DECEMBER, 2022 TVXOHOF - BLANCHE DEVEREAUX

The Television Crossover Hall of Fame wraps up its mini-salute to ‘The Golden Girls’ with the December induction of Blanche Devereaux.  I saved her for last because her name is from the French word for “white” and I think she would like to delude herself that when everyone is singing “I’m Dreaming of A White Christmas”, they are really singing about her during the holiday.

BLANCHE DEVEREAUX

From Wikipedia:
Blanche Devereaux is a character from the sitcom television series ‘The Golden Girls’, and its spin-off ‘The Golden Palace’.  

Blanche was portrayed by Rue McClanahan for 8 years and 204 episodes across the two series.  Outside [those two series], Blanche appears in the ‘Empty Nest’ episode "Fatal Attraction" and the ‘Nurses’ episode "Moon Over Miami".  

(O’Bservation - She also appeared in the Earth Day TV special in a sketch with her other three roommates.)

Blanche Elizabeth Marie Hollingsworth grew up near Atlanta, Georgia, at her family's plantation, Twin Oaks. Her parents were the late Elizabeth-Ann Margaret Bennett (later seasons named her "Samantha Roquet") and Curtis "Big Daddy" Hollingsworth.

Much to young Blanche's dismay, her father married a young widow named Margaret Spencer years after Blanche's mother died, but she begrudgingly accepted the marriage. As a young child, she had a mammy (nanny) named Viola Watkins who took care of her before abruptly leaving one day. After her father's death, she learned that he and Viola had been secret lovers for many years and Viola left their family after Blanche's mother found out.

Blanche is a member of "the Alpha Gams" (Alpha Gamma Delta), but which university she attended is not known. On a few occasions, Blanche states that she is of the Baptist faith. She is proud of her status as a Southern debutante, but was shocked to learn, when tracing her family history, that she had a New York born Jewish great-grandmother, Rosalyn Feldman of Buffalo, New York, which prevented her from joining the Daughters of the Old South.

Blanche is the third of five Hollingsworth children. Charmaine Hollingsworth is the spoiled oldest sister, who infuriated Blanche when she wrote a sordid novel which Blanche thought was about her. When it was revealed that the book was about Charmaine and not Blanche, they made up and apologized to each other.

The next sibling is Blanche's brother Tad.  (Near the end of ‘The Golden Palace’, Blanche was revealed to have a mentally challenged older brother, Tad Hollingsworth, who spent most of his life in a Chattanooga institution.)

Blanche's sister Virginia Hollingsworth Warren, with whom Blanche shares a mutual loathing, is one year her junior. They buried the hatchet when Virginia went into kidney failure and Blanche offered her kidney to her sister. However, their relationship became strained once more after their argument following Big Daddy's death, in which Virginia accused Blanche of being too selfish and self-centered to say goodbye to her own father.

The fifth Hollingsworth child is Clayton Hollingsworth, who appears in season four (1988) and season six (1991). When Clayton tells Blanche that he is gay, she struggles to accept his sexuality, but eventually does after Clayton intends to marry his boyfriend Doug.

Blanche was faithfully married for decades to her husband, George Devereaux. George died (in a car accident) in either 1981 or 1982, three or four years before the start of the series in 1985, and at some point earlier they had moved from Atlanta to Miami.

At various times over the course of the series, Blanche mentions the names of five children: Janet, Rebecca, Matthew "Skippy", Doug, and "Biff". However, in the third-season episode "Bringing Up Baby", when Dorothy questions an impulsive car purchase, Blanche says to her: "I have had four children, I have never had a Mercedes". She mentions three sons – Skippy, Biff, and Doug – in the episode "Bringing Up Baby", and Skippy's proper name (Matthew) was mentioned in the episode "To Catch a Neighbor".  Blanche seems very protective of her youngest child, as when hilariously offering one of her sons to Dorothy in exchange for a Mercedes she says: "Which one do you want? Biff, Doug, Skippy? No, don't take Skippy. He has asthma."  (“Skippy” appeared on an episode of ‘The Golden Palace’.)

During the series, Blanche learns that her husband George also had a son named David, as the result of an affair.

During the course of the show, Blanche is revealed not to have been very "hands-on" as a mother, as she frequently left her children to nannies and housekeepers. She had a strained relationship with both of her daughters, especially Janet, something that led to some of the most dramatic storylines, as she expressed regrets that she was not there for her children more, and it is loosely implied that she might have even been emotionally abusive to them when they were growing up.

However, Blanche slowly rebuilt her relationships with Janet and Rebecca throughout the series. By the time the series ended, both Rebecca and Janet had healed their relationships with their mother.

