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‘Golden Girls’ Is Coming To Hulu, The Entire Series, Every Episode

By Darien Cavanaugh
Published on: 07:50 PST, Jan 8, 2017

Hulu is adding the entire series of The Golden Girls to its library in February. That equals out to 177 episodes of nonstop Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and, of course, Betty White.

The popular TV series ran on NBC for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992, according to the IMDB page for the show.

Hulu announced that they would be making The Golden Girls available to their subscribers via a tweet from the company’s official Twitter account. They even threw in the tagline “Thank you for being a friend” from the show’s theme song.

While The Golden Girls was popular in its day, it has maintained a loyal audience and even developed a cult following among younger viewers.

The A.V. Club‘s Sonia Saraiya says “it’s odd that it’s become such a cult favorite,” noting that the show still “does very well in syndication on the Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, and, of course, Drag Race‘s home network, Logo.”

Saraiya acknowledges, however, that the show possesses a certain timeless edginess that is still relatable today.

“The show lives on because despite (or perhaps because of) its unconventionality; it was fresh and relevant while it aired,” writes Saraiya.

“And in every way that matters, The Golden Girls is still quite modern. It’s still smart, still funny, and in its 177 episodes, it tackles complicated issues The Big Bang Theory [wouldn’t] dare touch. The Golden Girls took on HIV/AIDS in 1990, employed a gay male cook in the pilot, and even grappled with the idea that a beloved brother and son was a cross-dresser, perhaps even transgender. And it employed more actresses over 60 than any other show on television now (American Horror Story, itself groundbreaking, matches it).”

It does not hurt that Betty White, one of the four stars of the show, has herself become a cult icon among the young and hip.

“They might be a little late to the Betty White party, but Hulu is adding a little bit of Miami warmth to its winter lineup,” an Engadget article on the announcement says. “According to the streaming service, The Golden Girls will be available on Hulu starting February 13th so you can spend your Valentine’s Day at Blanche Devereaux’s house.”

According to Engadget, Hulu’s Head Of Content, Craig Erich, sees adopting The Golden Girls as part of a broader strategy by the streaming video service to try to “round up fan favorite series and nostalgia mines that may also have appeal with new fans.”

Hulu “scored a big win” in securing the streaming rights to Seinfeld in 2015, Engadget notes, and they have continued to add content from “a diverse range of partners” like Disney and CBS.

While The Golden Girls is thought of most as a lighthearted laugh-out-loud comedy, Saraiya reminds us that there was more to the show than just its humor.

“[Most importantly, it introduced the notion that women didn’t just expire when they were past marriageable age,” Saraiya writes.

“These are women who may have been forgotten by society; but that doesn’t mean they have to forget themselves, or one another. Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia approach aging with determined confidence, sarcasm, and an irrepressible attitude of making the most of their remaining years.”

The Golden Girls is definitely a show worth revisiting on Hulu, both for the laughs and for what it subtly tried to teach us.

[Featured Image by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images]

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