Fancasting: The Golden Girls

[Dave Gray]

Alright, let's say you're gonna reboot The Golden Girls.

Your mission is to cast 4 older actresses to embody the roles, but you aren't casting them to be Betty White.

The characters don't have to specifically be copies of the 4 actresses from before but should embody the 4 archetypes: Ditz, Promiscuous, Realist, and Sarcastic old lady.  Also, it's a new era so you can change things -- they don't have to be the same four named characters with the same backgrounds.

Who do you cast?

[Brian Fein]

I don't think you can even reboot the Golden Girls as we know it.  The show is made on the premise of what old ladies were in 1987, and that just isn't what they're like today.   Estelle Getty was only in her mid 60s when they made that show.

People on their 60s and 70s now are different, by nature. I think having a show about 4 old ladies living as roommates just isn't going to be as interesting.

I really struggle to to think about who you'd even cast in those roles. Thinking about actresses in their 60s or 70s, Courtney Cox is 60 years old.  Would you cast her as a golden girl?  Is Golden girls just a friends reunion?

[Spider-Dan]

Estelle Getty was younger than Bea Arthur, yet played her mom!

As I get older, it's super weird to think about the ages of the Golden Girls actresses (whom I saw as unthinkably ancient as a kid).  The youngest Golden Girl (Rue McClanahan) was only 5 years older when that show debuted than I am right now.

The 4 Golden Girls actresses were 63, 63, 62, and 51 when the show started.  So if we're casting similar ages, it would probably be something like:

Realist: Sarah Jessica Parker (59)
Ditz: Tina Fey (54)
Promiscuous: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (64)
Sarcastic old lady: Megan Mullally (66)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Megan Mullally could honestly play either of those two roles.  As far as the realist role goes, if "four white women" is not a required part of the formula, you could swap Sarah Jessica Parker for Vivica A. Fox (60) or Salma Hayek (58).

[Dave Gray]

I would definitely "race-swap" if I was casting.

I think that Jennifer Coolidge would be great in the ditzy role.  She's 63.

I think that Sophia Vergara would fit the Blanche role, but she's only 52....Salma Hayek is a good choice.  I think that a latin woman's sexuality would play well like that in a modern era.

For the mom/daughter toles, I thought that Wanda Sykes (60) could work for the Dorothy role and I didn't yet have a black grandmother, but you need someone who is incredibly sarcastic.

[Sunstroke]

One of my TV/Movie blind spots... I have never watched a single episode of The Golden Girls.

I do like Spidey's suggestion for Megan Mullally though. I'd watch it just for her... 

[Pappy13]

Ditz: Tina Fey (54)

Fey would be good, but I think Amy Poehler would be even better, something similar to her character in Parks and Rec...being blonde is just a bonus.

[Sibster]

How about Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep and Dianne West?

[CF DolFan]

Spider ... I like your casting.

Mine would be:
Jane Lynch
Marisa Tomei
Salma Hayek
Julia Luis - Dryfus

[Spider-Dan]

Wanda Sykes is definitely a better pick than Vivica A. Fox, Dave.

[Brian Fein]

Looking at the names in this thread kind of proves my point.  Would a show with Vivica A Fox and Tina Fey really hit as hard as the Golden Girls that we know?

Many of these names are middle-aged actresses, and maybe its just me, but these are not "old ladies" that fit the over-arching theme of the show.  That's kind of what I meant when i said that it would be difficult to remake the Golden Girls.

[Dave Gray]

Looking at the names in this thread kind of proves my point.  Would a show with Vivica A Fox and Tina Fey really hit as hard as the Golden Girls that we know?

Many of these names are middle-aged actresses, and maybe its just me, but these are not "old ladies" that fit the over-arching theme of the show.  That's kind of what I meant when i said that it would be difficult to remake the Golden Girls.

The original Golden Girls were not old ladies, either.

[Brian Fein]

The original Golden Girls were not old ladies, either.

By age, maybe not.  But they were all grey-haired old bitties, that's the premise of the show.  "GOLDEN" literally refers to their being old.

I think the definition of "old" has changed since that show was made.  When i was a kid, 60 year olds were "old" - now there's people in their 70's still doing their thing.  Life expectancy has extended and, relatively speaking, so has what society considers "old."

[Phishfan]

At the age I am  now I thought my parents were old. When my Grandparents were my age I thought they were ancient.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

By age, maybe not.  But they were all grey-haired old bitties, that's the premise of the show.  "GOLDEN" literally refers to their being old.

I think the definition of "old" has changed since that show was made.  When i was a kid, 60 year olds were "old" - now there's people in their 70's still doing their thing.  Life expectancy has extended and, relatively speaking, so has what society considers "old."

I don't think it is a matter of society changing, but rather your perspective.  Five year old still consider their grandparents ancient.

[Spider-Dan]

Looking at the names in this thread kind of proves my point.  Would a show with Vivica A Fox and Tina Fey really hit as hard as the Golden Girls that we know?

Many of these names are middle-aged actresses, and maybe its just me, but these are not "old ladies" that fit the over-arching theme of the show.

The reason why I included ages was specifically to make it clear that our ideas of what constituted an "old lady" 35 years ago are quite skewed compared to today.

Put simply: if you were a fortysomething in the '80s, you would have looked at aging TV stars you remember from the '70s like Bea Arthur and Betty White the same way we look at Tina Fey and Vivica A. Fox now.