Was Blanche Devereaux really in her 40s? (Golden Girls)

[Anonymous]

I was in elementary school when Golden Girls was on tv-so they seemed "old" to me.
I've been reading things lately that indicate that Blanche was supposed to be in her mid-late 40's (I saw something today that said 47 specifically) and Dorothy and Rose in their early 50s. Really?
Didn't Blanche have 4 or 5 kids? And by the time she was 47 they were already completely GONE (not just "away at college but still comes home for breaks and over summer?") and out of the house? Even if the youngest was 22 and graduated college....that would mean she had 4 or 5 kids by the age of 25?

[Anonymous]

So what if she did? It wouldn’t have stood out as anything especially out of the ordinary for the 50’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in elementary school when Golden Girls was on tv-so they seemed "old" to me.
I've been reading things lately that indicate that Blanche was supposed to be in her mid-late 40's (I saw something today that said 47 specifically) and Dorothy and Rose in their early 50s. Really?
Didn't Blanche have 4 or 5 kids? And by the time she was 47 they were already completely GONE (not just "away at college but still comes home for breaks and over summer?") and out of the house? Even if the youngest was 22 and graduated college....that would mean she had 4 or 5 kids by the age of 25?

I've seen that before but I interpreted it as the actresses were those ages. I see the characters as a bit older

[Anonymous]

I remember an interview with Betty White who said she was 47 when case as Rose in Golden Girls and told she was going to need to look "a little bit older" and that the first thing she did after getting cast was go and get another face lift.

haha.

[Anonymous]

I have naked pictures of Bea Arthur

[Anonymous]

I mean, it was tv and it was the 80s.

There are almost countless memes about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in elementary school when Golden Girls was on tv-so they seemed "old" to me.
I've been reading things lately that indicate that Blanche was supposed to be in her mid-late 40's (I saw something today that said 47 specifically) and Dorothy and Rose in their early 50s. Really?
Didn't Blanche have 4 or 5 kids? And by the time she was 47 they were already completely GONE (not just "away at college but still comes home for breaks and over summer?") and out of the house? Even if the youngest was 22 and graduated college....that would mean she had 4 or 5 kids by the age of 25?

I have family that are in their late 20s who have that many kids. They're not trailer trash or anything and their parents have nice careers. Where they live it's just common to get married out of high school and start popping out babies

[Anonymous]

No. There is an episode where Blanches mom tells a story about Blanche trying to elope on Christmas Day when she was 17 - in 1949. That episode aired in ‘88. Doing the math that would put Blanche at about 55-56.

[Anonymous]

PSA FOR ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE.

Please know, it only became common for women to have their first child in their 40s recently.

I know this is hard for you to grasp. And also, TV is fake, as are the imaginary timelines that they invent in writers' rooms. And also, writers are bad at math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in elementary school when Golden Girls was on tv-so they seemed "old" to me.
I've been reading things lately that indicate that Blanche was supposed to be in her mid-late 40's (I saw something today that said 47 specifically) and Dorothy and Rose in their early 50s. Really?
Didn't Blanche have 4 or 5 kids? And by the time she was 47 they were already completely GONE (not just "away at college but still comes home for breaks and over summer?") and out of the house? Even if the youngest was 22 and graduated college....that would mean she had 4 or 5 kids by the age of 25?

I've seen that before but I interpreted it as the actresses were those ages. I see the characters as a bit older

When the show started in 1985, the actresses were these ages:
Bea Arthur: 63
Betty White: 63
Rue McClanahan: 51
Estelle Getty: 62
(Yes, Estelle was a year younger than Bea.)

[Anonymous]

I always assumed Blanche was in her early 50s. Dorothy and Sophia always gave Blanche the side eye whenever she claimed to be in her 40s. And IIRC one of the earlier episodes featured Blanche going through menopause.

[Anonymous]

It was Dorothy’s age that lacked continuity with the storyline. She got pregnant in high school, but her kids only looked to be in their 20s, while she and Stan were well into their 50s or older.

[Anonymous]

Only the governor knows

[Anonymous]

They mature faster in the south. It must be the heat.

[Anonymous]

Blanche claimed to be 42 at least once, but that was clearly a joke. I am pretty sure she was in her mid-50s at least.