Party Boy Meets The Golden Girls
Long before Party Boy became the handsome Hollywood scenester y'all know and envy (coughyeah,rightcough), I was a geeky, teenage loner who watched back-to-back reruns of The Golden Girls every day after school. Like many GG devotees, I longed to move in with Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia to trade sassy barbs, nosh on cheesecake, luxuriate on their tasteful, oh-so-Floridian wicker furnishings, sun myself on "the lanai," and just be part of their loving makeshift family.
So you can only imagine Party Boy's orgasmic delight upon receiving an invite to GG's party for their first-season DVD (out this week) at the Museum of TV and Radio in Beverly Hills. Of course, the chance to meet my girls (and score a free DVD) would've been reason enough to attend, but the big bonus was the inside gossip!
Besides the first season's episodes, the DVD includes feisty fashion commentary from TV Guide Channel's own Joan and Melissa Rivers. "I understand they did not like our costumes and they're making fun of them," huffed Rue McClanahan (Blanche). "I think they're completely off base. We had one of the best costumers in the business, the award-winning Judy Evans. I had it in my contract that I got to keep all my costumes — that would be around 528 costumes. They were all silk, not nylon, and they fill the biggest walk-in closet in my house. I bought another one-room apartment in [my] building to store the rest in!"
When Party Boy told Bea Arthur (Dorothy) what Rue said, she rolled her eyes. I asked Bea if Rue is, well, maybe just a little bit crazy. "Yes, yes!" Bea laughed. "She's quite... contained tonight. I love her. She took every outfit from the seven years of the show. She took every one of 'em!"
Fashion issues aside, the ladies all agree that GG has a huge gay following. That said, there's a definite disagreement among the ladies as to which of them is the biggest gay icon. Natch, Rue thinks it's her.
"Last Christmas," Rue recalled, "I was with my son at a club in [New York's] Greenwich Village. A man there said, 'Honey, we all want to be Blanche.' I think it's because she's attractive, self-confident, and of course, she loves men."
"I'm just questioning that," Bea told Party Boy. "Since Judy [Garland] left us, I've really become the gay icon. I think that started before Golden Girls with Maude. I can't believe that gay men thought they were Blanche. It doesn't make sense to me because Dorothy was always the voice of reason in that house. God knows what would've happened with those three crazies! For instance, there was an episode where Blanche's brother admitted to her that he was gay, and she couldn't cope with it at all."
Movin' on... The
real scoop of the night was the truth about the ladies' biggest obsession — cheesecake. While Rue has always maintained she never ate a bite of it,
Betty White (Rose) says don't you believe it. "As long as the camera was rolling, she'd scarf it down!" she laughs. "According to Rue, it wasn't fattening if
Blanche was eating it. And don't forget, Sophia was always cooking pasta. That pasta would disappear the minute we were on camera. Rue tickles me. She'll deny it all, but it was fun."
