Down the Road and Back Again

This is the first book-length study of The Golden Girls, which ran for seven award-winning seasons from 1985 to 1992 and produced two spin-offs. Through a cultural studies approach, this collection examines a wide range of topics, including race, sexuality, queerness, memory, familial mythmaking, aging, health, and financial precarity. Featuring contributions from an international team of scholars, this book highlights the enduring relevance and cultural impact of the show, even 30 years after its original airing. Offering fresh insights into its cross-generational and cross-cultural appeal, Down the Road and Back Again is intended for scholars of pop culture and fans of the show.

Jill E. Anderson is an Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies at Tennessee State University. She is the author of Homemaking for the Apocalypse: Domesticating Horror in Atomic Age Media and Culture (2021) and the co-editor of Beyond the Haunted House: Shirley Jackson and Domesticity (2020). Alissa Burger is an Associate Professor of English at Culver-Stockton College. She teaches courses in research, writing, and literature, specializing in gender, horror, and the Gothic. She is the author of IT, Chapters One & Two (Devil's Advocates Series), The Quest for the Dark Tower: Genre and Interconnection in the Stephen King Series (2021), Teaching Stephen King: Horror, the Supernatural, and New Approaches to Literature (2016), and The Wizard of Oz as American Myth: A Critical Study of Six Versions of the Story, 1900-2007 (2012).

Introduction: "Witty, Adult, Intelligent": The Persistent Appeal of The Golden Girls Part 1: Race, Storytelling, and Queerness: Representation and Visibility in The Golden Girls 1. "Tootie is my favorite": Interrogating the Responsibility for Antiracist Teaching in The Golden Girls and The Golden Palace 2. "The biggest gift would be from [Tennessee]": Tennessee Williams's Influence on TV's Queerest Chosen Family, The Golden Girls 3. Brother of Dorothy: Phillip "Phil" Petrillo's Imagined Life in Newark, New Jersey in the 1970s and 1980s 4. Queer Engagement and Acceptance in The Golden Girls 5. "Picture It": The Advocacy of Meta-Storytelling in The Golden Girls Part 2: "Isn't it amazing how I can feel so bad, and still look so good?": Sex, Health, and Bodies 6. Sick and Tired: Dorothy by Gaslight 7. "And Then We Talk About Sex Again": Healthy, Holistic Sex in The Golden Girls 8. "I'm done with great love. I'm back to great lovers": Sex, Age, and Insecurities with Samantha Jones and Blanche Devereaux PART 3: The Girls' Enduring Legacy: Fandom and Intertextualities 9. The Golden Girls, Your Friends and Mine: An Exploration of the Series' Enduring Appeal in Fandoms Across Generational Lines 10. Lessons from Rose and Betty White: Why Generations of Viewers Are Drawn to the Golden Girl of The Golden Girls 11. The Golden Girls and Television Comedy Formats: Intertextuality and Designing Women 12. Character Development through Food Work in The Golden Palace 13. Miami and D.C., You've Got Style: The Power of Performance and the Performance of Power in The Golden Girls and 227