The Golden Girls

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mammy

Season 6, Episode 5, Aired 10/20/90

Episode Summary

Blanche gets an unexpected visit from her childhood "mammy" (nanny) but Blanche is reluctant to even speak to her since she deserted her when she was a child. Meanwhile, Sophia hires a matchmaker for Dorothy who experiences a date with a convict.

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Cast & Crew

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Betty White

Rose Nylund
Bea Arthur

Dorothy Zbornak
Rue McClanahan

Blanche Devereaux

Fan Episode Reviews (1)

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Mammy and Mr. O'Hara

6.0

"Fair"

By millerem99, Jun 27, 2007 Report Abuse

This is one of perhaps three episodes of the Golden Girls in which the writers tried too hard to deal with a topic that probably should have been left alone. Instead, they glamorize a sobering situation (in this case, an extra-marital affair) by sensationalizing the romance between Big Daddy (a white Southerner) and his (black) hired help, Blanche's Mammy. Can any one of us imagine ourselves in Blanche's shoes, finding out someone whom we trusted and loved ruined our parents' marriage by cheating with one of them? Yet Mammy makes the statement, "I don't need your forgiveness! I did nothing wrong!" Um...okay. And now Mammy wants a momento of her homewrecking days. She has come to see Blanche to acquire a music box.

Entirely selfish. Yet we as the audience is supposed to sympathise with Mammy and reproach Blanche. This rankled.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- When Blanche learns about Big Daddy's infidelity with Mammy Watkins, she is stunned and devastated that he would cheat on her mother. However, she seems to be forgetting that in season four she stated that Big Daddy once slept with a girl who Blanche ended a friendship with, that her mother came to accept, along with a new car. Edit
- Blanche and Big Daddy danced to "Tennessee Waltz" at her wedding. Edit
- In this episode, Mammy tells Blanche that she saw her wear a white dress at her wedding. In a different episode, Blanche celebrates her anniversary by slipping into her wedding dress, which happens to be red. Blanche's explanation is that even she couldn't keep a straight face in a white dress. Edit
Notes
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- Notice that the lanai is a little different from earlier seasons. There seem to be more actual palm trees, instead of earlier seasons with a painted backdrop of palm trees in the distance. Here the trees block the backdrop, and it can only be seen a little. Edit
- Mammy Watkins states Blanche's full name "Blanche Marie Hollingsworth," however in a later episode, her middle name is changed to "Elizabeth" so her initials spell B.E.D. Edit
- This is the only time Big Daddy's first name is mentioned, Curtis. Edit
Quotes
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- Sophia: (to Dorothy) If you were to go on a date, which of the following characteristics could you live with: body odor, schizophrenia, or extra toes? Edit
- Sophia: (greeting Dorothy after her date with a criminal) Hi, Pussycat! Dorothy: Say good-bye, old woman! Edit
- Dorothy: Blanche, if you don't mind, I'm having a heart-to-heart with my mother. (turns to Sophia) Now listen up, you withered old Sicilian monkey! Edit
Allusions
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