Blanche's daughter, Rebecca, was seen most often on the show, although Blanche and she had frequent falling outs and bitter fights. When Rebecca was introduced, she was overweight and about to marry a verbally abusive man.  Later in the series, they fought over a slimmed-down Rebecca's decision to be artificially inseminated and raising the baby without a father. Rebecca decided to visit a birthing center saying: "Hospitals have a rigid way of doing things." After hearing a frightening shriek, Rebecca changes her mind and lets her mother take her to a hospital and even lets her help with the labor in the delivery room, where Rebecca gave birth to her daughter Aurora. They then feuded again when Blanche's new suitor mistook her for Aurora's mother and Blanche, who was actually babysitting, went along with it.  Upon the truth being revealed, Rebecca accused Blanche of using Aurora to "get a man". In each case, they eventually made up again, which was something Blanche seems not to have entirely done with Janet.

Blanche seems very protective of her youngest child, as when hilariously offering one of her sons to Dorothy in exchange for a Mercedes she says: "Which one do you want? Biff, Doug, Skippy? No, don't take Skippy. He has asthma."

Besides Aurora, Blanche has at least three other grandchildren: David, Melissa, and Sarah, all born to Janet, who married a "Yankee". Blanche's 14 year-old grandson David visited the girls in the first season, but was unhappy and rebellious, due to problems in his home life. Sophia eventually hit him for being disrespectful. After David confided in Blanche, she told Janet that she wanted David to live with her, leading to a bitter falling out between mother and daughter.

Blanche also has a promiscuous niece named Lucy (Hallie Todd), who visits her during the first season.

Here are the shows which qualified Blanche Devereaux for membership in the TVXOHOF:

1985–1992

THE GOLDEN GIRLS
177 episodes

1988
EMPTY NEST
1 episode

1992

NURSES
1 episode

1992–1993

THE GOLDEN PALACE
24 episodes

Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, Miz Devereaux.

I’m sure your pals and confidantes have been eager to reunite with you in Hall….

TVXOHOF, NOVEMBER 2022 - DOROTHY ZBORNAK

Dorothy Zbornak:

How do you do. I'm Dorothy Zbornak.

Laverne Todd:

Geriatrics is two doors down on the left.

“Empty Nest”

Continuing the Television Crossover Hall of Fame’s tribute to ‘The Golden Girls’ over this past year (with Rose Nylund and Sophia Petrillo already inducted), we’re O’Bserving the tradition of November being the month in which characters with political connections are inducted.

And of those “Golden Girls,” the one who came closest to that was….

DOROTHY ZBORNAK

From Wikipedia:
Dorothy Zbornak is a character from the sitcom television series 'The Golden Girls', portrayed by Bea Arthur. Sarcastic, introspective, compassionate, and fiercely protective of those she considers family, she is introduced as a substitute teacher, and mother. At the time, Dorothy was recently divorced from her ex-husband Stanley. She, her mother Sophia Petrillo (played by Estelle Getty), and housemate Rose Nylund (Betty White) all rent rooms in the Miami house of their friend Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan).

Dorothy often acted as den mother and voice of reason among the quartet, "the great leveler" according to Bea Arthur, though at times she also acted foolishly or negatively and would need her friends and family to help ground her again. Arthur also considered her the "great balloon pricker," someone who openly defied and called out hypocrisy, injustice, cruelty, delusion, short-sighted remarks, and behavior she simply found dull, ill-considered, rude, or unreasonable.

Bea Arthur portrayed Dorothy in every episode of 'The Golden Girls'. Arthur also portrayed Dorothy's maternal grandmother Eleanor Grisanti in flashback in the episode "Mother's Day". In the same episode and others that involve flashbacks, a younger version of Dorothy was portrayed by Lynnie Green. In the season 5 episode "Clinton Avenue Memoirs" (1990), Jandi Swanson portrayed Dorothy as a child in flashback.

Bea Arthur's departure from the show in the season 7 two-part finale "One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest" marked the end of the series as well. Outside of the series, Arthur also appeared as Dorothy in an episode of 'Empty Nest' (a spin-off series), in the episode "Dumped", and in a two-episode story "Seems Like Old Times" in ‘The Golden Palace’ (a sequel series to 'The Golden Girls'). In the 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly, Dorothy Zbornak-Hollingsworth was selected as the Grandma for "The Perfect TV Family".

Okay.  O'Bviously photoshopped.

During the run of the show, Dorothy repeatedly expresses liberal views but never declares her party affiliation, though she does have a Michael Dukakis bumper sticker (covering a Walter Mondale bumper sticker) on her car. When then-President George H. W. Bush visits Miami, Dorothy intends to angrily confront him regarding education, only to be rendered mute at the shock of actually meeting him. Dorothy shared many of Bea Arthur's political views, who in a 2005 interview remarked "that's what makes Maude and Dorothy so believable: we have the same viewpoints on how our country should be handled."

