"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."
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Forgive Me, Father is the eighteenth episode of the second season of The Golden Girls and the forty-third episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Kathy Speer and Terry Grossman, the episode premiered on NBC-TV on February 14th, 1987.
Dorothy has her eye on a handsome teacher colleague at the school where she has been working, but doesn't realize he is a priest. He further confuses her when he tells her he is thinking of leaving the church.
Plot[]
Dorothy is doing some weekend work on the Youth Fair and is attracted to one of the other teachers, Frank Leahy. With some encouragement from Blanche, Dorothy asks him over for dinner but what she didn't realize is that Frank is a priest. Frank informs Dorothy that he has made a big decision because of her and Dorothy comes to the conclusion that he loves her and is going to leave the priesthood. Sophia is appalled and does everything she can to prevent this from happening. [1]
Fourteen years before the episode aired, John McMartin appeared on an episode of The Bob Newhart Show as a reverend who decides to leave the ministry.
Cultural references[]
Rose apologizes to Father Leahy for the series Helltown being cancelled. Helltown was a show that ran on NBC in 1985 for thirteen episodes, starring Robert Blake as a Catholic priest in a crime-ridden neighborhood in Los Angeles.
When Frank arrives at the ladies' house for dinner, Dorothy tells him that she looks "like the mother of a Solid Gold dancer." Solid Gold was a music show that ran from 1980 to 1988 and was known to feature female dancers wearing bright dance outfits similar to the blouse that Dorothy wears to the dinner.
Goofs[]
Napkins, plates, and other utensils disappear from the table as Blanche is talking to Dorothy.
Frank tells Blanche that Dorothy didn't know he was a priest. In the next scene, he tells Dorothy that he assumed she knew. This could just be Frank realizing his own error in judgement and not a continuity error.
When Dorothy is in the kitchen getting the fresh pot of coffee, she puts the "hot" pot directly on the counter after filling the cups.
In the gymnasium when Dorothy is talking to Frank, you can see mountainous chaparral in the windows. This does not exist in mostly-flat Florida and is much more common to California, where the show was filmed.
↑The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 18, “Forgive Me, Father”. Speer, Kathy and Grossman, Terry (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (February 14th, 1987)
