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The fifth season of The Golden Girls premiered on September 23rd, 1989, and concluded on May 5th, 1990. The season consisted of twenty-six episodes.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak
- Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux
- Betty White as Rose Nylund
- Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo
Recurring Cast[]
- Herb Edelman as Stanley Zbornak
- Harold Gould as Miles Webber
- Chick Vennera as Enrique Mas
- Richard Mulligan as Harry Weston
Episodes[]
Picture | Title | Original Airdate | Episode # | No. in Series | Prod. Code | Directed by | Written by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sick and Tired, Part 1 | September 23rd, 1989 | 1 | 103 | 5.1 | Terry Hughes | Susan Harris | |
After five months of worsening fatigue and pain, Dorothy believes she is seriously ill. Two doctors tell her there's nothing wrong with her, as does a specialist whom Sophia then rebukes. Traveling with Rose to New York City, Dorothy sees neurologist Dr. Budd, who tells her she's just aging and any other problem is in her head, despite two psychiatric assessments that she's mentally healthy. Dorothy breaks down, thinking she may be crazy, but Rose reassures her that she is sick. Sophia fears losing Dorothy to an unknown disease. Blanche decides to become a novelist, but immediately suffers writer's block. Guest Stars: Jeffrey Tambor as Dr. Stevens, Michael McGuire as Dr. Budd. | |||||||
File:SickAndTired2.jpg | Sick and Tired, Part 2 | September 30, 1989 | 2 | 104 | 5.2 | Terry Hughes | Susan Harris |
Harry Weston refers Dorothy to Dr. Chang, who diagnoses her with chronic fatigue syndrome. Although there is no cure, Dorothy is relieved to put a name to her condition. She treats Sophia, Blanche, and Rose to dinner at a fancy restaurant, and sees Dr. Budd in the restaurant with his wife Helen. She confronts him, and Helen insists he hear Dorothy out. Dorothy laments his lost humanity and hopes he'll have a better doctor than himself when he needs one someday. Blanche stays awake for three days and deliriously writes a manuscript, but is rejected by publishers. She believes there will be nothing special about her if she fails to achieve fame, but Rose explains that her Minnesota upbringing taught her that friends and family are special. Guest Stars: Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston; Park Overall as Laverne; Keone Young as Michael Chang; Bibi Besch as Helen Budd. Notes: This episode features a crossover with Empty Nest. | |||||||
File:105.jpg | The Accurate Conception | October 14, 1989 | 3 | 105 | 5.3 | Terry Hughes | Gail Parent |
Blanche's visiting daughter Rebecca intends to become a single mother through artificial insemination. Blanche objects; her friends share unusual details about their children's conceptions, but Blanche still considers it unnatural. A visit to a local sperm bank with her roommates and Becky also fails to convince Blanche, but Dorothy finally persuades Blanche to accept that Becky is an adult who must make her own decisions; Blanche apologizes. Dorothy succeeds in getting a reluctant Sophia to have a checkup. Guest Stars: Debra Engle as Rebecca Devereaux. | |||||||
File:106.jpg | Rose Fights Back | October 21, 1989 | 4 | 106 | 5.4 | Terry Hughes | Marc Sotkin |
When the company that Rose's husband worked for cuts off his pension, Rose must find a better-paying job. When she goes to a TV station to complain to their investigative reporter, Enrique Mas, of the age discrimination that she is facing, she finds that he needs an assistant — and gets the job. Meanwhile, Sophia goes wild buying things in quantity at a warehouse store. Guest Stars: Chick Vennera as Enrique Mas. | |||||||
File:107.jpg | Love Under the Big Top | October 28, 1989 | 5 | 107 | 5.5 | Terry Hughes | Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble |
Dorothy is dating a lawyer and believes he is on the verge of proposing. However, he tells her he is leaving law to become a circus clown. Meanwhile, Rose and Blanche put together a protest to save dolphins from tuna fishermen. Guest Stars: Dick Van Dyke as Ken Whittingham; Mel Stewart as Judge. | |||||||
File:108.jpg | Dancing in the Dark | November 4, 1989 | 6 | 108 | 5.6 | Terry Hughes | Phillip Jayson Lasker |
