Golden Girls and Sex and the City are top of mind recently.
First, because Sex and the City’s highly-anticipated reboot, And Just Like That , premiered on HBO Max. And then, the passing of the beloved Betty White caused people looking back fondly on Golden Girls .
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Something else thrust these two shows in the spotlight recently. A debate started on TikTok after one user dared to point out comparisons between the two shows.
A lot of television shows are inspired by other television shows.
I think that simply goes without saying at this point.
However, sometimes fans catch comparisons between shows that most people didn’t ever notice. Which is exactly what we’re going to be looking at today.
On the surface, it appears that ‘Golden Girls’ and ‘Sex and the City’ have nothing in common.
After all, Sex and the City was largely about cocktails, Manolo Blahniks and, well, sex. Lots of sex.
‘Golden Girls’ on the other hand told the story of four older women navigating single life in Miami.
There were no wild Samantha sex scenes, love interests like Mr. Big, or Carrie typing “I wonder…” on her laptop.
But if you were to delve deeper, you’d find some glaring connections between the two female-centered shows.
For starters, both followed the lives of four females friends, each with distinctively different personalities.
In ‘Golden Girls’, the main characters are Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur), Blanche Deveraux (Rue McLanahan), Rose Nylund (Betty White), and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty).
Dorothy was the star of the show, and thus, the Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker; Blanche was the fun character, much like Samatha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall.
Continuing on, Rose had the same wide-eyed optimism as Charlotte York, played by Kristin Davis.
And finally, where there’s optimism, there’s usually a cynic nearby…
This was captured by Sophia who is much like Miranda Hobbes, played by Cynthia Nixon, on Sex and the City .
As you probably already guessed, the true connection between these shows doesn’t center around ‘Sex and the City.’
It centers around the show’s reboot, And Just Like That , which premiered in 2021 on HBO Max.
Three of the original cast members are back — Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda.
Kim Cattrall opted not to return.
Needless to say, while watching the show you can really feel the absence of Samantha.
It is simply not the same without her. She was definitely the funniest of the four (at least to me).
Although Samantha Jones’s character isn’t in the reboot, she still has ties to ‘Golden Girls.’
Her character is very similar to Blanche from Golden Girls as the two are sexually liberated and not against using their sexuality as a means of coping.
They were also adamantly against aging.
Another surprising link between the two shows was discovered by a TikTok user.
TikToker Brownstonedmama went viral for pointing out that the Golden Girls characters were roughly the same age as Parker, Nixon, and Davis in the reboot.
“There are many more comparisons between #goldengirls and #satc #andjustlikethat,” she wrote.
I know, it sounds fake, but continue reading and you will see for yourself.
The video showed a picture of Rose, 55, Dorothy, 54, and Blanche, 53, when the show premiered.
It then cut to show the ‘And Just Like That’ poster with the ages of the actresses.
Nixon is 55, Parker is 56, and Davis is 54.
“Is this elderly or just middle-aged?” asks Brownstonedmama.
While Brownstonedmama found many comparisons, not everyone agreed.
A debate quickly started in the comments, with one writing, “They weren’t playing 50 somethings on the Golden Girls. The ladies of AJLT are playing their actual ages. Not the same thing.”
“Yet none of the golden girls were acting as old and decrepit as the sex and the city girls. Hip surgery at 55,” another wrote, with an eye roll emoji.
This is certainly true. There are no hip surgeries for the fabulous threesome in And Just Like That .
They are too busy sipping cocktails and looking fashionable!
One thing people could agree on is that our perception of age has changed.
While the faces of all the women are similarly aged, the Golden Girls look a lot older due to their outdated hairstyles and wardrobe.
But do we love both of these shows the same?!
YES. It was the golden age of television, after all.
At the end of the day, people will have their opinions and that’s fine by me. Just be respectful!