That Golden Girls Reboot Rumor You Heard Is False

It might seem like everything is getting rebooted these days, but that "Golden Girls" reboot rumor floating around on social media is false.

An image from a Facebook page specializing in memes (more on that in a second) made waves when it "announced" a "Golden Girls" reboot that would cast new actors as Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, Blanche Devereaux, and Sophia Petrillo, originally played by Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, respectively. The Photoshop in question shows Tina Fey, Lisa Kudrow, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler in those roles, with the series supposedly arriving in June with 10 episodes on Disney+. Ultimately, Rudolph had to clear everything up and reveal it's a big fakeout.

I don’t want this!! pic.twitter.com/432PkdoGQF

— TheCussingChef💋 (@DaSixFoota2022) March 23, 2024

During an interview on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Rudolph discussed Kudrow and Poehler being photoshopped to look older while she and Fey essentially look the same as they do now ... something she resents. First, she clarified that this reboot isn't happening and then wondered why the creator didn't bother photoshopping Rudolph or Fey. "I think they gave up," the "Saturday Night Live" veteran said. "They worked so hard on these two. And then Amy, they were like, 'We got to put wrinkles in her face.' And then they were like, 'That's good.'"

She had another message for the creator: "I just want to say, for Amy: Whoever did this, f*** you. But I have other ideas!" Rudolph wasn't alone in her anger; the creator said he received threats on the Internet.

So, who made this meme, and why is everyone so mad about it? According to an interview in The Daily Beast, creator YODA BBY ABY — who has dubbed himself the "King of Facebook Fake News" — is behind the image, and people are pissed at him ... even leveling death threats against him for making up a "Golden Girls" reboot. (Some of their other work noted in the outlet is a poster of a "Clueless" reboot starring "Mad Men" star Kiernan Shipka, and Jim Carrey in a third "Ace Ventura" movie; neither of those are real projects.)

Despite YODA BBY ABY's bio on Facebook — which reads, "I'm just here to eat frogs, lift rocks, and be satirical. The page is 100% satire and fake news" — people took his "Golden Girls" reboot meme super seriously. Why did he make it? As he told the outlet, "Golden Girls" is a major comfort show for him. "I got to thinking about ladies that could portray each role perfectly and I went to work looking for some images I could use," he said. "I love the show, to be honest. I love that even in the early 1980s, this show was a giant call to arms against discrimination against many stepped-on communities." Unfortunately for YODA BBY ABY, social media went nuts over his "Golden Girls" reboot trick ... in a bad way.

YODA BBY ABY's effort didn't go over well on X (formerly known as Twitter), where people got mad about the idea of a "Golden Girls" reboot starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Lisa Kudrow. Some went after the uneven editing, like user @sicksadchris: "[T]he unedited pictures of [M]aya and [T]ina are nasty." User @sitcomythri agreed, saying, "[I] love how they left [T]ina and [M]aya how they look now." 

Some people couldn't believe that anyone took the fake poster seriously, like @GGposters: "If one more person asks me if that obviously fake Tina Fey 'Golden Girls' reboot is real..." Others took the opportunity to make fake reboot posters for other beloved shows, like @michaelcollado's "Seinfeld" take (starring Timothée Chalamet, Josh Peck, Addison Rae, and Austin Butler). They also made a ridiculous "Sex and the City" reboot poster that promises "213 episodes" and would "star" Anya Taylor-Joy, Florence Pugh, Jenna Ortega, and Susan Sarandon. (This is bonkers for many reasons, but "Sex and the City" already has a reboot; it's called "And Just Like That," and fans hate it.)

You can stream the original — and only version of — "Golden Girls" on Hulu.