Why a Golden Girls reboot is completely off the table—find out the surprising reason!

Before all seven seasons of the iconic ’80s sitcom about four spirited Miami grandmothers hit Hulu, The Golden Girls nostalgia had already hit a fever pitch. Tributes were everywhere, from the puppet parody That Golden Girls Show to the themed Rue La Rue Café in New York. Yet, despite the enduring love for the show and various revival attempts, creator Susan Harris is adamant: an official reboot isn’t in the cards.

“They’ve pitched Golden Girls musicals and reboots, but we’ve always declined,” Harris explains. “Golden Girls wouldn’t be Golden Girls without that original cast.”

This stance comes from experience. After the show’s seven-season run ended in 1992, Harris, along with producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, launched the spin-off The Golden Palace on CBS. The show reunited Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Estelle Getty, now running a hotel alongside co-stars Cheech Marin and Don Cheadle. But the absence of Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy, who only made guest appearances, proved to be a dealbreaker.

“Without Dorothy, it just didn’t work,” Harris recalls, affirming that The Golden Girls was “perfect as it was” and shouldn’t be revisited.