Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
For me, watching now, MTM seems SO dated, despite a fantastic group of actors. The Golden Girls, I have to say, I can still laugh out loud at some of the lines and delivery. To be fair, I never watched the GG’s until decades after the show was in reruns but the chemistry of those actresses and the comedic timing was pretty unique.
Though both shows featured the theme of unrelated people forming a family, the two shows were very different in approach.
MTM obviously was a "star vehicle" for Moore--no one watching the show would fail to realize she was the star. But the show itself was more of a workplace comedy. Yes, Mary's home life was also part of the series but the TV station was the "home" for the "family" to interact. The show said/showed a lot of things happening in the workplace that other shows were not depicting, giving a voice to a group (young, single women entering the workforce) that wasn't being serviced.
The Golden Girls was much more of an ensemble effort, at least in terms of it not having one "star". It was also a much more domestic comedy, with most of the action occurring in the house the girls shared. Three of the girls had jobs but they were not career-centered characters. They were much more open to the concept of their being "a family" even as Dorothy and Sophia were the only ones biologically related. The show did manage to break some sitcom ground on its own, however, since the aging population (especially women) were largely ignored in media of the 1980s.
MTM could vary its stories a bit more due to its larger cast. They also had a small amount of cast turnover (phasing out a few characters and bringing in new ones) that helps writers create new situations. GG had its four main characters to work with and spin its stories around; there were some recurring characters but most episodes centered around these four who remained in place from the start to the end. That said, not all MTM characters were "lead" material. They functioned best as supporting characters in Mary's life. Everyone on GG was capable of carrying an episode; even as GG's Sophia was credited as a supporting character, she often had lead stories in episodes.
I'd say a lot of MTM's writing would be classified as more "intelligent" or at least "sophisticated" for its time. It also maintained that style from beginning to end. GG started out with a definite message about life after 55, but fell into more formulaic, set-up-the-punchline writing in its final few years as the writers and directors lost sight of the show's original theme. The later episodes of GG are still enjoyable, but the jokes got somewhat predictable as we knew how all the characters would react to situations. I haven't seen the last seasons of MTM in so long that I can't comment on whether they also got predictable, but I would guess it's something that always happens in long-running shows of all types. I do think this tendency factored into the decision to end both series when they did.
I've always preferred The Golden Girls, but mainly because I saw it in "real time" whereas MTM went off the air when I was too young to remember ever seeing it in anything other than reruns.
Always preferred MTM but the last year or two was not good. Too many shows about Ted and Georgette which were marginally funny at best. The ones where she has the other, newer apartment were almost all bad. She got addicted to sleeping pills....to serious. I think they ran out of material. The show probably lasted a good year too long. The ones with Rhoda and Phyllis were funnier.
MTM 100 percent batter. GG to me, like another posted had stated, the "St Olaf" jokes were tired.
I also did not like the constant:
A sentence is said, then Dorothy: No Rose, a blender. Then there is laughter.
It was like, anything anyone said, the come back was always along the same lines.
I hope I explained that good.
Rose was really too dumb, never met anyone like that, and Blanche, supposedly a ****, no, never met a woman of that age, act like that.
and lets not forget, 3 women that prance around a house all day dressed up, that doesn't seem normal to me...but it is TV. LOL
Also agreed on the MTM, the new apartment episodes were not that good, that I can remember, as I can remember none of them, except the sleeping pill ones.
and also agreed, the episodes with Rhoda and Phyllis were the best by far.
I also didn't care for a lot of the episodes that focus on Ted and Georgette, ***sigh***
As a single gal, MTM is more appealing and funny. I also like the good ole days when people from work were good people who cared about each other.
I find sitcoms funnier, in general, when they are situated in a city that gets cold climates. Laverne & Shirley was funny in Milwaukee, and a bomb in California.
MTM was a great show, one of the classics. Golden Girls to me was not that good, it was just another sitcom that tried too hard and wasn't amusing at all. Try an episode from both, they are all the same quality start to finish on each show.
Lucille Ball to me was just hugely annoying and unfunny.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
