"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."
This article is incomplete. You can help the Golden Girls Wiki by expanding it.
Yes, We Have No Havanas is the first episode of the fourth season of The Golden Girls and the seventy-seventh episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Barry Fanaro and Mort Nathan, it premiered on NBC-TV on October 8th, 1988. It is the Season 4 premiere.
Blanche dates an older man named Fidel Santiago, but gets a surprise when he starts seeing Sophia as well, starting a feud between the two women -- only to get a surprise when Fidel unexpectedly dies. Dorothy teaches a history class for GED candidates…including Rose.
Starting with this episode, Bea Arthur ditches her short perm and grows her hair out longer giving her a younger, less matronly look. Arthur will maintain this look, with minor variations, for the remainder of the series.
Fidel is said to be in his 70's, but actor Henry Darrow was only 55 at the time and made up to look older.
Cultural references[]
The title is a parody of the song "Yes! We Have No Bananas" by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn from the 1922 Broadway revue "Make It Snappy" sung by Eddie Cantor.
When Dorothy says that "they could show How The West Was Won" on Rose's behind, this is referring to how the film was shot in Cinerama and was projected on a very wide screen.
Goofs[]
Although actor Henry Darrow was authentically Latin American, he mispronounces Cuba in a way no native would, especially one with such a thick accent. The pronunciation in Spanish is "Cooba," not "Cyuba."
Rose reveals to Dorothy that she never graduated from high school due to catching mono. However, in "Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself", Rose told a story about giving a valedictory speech at graduation.
In a dialogue between Rose and Dorothy about the "Three Rs" in education, Rose asks Dorothy if she means "Reading, Writing, and Rooster Insemination," inferring that this skill is necessary for farmers. It seems the writers here used literary license in the absence of another "R" task on a farm. Roosters are always male, which begs the question of why inseminating male roosters would be a necessary skill to learn on a farm.
↑The Golden Girls, Season 4, Episode 1, "Yes, We Have No Havanas". Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (October 8th, 1988)