History Awesome / TheGoldenGirls

* In ''Big Daddy'', a storm knocks over a neighbor's tree onto the lanai, and said neighbor refuses to do anything about it. Sophia responds by placing a "curse" on him, and the guy laughs it off. Several days later, he comes back and begs Sophia to undo whatever she did, because it's working: his car won't start, his alarm hasn't been going off, he can't sleep, and he's developed an enormous boil on his behind. After agreeing to remove the tree, Sophia removes said curse. When the guy leaves, his wife stays behind and reveals ''she'' was the one messing with his belongings to get him to apologize (the boil was just a lucky coincidence).

** The whole episode counts as one for Sophia: she's given the title of "Activities Director" at the nursing home, which is full of lethargic elderly people who don't do anything but watch TV in silence all day. She brings joy and life back to the place, but the director gets angry--it turns out Dorothy got Sophia her (phony) job so she would have someone to look after her during the day. After a brief HeroicBSOD that makes her just as listless as the other seniors, Sophia pulls herself up and goes back to the center anyway to throw the party. Her outright refusal to let both her daughter and her old age dictate what she can and can't do is awe-inspiring.

* In "All Bets Are Off," Dorothy's gambling addiction rears its head again, and she soon finds herself both losing out on a vice-principal position and in deep debt. Rose enters the kitchen, and Dorothy, desperate to pay off her bookie, asks if she can borrow money. Rose happily hands her ATM card over to Dorothy, blithely chattering about how much she trusts her. Dorothy protests Rose's naivety, but she won't let up, telling Dorothy that she considers her a sister. Eventually, Dorothy outright ''yells'' that she's stealing money from Rose...and Rose quietly agrees. She saw through Dorothy's lies and hoped that abusing the trust of someone who genuinely loved her would make her conscience kick in. It works, and Dorothy goes back to Gamblers' Anonymous to get her life back.

** In the same episode, Sophia earns a Moment of Awesome when she won't get off Dorothy's back about the gambling problem. She admits that she feels guilty for letting Sal's life be ruined by betting, and absolutely refuses to let Dorothy run that risk for a second time (during her past gambling addiction, Dorothy almost lost her house). It's that non-stop barrage, combined with Rose's gentle nature, that finally gets through to Dorothy.

** Later, the cops ask the girls to place a transmitter in the [=McDowell=] home during the dinner party; Dorothy volunteers to be the plant. She manages to keep her cool and succeed, with the other girls not revealing anything either, and the bug ends up being the key to breaking the case and getting the [=McDowells=] behind bars. For a substitute teacher, grief counselor, museum worker, and retired old woman, the group is pretty tough.

* In "To Catch a Neighbor," the girls learn that their new neighbors, the McDowells, are jewel fences planning a major exchange soon. The two cops who tell them this set up shop in their home for a stakeout. When Mrs. McDowell shows up at the door to invite the women to dinner, Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche panic, and even the police are at a loss for words...and that's when Sophia enters and, without missing a beat, introduces the men as her son and grandson in town for a fishing trip. Even the officers are impressed by Sophia's quick thinking, which may have kept them from being discovered.
** Later, the cops ask the girls to place a transmitter in the McDowell home during the dinner party; Dorothy volunteers to be the plant. She manages to keep her cool and succeed, with the other girls not revealing anything either, and the bug ends up being the key to breaking the case and getting the McDowells behind bars. For a substitute teacher, grief counselor, museum worker, and retired old woman, the group is pretty tough.

* In "The Actor", the women telling off the lecherous actor who's been playing all of them--in the middle of their play. So effective that the audience thinks it's AllPartOfTheShow and heartily applauds, forcing them to bow in appreciation.

** And then later, when Blanche realizes part of his problem is that his parents (her daughter and her "Yankee" husband) are always arguing, she calls them and tells them in a half-bluff/half-truth that she's keeping him. When her daughter argues this, Blanche says "All right, but if you don't start giving that boy the love and attention he deserves [[MamaBear I will kick your uppity butt 'til Hell won't have it again!"]]

'''Dorothy:''' But not from YOU, from your COMPETITOR.\\

'''Dorothy:''' Because what you're trying to do is terrify us into spending more money than we have! Now get out of here before the victim of violent crime in THIS house is YOU! ''[shoos him out the front door and slams it]''

** Earlier in the same episode, the ladies are listening to a security system salesman give them a sales pitch designed to terrify them: "One in every four people will be a victim... ''[pauses for emphasis]'' of a violent crime." Dorothy, realizing the salesman is taking advantage of their fright (especially Rose's), finally has enough.

'''Salesman:''' Okay...