Rose becomes romantically interested in her ballroom dancing partner Miles, a college professor, but begins to doubt that the relationship can work when she meets his intelligent friends. Guest Stars: Harold Gould as Miles Webber; John Ingle as Harv. Notes: First appearance of Rose's long-term boyfriend Miles Webber. | |||||||
File:109.jpg | Not Another Monday | November 11, 1989 | 7 | 109 | 5.7 | Terry Hughes | Gail Parent |
Sophia's friend Martha wants to commit suicide and she wants Sophia there to hold her hand. Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy become singing nursemaids to a sick baby that they are taking care of for the weekend. Guest Stars: Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston; Geraldine Fitzgerald as Martha Lamont. Notes: This episode is a crossover with Empty Nest. | |||||||
File:110.jpg | That Old Feeling | November 18, 1989 | 8 | 110 | 5.8 | Terry Hughes | Tom Whedon |
Blanche is visited by her brother-in-law Jamie Devereaux and is taken aback by his resemblance to her late husband George. Sophia secretly starts driving. Guest Stars: George Grizzard as Jamie Devereaux. | |||||||
File:111.jpg | Comedy of Errors | November 25, 1989 | 9 | 111 | 5.9 | Terry Hughes | Don Reo |
Dorothy finds a list of things that she wanted to accomplish before a certain age and realizes that she has not accomplished many of them, so she signs up to do stand-up comedy at a nightclub. Meanwhile, Blanche finds herself battling the Internal Revenue Service when they discover her failure to report her rental income, and Rose tries to figure out why an employee dislikes her. | |||||||
File:112.jpg | All That Jazz | December 2, 1989 | 10 | 112 | 5.10 | Terry Hughes | Robert Bruce, Martin Weiss |
Dorothy's son Michael shows up on her doorstep with news that he has separated from his wife and needs a place to stay. Dorothy tires of his freeloading and dumps him on Stan, who also tires of him. Meanwhile, Rose is under much stress at work, but she is reluctant to ask Enrique Mas to cut back her duties. Guest Stars: Herb Edelman as Stanley Zbornak; Scott Jacoby as Michael Zbornak; Chick Vennera as Enrique Mas. | |||||||
File:113.jpg | Ebb Tide | December 9, 1989 | 11 | 113 | 5.11 | Terry Hughes | Marc Sotkin |
When Blanche goes back to her childhood home for Big Daddy's funeral, she argues with her sister, Virginia, and decides not to attend. Meanwhile, Sophia tries to raise cash for a TV and rents out the girls' rooms in their absence. Guest Stars: Sheree North as Virginia Warren. | |||||||
File:114.jpg | Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas | December 16, 1989 | 12 | 114 | 5.12 | Terry Hughes | Tom Whedon |
The ladies volunteer at a soup kitchen on Christmas and are shocked when Stan shows up, broke and needing a meal. Guest Stars: Herb Edelman as Stanley Zbornak. | |||||||
File:115.jpg | Mary Has a Little Lamb | January 6, 1990 | 13 | 115 | 5.13 | Terry Hughes | Harold Apter |
After a neighbor has an argument with his pregnant daughter Mary, the ladies look after the frustrated teenager and try to convince their neighbors to reconcile. Blanche's prison pen pal, Merrill (John Dennis Johnston), has just been released and is looking for her. Guest Stars: Julie McCullough as Mary; John Dennis Johnston as Merril. | |||||||
File:116.jpg | Great Expectations | January 13, 1990 | 14 | 116 | 5.14 | Terry Hughes | Richard Vaczy, Tracy Gamble |
Blanche is scared to get physical with her boyfriend Steven, especially after he has a heart attack. Meanwhile, Rose joins a positive-thinking group and tries to get a pessimistic Dorothy to join. Guest Stars: Robert Mandan as Steven. | |||||||
File:117.jpg | Triple Play | January 27, 1990 | 15 | 117 | 5.15 | Terry Hughes | Gail Parent |
Rose has to deal with meeting Miles's daughter, Caroline, who believes that her father should stay single. Blanche tries to lure men by placing an ad for a Mercedes she does not intend to sell. Dorothy discovers Sophia is hoarding Social Security money she's receiving, thanks to a computer error, in excess of her entitlement. Guest Stars: Harold Gould as Miles Webber; Molly Hagan as Caroline Webber; Ronnie Schell as Thomas; Bill Cort as James, Lance Wilson-White as Delivery Boy. | |||||||
File:118.jpg | Clinton Avenue Memoirs | February 3, 1990 | 16 | 118 | 5.16 | Terry Hughes | Richard Vaczy, Tracy Gamble |
Sophia decides to try to regain some of the memories she has lost by taking a trip to Brooklyn to see their old apartment. Meanwhile, Blanche works for Rose. Guest Stars: Sid Melton as Salvadore Petrillo; Kyle Hefner as Young Sal; David Correia as Mr. Hernandez; Flo Di Re as Young Sophia; Jandi Swanson as Young Dorothy. | |||||||
