"The Golden Girls": The Complete Series - Special Edition (inspired by classictvfan91) (1 Viewer)

I've always been a huge fan of "The Golden Girls," and was always disappointed with how Buena Vista treated the series on DVD. Mono tracks instead of Stereo, edited episodes, unfulfilling and fluffy extras for the first four seasons, the abbreviated PaleyFest panel on Season 6, the weird matte problem on Season 7, etc. I've offered this list before (on UltimateDisney.com when the announcement came in 2010 for the "Complete Series" in the Sophia's Purse packaging). But after reading some of Ian's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink releases, I began thinking about what else could be done for "The Golden Girls." Here's the result...
"The Golden Girls" (1985 to 1992): The Complete Series - Special Edition
"The Golden Girls": 173 Episodes (double-length episodes counted as one) across 28 Discs (newly authored discs)

• Complete and Unedited (episodes from S3 onwards are edited on official DVD releases)
• Presented in Original Stereo (S1 & S2's official DVD releases are in mono)
• Special Features (See Below)

"The Golden Palace": 24 Episodes across 4 Discs (never before released on DVD)

• Complete and Unedited
• Presented in Original Stereo
• Special Features (See Below)

"Pals & Confidants: The Story of The Golden Girls": Bonus Disc 1

• Special Features (See Below)

"The Golden Girls: Their Greatest Moments": Bonus Disc 2

• Special Features (See Below)

Season One (1985 to 1986) - Discs 1 to 4

• Episodes:
• 25 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/7/7/4)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
  Special Features:
• Commentary on "The Engagement (Pilot)" with creator Susan Harris, executive producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, director Jay Sandrich, and actors Betty White (Rose Nylund) and Charles Levin (Coco)
• Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait": Bea Arthur (41:44, 2003, licenced from Warner Bros.)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S1 guest stars Charles Levin (Coco), Lisa Jane Persky (Kate Zbornak), Billy Jayne (David), Hallie Todd (Lucy), Robert Picardo (Dr. Revell), and Polly Holliday (Lily Lindstrom) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season One Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Season Two (1986 to 1987) - Discs 5 to 8

• Episodes:
• 26 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/7/7/5)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
  Special Features:
• Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait": Betty White (42:49, 2000, licenced from Warner Bros.)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S2 guest stars Lynnie Greene (young Dorothy), Sid Melton (Salvadore Petrillo), Lois Nettleton (Jean), Scott Jacoby (Michael Zbornak), Stuart Pankin (Jacques), Terry Kiser (Santa Claus), John McMartin (Father Frank Leahy), Mario Lopez (Mario Sanchez), Alan Blumenfeld (Mr. Ha Ha), Rita Moreno (Renee Corliss), and Paul Dooley (George Corliss) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season Two Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Season Three (1987 to 1988) - Discs 9 to 12

• Episodes:
• 24 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/7/6/4)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
• Episode 18 ("Golden Moments") is presented in original one-hour broadcast
  Special Features:
• Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait": Rue McClanahan (42:49, 2000, licenced from Warner Bros.)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S3 guest stars Paula Kelly (Marguerite), John Schuck (Gil Kessler), McLean Stevenson (Ted Zbornak), Bonnie Bartlett (Barbara Thorndyke), Bill Dana (Uncle Angelo), Mickey Rooney (Rocko) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl - original Season 3 DVD release by Buena Vista included a similar feature)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season Three Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Season Four (1988 to 1989) - Discs 13 to 16

• Episodes:
• 25 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/7/7/4)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
• Episode 25 ("We're Outta Here") is presented in original one-hour broadcast
  Special Features:
• Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait": Estelle Getty (42:49, 2001, licenced from Warner Bros.)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S4 guest stars Quentin Tarantino (Elvis Impersonator), Monte Markham (Clayton), Richard Herd (Ernie), Chick Venerra (Pepe), and Inga Swenson (Holly) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season Four Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Season Five (1989 to 1990) - Discs 17 to 20

