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Synopsis

A Little Romance is the thirteenth episode of The Golden Girls and the thirteenth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Mort Nathan and Barry Fanaro, the episode premiered on NBC-TV on December 14th, 1985.

Summary[]

Rose dates Jonathan, a psychiatrist at the grief counseling center, but is reluctant to introduce him to her friends. Blanche invites him over for dinner against Rose's wishes, and they find out he is a little person. When he tells Rose he has something important to discuss, she thinks he is planning to propose to her and is conflicted about whether to accept.

Plot[]

Sophia prepares for her grandson's graduation from Animal Grooming, by filling her one suitcase with Pasta Sauce complaining to Dorothy that Phil's wife doesn't cook, Dorothy reminds her that Angela has a job. Then Blanche reveals she volunteers as a CPR dummy for dates, then Rose appears all dressed up for a date with Dr. Jonathan Newman, she clearly is happy with it and doesn't tell the girls everything, offering instead to take Sophia to the Airport.

However the next night Blanche invites Newman to the house for dinner much to Rose's annoyance, but Blanche is doing it partly in thanking Dr. Newman for helping decoded her reoccurring dreams, however when Jonathan arrives Dorothy is shocked he is a little person but gets over it quickly, when Blanche is introduced to him she doesn't believe it when Rose arrives to prove it, Blanche then claims it to be a joke in revenge for inviting Jonathan, however upon seeing that she has made a mistake she goes to the kitchen, where Dorothy tells her to be less self-conscious for the sake of the dinner, which she agrees however she puts her foot in it again serving Shrimp.

However after the dinner Jonathan helps Blanche understand he's okay with people making mistakes he's happy with who he is. However while he and Rose go back to the lanai, Sophia arrives early revealing her grandson failed, but when Jonathan and Rose reappear Sophia introduces herself and rather than say something terrible she's asks to leave as she's quite tired, which Jonathan understands afterwards she asks Dorothy to verify she spoke to a small person and isn't having another stroke.

When Jonathan leaves Rose tells the girls she thinks he's going to propose, but Rose doesn't know what to do due to their difference in height, Blanche tells a story of her Senior Prom Date Benjamin who she dated in secret due to Southern faux pas, but she did the Prom with him, she was able to do regardless of what people thought, it turns out Benjamin was from New Jersey, Rose more confused than ever decides to sleep on it and in the dream, she is about to get married to Jonathan and is unsure what to do the girls then reveal her Father is here but he's also a little person to prove a point only her heart can tell her what to do, then the girls get psychic Jeane Dixon to help but she as useless as they are, however Jonathan arrives and alone he convinces her that love will help them no matter what.

The date is at a French restaurant, Jonathan however admits he's breaking up with her, while Rose convinces him, she won't be ashamed of him, Jonathan reveals it's because he's Jewish which Rose reacts in anger but when he throws a joke out she is willing to forgive him and remain friends.[1]

Tall Tales[]

Tales from the Old South[]

Blanche recounts the tale of how a Southern faux pas led her parents to forbid her from attending her senior prom with a boy named Benjamin. When Dorothy laments about how the two were nearly kept apart due to Benjamin's race, Blanche replies that Benjamin wasn't black -- he was from New Jersey.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Notes[]

  • Brent Collins, who played Dr. Jonathan Newman, died two years after this episode first aired. The cause of death was a heart attack as a complication of Marfan syndrome coupled with his dwarfism.
  • This episode is Betty White's favorite of the entire series. White said that despite the fact that "every 'short' joke in the book" was used, none of the humor was truly hurtful.
  • In the dream sequence in Rose's bedroom, Blanche's line is cut after Dorothy speaks and before Sophia comes out of the closet dressed like a priest.
  • With Princess Diana's death in 1997, former First Lady Jackie Kennedy's death in 1994, and Senator Ted Kennedy's death in 2009, none of Jeane Dixon's predictions came true.