** This immediately turns awkward when [[spoilers:Mrs. Claxton does exactly that]].

** Dorothy has one when she gives David a loving DareToBeBadass lecture on how he should stick it out and tells him to shape up.
Also counts as a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

-->'''Dorothy''': Don't you see? ''I am stealing your money!''
-->'''Rose''': I ''know,'' Dorothy.
-->''(beat)''
-->'''Rose''': But I was hoping you'd have a hard time taking advantage of [[TrueCompanions somebody who cares about you as much as I do.]]
*** In the same episode, Sophia earns a Moment of Awesome when she won't get off Dorothy's back about the gambling problem. She admits that she feels guilty for letting Sal's life be ruined by betting, and absolutely refuses to let Dorothy run that risk for a second time (during her past gambling addiction, Dorothy almost lost her house). It's that non-stop barrage, combined with Rose's gentle nature, that finally gets through to Dorothy.

** Guilting Dorothy into admitting she has a gambling problem.
--->'''Dorothy''': Rose, I am stealing your money!
--->'''Rose''': I know, Dorothy.

* In ''Older and Wiser'' Sophia is caught having a late-night party with the residents at the senior center, and the director tries to break it up and send the residents back to bed. The wheelchair bound Mr. Louis reveals he can still speak, saying that it was the first time in twenty-five years he danced with anyone. When asked why he never spoke before, he replies that nobody was listening to him until Sophia came.

* Blanche's (gay)brother Clayton gets one for calling Blanche out on her homophobia when he announced he was getting married to a man he'd been seeing.

-->'''Clayton:''' What did you mean when you said you'd accepted me Blanche? Thatbit was fine as long as I was celibate? That I didn't fall in love?

** Dorothy has one when she gives David a loving DareToBeBadass lecture to David on how he should stick it out and tells him to shape up.

-->'''Blanche:''' Oh, ya'll lost the [[AmericanCivilWar war]], get over it!

** Doubles as a CrowningMomentOfFunny when you see she's holding him up with an ''air gun'' and forces him to dance by spraying at his feet.
* In ''Big Daddy'', a storm knocks over a neighbor's tree onto the lanai, and said neighbor refuses to do anything about it. Sophia responds by placing a "curse" on him, and the guy laughs it off. Several days later, he comes back and begs Sophia to undo whatever she did because strange shit's been going on in his house. After agreeing to remove the tree, Sophia removes said curse. When the guy leaves, his wife stays behind and reveals she was the one messing with his belongings to get him to apologize, except she says for the boil on his ass which was a lucky coincidence.

** From "Sick and Tired", Blanche is bemoaning the fact that her romance novel was rejected by a publishing company, Rose tries to convince her it's not the end of the world. As Blanche is whining about how she'll never be famous and chides Rose for her simple farm life view on the situation and that being famous isn't everything, Rose has enough and tells Blanche off for constantly mocking her belief that friends and family are more important than fame and fortune, and for constantly knocking down small town beliefs.

-->'''Blanche:''' Oh, ya lost the [[AmericanCivilWar war]], get over it!

* Blanche tries to apply for membership in the Daughters of the Old South, and in order to gain entry attempts to hide her great-grandmother's Judaism and ties to the Union given the group's highly prejudiced standard for acceptance. Unable to go through with it, she confesses that she's a "Yankee", and then follows this up with a rousing speech for why she is a great American citizen regardless of how the group judges her, earning her a round of applause from her roommates.

-->'''Blanche:''' Oh, ya'll lost the [[AmericanCivilWar war]], get over it!

* After Rose, Blanche, and Dorothy spend a few minutes as hostages in an armed robbery, an annoyed Sophia walks in, wondering what's taking them so long. When the gunman threatens her, she takes one look at him, takes his gun away, and chides Dorothy for not being able to tell the gun was fake.

* Blanche tries to apply for membership in the Daughters of the Old South, and in order to gain entry attempts to hide her great-grandmother's ties to the Union given the group's highly prejudiced standard for acceptance. Unable to go through with it, she confesses that she's a "Yankee", and then follows this up with a rousing speech for why she is a great American citizen regardless of how the group judges her, earning her a round of applause from her roommates.

-->'''Blanche:''' Oh, you lost the [[AmericanCivilWar war]], get over it!
* Rose finds herself conflicted in her relationship with Miles when her former boyfriend and fiancee Buzz returns to her after thirty years of touring with his singing quartet, having been madly in love with him before she ever met Charlie and having fully expected his return before finally moving on. The two rekindle their old relationship which puts Rose at odds with Miles, who understandably feels snubbed when he learns about Buzz. After the two men confront each other, Miles reluctantly gives Rose time to think things over given her confusion over the situation. Buzz suggests he go to Europe to resume his tour and promises to return when she's thought it over....Seeing that Buzz is making the same promise to her that he broke thirty years prior, Rose puts her foot down and sets the record straight.
-->'''Buzz:''' Well I guess we both made mistakes.
-->'''Rose:''' Oh I don't think I made a mistake! I wouldn't have given up my time with Charlie for ''anything''! I'm glad I didn't wait for you Buzz......And I'm not going to wait for you this time, either.