Empty Nest

Anything that can expand out the world of The Golden Girls is a good thing in my eyes. And if my never-ending love of The Golden Girls and Bea Arthur makes me sound gay, then I don’t wanna be straight. Wait, no, I think that came out wrong. I like the women-folk. Don’t get the wrong idea.

Empty Nest lasted for seven seasons, yet most people will be hard-pressed to even remember its existence.

What the bejeezus was it all about?
Empty Nest served as a spin-off from the popular NBC comedy The Golden Girls. A second attempt at a spin-off from the show (an episode of The Golden Girls sought to introduce next door neighbour characters to be spun-off, but it seems that they tested poorly), Empty Nest focussed on the Golden Girls’ next door neighbour Dr Harry Weston and his two daughters who move back home with him.

Harry (played by Soap star Richard Mulligan) is certainly the focus of the series, with the show split between showing his home life with his daughters, as well as his work life at the Miami Community Hospital where he works as a pediatrician. The supporting cast was comprised of his nurse Laverne (Park Overall), his two daughters Carol (Dinah Manoff) and Barbara (Kirsty McNichol), his next door neighbour Charlie (David Leisure), and his big dog Dreyfus.

In later seasons, Westons oft-mentioned, but usually unseen third daughter came to join the show as series star Kirsty McNichol left due to health reasons. Also, Estelle Getty joined the show towards the end of its run, reprising her Golden Girls role of Sophia.

Surely something made it memorable?
The show featured one of the biggest TV dogs ever.

Did at least one episode stick out?
Not at all really. The show was very much a by the numbers sitcom. It had better than average writing and a great cast of sitcom actors (it’s difficult to pass up any sitcom headed by Richard Mulligan), but ultimately the show was akin to a seven-year memory haze.

Why the heck is it consigned to the depths of forgotten telly lore?
It’s not that the show was bad. It wasn’t. It just wasn’t great and managed to always live in the shadow of its parent series The Golden Girls. That said, the show was popular enough to spin-off a show of its own, Nurses. Nurses was another sitcom set in the same hospital that Dr Harry Weston worked at and lasted three seasons. If anything, it served as a nice adjunct to The Golden Girls and will always be remembered as such.