Creator: | Susan Harris |
Director: | Lex Passaris (The Golden Girls) Steve Zuckerman (Empty Nest) Andy Cadiff (Nurses) |
Starring: | Beatrice Arthur Betty White Rue McClanahan Estelle Getty Herbert Edelman Richard Mulligan Kristy McNichol Dinah Manoff David Leisure Park Overall Ann Guilbert Stephanie Hodge Arnetia Walker Mary Jo Keenen Ada Maris Kip Gilman Carlos Lacámara Jeff Altman |
Country: | United States |
Language: | English |
Runtime: | 120 minutes |
Company: | Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions Touchstone Television |
Network: | NBC |
Hurricane Saturday is a one-off programming block of a three-way, two-hour crossover event on NBC which involved three television sitcoms created by Susan Harris: The Golden Girls, Empty Nest and Nurses. The event depicts a fictional hurricane storming into the storylines of the three series set in Miami, Florida. The episodes aired back-to-back on Saturday, November 9, 1991 from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. EST.
See main article: Empty Nest and Nurses (American TV series).
The event begins on The Golden Girls one-hour episode "The Monkey Show" (season 7, episodes 8 and 9) as a hurricane threatens Miami, Dorothy discovers that ex-husband Stan is "moving on" with her sister Gloria, while Blanche and Rose host a telethon to save a lighthouse. Dorothy later catches Gloria with Stan in her bed, then learns that Sophia pushed Stan and Gloria together. As the storm intensifies, Dorothy and Sophia get into an argument and Sophia goes out into the hurricane. Carol Weston (from Empty Nest) is featured in the second part of the episode on a date with Stan's psychiatrist Dr. Halperin when he is called to the girls' house to help Stan with a problem.
The event continues on the Empty Nest episode "Windy" (season 4, episode 8) as Dr. Harry Weston and his daughters, Carol and Barbara, prepare to move to a new house when the hurricane hits and brings back a lot of memories for them. Meanwhile, Laverne's mother-in-law visits and Sophia Petrillo (from The Golden Girls) stops by to warn the Westons about the impending hurricane.
The event ends on the Nurses episode "Begone with the Wind" (season 1, episode 9) as chaos breaks out at the hospital during the hurricane – the kitchen is flooded, the phones are out and the roads are closed. When Rose Nylund (from The Golden Girls) shows up to help, she is immediately stuck with Julie and the duo are assigned to gathering food from the patients – food that they later give to Laverne Todd (from Empty Nest) for the pediatrics ward. When the news arrives that the roof collapsed in a burning building, Annie fears that her husband, a fireman, may have been killed; Sandy runs into a man (whom she dumped) with a broken leg; Hank and Gina get trapped in an elevator and share a romantic moment; two rival gangs start a knife-fight in front of the nurses' station (and threaten Rose) so it's Paco to the rescue.
See main article: The Golden Girls (season 7).