The Golden Girls (season 5)

The Golden Girls (season 5)
Season 5 DVD Cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	26
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 23, 1989 – May 5, 1990
Season chronology

The fifth season of The Golden Girls premiered on NBC on September 23, 1989, and concluded on May 5, 1990. The season consisted of 26 episodes.

Broadcast history

The season originally aired Saturdays at 9:00-9:30 pm (EST) on NBC from September 23, 1989 to May 5, 1990.^[1][2]

DVD release

The Region 1 DVD was released on May 9, 2006. The Region 2 and 4 DVDs were respectively released on March 17 and April 2, 2008.

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
103	1	"Sick and Tired: Part 1"	Terry Hughes	Susan Harris	September 23, 1989
Doctors dismiss Dorothy's lingering illness as all in her head. Meanwhile, Blanche is inspired to write a novel about her life. Guest star: Jeffrey Tambor as Dr. Stevens.
104	2	"Sick and Tired: Part 2"	Terry Hughes	Susan Harris	September 30, 1989
Dorothy finally has a diagnosis: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Blanche is delirious after she stays up for three days writing her manuscript, but Rose does not think it's any good. Guest stars: Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston, Park Overall as Laverne, Keone Young as Dr. Michael Chang, Bibi Besch as Helen Budd.
105	3	"Accurate Conception"	Terry Hughes	Gail Parent	October 14, 1989
Blanche's daughter intends to become a mother, through artificial insemination, despite Blanche's opposition. Meanwhile, Dorothy has to pull teeth in order to get Sophia to go in for a checkup.
106	4	"Rose Fights Back"	Terry Hughes	Marc Sotkin	October 21, 1989
When the company that Rose's husband worked for cuts off his pension, Rose must find a better-paying job. When she goes to a TV station to complain to their investigative reporter, Enrique Mas, of the age discrimination she's facing, she finds he needs an assistant — and gets the job. Meanwhile, Sophia goes wild buying things in quantity at a warehouse store. Guest star: Chick Vennera in his first appearance as Enrique Mas.
107	5	"Love Under the Big Top"	Terry Hughes	Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble	October 28, 1989
Dorothy is in a serious relationship with a lawyer and believes he's on the verge of proposing. However, his announcement is that he's leaving law to become a circus clown. Meanwhile, Rose and Blanche put together a protest to save dolphins from tuna fishermen. Guest stars: Dick Van Dyke as Ken Whittingham, Mel Stewart as judge
108	6	"Dancing in the Dark"	Terry Hughes	Phillip Jayson Lasker	November 4, 1989
Rose fears that she is not smart enough for her dance partner, a college professor. First appearance by Harold Gould as Miles (who had previously appeared in season one as Arnie). Guest star: John Ingle as Harv
109	7	"Not Another Monday"	Terry Hughes	Gail Parent	November 11, 1989
Sophia's friend wants to commit suicide and she wants Sophia there to hold her hand; Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy become singing nursemaids to a sick baby that they are taking care of for the weekend. Guest stars: Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Martha Lamont
110	8	"That Old Feeling"	Terry Hughes	Tom Whedon	November 18, 1989
Blanche is visited by her brother-in-law and is taken aback by his resemblance to her deceased husband; Sophia secretly has been driving. Guest star: George Grizzard as Jamie Devereaux.
111	9	"Comedy of Errors"	Terry Hughes	Don Reo	November 25, 1989
Dorothy finds a list of things that she wanted to accomplish before a certain age and realizes that she has not accomplished many of them, so she signs up to do stand-up comedy at a nightclub. Meanwhile, Blanche finds herself battling the Internal Revenue Service when they discover her failure to report her rental income, and Rose tries to figure out why an employee dislikes her. Guest star: Oliver Clark as Roger Barton.
112	10	"All That Jazz"	Terry Hughes	Robert Bruce & Martin Weiss	December 2, 1989
Dorothy's son, Michael, shows up on her doorstep with news that he's separated from his wife and needs a place to stay; Dorothy quickly gets tired of his freeloading and dumps him on Stan. Meanwhile, Rose is under much stress at work, but she is reluctant to ask her boss to cut back her duties. Guest stars: Scott Jacoby as Michael Zbornak, Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak, Chick Vennera as Enrique Mas.
113	11	"Ebb Tide"	Terry Hughes	Marc Sotkin	December 9, 1989
When Blanche goes back to her childhood home for Big Daddy's funeral, she argues with her sister, Virginia, and decides not to attend. Meanwhile, Sophia tries to raise cash for a TV and rents out the girls' rooms in their absence. Guest star: Sheree North as Virginia.
114	12	"Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas"	Terry Hughes	Tom Whedon	December 16, 1989
Stan visits, trying to get the ladies to invest in a research-and-development lab for novelties. The ladies volunteer at a soup kitchen on Christmas. Guest stars: Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak, Matt McCoy as Father Avery.
115	13	"Mary Has a Little Lamb"	Terry Hughes	Harold Apter	January 6, 1990
The girls take in a 16-year-old pregnant girl who's been thrown out of her home; Blanche's prison pen pal has just been released and is looking for her. Guest star: Julie McCullough as Mary.
