Golden Girls: About That Infamous Deleted Scene

40 years later and the mystery has finally been solved!

In the opening title sequence to all seven seasons of The Golden Girls, we catch a glimpse of a scene that never actually aired. Blanche, played by actress Rue McClanahan, appears to be tucking her hand inside her shirt sleeve and saying, well, viewers never got to know as the theme song “Thank You for Being a Friend” replaces the dialogue.

The scene in question has been discussed so often that it even has its own entry on the Lost Media Archive! No, seriously. It turns out that the footage comes from the eighth episode (although the third in production) of the first season, “Break In.” It premiered Saturday, November 9, 1985 on NBC in the US. The plot of the episode is as follows:

Rose feels unsafe in her own house after a burglary. (Source: TV Guide)

Simple enough. They left out the bit where everyone’s favorite Scandinavian nitwit decides it’s time that she started packing heat and almost shoots Blanche’s latest beau, Lester, or Lestah, as Blanche calls him.

Sophia: “I live 80, 81 years. I survive pneumonia, two operations, a stroke… one night, I'll belch and Stable Mabel here will blow my head off!”

The following three pages are taken from the final draft of the script. The third page reveals what Blanche is saying in the aforementioned scene. I’ve added a page of dialogue that was delivered before it (which did make it into the final cut of the episode) so that you can see exactly where this cut scene would have fit in had it not ended up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps one day we’ll get to actually see the footage itself, but for now this will have to do. Enjoy.

Now, I’m off to find that other deleted scene: Dorothy biting her fist… Hopefully, I’ll find it before I’m living at Shady Pines, eating a can of Seafood Medley, and making moccasins. Until next time, pussycats.