Yesterday I reported that Lifetime TV is airing a 10-episode marathon of Sophia Petrillo-centric episodes of The Golden Girls tomorrow afternoon from 12PM - 5PM in honor of the passing of Estelle Getty but the network has added one more extra little tribute to her memory. Lifetime has been showing a brief memorial to Estelle at the end of each re-run episode of the show that they’ve been airing since her passing:

Yeah, it’s nothing fancy or elaborate but it’s a nice tribute to the amazing Estelle Getty, especially since the network airs eps of The Golden Girls 6 times per day (9, 9:30AM, 4, 4:30PM and 1, 1:30AM).

[Source]

Pink reader Cindy gave me the head’s up that Lifetime TV, the network which currently owns the syndication rights to The Golden Girls, has announced that they are planning a 10 episode tribute marathon in memory of the late Estelle Getty. Starting at 12PM this Friday afternoon, Lifetime will air a series of 10 Sophia Petrillo-centric episodes in her memory … and they are asking that fans vote for the 10th ep to end the marathon tribute:

Friday, July 25, from 12 noon to 5 pm et/pt, see a special on-air tribute to Estelle Getty, who played the cantankerous Sophia Petrillo on “The Golden Girls.” Ms. Getty passed away on Tuesday, July 22, at age 84. We’ll air 10 episodes showcasing the actress’s character, Sophia, in all her blustering, sarcastic splendor. The final episode shown will be one picked by the fans, so vote for your favorite Sophia moment now.

Click HERE to cast your vote, my pick is for the episode entitled Old Friends … I think that ep would be the most poignant episode to end the marathon (additionally, Old Friends is on my Best Of list of Golden Girls eps). I’m actually surprised that NBC (the network that originated The Golden Girls) hasn’t offered any public tributes to Estelle, at least, none that I could find (not even a mention on their website). The Golden Girls formed the foundation of their Must See TV line-up in the mid-80’s and did much to help the network soar to success. I think it would’ve been nice if they offered some sort of tribute to her.

PS: I don’t know if this t-shirt by Glen Hanson is still available but HERE is info from his site about the shirt.

[Source, thanks Cindy]

Ack … my time in LA is running out really fast so I’m scrambling today (as I usually do on travel days) to get everything done before I have to jet off to NYC this afternoon. I didn’t really leave the house — I had tons of cleaning and packing to take care of, which is fine, cuz I was finally able to finish watching all 7 seasons of The Golden Girls on DVD:

Now, it’s gonna take me some time to work up my Best Of post but it’s coming … stay tuned.

In all of my travel preparations I had to make time to figure out what to do with my brand new VW Tiguan crossover (which I love, love love). The car is only 3 days old and I’m already leaving it parked in my apartment garage for just over 2 weeks! In order to play it safe, I did get a car cover for my baby and had to tuck it in for a long sleep:

Hee hee … I’ve been kicking around German names for my new baby, I think I’m going to call it Wülfgang Jürgen-Klaüs … that has a nice ring to it, I think. It’s hard leaving my car so soon after bringing it home but … it must be done.

And so … I’m off to NYC for a few days before David and I fly off to London and then Paris. It’s deffo looking like it’s gonna be a great birthday trip … we’ve got a few things in mind to do — we’ll be seeing Kylie Minogue live in concert next weekend — so I’m pretty geeked. No worries, I’ll be working on a daily basis, as usual, so things should be relatively normal along the way. Wee!

So, yesterday afternoon I got so wrapped up in frantic last-minute cleaning around my apartment (to prepare for David’s arrival) that I missed an appointment and basically didn’t leave my apartment until well after dark. I had to do a quick run to Target to load up on supplies and then get my butt to LAX to pick up David. He arrived safe and sound but had a little problem with his luggage … which we’re still waiting for to arrive.

Absent that, tho, I was productive in another respect … I’ve been watching the Golden Girls DVDs for the past few days and have already blown thru seasons 1-3 and just began season 4 before David arrived last night:

Fortunately for me, David is also a fan of the GGs so I don’t have to fear his breaking up with me ;) As I mentioned before, I’ve never seen the eps in full, in order on DVD before and it really has been an enlightening experience. The one important thing that I learned is that all those “clip shows” that that aired thruout the years weren’t really clip shows in the traditional sense (ie. an ep full of previously seen clips). The majority of these Golden Girls “clip shows” were made up of clips or “flashbacks” that were original scenes shot specifically for those eps and not just recycled clips. Remember that scene where Dorothy, Blanche and Rose competed against one another in that dance marathon (the one where Rose does crazy acrobatics to show up the other girls)? It was filmed specifically for a season three clip show titled One For the Money and never aired in a “regular” episode. I had always believed it was an ep that previously aired before. The series aired a couple of “traditional” clip shows (like the one where President Bush comes to visit) but most of them were all made up of original clips. Anyways … I’m gonna stop writing about this now cuz it’s starting to sound a bit wacky … but I’ll be expounding further on all things Golden Girls when I work up my The Best of The Golden Girls post after I finish all the seasons on DVD.

I promise I’m not crazy.

Hopefully David’s bags will arrive soon so we can leave the house at some point … otherwise we might be staying in … considering that David has no clothes to wear, that might not be a bad idea ;)

Okay, in my defense I did have plans to go out and hang out with actual human beings yesterday … it’s just that the fates had other plans, plans which resulted in me staying home for another evening of relaxation. My friend Michael and I had planned on seeing a movie in the early evening but while I was en route to the theater in Century City, he called to inform me that the movie was sold out and the next one would be more than 2 hours later. Honestly, I wasn’t really in the mood to kill time at the mall so we decided to take a rain check. This meant that it was back home for me to begin work on a new project. A couple of years ago, when we were together, Erik and I started watching the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer series together and I decided to compile my list of favorite eps (which you can read HERE) … I realized that the only show I’ve prolly watched and re-watched more was The Golden Girls. I own all the seasons on DVD but I mainly watch the re-runs on Lifetime since the network airs the show 6 times a day. But, I decided to finally watch the entire series, in order, on DVD … just yesterday alone, I got halfway thru season one:

Did you know that Lifetime cuts about 15-30 secs from many of the eps to squeeze in more commercial time? I have been able to watch short scenes that I’ve never seen before because they have been cut out when the show went into syndication. In any event, I’m now working on compling a list of my fave GG eps which I’ll end up posting when I’m finished with the series. Hey, some people collect stamps so this isn’t all that strange ;)

This afternoon, tho, I will be heading out for Jim and Derek’s housewarming party. The boys are, at long last, having their big party and I’ll be meeting up with Michael, Darion and Kirsten at Jim and Derek’s later on this afternoon. As far as 4th of July weekends go, this one was pretty quiet … and I have no cause for complaint :)