
Estelle Getty, otherwise known as the fiesty Sophia Petrillo from ‘The Golden Girls’ passed away today at the age of 84. The show, which ran from 1985 to 1992, was a huge television hit and thanks to the Lifetime network and its 3-a-day reruns, became something of a cult classic just in the last few years. I mean, I know a 31 year old with a signed photo of Betty White and a portrait of Rose, Blanche, Dorothy, and Sofia on her key chain, but I’m not naming any names.
The show was pure comedic brilliance, taking four women in their 60s, giving them each a character that could only be hilarious within the context of the other three, and sticking them in the Miami singles scene. It was the Sex And The City of the late 80s, but instead of 30-somethings donning New York fashion in the hipster club scene, they were senior citizens dressed in mumus out on the lanai. Basically doing the same thing: making fun of each other and talking about men.
We will certainly all miss that sharp-tongued little Sicilian lady and those one-liners she so notoriously pounded out every episode:
Rose [about a colleague at work]: I know if he got to know me he’d like me.
Sophia: Why, I got to know you and I don’t like you.
Rose: You just say that.
Sophia: Repeatedly.