Member-only story

Review: Disney+’s Gritty ‘golden girls’ Reboot is a Neon-Soaked Nightmare

The ultra-stylized and violent take on the classic sitcom is confusing, uncomfortable, and unnecessary.

Joe Shetina
6 min readMay 27, 2021
The series premieres on the Disney+ platform on June 2

When the new Disney+ series was announced last April, it tantalized viewers with an “edgy” take on the original Susan Harris sitcom featuring four mature women living together under one roof. While many of us thought this just meant even racier conversations about sex and 2021-friendly approaches to topics like queerness and race, few of us could have expected what the team behind golden girls had in mind.

Also, notice the style choice there. I mean all lowercase? Now that’s hip.

Like the original sitcom, golden girls features four mature women living in the same house. The first three episodes of season one follow the ladies as they navigate love, grief, dating, death, and aging in the second act of their lives.

The iconic house has been loving recreated with almost eerie attention to detail, right down to the wicker sofa. Half of the budget appears to have gone toward truckloads of puffy sleeves and shoulder pads.

Unfortunately, that’s where the similarities end.

--

--

Joe Shetina
Joe Shetina

Written by Joe Shetina

They/he. Writer of fiction, screenplays, plays, reviews, essays, and poetry. Chicago. https://linktr.ee/jshetina

Responses (7)