Maude Findley would be a perfect candidate for membership in the Hall in November… if only she had appeared in more than just ‘All In The Family’ and her own eponymous sitcom.  (Wikipedia says that Maude was never mentioned in the series ‘Good Times’.  And the characters’ backstories were revamped.)

Here are the appearances by Dorothy Zbornak which qualified her for membership in the TVXOHOF:

THE GOLDEN GIRLS (1985-1992)

177 episodes
…. Dorothy Petrillo Zbornak

EMPTY NEST

- Dumped (1989)
.... Dorothy Petrillo Zbornak

Barbara gets lessons from Carol about life as a "dumpee" after Dorothy Zbornak's nephew breaks up with her.

THE EARTH DAY SPECIAL (1990)

…. Dorothy Zbornak

THE GOLDEN PALACE

.... Dorothy Zbornak Hollingsworth

- Seems Like Old Times: Part 1 (1992)

Dorothy visits her ex-roommates at the Golden Palace, hoping to convince Sophia to come and live with her and her husband in Atlanta.

Dorothy visits her friends. The next day, Chuy does not show up for work so the girls need to replace him and Dorothy helps as a waitress. She is concerned that Sophia looks tired and has to carry heavy trays. She calls her husband and tells him she decided her mother should move in with them. Dorothy gathers her friends and tells them about her plans about Sophia. Blanche and Rose want to keep Sophia with them. Sophia says she wants to decide herself where to live and goes up to her room. When Blanche goes to see her and find out about her decision, she finds a note saying Sophia does not want to choose between her friends and daughter and that she is running away.

- Seems Like Old Times: Part 2 (1992)

Sophia runs away to her old rest home. When the other girls try to get her, they find that it is no longer anywhere near as bad as she said it was.

Now that Sophia is away, the girls need to work more to replace her. Dorothy actively searches her mother and blames the girls for her disappearance. A cab driver brings back Sophia's handbag and reveals that he has driven her to Shady Pines. They call her but she says that she does not want them to pick her up. Dorothy is afraid she will be miserable there since she remembers the place was awful. Actually, it turns out Shady Pines is a great place where Sophia gets massages and tennis lessons. Also, she does not want the girls to fight over her. Dorothy apologizes to the girls for not trusting them more and decides to let her mother work in the Golden Palace.

All summaries are from the IMDb....

Welcome to the Hall, Dorothy!

As mentioned earlier, Rose and Sophia are already in there and Blanche will be joining you next month for some cheesecake.

TVXOHOF (OCTOBER, 2022) - SOPHIA PETRILLO... PERFECT FOR HALLOWEEN

In October, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame usually honors some TV character who not only has fulfilled the requirement of appearances in three different shows, TV movies, or commercials, but also is scary AF… some kind of monster.

I think we’ve got a good candidate this year….

SOPHIA PETRILLO

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

But if you need a stronger connection to Halloween, here she is in costume....

Because her stroke destroyed those mental circuit breakers, she does not hold back with what she says.  You do NOT want to be on the receiving end of her barbs.

The last time we had a character like this who could instill fear in those around them, I think it was Frank Barone of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’.

From Wikipedia:

Sophia Petrillo is a character from the sitcom television series 'The Golden Girls' and its spin-offs 'The Golden Palace' and 'Empty Nest'. She also appeared in episodes of the series 'Blossom' and 'Nurses'. Her character was played by the actress Estelle Getty for 10 years and 258 episodes.

ANGELA & SOPHIA

Sophia Grisanti was born in Sicily to Angelo and Eleanor Grisanti. She had a sister Angela, a sister Regina and a brother Angelo. Although another brother was mentioned, he was unnamed and only spoken of a few times. Dorothy mentions an "Uncle Vito" in Season 2 but it is unclear whether he is Sophia's brother or the brother of her husband, Salvadore.

In the first episode of 'The Golden Palace' (1992) Sophia's was said to be an 87-year-old who experiences flashbacks to her younger life in Sicily, depicting herself as a young peasant girl having multiple romantic affairs earlier in life (1912 and 1922). However, in another Season 2 episode "And Then There Was One", Sophia claims she had been "walking since 1904." These discrepancies are likely due to age-related cognition errors or are possibly just dramatic licenses taken by the show producers.

She moved to New York which left her with no accent to show she had grown up speaking the Sicilian language. Instead, she sports a Brooklyn accent with a fast speaking pace which often contributed to the humor in her one-liners.

Sophia later married Salvadore "Sal" Petrillo (played by Sid Melton in flashback) and had three children with him: Dorothy, a divorced substitute teacher; Phil (an unseen character), a cross-dresser with a wife named Angela; a welder with several children who lived in a trailer park in Newark, New Jersey, but who later died of a heart attack during the series, and Gloria (played by Doris Belack and later Dena Dietrich), who lived in California and married into money but later lost her husband to an unknown cause. She remained with Salvadore until his death from a heart attack. In a 1985 episode, Sophia mentions that Sal died 30 years earlier. However, in a 1988 episode, it is stated that Sal died 27 years ago.

