Rue McClanahan, who played the sexpot Blanche Devereaux, has released a statement about the passing of her Golden Girls co-star Estelle Getty (who played Sophia Petrillo) following released statements from both Bea Arthur and Betty White (who played Dorothy Zbornak and Rose Nylund respectively). You may sadly recall that Estelle passed away yesterday morning at the age of 84:

“Estelle always wanted to be an actress and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams. Don’t feel sad about her passing, she will always be with us in her crowning achievement.”

I understand where Rue’s sentiments are coming from but it’s hard not to be sad … it kinda feels like losing a grandmother. At the same time, it’s easy to want to celebrate Estelle’s life … she was a comedic giant. I plan on keeping the banner tribute to Estelle Getty at the top of my blog for at least a week’s time. She is sorely missed.

[Source]

Golden Girl and TV legend Rue McClanahan was joined by her castmates Caroline Rhea, Olivia Newton-John and Leslie Jordan at the NYC premiere of their new 12-episode series Sordid Lives which took place at New World Stages earlier this week. Sordid Lives is a new series based on a 1996 play and 2000 movie of the same name that is set to debut on LOGO on July 23 at 10PM. Here are a few pics from the premiere’s red carpet arrivals:

On “Sordid Lives: The Series,” the colorful folk in a certain Texas town are back in action after having won an avid following with the 1996 play and 2000 movie of the same name. For the 12-episode comedy, creator-writer-director Del Shores has reunited stars from his film including Bonnie Bedelia, Olivia Newton-John, Beth Grant and Leslie Jordan, who are joined by recruits Rue McClanahan and Caroline Rhea. What results is a riotous saga, larger than life but not far from the truth as it depicts small-town life imbued with the Spirit, cigarette smoke and self-administered Valium; pecan pie, whiskey shots at the local bar and undying love of country music superstar Tammy Wynette. And various sides of the sexual equation. For instance, Jordan plays Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram, a drag queen fixated on Wynette and locked in a mental ward, where he’s subjected to therapy to “de-homosexualize” him. He’s not the only member of the family with issues. His handsome young nephew, Ty (Jason Dottley), has set off for West Hollywood, where he struggles as an actor while trying to accept his homosexuality after being raised, he says, “rigid Southern Baptist.” “Sordid Lives” premieres Wednesday (July 23) at 10 p.m. EDT on cable’s Logo network, which targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers. But this comedy just might bring in the broader audience it deserves. “It was the funniest script I’d read since `Golden Girls,’” says McClanahan, 73, who plays pious, slightly addled Peggy Ingram, Brother Boy’s elderly mother. “The same way I knew in ‘Golden Girls’ I wanted to play Blanche, I knew I wanted to play Peggy. They’re 180 degrees different, of course, except for one thing: They’re both looking for love. “Peggy finds it,” she adds with a twinkle in her eye … Spoiler alert: Late in the series, Peggy has sex with an unlikely boyfriend. “And I’m on top!” McClanahan crows. “And still wearing her hat,” notes Shores. “I’ve just come from church. The flowers from the hat are falling in my face. I’m hanging on to his undershirt like it’s the reins of a horse. ‘Ride ‘em, cowboy!’” All discreetly edited for basic cable. “And then the bed broke!” “It truly broke,” says Shores. “We didn’t plan it.” “And I’ve got this bad knee,” says McClanahan, who continues to recover from surgery last summer. “This was in January, when it was still really bad. And I thought: We CAN’T fall off this bed! So I reached out and grabbed on to the windowsill for the rest of the scene.”

I admit that I am not very familiar with either the play or the movie but I am really interested in watching the series … hello, it’s got Rue McClananhan, you best believe I’m gonna watch every ep. In fact, I’m impressed with the whole cast — this sounds really, really funny. I hope that the audience is able to find this series … LOGO isn’t really watched by many folks (including me) but I’m hoping people seek out this show and check it out. It sounds really great … and it’s got RUE! What more could you ask for?

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

The 6th Annual TV Land Awards took place at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA yesterday and a cavalcade of classic TV stars took to the red carpet for the event. It must be said, tho, that whoever the genius was who decided to make the celebs walk the carpet (and be photographed) in the blinding mid-day SoCal sun should be fired … you could almost see the make-up melting off the faces of some of our most beloved and revered classic TV celebs. Too cruel … too cruel, indeed. Anyways … here are a few photos from the TV Land Awards red carpet and a few golden moments as noted by USA Today:

Photo credit: Wireimage

•Gary Coleman of Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman walked the carpet solo but says that despite reports, he and wife Shannon Price are still together. Their one-year anniversary is Aug. 28, and she is expecting him “to come up with something spectacular,” he says. He wouldn’t comment on reports that he’s still a virgin, but he had plenty to say about Price otherwise: She likes to sell items on eBay, including Coleman autographs. And she wasn’t with him because she was at home, where “she has three dachshunds. She is very much a caregiver to them.”

Um, hello! Clearly the most Golden moment of the whole affair was the arrival of 3 of the Golden Girls on the TV Land red carpet — Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Betty White. Altho all 4 of the Golden Girls are still alive, Estelle Getty suffers from Lewy Body Dementia and is no longer well enough to able to make public appearances (Rue McClanahan revealed in an interview a few years ago that Estelle has deteriorated to the point where she no longer recognizes any of her GG co-stars and, very sadly, has no recollection at all of the show). I know Estelle was there in spirit tho, she is always present in spirit whenever the Golden Girls get together. Despite the fact that we are inundated with a plethora of (oftentimes useless) award shows, I really love the TV Land Awards for the mere fact that all of our favorite classic TV stars have a chance to be featured all together at least once a year. I mean, how else would Barry Williams be able to occupy his days? The TV Land Awards will air on TV Land on June 15th. [Source]