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Betty White as Rose Nylund
"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."

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Yokel Hero was the fourth episode of the fourth season of The Golden Girls and the eightieth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Martin Weiss and Robert Bruce, it premiered on NBC-TV on November 5th, 1988.

Summary[]

Rose is nominated for St. Olaf Woman of the Year, and with a little help from Blanche and Dorothy altering her list of qualifications on the entry form, she's a sure winner. Meanwhile, a heat wave strikes Miami and the girls' air conditioning goes out.

Plot[]

The girls return home after playing a charity softball game and complain of the heat, exacerbated by the fact their air conditioning is currently broken. Rose then discovers in the mail that she has been nominated for the "St. Olaf Woman of the Year" award from her hometown. Although initially ecstatic, Dorothy and Blanche finds Rose dejected the next day after listing her life accomplishments and believing she has not done anything worthy. Failing to cheer Rose up, Dorothy and Blanche devise a plan to fill out Rose's entry form for the award for her, and greatly exaggerate small feats Rose experienced in her life.

Some days later, three men from St. Olaf visit the girls' house in Miami. Ben, Sven, and Len are triplets, and are part of the committee to interview and decide on the candidates nominated to win the St. Olaf Woman of the Year award. Dorothy and Blanche, however, become nervous when their interview with Rose includes validating the accomplishments in her biography she had listed in her entry form, knowing what they had written on Rose's behalf. The triplets also inform the girls they would all be flown to St. Olaf if Rose wins, which would help them escape the heat wave in Miami. Spurred on by the trip, Dorothy and Blanche were able to help gloss over the details of their exaggerated claims about Rose, and the triplets declare Rose the winner of the award on the spot.

The girls begin their all-expenses paid trip to St. Olaf, and learn along the way the journey would take days to reach the remote town because of the various modes of transportation they would have to change to: commercial flight, to small aircraft, to train, and finally to wagon. Throughout the trip, Dorothy and Blanche gradually feel more guilty about dishonestly helping Rose win the award, and eventually admit what they have done. A despondent Rose immediately calls the trip off, not wanting to face her town and accepting the award with the knowledge of what they have done.

Back at home, Dorothy and Blanche beg for Rose's forgiveness, which she does after realizing Dorothy and Blanche did what they did out of love. Rose then discovers through the mail that she had won the St. Olaf Woman of the Year award after all, with the committee from St. Olaf explaining that they valued her honesty and willingness to tell the truth, and that her main competition that was set to win was found to have a figurative and literal "skeleton in the closet." Sophia then proposes a toast to celebrate Rose's victory.[1]

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

  • Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston
  • Jim Doughan as Ben Toppelkopper
  • Doug Cox as Sven Toppelkopper
  • John Moody as Len Toppelkopper
  • Valente Rodriguez as Fred
  • James Lashly as Driver
  • Cynthia Lea Clark as Train Passenger
  • Bear the Dog as Dreyfuss
  • Bridget Sienna as Ingrid

Notes[]

  • Richard Mulligan crosses over in his role as Dr. Harry Weston from the spin-off Empty Nest. Harry is the girls' neighbor, a widower pediatrician. This is also his first out of the three crossovers on the series.
  • Rose's St. Olaf Woman of the Year trophy was a milk chocolate statue.

Cultural references[]

  • Alf Landon, Governor of Kansas, and Wendell Wilkie ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and 1940, respectively. Adlai Stevenson II, Governor of Illinois, ran against Dwight Eisenhower in both 1952 and 1956.

Goofs[]

  • Rose says the Woman of the Year Award is St. Olaf's highest honor. Yet in "Ladies of the Evening", Butter Queen is said to be St. Olaf's highest honor.[2]
  • When Sophia stands in front of the refrigerator it is implied she is naked under her robe, but something like a slip is seen in one shot, sticking out from under the hem of the robe.
  • In Season 3, Dorothy is terrified and on the verge of a heart attack at the thought of flying on a big jetliner, yet appears to be fine flying on a less safe plane on the journey to St. Olaf.
  • When the plane passenger opens the door, no wind blows on the stewardess, who sits right in front of the opening.
  • Aside from the fact that hot cocoa doesn't make sense on a hot day, it took Rose less than a minute to make it. However, she wasn't expecting the triplets, so she had no reason to make it beforehand.
  • Fred, the AC repairman, seems like he can't fix the air conditioner. The girls are still suffering from indoor heat days after Fred stops by to fix it or at least attempt to fix it. When the girls return from Minnesota, they seem thrilled to be home despite the fact that the house should be a sauna even if the heat wave ended during their trip.

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 4, Episode 4, "Yokel Hero". Weiss, Martin and Bruce, Robert (writer) & Hughes, Terry (director) (November 5th, 1988)
  2. The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 2, "Ladies of the Evening". Fanaro, Barry and Nathan, Mort (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (October 4th, 1986)
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