• Episodes:
• 25 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/7/7/4)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
• Episode 25 ("The President's Coming") is presented in original one-hour broadcast (official DVD release is syndicated version)
  Special Features:
• Commentary on Episode 2 ("Sick and Tired (Part Two)") with Rue McClanahan (from official DVD release)
• Commentary on Episode 3 ("The Accurate Conception") with Bea Arthur (from official DVD release)
• Commentary on Episode 6 ("Dancing in the Dark") with Betty White (from official DVD release)
• Commentary on Episode 7 ("Not Another Monday") with Betty White (from official DVD release)
• Commentary on Episode 16 ("Clinton Avenue Memoirs") with Bea Arthur (from official DVD release)
• Commentary on Episode 18 ("An Illegitimate Concern") with Rue McClanahan (from official DVD release)
• A Golden Man: Herb Edelman - biographical feature about the actor, best known for portraying Stanley Zbornak, narrated by partner Christine Pickles and featuring interviews with friends/family/co-workers. (25 minutes)
• Excerpts from Archive of American Television: Bea Arthur about "The Golden Girls" (20 minutes)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S5 guest stars Jeffrey Tambor (Dr. Stern), Debra Engle (Rebecca Devereaux), Dick Van Dyke (Ken Wittengham), Mark Moses (David), and Barbara Babcock (Charmaine Hollingsworth) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season Five Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Season Six (1990 to 1991) - Discs 21 to 24

• Episodes:
• 25 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/7/7/4)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
• Episode 24 ("Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home") is presented in original one-hour broadcast
  Special Features:
• A Golden Man: Harold Gould - biographical feature about the actor, best known for portraying Miles Webber, narrated by actor Betty White, and featuring interviews with friends/family/co-workers (25 minutes)
• Excerpts from Archive of American Television: Betty White about "The Golden Girls" (20 minutes)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S6 guest stars Martin Mull (Jimmy), Ruby Dee (Mammy Watkins), Christopher Daniel Barnes (Kevin Kelly), Lyle Waggoner (Himself), Brenda Vaccaro (Angela), and Debbie Reynolds (Trudy Steele) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season Six Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Season Seven (1991 to 1992) - Discs 25 to 28

• Episodes:
• 23 Episodes on 4 Discs (7/6/6/4)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen (official DVD release features certain episodes matted with black bars)
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
• Episode 8 ("The Monkey Show") is presented in original one-hour broadcast
• Episode 19 ("A Midwinter Night's Dream") is presented in original one-hour broadcast
• Episode 25 ("One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest") is presented in original one-hour broadcast
  Special Features:
• The Golden Woman: Susan Harris - biographical feature about the "Golden Girls" creator, narrated by regular "Golden Girls" director Terry Hughes, and featuring interviews with friends/family/co-workers. (25 minutes)
• Excerpts from Archive of American Television: Rue McClanahan about "The Golden Girls" (20 minutes)
• The Girls' Family & Friends - new interviews with S7 guest stars Edie McClurg (Nurse DeFarge), Barbara Alyn Woods (Woman), Bruce Kirby (Bill), Ken Berry (Thor Anderson), Alex Trebek (Himself), and Lane Davies (Peterson) (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the season; indexed by character (20 minutes, 5 minutes per Golden Girl)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the season (10 minutes)
• Season Seven Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

"The Golden Palace" (1992 to 1993) - Discs 29 to 32

• Episodes:
• 24 Episodes on 4 Discs (6/6/6/6)
• 1.33:1 Fullscreen
• 2.0 Dolby Stereo: English
• Subtitles: English
  Special Features
• Commentary on Episode 1 ("Pilot") with creator Susan Harris, executive producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, director Terry Hughes, and actors Betty White (Rose Nylund), Don Cheadle (Roland Wilson), Cheech Marin (Chuy Castillos), and Billy L. Sullivan (Oliver Webb)
• New Pals, Old Confidantes: The Story of "The Golden Palace" - a retrospective documentary that looks at the making of "The Golden Palace." Featuring new and archival interviews with the cast and crew. (25 minutes)
• Extended Interview with Don Cheadle (10 minutes)
• Extended Interview with Cheech Marin (10 minutes)
• Extended Interview with Billy L. Sullivan (10 minutes)
• Golden Moments - video scrapbook of the best moments, jokes, stories, one-liners, etc. throughout the series; indexed by character (30 minutes, 5 minutes per character)
• Not-So-Golden Moments - outtakes and bloopers from the series (10 minutes)
• Photo Gallery
• Episodic Promos throughout the season (when available)