In her later years, Sophia suffered a stroke - the effects of which are said to be a partial explanation for Sophia's blunt, uncensored, and brazen remarks. She was subsequently placed in Shady Pines Retirement Home by her daughter, Dorothy.

However, after Shady Pines was damaged in a fire, Sophia moved in with Dorothy. Sophia didn't have many good things to say about "the home,” alluding to poor treatment by the staff many times. Dorothy sometimes threatened to send her back there if she was "behaving badly".

Due to Sophia's Sicilian descent, there were regular hints in the series that she and her family have some mafia connections. She made reference to several vendettas and it is even hinted that Sophia herself has done mob work; she once stated that no one in her family had "ever left a body to be found". Sophia also claimed to have been present at the 1929 St. Valentines Day Massacre, to which she then took back stating, "Oh yeah, I was at the movies that day. All day." It was revealed that she was present at a St. Valentines Day Massacre but not the St. Valentines Day Massacre.

Sophia believed strongly in ancient Sicilian custom and traditions, and in the power of a "Sicilian curse." The list of people she claims to have "cursed" include Shelley Long, the Baltimore Colts, the New York Jets, Giuseppe Mangiacavallo (the boy who stood her up at the altar), and Leonard Barton (the girls' next-door neighbor who expressed disdain for Italians, played by Gordon Jump). She has threatened to cast a curse on Dorothy (before she found that it was prohibited by another arcane custom), and on Stan Zbornak. In the final season, Sophia spent two episodes doing odd tasks in order to save Dorothy from an ancient curse from a Sicilian Strega, or witch.

In the series finale of 'The Golden Girls', Sophia, after initially deciding to follow the now-married Dorothy out of the house, turns back and decides to stay with Rose and Blanche, which sets up the transition to 'The Golden Palace'. When Rose, Blanche, and Sophia invest in a hotel, Sophia is installed as one of the two chefs, specializing in Italian cuisine while the hotel's previous chef, Chuy Castillos (Cheech Marin), handles Mexican food.

Sophia begins to show signs of senile dementia, usually in comical situations (for instance, she is shown to be standing still and apparently unconscious while attempting to operate a vacuum cleaner), and her bluntness is toned down to a certain extent. In the episode "One Angry Stan" she is the only one to witness Stanley Zbornak after he fakes his death to avoid tax troubles; the fact that no one else sees Stan in these episodes (he ducks out of sight whenever someone else enters the room), coupled with Sophia's increased senility, make it unclear whether or not Stan is really alive or if Sophia is hallucinating Stan's appearance.

After the events of 'The Golden Palace' (which ended without a series finale), Sophia returns to the Shady Pines nursing home, joining the cast of 'Empty Nest'.

Outside 'The Golden Girls', Sophia appears on two episodes of 'Empty Nest' ("Libby's Gift" and "Windy") before becoming a regular for the final two seasons. She also appears on the 'Blossom' episode "I Ain't Got No Buddy" and the 'Nurses' episode "Temporary Setbacks".

Here are the shows which qualifies Sophia to be in the TVXOHOF:

The Golden Girls

1985-1992
Sophia Petrillo
177 episodes

Empty Nest

1988-1995
Sophia Petrillo
52 episodes

The Earth Day Special

1990
Sophia Petrillo

Blossom

- I Ain't Got No Buddy (1991)
Sophia Petrillo

O'Bservation:
This might have been a dream sequence.

Nurses

- Temporary Setbacks (1993)
Sophia Petrillo

The Golden Palace

1992-1993
Sophia Petrillo
24 episodes

Ladies Man

- Romance (2000) 
Sophia Gates

In the last episode of the first season, Estelle Getty showed up as "Sophia Gates". 

According to the IMDb:
Reunites former 'The Golden Girls' (1985)/ 'The Golden Palace' (1992) co-stars: Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. Only Getty portrays her old "Golden" character, however.

It had been seven years since she was seen in Toobworld.  Her second husband, Max Weinstock, probably died a decade earlier.  So "it's poss'ble, just poss'ble", that she remarried... to a man named Gates.  (Betty White played Alfred Molina's mother throughout the series.  And Rue McClanahan played Aunt Lou in this episode.)

But the gigolo played by George Hamilton thought she was Bill Gates' mother.  Passing herself off as such could have been a sign of her growing dementia.  Or she could be a totally different character, a con artist. (The show was taking place in Los Angeles, after all, the other side of the country from Miami.)

For now, I'll leave it as a possibility that she was Sophia Petrillo.  It's not like this episode is necessary for her inclusion in the Hall.

Welcome aboard, Sophia!  And Happy Halloween!

Can we trust you in making a speech without getting nasty?

I guess not....