"The Monkey Show" is a two-part episode in the seventh season of The Golden Girls.
The first part has Sophia predicts a hurricane's path, Blanche and Rose participate in a telethon, and Dorothy joins Stan in therapy.
In the second part, tension grows when Dorothy takes offense at Sophia being the one to have Gloria and Stan paired together despite constantly complaining about Stan being a poor fit for Dorothy. In the meantime, Blanche and Rose go on with their telethon despite the severely stormy weather.
Tropes:
- Black Comedy: Dorothy begs the policemen who came by the house to shoot Stan and Gloria after she catches them in her bed again. After the older officer says he can only legally shoot looters, Dorothy asks Stan to grab her TV on his way out.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Dorothy lays into Sophia for tactlessly trying to make Stan and Gloria a couple after all the years of grief she gave Dorothy for letting Stan knock her up.
- Companion Cube:
- Stan spends the two episodes attached to a stuffed monkey head attached to a traffic cone, as part of some transference therapy prescribed by his psychologist to ween him off his dependency to Dorothy. The proper method involves the patient moving on to smaller and smaller objects, the last being a monkey head keychain.
- Sophia recalls that their family used to be so poor Dorothy played with a stick when she was a little girl. It apparently caused a big fight when Sophia gave said stick to Gloria. Dorothy's still attached to said stick years later.Sophia: I'm sorry about the stick.Dorothy: Scout? You know where Scout is?!
- Cool Big Bro: Angelo acts as one for Sophia when she needs his help. He tells her that she treated Stan like he was a toy between her daughters and he's not, and that, even though she meant well for Gloria, Sophia hurt Dorothy by mistake and has to make it up to her.
- 555: "555-GIVE" and "555-EASY." The former is the number of a fundraiser telethon, whereas the latter is to reach Blanche during the campaign.
- Hypocritical Humor: Blanche gushes over and accepts a man auditioning for their fundraising telethon despite his rather lackluster performance, prompting Rose to accuse her of accepting him only for his looks instead of his talent. Blanche denies it... and then rejects a woman auditioning when she barely gets a word in despite her better performance quality.
- Lack of Empathy: Gloria and Stan keep having sex in Dorothy's bedroom, completely incapable of understanding why this upsets her so much on so many levels.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After angrily leaving the house, Sophia shows up at her brother Angelo's apartment now feeling remorseful for what she did and seeking his advice.
- Pair the Spares: In a huge example of hypocrisy, Sophia attempts to pair up Dorothy's sister with Stan after the decades she spent complaining about what a yutz he was.
- Parental Favoritism: When Dorothy was together with Stan, Sophia thought he was a yutz. When Gloria is together with Stan, Sophia thinks they're perfect together. Angelo explains that she let her love for Gloria blind her love for Dorothy, and she needs to make things right.
- Perverse Sexual Lust: Rose recently ended a passionate relationship with a Disney World employee. When pressed for the cause, she admits she lost interest when "he took off the Goofy head."
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Sophia spitefully heads out into the hurricane after Dorothy rightfully rips her apart for trying to pair Stan and Gloria together.Sophia: See how well you do without me.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The telethon Rose and Blanche host is for the sake of saving a lighthouse that's scheduled to be torn down unless enough funds are raised to keep up with its maintenance. It ends with Rose reading the announcement on a sheet of paper being given to her that the lighthouse has been demolished by the incoming hurricane.
- Stylistic Suck: As part of the telethon, Rose tries to play a well known St. Olaf classic "I Never Thought I'd Find A Hair There." We only mercifully hear the first part ("Oh what the HELL is that hair") before Blanche receives a 50 dollar donation if Rose stops playing.Sophia: That's right, 50 if she stops playing, and I'll throw in another 50 if you slam the piano lid on her fingers.
