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"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy." This article is incomplete. You can help the Golden Girls Wiki by expanding it. |
My Brother, My Father is the seventeenth episode of the third season of The Golden Girls and the sixty-eighth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Barry Fanaro and Mort Nathan, the episode premiered on NBC-TV on February 6th, 1988.
Summary[]
While Rose and Blanche rehearse for their roles in The Sound of Music, Sophia has a request for Dorothy: pretend to be married to Stan for Angelo, her priest brother, who will be visiting.
Plot[]
Sophia is making lasagna al forno, and Blanche and Rose return to reveal they only got minor roles in their local production of The Sound of Music. Dorothy suspects something, as lasagna al forno is one of her favorite foods and typically cooked by Sophia when she wants something from her. Sophia has invited Stan to dinner and reveals her brother Angelo is coming to Miami to catch a flight, and will be visiting until his plane comes in. Since Angelo is a catholic priest, Sophia is afraid Dorothy's divorce with Stan might break his heart, and asks for Dorothy and Stan to pretend to stay married in front of Angelo. The two reluctantly agree.
Angelo arrives, and Stan's mannerisms while pretending to stay married disgusts and overwhelms Dorothy. When Dorothy is on the verge of revealing the truth to Angelo, Angelo remarks on how happy he is to see Dorothy's marriage doing so well, and she holds her tongue. However, just as Angelo is about to go, Blanche and Rose return from dress rehearsal in their costumes as nuns, revealing that they had to return due to the incoming hurricane. Angelo believes the two to be actual nuns, and Stan returns to the house to announce all the airports have been closed. The group decides Angelo must stay for the night, and everyone is forced to keep up their charades. Stan sleeps in Dorothy's room as a result, and despite their bickering, the two begin to reminisce about their marriage before they are interrupted by Sophia deciding to sleep between the two.
The next day, Angelo remembers that it is Dorothy and Stan's anniversary. Rose suggests the two renew their wedding vows with the help of Angelo's status as a priest, and Stan agrees. At this, Dorothy confronts Stan in anger for pushing the charade too far, but Stan pleads with Dorothy to consider the suggestion since he believes the circumstances is a sign that they should get back together. Before they can decide, the rest of the group arrives, incredulous at Angelo. Angelo has revealed that he cannot help renew the wedding vows because in reality, he is not a catholic priest and has not been one his entire life. He had long ago married, but never told anyone out of guilt for disobeying his mother's deathbed promise that he become a catholic priest. Sophia assuages his guilt, saying that she too, had broken a deathbed promise of her own mother to marry the person her mother wanted Sophia to marry. Everyone is relieved when they reveal the truth of their own respective charades, and Angelo sets to leave since the weather has finally cleared. As Stan leaves, he reassures Dorothy that his earlier plea to remarry was simply a joke, and the two bid each other farewell forlornly.[1]
Tall Tales[]
Picture It...[]
To be added.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak
- Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux
- Betty White as Rose Nylund
- Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo
Guest Stars[]
- Herb Edelman as Stanley Zbornak
- Bill Dana as Uncle Angelo
Notes[]
- Angelo's seventy-two year-long marriage could make him the confirmed oldest family member who appeared on the show.
Production[]
- Bea Arthur won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in this episode.
Cultural references[]
- After the storm passes, Rose says "it's still windy outside, I'm going out to see if I can get airborne", she's referring to the 1967 television show The Flying Nun, which starred Herb Edelman.
Goofs[]
- Sophia and Angelo's mother is revealed to have died before coming America. In later episodes, it's suggested she lived until the 1950's.
- It's raining outside. Dorothy comes in the house and says "it's really coming down", then shakes her coat off although it's not wet. Then Stan shows up with an umbrella that's not wet. Then Sophia's brother Angelo shows up and isn't wet either.
- When Stan lays down on the floor, the pillow he lays on is slightly far away from the nightstand, causing the top of his head and arms to be a little off the pillow. When the camera zooms into his face, his pillow is suddenly pushed up against the nightstand. The camera zooms out again, and the pillow is like it was before. Then the camera zooms in again, and the pillow is pushed up against the side table once more.
- Uncle Angelo is stopping in Miami to wish Dorothy and Stan a happy fortieth wedding anniversary. Stan and Dorothy were married for thirty-eight years when they were divorced and Stan had already been gone for two years by the time the show began.
- When Rose is rehearsing lines in The Sound of Music with Blanche, she sets up the scene as "running from the Von Trapp house, yelling 'The Nazis are coming! The Nazis are coming!" In this musical, however, none of the nuns ever say such a line, nor are any of them in the Von Trapp house.
- This episode aired In February. If the show itself also takes place in February, there would not be a hurricane. Hurricane season in Miami is from June 1st to November 30th.
- When Stanley brings up the first time he ever got kicked out of bed by Dorothy, during their time at the Honeymoon Hideaway in the Poconos, Edelman flubs his line by describing the cottages as 'April in Paris' as opposed to 'Paris in April'.
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References[]
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 3, Episode 17, “My Brother, My Father”. Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 6th, 1988)