File:119.jpg | Like the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom-Tom | February 10, 1990 | 17 | 119 | 5.17 | Terry Hughes | Phillip Jayson Lasker |
Blanche has a pacemaker implanted, and is afterward so scared of intimacy that she decides to give up sex. Guest Stars: Robert Culp as Simon; Peter Michael Goetz as Dr. Stein. | |||||||
125.px | An Illegitimate Concern | February 12, 1990 | 18 | 120 | 5.18 | Terry Hughes | Marc Cherry, Jamie Wooten |
Blanche is stunned when a young man named David comes to the house and claims to be the illegitimate son of her late husband George; Dorothy and Sophia enter a mother-daughter pageant at Shady Pines. Guest Stars: Mark Moses as David Patton. | |||||||
File:121.jpg | 72 Hours | February 17, 1990 | 19 | 121 | 5.19 | Terry Hughes | Richard Vaczy, Tracy Gamble |
Rose is afraid that a blood transfusion that she had six years ago may have contained HIV-infected blood, and has to wait three days for her test results. Sophia reacts poorly to the possibility of having an HIV-positive roommate. Meanwhile, Dorothy struggles to put together a charity function to save the local wetlands. Guest Stars: Peggy Walton-Walker as Receptionist. | |||||||
File:122.jpg | Twice In a Lifetime | February 24, 1990 | 20 | 122 | 5.20 | Terry Hughes | Robert Bruce & Martin Weiss |
Rose must decide between her boyfriend, Miles, and an old boyfriend who wants her to go to Europe with him. Meanwhile, fed up with Dorothy's rules, Sophia decides to move out. Guest Stars: Harold Gould as Miles Webber; Eddie Bracken as Buzz. | |||||||
File:123.jpg | Sisters and Other Strangers | March 3, 1990 | 21 | 123 | 5.21 | Terry Hughes | Marc Cherry, Jamie Wooten |
Blanche and her sister Charmaine reconcile after a life-long rivalry, until Blanche reads her sister's recently published romance novel and realizes that the heroine is based on her. Stan's visiting cousin Magda wears out her welcome doing nothing but extolling the virtues of Communism. Guest Stars: Barbara Babcock as Charmaine Hollingsworth; Marian Mercer as Magda Yitchinson. | |||||||
File:124.jpg | Cheaters | March 24, 1990 | 22 | 124 | 5.22 | Terry Hughes | Tom Whedon |
Glen O’Brien, the married man Dorothy dated, reenters her life with news that he is now divorced and would like to reconcile with her; Blanche and Sophia become the victims of a con game at the mall. Guest Stars: Jerry Orbach as Glen O'Brien. | |||||||
File:125.jpg | The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present | March 31, 1990 | 23 | 125 | 5.23 | Terry Hughes | Phillip Jayson Lasker |
The ladies attend the wedding of Dorothy's goddaughter, who is marrying the grandson of a man who was once engaged to Sophia. Sophia thinks that the wedding reception is the perfect spot for revenge. Rose, however, is dreading the ceremony, due to her tendency to become sexually aroused at weddings. Dorothy asks to grab one of Blanche's former dates for her ceremony accompaniment, but gets mad at Blanche for her advances to him. Guest Stars: Howard Duff as Giuseppe Mangiacavallo; Stuart Nisbet as Doug; Tanya Louise as Jenny; Paul Collins as Man, Miles Berkowitz as The Groom. | |||||||
File:126.jpg | All Bets Are Off | April 28, 1990 | 24 | 126 | 5.24 | Terry Hughes | Eugene B. Stein |
Dorothy's gambling problem resurfaces after a visit to the racetrack. Rose takes up painting; and Blanche is insulted when a co-worker rejects her advances. | |||||||
File:127.jpg | The President's Coming! The President's Coming! (Parts 1 and 2) | May 5, 1990 | 25/26 | 127/128 | 5.25/5.26 | Lex Passaris | Part 1: Marc Sotkin, Gail Parent, Martin Weiss, Robert Bruce Part 2: Philip Jayson Lasker, Tom Whedon, Marc Cherry, Jamie Wooten |
The ladies learn that President George H. W. Bush is coming to Miami, and their house is a possible candidate for his stop along the way to a retirement home. The ladies reminisce as Secret Service agent interviews them. Guest Stars: Harry Shearer as Voice of President Bush; Timothy Stack as Secret Service Agent. | |||||||
Reception[]
To be added.
Releases[]
Broadcasts[]
The season originally aired Saturdays at 9:00-9:30 PM (EST) on NBC from September 23rd, 1989 to May 5th, 1990.[1][2]
Home media[]
The Region 1 DVD was released on May 9, 2006. The Region 2 and 4 DVDs were respectively released on March 17 and April 2, 2008.
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