This page lists all of the episodes aired during Season 1 of the NBC-TV series The Golden Girls; a total of 25 episodes were aired. The first season of The Golden Girls premiered on NBC on September 14, 1985, and concluded on May 10, 1986.
Broadcast history
The season originally aired Saturdays at 9:00-9:30 pm (EST) on NBC from September 14, 1985 to May 10, 1986.[1][2]
DVD release
The Region 1 DVD was released on November 23, 2004. The Region 2 and 4 DVD were respectively released on July 14 and August 17, 2005.
Season Summary
In winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy, the first season has the four previously married women meeting and living together in Miami, FL.
Season 1 Episodes (1985-86)
| Picture | Title | Original Airdate | Episode # | No. in Series | Prod. code | Directed by | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
The Engagement, aka The Pilot | September 14, 1985 | 1 | 1 | 1.1 | Susan Harris | Jay Sandrich |
| In the series pilot, Blanche announces that her latest boyfriend, Harry, has proposed marriage. Hearing this, Rose worries over where she will live while Dorothy is more than exuberant over Blanche's plans. Meanwhile, Dorothy's mother, Sophia, arrives after her retirement home, Shady Pines, burns down. | |||||||
 |
Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding | September 21, 1985 | 1 | 2 | 1.2 | Paul Bogart | Winifred Hervey |
| Dorothy's daughter, Kate, comes to Miami with an announcement. She's engaged to a podiatrist named Dennis. Dorothy is thrilled but her happiness quickly turns to anger when she realizes that ex-husband, Stan, is going to be invited. | |||||||
 |
Rose the Prude | September 28, 1985 | 1 | 3 | 1.3 | Jim Drake | Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan |
| Having not dated since her husband died, Rose reluctantly agrees to go on a double blind date with Blanche. Meanwhile, Dorothy and Sophia have a gin rummy marathon. | |||||||
 |
Transplant | October 5, 1985 | 1 | 4 | 1.4 | Paul Bogart | Susan Harris |
| Blanche's sister, Virginia, comes to Miami for a visit and Blanche is convinced she's after something. Meanwhile, Rose and Dorothy babysit for an infant. | |||||||
 |
The Triangle | October 19, 1985 | 1 | 5 | 1.5 | Paul Bogart | Susan Harris |
| A doctor, whom Dorothy dates, makes a pass at Blanche. But when Blanche tells Dorothy about it, Dorothy doesn't believe her. | |||||||
 |
On Golden Girls | October 26, 1985 | 1 | 6 | 1.6 | Jim Drake | Winifred Hervey |
| Blanche's 14-year old grandson comes to Miami for a visit. Meanwhile, Dorothy studies for her French final, with a guest in the house, while at the same time, she must share a room with Sophia. | |||||||
 |
The Competition | November 2, 1985 | 1 | 7 | 1.7 | Jim Drake | Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan |
| In a bowling competition, it's Dorothy and Blanche versus Rose and Sophia. | |||||||
 |
Break-In | November 9, 1985 | 1 | 8 | 1.8 | Paul Bogart | Susan Harris |
| After a concert, the girls arrive home to discover their house has been broken into. This causes Rose to become so paranoid thinking the robbers will come back that she purchases a gun. | |||||||
 |
Blanche and the Younger Man | November 16, 1985 | 1 | 9 | 1.9 | Jim Drake | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman |
| Blanche goes all out to try to look good for her latest beau: her aerobics instructor, who is half her age. Meanwhile, Rose's dynamic mother comes for a visit, and gets fed up with Rose's "mothering" ways. | |||||||
 |
The Heart Attack | November 23, 1985 | 1 | 10 | 1.10 | Jim Drake | Susan Harris |
| After hosting a dinner party, Sophia thinks that her chest pain is a heart attack. | |||||||
 |
The Return of Dorothy's Ex | November 30, 1985 | 1 | 11 | 1.11 | Jim Drake | Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman |
When Dorothy's ex-husband, Stan, visits to have her sign some legal documents regarding their retirement property in Miami, but they end up in bed after Stan tells her that Chrissy, his wife, had left him for a younger man. Dorothy sees this as a fling, while Stan sees it as their reconciliation, possibly even the start of a new marriage. Dorothy goes to Stan's hotel room to tell him she is not getting back together with him, when Chrissy arrives. She begs Stan to come back to her, but he refuses, saying he loves Dorothy too much. After Chrissy throws a drink on them and leaves, Dorothy tells him the bad news. He runs out of the hotel room to grab Chrissy before somebody else does.
| |||||||
 |
The Custody Battle | December 7, 1985 | 1 | 12 | 1.12 | Terry Hughes | Winifred Hervey |
| Blanche is auditioning for the role of Lady Macbeth in an upcoming spring production of Macbeth). Dorothy's sister, Gloria, has arrived for a visit. Dorothy is hopeful to have a relationship with her sister, and suggests that they share Dorothy's room for the night. While reminiscing about their childhoods, Gloria tells Dorothy that she asked Sophia to live with her in California, and she agreed. Rose comes home, and tells Blanche that she received a minor role, while Rose, who also auditioned, was cast as the lead. Dorothy then tells the girls that Sophia is leaving. Dorothy then tells Gloria that she is already rich, and doesn't need to have Sophia. Gloria reveals that even though she is rich, Dorothy's life seems more important. She also tells Dorothy that she thinks Sophia wants to stay in Miami. Dorothy speaks with Sophia, and gets her to stay.
