Adult Education (S1E20)

Synopsis: Blanche gets propositioned by her adult education professor; meanwhile, Dorothy tries desperately to snag Frank Sinatra tickets in the days before the internet existed.

80s Flashback

Dorothy: “Elementary school was a nightmare. I was afraid to talk in class… I had a slight speech impediment. It's different for kids these days, you know. They have Barbara Walters to look up to.”

Crazy Continuity

Does Dean Tucker look familiar? Because he's a fertility doctor in the episode “The Accurate Conception.”

St. Olaf Vocab

Rose: “My life will be ruined if this ever gets home to St. Olaf.” 

Dorothy: “What'll they do, Rose? Revoke your ice fishing license? Take back your helmet with the horns?”

Rose: "They're called Longenhodden."

Dorothy: "What is called Longenhodden?"

Rose: "The helmt with the horns."

That’s What She Said

Dean Tucker: “I'm 43 years old, and until today, I never even heard of 7B.”

Blanche: “Well, I've known about it for some time, and as far as I'm concerned, you can go do it to yourself.”

Picture It

Sophia mentions that in Sicily they did all their barganing in back alleys, which is how she ended up with her husband Sal.

Zbornak Zingers

Rose: “Oh, you can't buy from a scalper. That's a crime.”

Dorothy: “So is eating grapes at the supermarket, but you do that all the time.”

Rose: “I have to test them.”

Dorothy: “Rose, one is testing, fourteen is brunch.”

Tales from the Old South

Blanche: “When I was little, I was always overshadowed by my sisters. They were all smarter and more talented than I was. Then when I was 16, I discovered I had a talent, too, the talent to drive men crazy with a body that many said should have come with a warning label.”

Product Placement

Sophia: “I hate Jell-O. If God wanted peaches suspended in midair, he would have filled them with helium.”

Sassy Sophia

Blanche: “I've always had a great appreciation for the arts and artists.”

Sophia: “And carpenters and mechanics and delivery boys.”

Back in St. Olaf

Rose: “Nils Felander attempted to harass me repeatedly. He worked at Lars Erikson's Drugstore and Tackle Shop. He was a soda jerk. Now that I think about it, he was the town jerk. Every Saturday afternoon, I'd go in and have a sundae. Well, Nils would arrange the ice cream scoops in an obscene way. I could never prove it, because by the time I would take it home to show my father... the evidence had melted. To this day, every time I pass an ice cream parlor or a tackle shop, I blush.”

Best of B.E.D.

Blanche: “As a reward for working so hard, I'll make myself an ice cream sundae. Rose, I suggest you leave the room. I may get a little crazy with the chopped nuts.”

Golden Quotes

Rose: “Sophia, why are you in such a bad mood?”

Sophia, “Excuse me Rose, but I haven't sex in fifteen years and it's starting to get on my nerves.”

and

Blanche: “No! No, no, no, please. I cannot bear that again. She was listening to her car radio big band, not all talk. There was a contest. Something about a little voice, a lucky number, and a dime in a door handle. Then bim, bam, boom, she won the tickets.

Dorothy: “Take a lesson, Rose. That's how you tell a story.”

Critique: Thank you James Berg and Stan Zimmerman. These writers are the ones who finally introduced St. Olaf onto The Golden Girls audience. And we get our first official Scandinavian St Olaf word: Longenhodden. Besides those series-defining moments, “Adult Education” remains a fine if underwhelming episode. There are some fun moments including Blanche paraphrasing Rose's radio story and of course Rose's fantastic ice cream-related sexual harassment story. The Golden Girls have always mixed serious storylines with funny jokes and this episode is no different. It's a very solid half hour. GRADE: B