Outside the British sitcom "Fawlty Towers", sitcoms about hotels have not been popular. Especially in America. In addition to Golden Palace I can also think of "Amanda's by the Sea" and "The Nutt House". Something tells me that Bea Arthur had no regrets in leaving after the 7th season of Golden Girls and was relieved to be gone when she heard a watch the spin-off would entail. If Bea and a cast of Mel Brooks film veterans can't do well in their sitcoms, it's pretty obvious that Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty will also fail, even with the added support of Cheech Marin and the young Don Cheadle, not yet a star. There's also a little boy who disappears halfway through the series, and he really is not missed.
So you get single guest appearances of Harold Gould as Miles and Herb Edelman as Stan, but the writing for their characters ruins what was established before, and that tarnishes the legacy that had been created before. Cheech and Cheadle did well acting wise, and there was especially some chemistry between Getty and Cheech. But the individual situations really aren't all that funny, and the laughs are really scattered. Even the special two part return of Bea Arthur is a disappointment. It is obvious that a new roommate could have created some interesting new conflicts, but putting these women where they really didn't fit in turns out to be almost as big a disappointment as the pilot episode that would later became "Empty Nest". It's obvious that these three women deserved a lot better.
So you get single guest appearances of Harold Gould as Miles and Herb Edelman as Stan, but the writing for their characters ruins what was established before, and that tarnishes the legacy that had been created before. Cheech and Cheadle did well acting wise, and there was especially some chemistry between Getty and Cheech. But the individual situations really aren't all that funny, and the laughs are really scattered. Even the special two part return of Bea Arthur is a disappointment. It is obvious that a new roommate could have created some interesting new conflicts, but putting these women where they really didn't fit in turns out to be almost as big a disappointment as the pilot episode that would later became "Empty Nest". It's obvious that these three women deserved a lot better.