The Golden Girls featured sassy Sophia and her sarcastic daughter Dorothy. They touched hearts as well as made audiences laugh until they hurt.
The Golden Girls was a comedy hit not only because of the hilarious idiosyncrasies of its main characters but also because of how those personalities interacted with each other. Their relationships were built on enjoying each other’s similarities and working through their differences, to consistently hilarious and often heartwarming results.
Although Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose were all close friends, there was a unique relationship between Dorothy and Sophia. The two had a strong bond as mother and daughter but grew closer as friends as the series progressed. Their friendship was equal parts hilarious and touching.
Touched Our Hearts: The Bowling Bet
Dorothy always respected Sophia as an individual, treating her as a vibrant and capable woman… most of the time. On occasion, Dorothy was concerned about her mother’s health and activities to the point of restricting her unduly, as many children of aging parents can no doubt relate to.
For health reasons, Dorothy once forbade her mother from taking a trip to Sicily with an old beau until Sophia convinced her to a bet on a bowling tournament for the right to take the trip. Seeing her mother truly happy, Dorothy lost the tournament on purpose, allowing her mother to leave. Sophia realized this, and when she got back, gave Dorothy the earrings she had put up in the bet in a touching mother/daughter moment.
Tickled Our Funny Bones: General Banter
There’s no doubt that Dorothy and Sophia truly loved each other, though it’d be difficult to tell by the way they constantly kissed. Sophia consistently teased Dorothy for her looks and choices in men, and Dorothy constantly threatened Sophia with a trip to Shady Pines if she got out of line. Clearly, the two enjoyed a spirited and hilarious back and forth that can only come from two people who truly love each other.
These exchanges were one of the most fun aspects of the show, as evidenced when Sophia used the Girls’ three thousand dollar investment to buy a prizefighter, remarking, “In one week, you’ll be kissing the ground I walk on,” to which Dorothy replied, “Yeah, and you’ll be looking up at it from the other side!”
Touched Our Hearts: Reaffirmed Their Bond
Dorothy’s sometimes obsessive preoccupation with Sophia’s well-being was understandable but sometimes counterproductive. For example, when Sophia was feeling lonely and depressed following the death of one of her friends, Dorothy allowed her to “third-wheel” her dates with a promising suitor, which threw a significant wrench in the relationship.
On another occasion, Dorothy’s preoccupation with spending “quality time” with her mother almost ruined a trip to Disney World. Despite Dorothy’s sometimes overbearing nature, she and Sophia managed to overcome the occasional rough patches and reaffirm their love in touching ways.
Tickled Our Funny Bones: Sharing A Bed
The Girls have often hosted friends and family members at the house, forcing the sleeping arrangements to change quite frequently. Usually, Dorothy and Sophia end up sharing a bed, which is always hilarious to watch.
The comedically cantankerous bickering is almost always dialed up in these instances, with Dorothy annoyed that her mother applies multiple night creams to her body so she can “pickle herself till she lives to be 100,” and Sophia complaining about Dorothy’s cold feet and her body being a “heat sponge.”
Touched Our Hearts: Prom Night
Dorothy has never had that much luck with the opposite sex, as her roommates and mother constantly remind her. This unlucky streak went as far back as high school, where she was stood up at the prom by the high school “bad boy,” John Neretti.
When they met up years later, Dorothy found out that John had actually shown up to take her to the prom, but was rebuffed by Sophia due to his appearance and attitude. Dorothy was furious with her mother but later came to realize that what Sophia did was done out of love and concern for her daughter’s well-being. After Dorothy and John came back from chaperoning a prom, Dorothy and Sophia shared a tender moment on the couch as she regaled the evening’s events to her mother.
Tickled Our Funny Bones: Sonny & Cher
She may have spent her time at the Shady Pines Retirement Home, but Sophia often spent a large amount of time there after she left. Whether it was volunteering or visiting friends, Shady Pines was never without Sophia Petrillo for too long.
In one instance, Sophia’s obsession with showing up one of her acquaintances at the home led her and Dorothy to participate in the Shady Pines Mother/Daughter Talent Show. As an act, they hilariously decided to deliver a rendition of “I Got You Babe,” dressed as Cher and Sonny Bono.
Touched Our Hearts: Switched At Birth Debacle
Like many other mothers and daughters, Dorothy and Sophia share many similar traits, namely, their perseverance, no-nonsense attitude, and bitingly caustic wit. Normally, people would chalk that up to genetics, but in one Golden Girls episode, it was revealed that Dorothy may not be Sophia’s biological child.
When Sophia’s old friends Dominic and Philomena Bosco visit, they reveal the possibility that Dorothy and their daughter may have been switched at birth. Distraught, Dorothy insists she and Sophia take a blood test, which Sophia promptly rips up. As she states through a touching story, she doesn’t need a paper to tell her who her daughter is, as she has raised and loved Dorothy for her entire life.
Tickled Our Funny Bones: Murder Mystery Weekend
For the most part, Dorothy endures her mother’s ribbing with some good-natured humor or fires off her own sarcastic remarks in retaliation. Sometimes, though, she needs to make a grander gesture to let her mother know she means business. Dorothy’s done this many times, from tearing up a man’s phone number her mother got at a bus stop to pointedly yelling “Shady Pines, ma!” whenever she wanted Sophia’s immediate cooperation.
One of the funniest examples of this was during a murder-mystery weekend. As Dorothy was explaining the murder, she quickly grabbed a knife to demonstrate how to slit someone’s throat using Sophia as a stand-in; a hilariously tacit warning for her mother to stop heckling her.
Touched Our Hearts: “Deathbed” Confession
Considering Sophia’s age, realizing there’d be a day where she would be without her mother was something Dorothy understood on an intellectual level but had difficulty grasping emotionally. Early on in the first season, she had to grapple with the possibility when Sophia began suffering the symptoms of a heart attack.
Although it was eventually revealed to be a gall stone attack brought on by excessive overeating, Sophia managed to tell Dorothy all the things a mother wants to say to her child before she dies. She expressed her love and appreciation for her daughter and told her what the audience always suspected: that Dorothy was her favorite child.
Tickled Our Funny Bones: Left Dorothy Sitting In Jail
Bailing your daughter out of jail is not an enviable task for any mother, especially one with Sophia’s penchant for sarcastic comments and biting remarks. Unfortunately, that’s what she had to do when the Girls were arrested for prostitution after unknowingly booking rooms in a “bawdy house.”
Sophia was more than willing to bail out Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche provided one of them gave up their tickets to meet Burt Reynolds. When they refused, Sophia snatched them and disavowed knowing the trio. When Dorothy protested, asking, “Ma, you would do this to your own flesh and blood?” Sophia hilariously answered Dorothy with her own words: “You’ll get over it. And if you don’t, who cares, I’m on my way to see Burt Reynolds!”
