A closer look
Beatrice Arthur apparently despised her Golden Girls co-star Betty White behind the scenes despite playing best friends on national television for years. The incredibly sharp and cynical Arthur could not stand White's relentlessly cheerful and optimistic personality, leading to massive amounts of quiet tension on the set of the legendary retirement sitcom. Millions of grandmothers tuned in every single week to watch a beautiful heartwarming narrative about enduring female friendship, completely unaware that the lead actresses essentially wanted to strangle each other as soon as the cameras stopped rolling. This bitter backstage rivalry completely destroys the wholesome illusion of the show, but it makes the sarcastic insults they hurled at each other on screen seem infinitely more authentic and hilarious in retrospect