Pals & Confidantes: The Story of "The Golden Girls" (New) - Disc 33

• Main Documentary:
• Pals & Confidantes: The Story of "The Golden Girls" - the definitive documentary that looks back at the creation, production, and enduring legacy of "The Golden Girls." Narrated by Mary Tyler Moore, and featuring new/archival interviews with the cast and crew, guest cast, television historians, notable fans, and cast members from the spin-offs "Empty Nest," "Nurses," and "The Golden Palace." (90 minutes, 18 chapters)
  --Introduction
  --Golden Inspiration I: The Creation of a Classic
  --Golden Inspiration II: Casting the Girls
  --Golden Inspiration III: The Pilot
  --Saturday Night Success I: A Ratings Hit
  --Saturday Night Success II: A Socially-Conscious Comedy
  --Saturday Night Success III: Musical Moments
  --Miami Nice I: Memorable Guest Stars
  --Miami Nice II: Favorite & Landmark Episodes
  --Miami Nice III: Spinning-Off "Golden Girls"
  --Coming to a Close I: The Final Season
  --Coming to a Close II: Going Out On Top
  --Coming to a Close III: The Finale
  --Staying Golden I: Creating "The Golden Palace"
  --Staying Golden II: New Pals and Old Confidantes at "The Golden Palace"
  --Staying Golden III: Sophia Visits the Westons
  --The Legacy of "The Golden Girls"
  --Conclusion
  Special Features:
• "The Golden Girls": From Script to Screen - watch an episode make its journey from script to screen in this special documentary, featuring rare archival footage from filming, and brand-new interviews with actor Betty White and the crew. (45 minutes)
• The Golden Inspiration: "Miami Nice" - an excerpt from NBC's 1984 Fall Preview special starring Selma Diamond ("Night Court") and Doris Roberts ("Remington Steele") in a parody of "Miami Vice."
• "The Golden Girls": The Royal Variety Performance - the complete sketch from the 60th Royal Variety Performance, originally broadcast November 26, 1988 (approx. 10 minutes - licenced from ITV)
• "The John Larroquette Show": Here We Go Again - Betty White, Estelle Getty, and Rue McClanahan guest appeared on this episode of "The John Larroquette Show" as themselves, in which they traveled around performing a "Golden Girls Revue." Since Bea Arthur was not available, they had John Larroquette dress up as the Dorothy character for the revue. Originally aired March 12, 1996 (22:22 - licenced from Warner Bros.)
• MTV Movie Awards - a hilarious send-up of the hit 1995 teen film Clueless, starring Estelle Getty, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan as Cher, Dionne, and Amber, respectively. Originally aired June 8, 1996 (2:13 - licenced from MTV/Viacom)

"The Golden Girls": Their Greatest Moments (2003) - Disc 34

• Main Documentary:
• "The Golden Girls": Their Greatest Moments - television special that looks back at the series through new retrospective interviews, memorable clips from various episodes, behind the scenes footage, awards show footage, excerpts from the 1988 Royal Variety Performance, and never-before-seen outtakes and bloopers. Featuring actors Bea Arthur (Dorothy Zbornak), Betty White (Rose Nylund), and Rue McClanahan (Blanche Devereaux), creator Susan Harris (archival 1989 interview), executive producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, and director Terry Hughes. Originallly broadcast June 2, 2003. (1:07:07)
  Special Features:
• "The Golden Girls" at the William S. Paley Television Festival - a special question-and-answer session originally recorded March 10, 2006 for the William S. Paley Television Festival, featuring actors Betty White (Rose Nylund) and Rue McClanahan (Blanche Devereaux), creator Susan Harris, executive producer Paul Junger Witt, director Terry Hughes, and writers Marc Cherry, Mitchell Hurwitz, and James Vallely, as they share memories from the series (1:05:15 - official DVD release is 20-minute excerpt)
• Thank You For Being A Friend: Memories from The Girls - Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White reflect on their time on the show (14:59 - from official DVD release)

And, like the old set, it'll be packaged in Sophia's Purse. But will include some other goodies, too. A collectible scrapbook with photos and episode synopses, the silly set of playing cards from the official release, and a whole slate of items necessary for the Golden Girl in all of us: a Nestle's crunch, an enema bag, Dentu-Grip, and condoms.

Oh great, now there's two of them.

Originally Posted by Neil Brock /t/323489/the-golden-girls-the-complete-series-special-edition-inspired-by-classictvfan91#post_3970277
Oh great, now there's two of them.

Click to expand...

Still threadcrapping, huh? Can't ever just pass by one of these threads wthout dumping on the OP? If they annoy you so much, why do you insist and persist on reading them and threadcrapping?

