"Mrs. George Devereaux" is an episode in the sixth season of The Golden Girls.
Blanche has a secret admirer, who later reveals himself to be none other than her deceased husband, George. Dorothy, meanwhile, is caught between two men who vie for her: Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner.
Tropes in this episode include:
- All Just a Dream: The entire episode turns out to be a dream Blanche had.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Played for Laughs. When Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner decide to resort to physically brawling against each other in their battle for Dorothy's affection, Dorothy is about to stop them, only to be thwarted by Sophia raising a question.Dorothy: This is ridiculous. Look, I do not want two grown men fighting over me!
Sophia: Pussycat, how many chances are you going to get?
Dorothy: Proceed. - Bedmate Reveal: After hugging George, we cut to Blanche smiling in bed with her eyes closed. She rolls over in bed and is revealed to be alone.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- The ending of this episode definitely qualifies for Blanche. While the plot-line of the entire episode turns out to have been All Just a Dream (and the conversation among the girls makes it clear that this isn't the first time Blanche has dreamed it), this time it ends on a different — and somewhat better — note for her simply because she managed to embrace George before waking up, which she was never able to do in all of her previous experiences.
- It also applies to Dorothy, and Played for Laughs, too: Even though she's back to being single again due to the premise of this episode being All Just a Dream, this time she picked someone she prefers.Blanche: You picked Sonny this time.
Dorothy: Yes!
- The Cameo: Both Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner appear in this episode, as romantic rivals vying for Dorothy's affection.
- Cock Fight: Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner compete for Dorothy's affection in this episode.
- Corrupt Politician: Played for Laughs. Sonny Bono, in the last stage of his Cock Fight against Lyle Waggoner, resorts to having Lyle arrested and taken away on some trumped-up/nonexistent charge(s) so he can win Dorothy's affection.Sonny: It's good to be mayor.
- Faking the Dead: After the girls encounter George, he claims to have staged his own death. However, it's subverted at the end, as the plot of the whole episode turns out to have been All Just a Dream all along.
- Newhart Phonecall: Dorothy's phone conversation with Sonny is carried out this way. It's easy to imagine what Sonny's side of the phone conversation might be since he has already made it clear that he wants Dorothy to pick him earlier and the last bit of the conversation the audience gets to hear has Dorothy singing some of the part Cher performs from "I Got You, Babe".
- Noodle Incident: When preparing to meet her secret admirer, she brushes off Dorothy's concern by questioning how much trouble she could get into in a public place.Dorothy: How soon we forget the Greyhound Terminal Incident.
- Removing the Rival: Played for Laughs. Sonny Bono does this to Lyle Waggoner by having him arrested and taken away on some trumped-up/nonexistent charge(s) in order to win Dorothy over.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story:
- Blanche spends the entire episode wrestling with George's reappearance before forgiving him with a hug, only to wake up in her bed and find out via Bedmate Reveal that the story-line of the whole episode have been All Just a Dream all along.
- Dorothy is caught in a Cock Fight between Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner in this episode. She does pick one between them, but the fact that the premises of the episode have been All Just a Dream all along means she's single yet again as the episode nears its end.
- Spot the Thread: It's relatively easy to tell that the events in this episode are All Just a Dream before the ending just by viewing Dorothy's subplot, where she gets into a love triangle with Lyle Waggoner and Sonny Bono.
