TVSquad

Lifetime is going to honor Estelle Getty, who died yesterday at the age of 84, with a marathon of Golden Girls episodes.

The 10 episode marathon will start at noon this Friday with the pilot episode (the Sophia character looked a lot different in the first few episodes, if I remember correctly). The episodes have been picked because they focus on Sophia.

Fans will get a chance to vote on which episode ends the marathon, the episode they think shows Getty and Sophia the best. MyLifetime.com has narrowed down it down to five episodes: "It's A Miserable Life," "Sisters," "Old Friends," "My Brother, My Father," and "Old Boyfriends." And if you don't know the plots by the episode titles (you'd have to be a Golden Girls fanatic for that), the site gives you a quick synopsis of each one.

Oh, they don't make 'em like this anymore.

After the jump is a video from the NBC 60th Anniversary show in 1986 (very interesting). It's rather surreal. We get to see Bea Arthur, Nell Carter, Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett from Facts of Life), Marla Gibbs, and Alfonso Ribiero sing a song about "family." That's the NBC family, that is, as all of them were starring on shows at the time (Facts of Life, Golden Girls, Gimme A Break, 227, and Silver Spoons). Punky Brewster herself makes an appearance too, but only to say three words and gives a thumbs up. Barbara Eden introduces the song. The most cringe-worthy moment isn't any of the singing, it's when Gibbs and Carter pass each other on the stairs and casually say that they love each other's shows.

Can you imagine a network doing this now? I want to see Hugh Laurie, Stewie, the guys from Prison Break, Marge Simpson, and Gordon Ramsay get on stage at the next Emmy Awards and sing about the FOX family.

[via Best Week Ever]

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Rainn Wilson, the early years.
• Mad Men's Rich Sommer is a big nerd.
• OMG, did you miss the New Kids On The Block on The Today Show?! Here they are.
• An ex-Six Feet Under star might be moving to House.
• Here's what we need more of on TV: news interviews conducted while getting a massage.
• Best Week Ever picks Bea Arthur's Best Moments.
• Zap2it's TV Gal is happy that we have to wait two weeks for the Lost season finale.
• No, Ryan Seacrest isn't taking over for Larry King.

Each year, the Emmys honor the best in current TV. They also recognize the all-time greats. This year Bea Arthur, Larry Gelbart, Merv Griffin, Daniel Burke, Tom Murphy and Sherwood Schwartz will be entering the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame. Grand choices, in my opinion, with only a minor quibble which I'll mention later.

According to ATAS chairman and CEO John Shaffner , "The Hall of Fame is a special recognition for those who have made significant contributions and have left an indelible mark on the television business." As Maude in the 1970's and Dorothy on The Golden Girls in the 1980's (into the '90s) Beatrice Arthur, made her mark. She was more effective on TV than she was in the theater, and she was a dynamo on stage.

Studio 60!

I'm kidding. Readers just love it when I mention that show.

I'm talking about the shows created by The TV Show Pitch Generator. Just click on the "Pitch It" button and it will randomly create a new show for you. Most of them are better than the stuff that's been announced for this fall. It's too bad they don't have an option where you can actually create the cast/plot yourself, but it's pretty fun. My favorites are after the jump.

Do you like TV shows and movies? Do you like to eat? Well, I've got a site for you, but fair warning: it will consume all of your time today.

It's Frank DeCaro's site. He's not on The Daily Show anymore, but he's got quite a site, including this section where you can find a massive list of recipes from celebs! You can try Bitter and Booze from The Dick Van Dyke Show's Richard Deacon, which mixes semi-sweet chocolate chips, whipped cream and brandy (your teeth will ache but you'll be too drunk to care). Or how about Wheel of Fortune star Vanna White's Layered Pea Salad? Martha Stewart loves Bourbon Balls (and check out the pics in her section too). Jim Nabors makes a mean Alabama Chili, and the original Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner's contribution is a Tabbouleh Salad. Then there's the aforementioned Turkey Potpie recipe from Oprah.

There's a ton more too, and you can search by name or type of food.

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didn't care if the whole world looked
Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her
She was a sister who really cooked

If you've never seen the groundbreaking 70s sitcom Maude, then you missed the theme song. It was cowritten by Dave Grusin! (It also has the line "Isadora was the first bra burner, ain't you glad she showed up? And when this country was falling apart, Betsy Ross got it all sewed up!" That's excellent.).

Yes, Maude is coming to DVD.

Where were you on November 17, 1978? If you were alive (I keep forgetting how young some of our readers are), you were probably in front of the one TV in your house, with your family, waiting on pins and needles for the evening news to end. Why? Because ABC was about to air the highly-anticipated show The Star Wars Holiday Special, that's why. Most of us had seen the blockbuster Star Wars about a dozen times by then, and we were looking forward to seeing our favorite characters in an all-new adventure!

Unfortunately, it stunk. It stunk so bad that, according to IMDb, George Lucas tried to buy up all master copies of the show so it would never be shown again. And it hasn't; its only broadcast was on 11/17/78. It's never been released on home video, either. Bootlegs of the show have been floating around for decades, but have been hard to find.

But now, thanks to our old friend YouTube, you can now watch the entire special, which has been broken up into 10 parts. Part one is after the jump; click here to go to the YouTube page for it, where you'll see the other parts in the "Related" section.

I love the artist Brandon Bird. Bird's illustrations, which appear regularly in The Believer magazine, and paintings are heavy on the pop culture influence. If you've visited his Webby Award-winning site, than you've probably seen his rendition of Bea Arthur wrestling an underwater dinosaur and his Cubist take on the cast of Family Ties.

Bird has used his artist's eye to interpret Seinfeld, Star Trek, Magnum P.I. and even Little House's Michael Landon. His work is always witty, but depending on the piece, it also manages to meld the contents of our mediated brains with Greek mythology, cave paintings and a Hopper-like realism.