I did this partly as a serious idea and partly as a joke, as evident by poll decisions and including condoms in the packaging.
Besides, at least it's not a behemoth list of random television appearances, game show participation, and commercials. It's stuff that is genuinely relevant to the series, and also within reason (I hope). For example, whereas classictvfan91 would ask for "audio and text commentaries on every episode," I simply suggested one for the pilot episode (for both "Golden Girls" and "Golden Palace"), followed by the existing 6 commentaries from the Season 5 release. Because, honestly, who would have time to listen to 173 commentaries anyway?
I'm sure nobody would complain about getting unedited episodes of any television series. And since the majority of "Golden Girls" music is incidental and not some pop song, there would be few hurdles to clear there. It's not like "Happy Days" or "The Wonder Years," where pop songs were rampant.
Warner Bros. released a "Golden Girls: A Lifetime Intimate Portrait" DVD concurrently with Buena Vista's release of Season 3. So if Disney and Warner are willing to collaborate together in the future, a complete series set that included those episodes wouldn't be impossible.
"Golden Moments" is a nice, fluffy, and perhaps even expendable feature. Plenty of fans put their own compilations together on YouTube (just look up "The Best of..." any character), which are enjoyable to watch sometimes. Surely it would be nice for an official DVD release to include fun montages for every season, not just Season 3. Of course, if something had to go, I'd knock that off first.
"Not-So-Golden Moments" arose from one of Robert Siegel's posts in an HTF review. He mentioned how a friend of his went through the entire GG archive for a term paper, and how each episode's film recording is full of outtakes. That's also where the "From Script to Screen" documentary idea came from. It's actually a bit lofty, now that I think about it, but would still be fascinating to watch.
Frankly, I'm surprised few studios use the "Archive of American Television" interviews. They're free. The only instance I'm aware of is "Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years," which include "Cagney & Lacey" related excerpts from the leads and producers.
Some of this stuff is so obvious for inclusion, that their exclusion makes the official releases all the more disheartening. "The Golden Girls: Their Greatest Moments" was produced for Lifetime, which is owned by Disney. It should not be cost-prohibitive to include. I kept hoping that when Season 7 was announced for release, that this special would be included. When that failed to happen, I hoped Disney would see fit to release it in 2010 in their "Complete Series" repackaging, even if it meant including it in a boxset-exclusive bonus disc. And again, they didn't bother. I've had to settle for my VHS dub, which itself isn't the best quality (though it's better than someone's YouTube upload). The 15-minute "Thank You For Being A Friend" from Season 7 would already be something ported over, as were the commentaries, the original "Golden Moments," and the Paley Center material (albeit I did wish for it in full form, not in excerpt). It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect them to be carried over to a new set.
And, of course, some of these are pipe dreams, but not to the extent of other wishful-thinking releases. For starters, "The Golden Palace" wouldn't be included. Buena Vista has shown no interest in releasing it (or any of the spin-offs), even though Lifetime twice rebroadcast the series as a spiritual "Season 8" for "The Golden Girls." The Paley Center has already shown they don't like releasing full panels anymore, and since they already provided the 20-minute excerpt for Season 6, they likely wouldn't want to spring for the full version. The Royal Variety Performance likely would never get included in its entirety, I don't think any of them have ever been released to DVD (frankly, I'm surprised a clip of it even made it into "Their Greatest Moments"). Even if WB & Buena Vista were to collaborate for the "Intimate Portrait" episodes, I doubt they'd want to for something as minor (though it's quite fun to watch) as the "John Larroquette Show" episode. The NBC "Miami Nice" excerpt hasn't been seen since 1984, and while it is partly-connected to "The Golden Girls," I don't think it's an essential, even if I listed it here for fun. And as much as I'd like "The Girls Family & Friends," I doubt so many people would be willing to be interviewed for short featurettes.
The series overview documentary, however, is something that I think should be done. Whether or not it ever gets released in a DVD set remains to be seen. E! actually did a "TV Tales" documentary about ten years ago, and it does a good job, although I'm sure licencing would be a problem. I'd rather we get a documentary akin to Secrets from Another Place, which was made for "Twin Peaks" in 2007.
At the end of the day, this was just an experiment. How could I create a "pipe dream" set, but one that was thought out with some consideration for budget, licencing, etc. as opposed to throwing in every single thing that exists, plus some lofty goals for additional supplements? I doubt I'll make another thread like this (partly because few shows would prompt me to search for old TV appearances or ephemeral videos on YouTube), I just wanted to gauge reaction to this particular idea.
Besides, I could have posted this in "Dream Big! Your ultimate classic tv Blu-Ray (or dvd) wish." thread and no one would have complained. But because I made it its own thread and credited classictvfan91 for why, it's suddenly "Oh great, there's two of them."