The Golden Palace is coming to Hulu to thank you for being … well … an acquaintance

While everyone and their grandmother loves The Golden Girls, that love never really extended to its spin-off series, The Golden Palace (for a good reason). But, following the path of classic sitcoms such as Friends, Seinfeld, and more who found a new audience via streaming, Hulu will have the entire series run, just one season, available for streaming on Jan. 10.

The Golden Girls ran for seven glorious seasons on NBC, which is about as perfect a run as you could ask for in a sitcom. The entire cast snatched Emmys, the show was consistently among television’s top-rated, and it stuck the landing with one of the finest finales ever to air — a newlywed Dorothy saying goodbye to her beloved girls only to come running back hysterically crying not once, but twice, still gets me every time.

So of course CBS wanted a bit of that golden touch for themselves, and the result was The Golden Palace — premiering just four months after Dorothy left that house for truly the last time. It was now just the three Girls, Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty).

They were no longer living their fun, sexy, active retired lifestyles in their chic bungalow but rather … running a hotel in Miami.

To fill the gaping comedic trench left by Arthur, who felt both she and the show had run its course, Cheech Marin and a young Don Cheadle joined the cast as Chuy Castillos, the hotel chef, and Roland Wilson, the manager, respectively. Audiences, however, were not willing to travel down that road and certainly not back again.

Everything was off about The Golden Palace, starting with its theme song.

It’s essentially the same song but swaps out a soothing piano intro for a jarring guitar, and Cynthia Fee’s melodic coos for some Richard Marx knock-off. And why put three women who have earned their time in the sun to work at a hotel? Running a hotel is incredibly hard work! How were they ever supposed to get laid or break into song?

Yet, there is one important reason to watch The Golden Palace. On the seventh and eighth episodes of the series, “Seems Like Old Times (Parts 1 and 2),” Bea’s back, baby! It’s the last time we see the old gang back together and it’s bittersweet. But it’s also, hands down, the funniest episode of the season-long run.

So why not try out The Golden Palace when it comes to Hulu on Jan. 10? After all, it’s just in time for Betty White’s 100th birthday on the 17th. And we could all use some more Betty in our lives.