By Emilie Weinbeck, Contributing writer
The classic show “The Golden Girls” is getting a makeover with some fresh faces. The cast of “Golden Girls” will now feature an all-Black cast with some big names, including Tracee Ellis Ross, star of the hit ABC show, “Black-ish”, Regina King, Alfre Woodard and Sanaa Lathan. The show is set to air on Netflix with the premiere date to be announced soon.
The idea for the makeover came from former “Glee” star Jane Lynch when last year she announced that she was working on an updated version of the “Golden Girls” show for Netflix. “The Golden Girls” was also recreated as a puppet show in 2016 and brought back nostalgia for many fans.
Recently, many other popular television shows have been announcing cast reunions such as “ The West Wing” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” There has been a delay with the “Friends” reunion due to the coronavirus pandemic. Over the last few years, many TV shows have been reuniting or revamping their casts to help bring viewers back to mainstream television. The streaming service industry has slowly taken over the television business and the recreation of old favorites is starting to bring fans back. Many streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix rarely offer older shows such as “Golden Girls” which means the only way to watch them is through cable TV.
“The Golden Girls” first aired in 1985 and ended in 1992. The show aired for a total of seven seasons and was based on the lives of four older women who had all been divorced or widowed.
Some TV reunions have been successful while some have not, most notably the hit 90s show Roseanne. The reunion aired for nine episodes in 2018 before it was canceled by ABC. The main character Roseanne, played by Roseanne Barr, caused the show to be canceled after she tweeted racist remarks about Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. On the flip side, the hit show ‘Gilmore Girls’ had a very successful reunion. The mini-series aired on Netflix in 2016 and was well received by their fans.
“The Golden Girls” first episode of the remake is set to air over Zoom as part of a series called “The Zoom Where it Happens”. The Zoom event is supporting Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. The goal of the show is to help give an insight into the lives of older Black women this day in age. Going along with the last few months of hundreds of Black Lives Matter protests, the show hopes the conversation will stay relevant. The first episode intends to hook the audience in an effort to further engage our community and drive change. Throughout the first episode, messages will appear encouraging people to vote or register to vote during the upcoming November election.
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