In September 1985, a new hit premiered on NBC. The network envisioned a show like nothing else on TV. Their idea was to take some women around 60 that society has written off as being “over the hill” and show them being feisty and having a great time. The result was The Golden Girls, the sitcom about a group of single women — widowed and divorced — living together in a house in Florida. The show was ranked in the Top 10 of Nielsen ratings for 6 of its 7 seasons. Here were are, 38 years later, and ABC is betting that a house full of single women between the ages of 60 and 75 and the 72-year-old man whose heart they’ll vie to win can achieve ratings success with boomers (aged 59-77) who still flip on the TV for the prime-time lineup and have yet to fully abandon network television for streaming. As it turns out, The Golden Bachelor was the most-watched show of the week on network television on Thursday night, so it’s at least off to a good start.
