One for the Money

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One For the Money
Episode Information
Series	The Golden Girls
Season	3
Episode Number	2
Network/Country	NBC-TV / United States
Air Date	September 26, 1987
Production ID	3.2 / 053
IMDb link	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0589800
Written by	Kathy Speer, Terry Grossman, Barry Fanaro, Mort Nathan, Winifred Hervey
Directed by	Terry Hughes
Episode Chronology
←Previous	"Old Friends"
Next→	"Bringing Up Baby"
Series Links

One for the Money is the second episode of the third season of The Golden Girls, and the fifty-third episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Barry Fanaro, Terry Grossman, Winifred Hervey, Mort Nathan, and Kathy Speer, it premiered on NBC-TV on September 26th, 1987.

Summary

The ladies recall their attempts to earn extra money, including starting a catering business, picking up extra work, and competing in a dance marathon.

Plot

As Dorothy, Rose and Blanche prepare to have takeout pizza for dinner, Sophia interrupts and have the girls try her water, asking about its quality and if they would buy it. When the girls say the water tastes good, Sophia is ecstatic, claiming that she can get rich selling the water because it simply came out of the hose from the back. When the girls rebuke Sophia for having another get-rich-quick scheme, she retorts that she's not the only one who tried to make money, and reminds them about their attempt at starting a catering business.

The Night Before the Wedding

In a flashback to the past, the girls started a catering business named "Miami Moms Catering." As they worked late into the night preparing chicken for a wedding reception, the bride, Priscilla, arrives at their house. She is distraught, and came to tell the girls she is calling off her wedding after discovering her fiancé, Ramone, had slept with her best friend. Not wanting to lose their business, the girls urge Priscilla to reconsider. Ramone then calls the house looking for Priscilla to apologize, and the girls push Priscilla to speak with him. After a very brief conversation, Priscilla happily tells the girls that not only did she forgive Ramone, they want to be wed immediately and are heading off to Las Vegas to do so. Dorothy happily congratulates Priscilla, and sends her off with her best crystal vase as a wedding present. The rest of girls are incredulous at Dorothy's behavior, and wonders why she would be happy now that they are still losing the business they would have had from Priscilla's wedding. Dorothy, however, immediately calls the police to report that Priscilla has stolen her crystal vase.

Picture It: Brooklyn, April 1954 

Back in the present, Rose asks Sophia why she is so set on trying to make extra money. Sophia explains that she wants her own TV set in her room, and Dorothy is reminded of a previous time when Sophia was trying to buy a TV set.

Dorothy, as a young mother, walks in on a middle-aged Sophia sewing while bickering with her husband Sal. Dorothy asks Sophia if she could help watch her children twice a week while she takes up a part-time job so she could buy a TV set. Surprisingly, Sophia refuses, despite having shown earlier that she enjoys the children visiting. Sophia argues that Dorothy should not have to earn extra money to make up for her husband Stan's failure as a salesman. At this, Dorothy threatens to ask Stan's mother to look after her children instead, which offends Sophia. Tired of their fighting, Sal yells from the other room for Sophia to explain herself to Dorothy. Sophia then admits that she had taken up sewing and making alterations to clothes so that she could make enough money to buy Dorothy a TV set for her 10th anniversary with Stan, and is the reason why she did not want Dorothy to work. Dorothy then admits that she, too, hid the truth, and wanted to buy a TV set for Sal for his upcoming birthday. The two make up, and Sophia agrees to watching the children so they can proceed with their plans.

The Hospital Dance Marathon

Back in the present again, the girls are finishing up their dinner and decide to split the last slice of pizza. Sophia is offended that she wasn't offered the pizza, and despite taking a bite out of the last slice, throws it away immediately into the sink. Dorothy asks why Sophia even wanted the pizza in the first place, knowing Sophia preferred homemade to takeout pizza. Sophia answers that it's about the principle of not being included, and reminds the girls of the time they didn't include her in a dance marathon contest.

At the 13th Annual Jefferson Hospital Heart Charity Dance Marathon, the girls discover one by one that they had entered the competition without telling each other in order to win the $1000 grand prize for themselves. The girls are each confident they could win over the other. As the competition goes on, their rivalries get heated as they try to outdo each other in dancing, with Rose stunning Dorothy and Blanche by performing a flashy display of cartwheels and splits. The girls make it into the thirteenth hour of the marathon as part of the final four couples, but each face problems as their respective partners drop out. Blanche first loses her partner as he quits to fatigue, but Blanche recovers by stealing another woman's partner by promising to do something she could only whisper to him. Dorothy then loses her partner when he complains of a severe charley horse. Soon after, Rose's partner explains he must leave because his wife has arrived and did not want to have himself be seen with Rose. Just as it looks like Blanche is part of the only couple left to win, she looks on in disbelief when Dorothy and Rose re-enter the contest partnered with each other.

Back in the present for the last time, the girls reminisce about the conclusion of that night: Dorothy and Rose were disqualified as a couple and Blanche won the prize money, only splitting a paltry $10 to share with Dorothy. Sophia then asks about her own looks, since she is thinking about putting her face on jars of tomato sauce to sell, much like Paul Newman's brand. When Dorothy asks if Sophia herself would rather buy a jar of sauce with Paul Newman or Sophia's face on it, Sophia resigns and simply remarks, "Back to square one."

Cast

Main Cast

• Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak
• Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux
• Betty White as Rose Nylund
• Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo

Guest List

• Sid Melton as Salvadore Petrillo
• Lynnie Greene as Young Dorothy
• Starr Andreeff as Priscilla
• Roy Stuart as Marty
• Edmund Balin as Russell
• Ed Kerrigan as Dave
• Conrad Janis as Dance Announcer
• Carl Jablonski, Bobbie Bates, Bonnie Evans, Birl Jonns, Shirley Kirkes Mar, Alton Ruff, and Ted Sprague as Dancers

Notes

• This is the first physical appearance of Sid Melton as Salvadore Petrillo. His voice was only heard in "A Piece of Cake".

Cultural references

• Sophia mentions she wants to buy a TV to watch the M*A*S*H finale. Mclean Stevenson, who played Henry Blake on M*A*S*H, would guest star as Stan's brother Ted six episodes later.
• When they agree to buy each other a TV, Sophia makes Dorothy promise to bring her family over so they can all watch "that new show, Make Room for Daddy." Sid Melton, who plays Sal, played Charley Halper on Make Room for Daddy in Seasons 6 through 10.

Continuity

• Sophia's obsession with money to buy a TV would reappear in "Ebb Tide", and previously appeared in "Blind Ambitions". However, if "From Here to the Pharmacy" is to be believed, Sophia always had the money to buy one.

Goofs

• If Dorothy's tenth wedding anniversary was in 1954, it would suggest Stan served in World War II, not the Korean War as mentioned in the episode "Job Hunting".
• Not only does Rose repeatedly sit down on a chair that has a magazine on it, but in two different shots the magazine is in a different position.
• There is an obvious stunt double for Betty White during her solo dance number.
• Even if the wedding was canceled the night before, Priscilla and Ramone would still have had to pay for the catering.
• Sophia claims that in Sicily "We had to slaughter our own meat, prepare our own seasonings, and, if the food wasn't perfect, after cappuccino, they shot the cook." In Italy, cappuccino is only consumed at breakfast.