An episode of “The Golden Girls” that features a gag in which the girls are mistaken for wearing blackface has been pulled from streaming on Hulu.
The episode is the 23rd episode of the show’s third season in 1988, “Mixed Feelings,” in which Dorothy’s (Bea Arthur) son Michael plans to marry a much older black woman named Lorraine (Rosalind Cash). Because Dorothy disapproves of the age difference and Lorraine’s family disapproves of their daughter marrying a white man, they work together to stop the marriage. When her family arrives at the house, Rose and Blanche enter the room in dark mud facial masks.
“Oh my Lord,” Lorraine’s mother says in disbelief. Rose responds, “This is mud on our faces, we’re not really Black.”
Although it’s all a big misunderstanding, Hulu removed the episode.
The removal of the episode of “The Golden Girls” comes after a week in which Hollywood has taken a hard look at its content library and has been removing culturally insensitive episodes of old TV shows that feature jokes in which white characters appear in blackface.
Hulu earlier this week removed three episodes of “Scrubs” at the request of the series’ producers and ABC Studios. Other shows that have similarly pulled or edited episodes with similar gags have included “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Community.” Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are among the late-night talk show hosts who have also had to apologize for past instances in which they wore blackface.
Watch the scene in question below.
https://youtu.be/3y1DIF4FN_s?t=807