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The Operation is the eighteenth episode of the first season of The Golden Girls and the eighteenth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Winifred Hervey, it premiered on NBC-TV on February 8th, 1986.
Summary[]
Dorothy aggravates an old foot injury while practicing a tap dancing routine with Rose and Blanche and refuses to get an operation that will heal the problem because of a fear of hospitals. Eventually, a breast cancer patient helps her realize how foolish she has been.
Plot[]
Dorothy, Rose and Blanche come home from a tap-dancing class one evening, Dorothy was injured and despite her reluctancies to see a doctor she agrees.
While practicing the next day, Blanche and Rose realise just how long Dorothy's tap solo is and hope that the doctor says she's going to be alright. Dorothy comes home with a cane. She reveals she has a benign growth, and she's willing to skip the surgery, but the girl's fears convince her to go.
However, unable to sleep in the hospital because of her fears, Dorothy escape back home. She explains when her fears started to the girls, but Sophia reminds her of the reasons and makes Dorothy return for her surgery.
After going to the hospital again, Dorothy meets a patient called Bonnie who talks about how afraid she was having the surgery, but she is glad she did it and Dorothy feels silly for her fear. The evening of the surgery is also the day of the tap completion. Blanche reveals to Rose her fear of performing, but Rose gives Blanche a blunt, talking to telling her if she wets herself to do Singing in the Rain.
Ultimately, Dorothy had the surgery, which was a success, but was cast aside by Blanche and Rose who dance as The Two Merry Widows.[1]
Tall Tales[]
Picture It[]
Sophia mentions her appendectomy in Sicily without anaesthesia, she had a nurse covering her head with a pillow to muffle the screams claiming she paid extra for that.
Clinton Avenue Memoirs[]
Dorothy recalls when her fear of hospitals started when she had her tonsillectomy, Sophia and Sal left her in the hospital. Sophia reminds Dorothy that she went to her Uncle Mario's funeral in Cleveland, Ohio, despite him being universally disliked. When Dorothy claims Sal lied about going to work, Sophia reminds her, Sal was working to pay for her operation.
Tales from the Old South[]
While Blanche admits her fear of performing to Rose, she tells her about the dancing school she attended as a child. She talks about the day of their Tap performance. She peed her pants and has vowed never to preform 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 Stars[]
- Anne Haney as Bonnie
- Robert Picardo as Dr. Revell
- Bill Quinn as Priest
Notes[]
- Sophia tells a story without saying Picture It.
- Anne Haney reappears in The Golden Palace episode "One Old Lady to Go".
- Robert Picard, who guest-starred as Dr. Revell, guest-starred in as a film director on Benson, another Susan Harris-created sitcom, on the same night as "The Operation". He would also later appear as a doctor in the 2000 film The Amanti Girls, in which he again played the doctor to a woman with an Italian-American mother. Picardo later became well-known for playing another doctor on Star Trek: Voyager.
- Blanche reveals that she has a fear of both flying and performing "in front of a group".
Cultural references[]
- Rose mentions the song "Singing in the Rain".
Goofs[]
- When Rose and Blanche are done dancing, studio equipment can be seen on the top of the screen.
- Uncle Mario's death was different in "The Heart Attack". Dorothy says he died after his gun fell out of his pocket and shot him in the head.[2]
[]
References[]
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 18, “The Operation”. Hervey, Winifred (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 8th, 1986)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 10, "The Heart Attack". Harris, Susan (writer) & Drake, Jim (director) (November 23rd, 1985)