proved that the capable Bea Arthur was needed. When she chose to leave the hit "Golden Girls," that decision in effect doomed the series. The other reason for the failure was the premise. Having our gals buy into a hotel and leaving that lovely Florida house was ridiculous. If that weren't bad enough, the writing on the sequel left a lot to be desired. As an example, in one segment, when a young Mexican child was running from the police, the child asked Sophia (Estelle Getty) for a place to hide. Sophia responded: "What am I Anne Frank?" That insensitive comment alone doomed the show.

Any true collector of The Golden Girls franchise should want the The Golden Palace on DVD. This final grouping of shows completes the history of TGG. TGP was not nearly as successful as TGG but was hilarious in its own right. It appears Buena Vista owns the rights to TGP. I have emailed them several times and they send a generic response saying "there are no plans at this time to release TGP". Please help support this release. Vote for the DVD at tvshowsondvd.com. Also, please email Buena Vista directly. You can find their email address through their website. The "Questions" link is at the bottom of the page. http://video.movies.go.com/index.html Let's get this show out on DVD!!!

While many have probably never considered this obvious fact, it its impossible not to consider the parallels between Don Cheadle sheltering Tusti refugees in a hotel and Don Cheadle sheltering The Golden Girls in a hotel. In fact, the Oscar-nominated film is really little more than a pale remake of this inspirational series, with Nick Nolte taking the place of Betty White in strikingly similar roles. Some day perhaps this classic will be released on DVD, and we will see where the story truly began, but for now, those who watch "Hotel Rwanda" can merely view Cheadle's rescue of the refugees and gratefully think "Thank you for bein' a friend."

After the brilliant 'Golden Girls' ended when Bea Arthur - always the show's biggest star - left, the company behind it decided to try and continue the magic with the remaining girls. As the show wasn't the same without Arthur, they producers created a new situation, with the girls buying and running their own hotel. Sadly, this series just seemed a bit desperate. Although there were some funny moments, the brilliance of the Golden Girls was its simplicity, and the chemistry between the four leads. With Bea Arthur gone, the comic balance was lost, and new characters seemed out of place. Also the situation was unbelievable - where did three women who could only afford one house between them get the money to buy a swanky hotel? Why did they buy a hotel anyway? Far from awful, but certainly disappointing.