"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."
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Isn't It Romantic is the fifth episode of the second season of The Golden Girls and the thirtieth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Jeffrey Duteil, the episode premiered on NBC-TV on November 8th, 1986.
Dorothy's lesbian friend Jean visits and develops feelings for Rose.
Plot[]
Dorothy has a visitor named Jean. She has never told Blanche and Rose that Jean is a lesbian and Sophia tells her to speak to Jean beforehand. Jean arrives, Dorothy and Sophia tell her their problem and while she's happy to be out it's Dorothy's choice, upon seeing the childlike desserts Rose has made for them she decides to keep quiet.
The next day Jean and Rose hit it off, but Blanche keeps suggesting that they go to pick up guys thinking a year is too long to abstain. However as the days go by Jean decides to leave early, she tells Dorothy that she's thinks she's in love with Rose. That night, Dorothy tells Sophia who thinks it's funny, it wakes Blanche who they tell the truth, she's fine with Jean being gay and knowing Rose promises to keep silent about Jean's feelings.
That night Sophia has a nasty cold for going to rent dirty movies, Dorothy decides to let Sophia sleep in her own room and Jean room with her. However, Jean and Rose spent a few hours card playing and talking so Rose tells her to share her room. While Rose is near to sleep, Jean confesses her feelings, Rose in shock pretends to snore after repeating her.
That morning, she speaks to Dorothy private, she reveals what happened and she is shocked about what to do, Jean comes in ready to leave and Rose speaks to her. She admits she's still confused about her feelings after losing Pat, Rose admits that while she isn't gay, she knows what grief is like and so she thanks her for it and offers Jean to stay if she accepts their friendship which she does.[1]
The background shot during the closing credits show Dorothy, Rose, and Jean at the table eating breakfast, as Blanche looks on from the refrigerator.
This is director Terry Hughes's favorite episode of the series.
Production[]
The episode ranked #4 in the Nielsen ratings for the week, with a 27.3/45 rating/share, tying with "Ladies of the Evening" as the most watched episode of the series.
The character name Jean used by Lois Nettleton as a tribute to Jean Shepherd, author of the book that was the basis for A Christmas Story.
Terry Hughes won the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for this episode, and Jeffrey Duteil was nominated for the Emmy in Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for this episode. Lois Nettleton was also nominated for an Emmy for her performance in this episode.
Cultural references[]
The title is derived from the song "Isn't It Romantic?" composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart.
Goofs[]
When Dorothy tries to turn off the dirty movie, she accidentally presses fast-forward and the sound can be heard going much faster. However, most VHS players don't play the sound while fast-forwarding.
When Rose is in bed at about 2:15 in the morning, the close ups show that she's still wearing eyeshadow and makeup.
The large chest Dorothy has in her bedroom is missing in this episode.
