When Susan Harris was approached to develop The Golden Girls, she was reluctant to dip her toe back into the television pool. Having previously created shows like Soap and Benson, she had decided to turn her attention elsewhere.

“I hadn’t wanted to do any more television,” said Harris during an interview with the Associated Press. “But [The Golden Girls] appealed to me. I like writing about older people. They have more to say. They’ve led rich lives. That’s really how it started. After that, I came up with the concept and the characters. We got the stars we wanted.”

Once Harris got started, she was on a roll. The creator had the rare ability to weave discussions about important social issues with lighthearted laughter. She had audiences tearing up just before roaring with laughter.

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“I like to blend laughing and crying,” said Harris during another interview with The Miami Herald. “The least threatening way to have impact is through comedy.”

There was just one aspect Harris didn’t enjoy: the time limit that television placed on its creators.

“The 23-minute form is brutal,” said Harris. "And you cannot write realistic adults on TV the way you can in the theaters.”

Harris acknowledged that television lagged “many years behind life.”