Scanner : golden girls

Nothing Golden Can Stay: Bea Arthur, RIP

Colleen Kane — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Bea Arthur, best known for her Emmy-winning roles on Maude and Golden Girls and her ongoing role in our hearts, died on Saturday after a battle with cancer. (Might we refer you to the January Scanner post Famous People We're Afraid Will Die in 2009. Bea is the first from that list to kick off.)

Bea's commanding presence and acerbic wit-via-man-voice combo will never be duplicated, although many drag queens will come close. Unlike the case with some older comic figures, Bea still made us LOL into her final years, like doing her turn on Comedy Central's celebrity roast of Pamela Anderson, as she placidly read aloud a sodomy-themed excerpt from Pamela's book Star Struck (of course we have this for you after the jump). She was a feminist icon, a gay icon, and an animal rights supporter. What was not to love?

Let's look at some Scanner-appropriate moments from Bea's career.

The Golden Girls buy condoms.

And then there's Maude considering abortion.

Sniff Swig Puff, with Rock Hudson

The Sex and the City Parody.

Finally, that reading on Pamela's celebrity roast.

*Sigh* We've lost a great. Bea Arthur will be missed.

And then there were two...

You're Golden, Baby: Estelle Getty Leaves Us Laughing At Age 84

Sloppy Seconds: Happy Bea Day!

While You Were Sleeping: The Heath Ledger Investigation

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:33:00 GMT

James Franco denies the shirt he wears in Pineapple Express is "stolen."

Betty White and Rue McClanahan both avoided Estelle Getty's funeral.

Shia Labeouf will not, as previously rumored, lose a finger.

Even some offensive jokes are too offensive for Bob Saget: he has lashed out at an eating disorder joke and other comments made at the expense of the Olsen twins during his own Comedy Central roast.

Celebrity Hero of the Day: Kirk Douglas, who has long fought for an official US apology for slavery, is thrilled that the House has passed a fitting resolution.

A judge tossed Lisa Marie's lawsuit against ex-boyfriend Tim Burton, which comes as no surprise.

The paparazzi have yet to capture Nicole Kidman's phantom baby. In a photograph, of course.

Can you believe the cast Chicago director Rob Marshall assembled for his new musical, Nine: Daniel Day Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Dame Judi Dench, and Sophia Loren... for starters. There's also some guy named Fellini who's working on the screenplay...

The Heath Ledger investigation has closed. It's unclear whether Mary-Kate Olsen's refusal to testify is a reason investigators ended their search, for lack of evidence.

Via WENN.

Related:

Preliminary Results On "Who Would You Rather": DD Lewis vs. Bardem

Crush of the Week: Marion Cotillard

We Saw The Dark Knight In A Cavernous Movie Theater, During The Dead Of Night

Was Nicole Kidman Ever Really Pregnant?

Sloppy Seconds: Amy Winehouse's Spiked Drink

You're Golden, Baby: Estelle Getty Leaves Us Laughing At Age 84

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:32:00 GMT

Punks and no-good-thugs everywhere will rest easy tonight knowing Sylvester Stallone's "Mom" sadly won't be coming after them.

Always our favorite TV wiseass, Estelle Getty was criminally underused both before and after triumphant run on "Golden Girls."

Now it's too late to change that. Estelle will always be Sophia, for better or worse...

Estelle Getty, who played Bea Arthur's mother (even though Arthur was a year older in real life) on the NBC hit comedy Golden Girls (which also starred Betty White and Rue McClanahan), passed away this morning in Los Angeles. Getty was 84 years old and had been suffering from a disease known as Lewy Body Dementia for a number of years.

As the above TV squad obit goes on to mention, Getty's playing of the Sophia Petrillo character may be some sort of record, as she revamped the role on four further shows. Either way, she had a helluva ride, especially in the 80's, and there will never be another one like her.

Via TV Squad.

While You Were Sleeping: The iPhone Crisis

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:42:00 GMT

Nude and stoned protesters rolled through a small Maine town in a pimped-out truck, complete with a jacuzzi and topless men and women and a man wearing fairy wings and shouting through a megaphone: "We smoke pot. We like it a lot." Predictably, the name of the town is Norway.

Israel's Prime Minister believes he's close to entering into a peace agreement with Palestine. He added that it's a lot easier when you tell them it's a contract for The Amazing Race.

Joss Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris are returning to the small screen. The really small screen.

One of the Golden Girls weighed in on the Presidential race. You can only stop holding your breaths now.

The Who were honored by a bunch of bands that sometimes actually rock hard, including Pearl Jam and the Flaming Lips. We'd still kill to see The Who, while at least two of them are still alive, just once...

We're really proud of Usher. And Nas, too.

Is it wrong to shrug off the death of a middle-aged man from cancer, just because he aided and abetted war criminals? Former Bush press secretary Tony Snow died over the weekend at the age of 53.

According to MTV, Friday's launch of the new iPhone was "plagued by long waits, phone shortages, and activation problems." This is what you get, people, for signing up with AT&T.

Anyone have an iPhone story to share?