"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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The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present is the twenty-third episode of the fifth season of The Golden Girls and the one-hundred and twenty-fifth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Tom Whedon, it premiered on NBC-TV on March 24th, 1990.
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 when Blanche makes advances on him.
Plot[]
Dorothy is angry because she can't get a date for her goddaughter Jenny's wedding which is fast approaching. Rose is reluctant to go to the wedding because her boyfriend Miles is out of town and weddings get her "hot." Blanche wants to lend Dorothy a date from her "collection," but Dorothy knows it always "puts a strain on our relationship" when Blanche tries to be generous. Sophia points out the importance of looking good at this wedding: Giuseppe Mangiacavallo, grandfather of the groom, left Sophia standing at the altar 70 years ago and she put a curse on him. Dorothy acquiesces, and asks Blanche for a date with Doug. The only problem is, Doug is listed on Blanche's "A" list, and when Blanche's date cancels for the wedding she finds herself incredibly attracted to Doug, which inflames Dorothy. Meanwhile, Sophia tells Mangiacavallo that she has planned for all the happiness of the day to come "crashing down on your head". He scoffs, until the bride and groom have an ugly fight that threatens to ruin the reception. Mangiacavallo begs Sophia's forgiveness. Sophia removes the curse, but not before Dorothy and Blanche return from bickering over Doug to find he has left the wedding with Rose. Dorothy admits Rose is "really something" when they discover she only had Doug take her to the airport to go meet Miles.[1]
The name Mangiacavallo means "horse eater" in Italian.
The man who hits on Rose at the wedding ends up playing the doctor who performs her triple bypass surgery.
This was Howard Duff's last appearance on television before his death.
Goofs[]
The bride is supposedly Dorothy's goddaughter, as stated by Sophia early on in the episode. Later on, when Dorothy, Blanche & the bride are all in the ladies' room, the bride refers to Dorothy as "Aunt Dorothy", and Blanche as "Aunt Blanche". Because Dorothy and Blanche are only friends, it doesn't make sense for the bride to refer to Blanche as she does.
↑The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 23, "The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present". Lasker, Phillip Jayson (writer) and Hughes, Terry (director) (March 31st, 1990)