I think Golden Girls is one of the most underrated tv shows.

I know this because I took a tv writing class a couple of months ago and on the first day the teacher asks the students what our favorite tv shows are and people go around saying typical stuff like “Seinfeld” or “The Office” and when it’s my turn I say, “The Golden Girls.” And my teacher says, “Really? Golden Girls?”

I used to watch Golden Girls religiously with my father. I should point out that my father is a first generation Korean man who only likes to watch Korean dramas or movies with Bruce Willis or Steven Seagal. But for some reason he found humor in a show about 4 white old ladies living together in Miami.

I don’t think it’s that surprising that Golden Girls appeals to two totally different demographics: the older, reticent Asian male and a ten year old girl. Afterall, the main characters are just versions of stock characters that you find on every tv sitcom from Gilligans Island to Sex and the City. In fact, Marc Cherry, a writer and producer for Golden Girls, also created the ABC soap drama Desperate Housewives– which is like Golden Girls only they are twenty years younger and have less sex.

Here’s a character breakdown.

Sophia-the mother of Dorothy. She’s the tough, curmudgeonly spitfire from Sicily. Everytime she tells a story about her life in Sicily she starts with “Picture it. Sicily 1929.” Even though she is a widow and an octogenerian she is always going out and traveling. The funny thing is that Estelle Getty, the actress who played Sophia, was like the youngest woman on that show. Sophia’s funniest lines are often insults directed at Blanche or Rose. My favorite Sophia line is when Rose is telling a long winded story that is not so funny and Sophia responds, “I hate you, Rose.”

Dorothy-Sophia’s daughter. She’s the tall, mannish looking one who likes to wear big shoulder padded blouses and geometric earrings. With her salt and pepper hair and a voice like a drag queen, she is the most serious of the Golden Girls. And what I can recall from my ten year old knowledge of sex, Dorothy also has the least sex among the girls. Her modern counterpart is probably Miranda from Sex and the City. Some of the most touching scenes on the show are probably between Dorothy and her mother Sophia. They have been through alot together from Dorothy’s divorce to her loser husband Stanley to Sophia’s stroke. When Sophia starts calling Dorothy “pussycat”, you know it’s going to be a heartwarming scene.

Rose- the naive but lovable airhead from St. Olaaf. Rose is probably the predecessor to Phoebe’s character on Friends or any other dumb blond archetype today. When I was little I had no idea where the hell St. Olaaf was. I thought it was in Norway and I was really confused as to why the people in St. Olaaf acted so oddly. In my ten year old mind I thought Rose was the prettiest of the Golden Girls. I think it’s because it was the eighties and everyone liked blondes back then. Namely Nicole Eggert from Charles in Charge and Betty White on Golden Girls.

Blanche-the Southern slut. My favorite character on the show. Even though she dons a hairstyle similar to that of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, Blanche gets the most action on the show. There would be no Samantha on Sex and the City without Blanche Devereaux. She is simultaneously a Southern lady and a hussy. My favorite Blanche stories are about her days in the South and she talks about her father, “Big Daddy.” Blanche was unapologetic about her sexual dalliances and that’s why I love her.

So you have the bitch, the serious/sexually ambiguous one, the airhead, and the slut. These characters are general enough that they can appeal to any viewer. But the show was also fresh and edgy because here you had older women who were having casual sex and fine with living with her girlfriends instead of trying to land some man in a retirement community. My favorite episode has to be when the girls are at a supermarket and trying to buy condoms (for some reason I want to say they are lambskin condoms) and they are the checkout line but the cashier can’t find the price for them so he announces over the megaphone: Can I get a price check for these condoms? And the ladies are so embarrassed and flushed. I loved it.

But the most important component of the show is the friendship between these four different women. Even the catchy theme song “Thank you for being a friend” underscores the important bonds in this show. Even if it was the middle of the night, the girls would console each other in the kitchen over a hefty slice of cheesecake. This show proves that your golden years will be okay even after your husband cheats on you and leaves you or dies. As long as you have good girlfriends to rely on and joke with, your life will be more than okay.

The show makes you want to throw a party and invite everyone you know.*

*Reference to the theme song.