Rose the Prude is the third episode of the first season of The Golden Girls and the third episode overall. Directed by Jim Drake and written by Barry Fanaro, the episode premiered on NBC-TV on September 28th, 1985.
Summary[]
Blanche invites Rose to go out with her date's brother. Rose meets Arnie, the first man she is romantically interested in since her husband died, and is torn about what to do when he invites her on a cruise. At the advice of the girls, she goes with him and ends up sleeping with him despite initial hesitations. Meanwhile, Dorothy and Sophia have a gin rummy marathon, with Dorothy unsuccessfully attempting to end her thirty-year losing streak.
Plot[]
Dorothy and Sophia play a game of gin rummy together on the lanai, though Dorothy isn't dealing fast enough for Sophia's liking. Blanche comes out to announce that she her date Jeffery's brother has arrived in town, and he won't go out with her unless she can bring someone along for them to double-date with. She asks Dorothy to go with her, but Dorothy refuses as she wants to play gin rummy with Sophia, insisting that she's going to beat her after thirty years of losing. Blanche then asks Rose to go instead, but Rose refuses as she doesn't feel comfortable dating yet. She eventually agrees after Blanche's insistence.
Later that night, Blanche returns home to find that Sophia has once again defeated Dorothy at gin rummy. Dorothy vows to never play with Sophia again, but Sophia laughs it off. They ask Blanche how the date went after noticing Rose didn't come with her, and Blanche reveals that Rose had a great time with Jeffery's brother Arnie, while Jeffery turned out to be a dud. Rose then returns home from her date, exclaiming that she had a wonderful time.
A couple of dates, later Arnie invites Rose on a cruise the problem is she hasn't been with a man since Charlie and is too scared but the girls encourage her so she does.
The first night Rose and Arnie dance in their cabin but when he kisses her, she panics and locks herself in the bathroom. Back home the girls talk about Rose and their firsts Blanche was the Priest at George's Funeral but she waited until his wife passed, Dorothy refuses to say and Sophia reveals it was her divorce lawyer which was right. The next day Rose exits the bathroom and Arnie realises that it was her first time since Charlie died. He reveals that he felt the same way when his wife died but, he realized that saving himself meant nothing as his wife wouldn't want him to. Rose admits she's scared because Charlie died while they were making love. Arnie lets her make the choice when she was happy to and she asks for a kiss.
Sophia wants to play a game but Dorothy is against it, Sophia then admits she hates cards and likes the talk explaining that all the family reveals juicy stories when Rose returns after so teasing she confesses she did sleep with Arnie. After Blanche goes to Rose's room to squeeze some more details from her, Dorothy and Sophia begin another round of Gin Rummy.[1]
Tall Tales[]
Tales from the Old South[]
Blanche regales Dorothy and Sophia with the tale of her first time after George's death -- she could tell that the funeral's reverend wanted her, but they couldn't be together as he was married. After the reverend's wife died, however, the two of them coupled up for a night. It took about ten minutes, the reverend didn't take off his dress socks, and they never spoke again.
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[]
Notes[]
- The Glen Miller recording that Arnie and Rose dance to, Moonlight Serenade, is the same recording that Miles and Rose dance to later in the series.
- According to Golden Girls Forever, Betty White submitted this episode for the 1986 Primetime Emmy Awards when she was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category.
Production[]
- Harold Gould would later portray Miles Webber, Rose's first and only long-term boyfriend.
Continuity[]
- Rose reveals that her husband Charlie died of a heart attack while they were making love. Rose would later fear that the Kiss of Death returned after she slept with Al Beatty.[2]
- In "The Engagement", Rose tells Dorothy that Blanche made a date at her husband's funeral.[3] Blanche confirms this in this episode, revealing that the first person she slept with after George's death was the reverend at George's funeral.
[]
References[]
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 3, "Rose the Prude". Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Drake, Jim (director) (September 28th, 1985)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 15, “In A Bed of Rose’s”. Harris, Susan (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (January 11th, 1986)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 1, "The Engagement". Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (September 14th, 1985)