Guest star: Doris Belack as Gloria. Note: Gloria would be played by Dena Dietrich in Season 7. | |||||||
 |
A Little Romance | December 14, 1985 | 1 | 13 | 1.13 | Terry Hughes | Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan |
Rose is ashamed to admit that her new beau, Edgar, is a little person.
| |||||||
 |
That Was No Lady | December 21, 1985 | 1 | 14 | 1.14 | Jim Drake | Liz Sage |
| Dorothy has an affair with a married man. Dorothy comes home from work, and tells the girls about an attractive gym teacher named Glen O'Brien. She goes out with him, and they hit it off. Later, after making love at what would become the The Golden Palace Hotel seven years later, he admits to her that he is married. She storms out, but later regrets it and continues to miss him. Sophia and Rose agree that he is a liar and cheater, and that Dorothy should not call him, but Blanche says that you have to get happiness whenever you can in life, and tells her to call him. Rose comes home with bad news about Blanche's car, but Blanche tells Rose that she intended to cheat her, so she could get full blue-book value for the car. Rose says that she can't sell it to anyone, because it was stolen. Blanche gets furious, but Sophia tells her that if an insured car is stolen, you are paid full blue-book. Dorothy calls Glen, and they get back together, but only for a short while. After talking with Sophia, Dorothy admits that she is hating herself, and needs to break off the relationship. She breaks it off, and they all go cruising in Blanche's new car.
Guest star: Alex Rocco as Glen O'Brien. Note: Glen O'Brien returned in Season 5, played by Jerry Orbach. | |||||||
 |
In a Bed of Rose's | January 11, 1986 | 1 | 15 | 1.15 | Terry Hughes | Susan Harris |
Rose's latest beau dies in her bed. She brings a date home and in the morning Sophia discovers that he is dead. She confides in her roommates that her husband also died while they were making love. Believing that she kills men by sleeping with them, Rose becomes depressed and says she will never sleep with another man.
| |||||||
 |
The Truth Will Out | January 18, 1986 | 1 | 16 | 1.16 | Terry Hughes | Susan Beavers |
| Rose's late husband's modest will baffles her daughter. Rose has often bragged to her children and grandchildren about Charlie's success, but the settlement of his estate discloses that he left his widow nearly nothing.
Guest stars: Christine Belford as Kirsten; Bridgette Andersen as Charley. Note: Kirsten was played by Lee Garlington in Season 7. | |||||||
 |
Nice and Easy | February 1, 1986 | 1 | 17 | 1.17 | Terry Hughes | Stuart Silverman |
Blanche's visiting niece is even easier with men than Blanche. Blanche upbraids her favorite niece, Lucy, for flitting from bed to bed, while Lucy charges Blanche with her own reputation for being "fast."
| |||||||
 |
The Operation | February 8, 1986 | 1 | 18 | 1.18 | Terry Hughes | Winifred Hervey |
| Dorothy fears having foot surgery. She injures herself attempting to perform a "Cincinnati time step with a double pull-back" and requires foot surgery. She is terrified until she meets her hospital roommate: a woman with breast cancer. When Dorothy asks the woman if she's afraid, the women responds by saying that of course she is but," Life goes on, when it comes right down to it what other choice do we have." The woman's words of wisdom leave Dorothy feeling silly over making such a big fuss over her own minor surgery. Dorothy goes through with the surgery and wakes up to find that she has been kicked out of the ladies tap dancing trio. Blanche and Rose have now formed a new name for the two of them: "The Two Merry Widows"
Guest stars: Robert Picardo as Dr. Revell ; Anne Haney as Bonnie; Bill Quinn as the priest. | |||||||
 |
Second Motherhood | February 15, 1986 | 1 | 19 | 1.19 | Gary Shimokawa | Christopher Lloyd |
| Blanche's wealthy beau puts business before family. | |||||||
 |
Adult Education | February 22, 1986 | 1 | 20 | 1.20 | Jack Shea | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman |
A frisky professor promises Blanche a passing grade if she sleeps with him. The girls try desperately to get Frank Sinatra tickets, while Blanche attends night school in hopes of getting a promotion at the museum. When she struggles with one of her courses, her professor offers her an "easy" way to a good grade: sleep with him. In the end she tells off Professor Cooper.
| |||||||
 |
Flu Attack | March 1, 1986 | 1 | 21 | 1.21 | Terry Hughes | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman |
| The ladies all get sick prior to an awards banquet. | |||||||
 |
Job Hunting | March 8, 1986 | 1 | 22 | 1.22 | Paul Bogart | Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman |
Rose desperately searches for a new job. Due to a lack of funding, the grief-counseling center is closed, forcing Rose to seek employment elsewhere, but she faces age discrimination. Due to her frustration of failing to find work, Rose decides to continue counseling people from home, much to the annoyance of Dorothy and Blanche. At their wit's end, the ladies inspire Rose to persevere and "stretch the truth" on her job interviews. Meanwhile, Blanche flirts with one of Rose's former clients who has an infatuation with fat women and Dorothy reconnects with an old flame who she later finds out is gay.
| |||||||
 |
Blind Ambitions | March 29, 1986 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 1.23 | Bob Colleary |
Rose's self-reliant blind sister visits for the first time since losing her sight; the rest of the girls do spring cleaning and hold a garage sale to raise funds for a new television. It is revealed that Lily only came to ask Rose to come home wih her and take care of her. Rose tells her she has to go to blind school and in the end Lily goes to the school and receives Becky, a Service Canine.
| |||||||
 |
Big Daddy | May 3, 1986 | 1 | 24 | 1.24 | Terry Hughes | Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan |
Blanche's father decides to become a country singer.
| |||||||
 |
The Way We Met | May 10, 1986 | 1 | 25 | 1.25 | Terry Hughes | Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman
Winifred Hervey, Mort Nathan & Barry Fanaro |
| After watching a scary movie, the ladies reminisce about how they came together. | |||||||