{"id":10476,"date":"2016-12-22T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=10476"},"modified":"2020-10-14T09:07:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T14:07:23","slug":"the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the \"The<\/a>Golden Girls Still Inspire Us<\/h1>\n

Superheroes are big business these days, with Marvel and DC turning out film after film to keep \u201cthe youngs\u201d entertained. Superheroes are becoming more diverse, but there\u2019s one group of folks that\u2019s not typically part of the crime-fighters\u2019 cadre: seniors. At ComicCon in October\u2014where fans, stars, and writers gathered to talk superheroes, dress up, and shop\u2014one company bucked the trend by selling Golden Girls action figure<\/strong>s<\/a>, based on the 1980s sitcom that wasn\u2019t about fighting crime but about friendship.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly popular senior characters<\/h2>\n

The boxed set featuring Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia was the surprise hit of the show and sold out quickly. Target was the only retailer who managed to get any and they sold out within a couple of days, too. Funko, the Washington-state based company that made the Golden Girls figures<\/a><\/strong>, doesn\u2019t plan to make more, so if you\u2019re determined to own a set you\u2019ll need to spend anywhere from $200 to $400 to buy from someone who\u2019s reselling theirs online.<\/p>\n

The coveted action figures may be out of reach, but there are other ways to treat Golden Girls fans. Pop! TV offers its own line of Golden Girls dolls<\/a><\/strong>, and the original shows are available on DVD and as streaming video on Amazon. A quick online search also turns up lots of Golden Girls t-shirts, mugs, and even throw pillows decorated with the floor plan of the Golden Girls\u2019 Florida home.<\/p>\n

Why \u2018The Golden Girls\u2019 is still such a draw<\/h2>\n

The show ran from 1985 to 1992 and presented a thoroughly modern scenario \u2013 four older women on their own after divorce and widowhood, living independently in Miami. Blanche the Southern Belle kept up an active social life, while Rose embodied \u2018Minnesota nice.\u2019 Dorothy and her mother, Sophia, traded sarcastic barbs.<\/p>\n

The show painted a realistic and overall positive picture of aging, complete with dating and romance, but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains of growing older. Today, the show remains popular with TV aficionados, especially entertainment writer Michael Musto, who has written about Golden Girls LGBT fans<\/a><\/strong>. Other writers have praised the show<\/a><\/strong> for being well ahead of its time on issues like late-in-life marriage, age discrimination, senior poverty, LGBT rights, interracial families, and disability. Whatever issues came up in each episode, the show\u2019s biting wit and focus on the importance of friendship drew in millions of viewers and earned the cast and crew dozens of awards.<\/p>\n

Following a \u201cgolden\u201d example<\/h2>\n

For fans of the show, the best way to capture its spirit is to make sure that your parents and other older loved ones have the daily social support they need. If friends and family aren\u2019t around often, you may want to contact the nearest senior center to find out about weekly hours, special social events, and transportation options to keep your folks connected and socially engaged. Another option is to hire in-home help<\/a><\/strong> for companionship, and yet another is to consider a move to an independent living <\/strong><\/a>or assisted living<\/a><\/strong> community where there\u2019s always something to do and potential friends to talk to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us Superheroes are big business these days, with Marvel and DC turning out film after film to keep \u201cthe youngs\u201d entertained. Superheroes are becoming more diverse, but there\u2019s one group of folks that\u2019s not typically part of the crime-fighters\u2019 cadre: seniors. At ComicCon in October\u2014where fans, stars, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,200,27,4],"tags":[14,388,70,13],"class_list":{"0":"post-10476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-assisted-living","7":"category-families-caregivers","8":"category-in-home-care","9":"category-independent-living","10":"tag-assisted-living-2","11":"tag-home-care","12":"tag-independent-living-2","13":"tag-senior-living-2"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us The show portrayed aging positively but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us The show portrayed aging positively but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SeniorAdvisor.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-22T13:00:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-14T14:07:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casey Kelly-Barton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casey Kelly-Barton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/\",\"name\":\"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-22T13:00:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-14T14:07:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a97863c1f6d466031974be45ce9c8e08\"},\"description\":\"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us The show portrayed aging positively but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SeniorAdvisor.com Blog\",\"description\":\"Empowering Families in their Search for Care\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a97863c1f6d466031974be45ce9c8e08\",\"name\":\"Casey Kelly-Barton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65d330a9fbb7308264432649d5324f2b?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65d330a9fbb7308264432649d5324f2b?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Casey Kelly-Barton\"},\"description\":\"Casey Kelly-Barton is an Austin-based freelance writer whose childhood was made awesome by her grandmothers, great-grandmother, great-aunts and -uncles, and their friends.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/author\/caseykb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog","description":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us The show portrayed aging positively but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains.","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog","og_description":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us The show portrayed aging positively but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains.","og_site_name":"SeniorAdvisor.com Blog","article_published_time":"2016-12-22T13:00:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-14T14:07:23+00:00","author":"Casey Kelly-Barton","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casey Kelly-Barton","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/","url":"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/","name":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-22T13:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-14T14:07:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a97863c1f6d466031974be45ce9c8e08"},"description":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us The show portrayed aging positively but didn\u2019t gloss over the aches and pains.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.prod.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/the-senior-heroes-we-need-now-how-the-golden-girls-still-inspire-us\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Senior Heroes We Need Now: How the Golden Girls Still Inspire Us"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#website","url":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/","name":"SeniorAdvisor.com Blog","description":"Empowering Families in their Search for Care","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a97863c1f6d466031974be45ce9c8e08","name":"Casey Kelly-Barton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/10.40.65.39\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65d330a9fbb7308264432649d5324f2b?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65d330a9fbb7308264432649d5324f2b?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Casey Kelly-Barton"},"description":"Casey Kelly-Barton is an Austin-based freelance writer whose childhood was made awesome by her grandmothers, great-grandmother, great-aunts and -uncles, and their friends.","url":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/author\/caseykb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10476"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10476"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15441,"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10476\/revisions\/15441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}