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Synopsis

The Engagement, also known as Pilot, is the first episode of the first season of The Golden Girls and the first episode overall. It is written by Susan Harris and directed by Jay Sandrich.

The episode premiered on NBC-TV in the United States on September 14th, 1985. It is the series premiere.

Summary[]

Blanche announces that her latest boyfriend, Harry, has proposed to her after a week of dating. Rose worries over where she will live, and later worries that there is something off about Harry. Meanwhile, Dorothy is more than excited for Blanche's engagement, but must also contend with her mother, Sophia, who comes to live with the ladies after her retirement home burns down.

Plot[]

On a fine June evening, Dorothy Zbornak returns home from a long day of teaching, venting her frustrations with the students to Coco, the girls' cook. Rose Nylund arrives soon after, similarly dissatisfied with her day at the counselling center. The only exuberant one in the home is Blanche Devereaux, who comes into the kitchen for a bag of cucumbers to put on her eyes, and to ask if she can borrow Dorothy's mink stole. Coco informs the other ladies of Blanche's date with her new beau Harry, and after a brief debate, Rose and Dorothy realize that they know very little about Harry, and ask Blanche about him when she comes to ask Rose if she can borrow her earrings. Blanche is eager to gush about her beau to her friends, and shocks them with the news that he has proposed to her. Dorothy and Rose are shocked, as Blanche had only been dating Harry for a week, but Blanche makes it clear that she hasn't made up her mind yet. Rose worries that she and Dorothy will end up homeless, but Dorothy reassures her that everything will be fine.

At that moment the doorbell rings. It's not Harry but Sophia, revealing that Shady Pines has burned down. Then Harry arrives and Blanche leaves with him on their date. That night while Dorothy and Rose talked about their own marriages, Blanche returns she said yes and the wedding is next week.

The wedding day comes and Rose reveals to Dorothy she is unsure about Harry and so she wants to tell Blanche. Dorothy manages to stop her in various ways and the minister arrives before Rose can say anything. However as the wedding party waits for the groom, a police officer greets Blanche with the bad news Harry was arrested for bigamy (proving Rose’s “crazy hunch” about him). Blanche is told she had a lucky escape. Blanche is crushed and she refuses to leave her bedroom but at the end of the episode, she realizes that life goes on. The girls promise even if they do get married again they will stay together.[1]

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

  • Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak
  • Betty White as Rose Nylund
  • Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux
  • Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo

Guest Stars[]

  • Charles Levin as Coco
  • Frank Aletter as Harry
  • F. William Parker as Minister
  • Meshach Taylor as Police Officer

Notes[]

  • Nielsen Ratings - 25.0 household rating/43 percent audience share (1st place for the week).
  • For an unknown reason, this episode is titled "The Pilot" instead of "The Engagement" on the complete first season DVD set.
  • Meshach Taylor, who plays the policeman in this pilot episode, is best known for his long-term role as Anthony Bouvier on Designing Women which ran on CBS from 1986-1993.
  • Shots of the group hug, Dorothy throwing Rose into the bathroom, the girls vowing to stay together and a close-up of Dorothy and Blanche are used in the opening.

Production[]

  • Rue McClanahan doesn't have a Southern accent in this episode because Jay Sandrich told her he didn't want to hear one. After the show was picked up from the pilot episode, McClanahan went to producers and offered to play Blanche as a modified Mae West-style character. The producers asked her why she wasn't doing it with a Southern accent to begin with, and from then on Blanche was played with a Southern accent.

Continuity[]

  • This episode is the first mention of Stanley Zbornak.
  • Near the end of the episode, Dorothy takes a mirror out of her bag and checks to see if a sleeping Sophia is still breathing. This would reappear in "The Case of the Libertine Belle". Dorothy does it to one of the victims, stating she does it every time Sophia takes a nap.[2]

Goofs[]

  • The opening shot of the house is shown in the daytime, but the next few scenes are set at night.
  • The house's layout is different in this episode. The entrance to Blanche's bedroom is usually where the entrance to the lanai is and the lanai is shown to be on the right side of the house later in the episode.
  • According to "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home", the beginning of the episode takes place on September 4th, 1985.[3] In this episode, however, Dorothy explicitly says that it's June when Blanche asks to borrow her mink stole.
  • Blanche tells Harry that Sophia's home burned down, but she was not in the room when Sophia shared this piece of information and thus would have no way of knowing it.
  • The police officer asks if there is a "Blanche Hollingsworth" there. Hollingsworth is Blanche's maiden name; this is the only episode where it is implied to be her current last name.
  • This is one of several episodes in which Charlie is said to have been dead for fifteen years. It is stated, more than once, that Rose and Charlie were married for thirty-two years. If that was true, then Charlie and Rose would have been 9 and 8 years old, respectively, when married.

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 1, "The Engagement". Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (September 14th, 1985)
  2. The Golden Girls, Season 7, Episode 2, “The Case of the Libertine Belle”. Whedon, Tom (writer) & Passaris, Lex (director) (September 28th, 1991)
  3. The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episodes 24 and 25, “[[Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home”. Parent, Gail and Vallely, Jim (writers)  & Diamond, Matthew (director) (April 27th, 1991)
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