Production[]

  • The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
  • Tony Carreiro, who plays the waiter in the restaurant, returns later in the season to reprise his role as another waiter. He returns once more in "72 Hours" as Rose's doctor.[2]

Site Navigation[]

V - E - H List of The Golden Girls episodes
Season 1 The EngagementGuess Who's Coming to the WeddingRose the PrudeTransplantThe TriangleOn Golden GirlsThe CompetitionBreak-InBlanche and the Younger ManThe Heart AttackThe Return of Dorothy's ExThe Custody BattleA Little RomanceThat Was No LadyIn a Bed of Rose'sThe Truth Will OutNice and EasyThe OperationSecond MotherhoodAdult EducationThe FluJob HuntingBlind AmbitionsBig DaddyThe Way We Met
Season 2 End of the CurseLadies of the EveningTake Him, He's MineIt's a Miserable LifeIsn't It RomanticBig Daddy's Little LadyFamily AffairVacationJoust Between FriendsLove, Rose'Twas The Nightmare Before ChristmasThe SistersThe Stan Who Came to DinnerThe ActorBefore and AfterAnd Then There Was OneBedtime StoryForgive Me, FatherLong Day's Journey into MarinaraWhose Face is This, Anyway?Dorothy's Prized PupilDiamond in the RoughSon-in-Law DearestTo Catch a NeighborA Piece of CakeEmpty Nests
Season 3 Old FriendsOne for the MoneyBringing Up BabyThe HousekeeperNothing to Fear But Fear ItselfLetter to GorbachevStrange BedfellowsBrotherly LoveA Visit from Little SvenThe AuditThree on a CouchCharlie's BuddyThe ArtistBlanche's Little GirlDorothy's New FriendGrab That DoughMy Brother, My FatherGolden Moments, Part 1Golden Moments, Part 2And Ma Makes ThreeLarceny and Old LaceRose's Big AdventureMixed BlessingsMister TerrificMother's Day
Season 4 Yes, We Have No HavanasThe Days and Nights of Sophia PetrilloThe One That Got AwayYokel HeroBang the Drum, StanleySophia's Wedding, Part 1Sophia's Wedding, Part 2Brother, Can You Spare That JacketScared StraightStan Takes a WifeThe AuctionBlind DateThe Impotence of Being ErnestLove Me TenderValentine's DayTwo Rode TogetherYou Gotta Have HopeFiddler On the RopesTill Death Do We VolleyHigh AnxietyLittle SisterSophia's ChoiceRites of SpringForeign ExchangeWe're Outta Here, Part 1We're Outta Here, Part 2
Season 5 Sick and Tired, Part 1Sick and Tired, Part 2The Accurate ConceptionRose Fights BackLove Under the Big TopDancing in the DarkNot Another MondayThat Old FeelingComedy of ErrorsAll That JazzEbb TideHave Yourself a Very Little ChristmasMary Has a Little LambTriple PlayClinton Avenue MemoirsLike the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom-TomAn Illegitimate Concern72 HoursTwice In a LifetimeSisters and Other StrangersCheatersThe Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding PresentAll Bets Are OffThe President's Coming! The President's Coming!, Part 1The President's Coming! The President's Coming!, Part 2
Season 6 Blanche DeliversOnce, In St. OlafIf At Last You Do SucceedSnap Out Of ItWham, Bam, Thank You MammyFeelingsZborn AgainHow Do You Solve a Problem Like Sophia?Mrs. George DevereauxGirls Just Wanna Have Fun... Before They DieStand By Your ManEbbtide's RevengeThe Bloom Is Off the RoseSisters of the BrideMiles to GoThere Goes the Bride, Part 1There Goes the Bride, Part 2Older and WiserMelodramaEven Grandmas Get the BluesWitnessWhat a Difference a Date MakesLove for SaleNever Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Part 1Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Part 2Henny Penny — Straight, No Chaser
Season 7 Hey, Look Me OverThe Case of the Libertine BelleBeauty and the BeastThat's For Me to KnowWhere's Charlie?Mother LoadDateline: MiamiThe Monkey Show, Part 1The Monkey Show, Part 2Ro$e Love$ Mile$Room SevenFrom Here to the PharmacyThe Pope's RingOld BoyfriendsGoodbye, Mr. GordonThe CommitmentsQuestions and AnswersEbbtide VI: The Wrath of StanJourney to the Center of AttentionA Midwinter Night's Dream, Part 1A Midwinter Night's Dream, Part 2Rose: Portrait of a WomanHome Again, Rose, Part 1Home Again, Rose, Part 2One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest, Part 1One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest, Part 2

References[]

  1. The Golden Girls, Season 1, Episode 13, “A Little Romance”. Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (December 14th, 1885)
  2. The Golden Girls, Season 5, Episode 19, "72 Hours". Gamble, Tracy and Vazcy, Richard (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 17th, 1990)
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