116	14	"Great Expectations"	Terry Hughes	Robert Bruce & Martin Weiss	January 13, 1990
Rose joins a positive-thinking group and tries to get a pessimistic Dorothy to join. Meanwhile, Blanche is scared to get physical with her latest boyfriend, especially after he has a heart attack. Guest star: Robert Mandan as Steven.
117	15	"Triple Play"	Terry Hughes	Gail Parent	January 27, 1990
Blanche tries to lure men by placing an ad for a Mercedes she does not intend to sell. Meanwhile, Rose has to deal with meeting Miles's daughter; Dorothy discovers Sophia is hoarding Social Security money she's receiving, thanks to a computer error, in excess of her entitlement. Guest stars: Harold Gould as Miles, Molly Hagan as Caroline, Ronnie Schell as Thomas, William Cort as James, Lance Wilson-black as delivery boy.
118	16	"Clinton Avenue Memoirs"	Terry Hughes	Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble	February 3, 1990
Sophia decides to try to regain some of the memories she has lost by taking a trip to Brooklyn to see their old apartment. Meanwhile, Blanche works for Rose. Guest stars: Sid Melton as Salvadore Petrillo, Kyle Hefner as young Salvadore, David Correia as Mr. Hernandez, Flo DiRe as young Sophia, Jandi Swanson as young Dorothy. Note: Flo DiRe previously appeared in the season 4 episode "Foreign Exchange" as Gina Bosco.
119	17	"Like the Beep Beep Beep of the Tom-Tom"	Terry Hughes	Phillip Jayson Lasker	February 10, 1990
Blanche has a pacemaker implanted, and is afterward so scared of intimacy that she decides to give up sex. Guest stars: Robert Culp as Simon, Peter Michael Goetz as Dr. Stein.
120	18	"An Illegitimate Concern"	Terry Hughes	Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten	February 12, 1990
Blanche is stunned when a man comes to the front door and claims to be the illegitimate son of her late husband; Dorothy and Sophia enter a mother-daughter pageant at Shady Pines. Guest star: Mark Moses as David.
121	19	"72 Hours"	Terry Hughes	Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble	February 17, 1990
Rose is afraid that a blood transfusion she had several years ago may have contained HIV-infected blood, and has to wait three days for her test results; Sophia reacts poorly to the possibility of having an HIV-positive roommate. Meanwhile, Dorothy struggles to put together a charity function to save the local wetlands. Guest star: Tony Carreiro as the Doctor, Peggy Walton-Walker as receptionist.
122	20	"Twice in a Lifetime"	Terry Hughes	Robert Bruce & Martin Weiss	February 24, 1990
Rose must decide between her boyfriend, Miles, and an old boyfriend who wants her to go to Europe with him. Meanwhile, fed up with Dorothy's rules, Sophia decides to move out. Guest stars: Eddie Bracken as Buzz, Harold Gould as Miles.
123	21	"Sisters and Other Strangers"	Terry Hughes	Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten	March 3, 1990
Blanche and her sister, Charmaine, reconcile after a life-long rivalry, until Blanche reads her sister's recently published romance novel and realizes that the heroine is based on her. Dorothy becomes fed up with Stan's visiting cousin from Czechoslovakia, who does nothing but extol the virtues of Communism. (NOTE: The name of this episode is a play on that of the film Lovers and Other Strangers, which starred Bea Arthur.) Guest stars: Barbara Babcock as Charmaine Hollingsworth, Marian Mercer as Magda.
124	22	"Cheaters"	Terry Hughes	Tom Whedon	March 24, 1990
The married man whom Dorothy once dated re-enters her life with news that he's now divorced and would like to reconcile with her; Blanche and Sophia become the victims of a con game. Guest stars: Jerry Orbach as Glen O'Brien, Sam McMurray as Mr. Kane, Nancy Lenehan as nun.
125	23	"The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present"	Terry Hughes	Phillip Jayson Lasker	March 31, 1990
The girls attend the wedding of Dorothy's goddaughter, who is marrying the grandson of a man who was once engaged to Sophia. Sophia thinks that the wedding reception is the perfect spot for revenge. Rose, however, is dreading the ceremony, due to her tendency to become sexually aroused at weddings. Guest stars: Howard Duff as Mangiacavallo, Stuart Nisbet as Doug, Tanya Louise as Jenny, Paul Collins as man, Miles Berkowitz as the groom.
126	24	"All Bets Are Off"	Terry Hughes	Eugene B. Stein	April 28, 1990
Dorothy's gambling problem re-surfaces after a visit to the racetrack; Rose takes up painting; and Blanche is insulted when a co-worker rejects her advances. Guest star: Michael Ensign as Donald.
127 128	25 26	"The President's Coming! The President's Coming!"	Lex Passaris	Marc Sotkin, Gail Parent, Martin Weiss & Robert Bruce Philip Jayson Lasker, Tom Whedon, Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten	May 5, 1990
The girls learn that President George H. W. Bush is coming to Miami and their house is a possible candidate for his stop along the way to a retirement home. The girls reminisce as a Secret Service agent informally interrogates them. Guest star: Timothy Stack as Agent Bell, Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak, Harry Shearer as the voice of President Bush. Note: One-hour episode.

References

1. TV Listings for September 23, 1989
2. TV Listings for May 5, 1990

External links