'The Golden Girls' celebrates its 25th anniversary today. The show premiered on Sept. 14, 1985 and during its seven-year run, it won two Emmys and three Golden Globes. Its platinum cast (Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty) was also honored, with each lady earning multiple Emmy nominations and at least one win each.

So, in honor of the 'Golden Girls' birthday, we compiled fun facts and clips from the classic NBC sitcom.

Some of the tidbits so startling, you might want to reach for that extra ginkoba (yes, that is George Clooney!).

I've been trying to figure out what bothers me about the TV commercials for the new movie 17 Again, and I finally know what it is: it's just not believable.

I know, I know, of course a movie that features a 37-year-old man somehow becoming a teenager again through some complicated process (from the previews I think it involves a whirlpool and/or lightning) isn't supposed to be gritty realism, but I'm talking about the cast members.

NBC couldn't have asked for a better Olympian than Michael Phelps. His chase after Mark Spitz's record has been a huge draw for viewers. So, it came as no surprise when I saw that Saturday night, with the record breaking 8th gold, did huge numbers, clocking in with 31.1 million viewers. What did come as a surprise was the big event from 18 years ago that topped Phelps reaching his goal. Surely it had to be something like a big sporting event, a dramatic news special, or something of the sort, right?

Not quite. Saturday, Feb. 24, 1990, 31.4 million viewers tuned in to watch Empty Nest. Wow. That says much more about the growth of cable TV and how the big networks have abandoned Saturday than it does about the success of the Olympics. At a time when half that number is the stuff of a hit show, it seems strange to think that 31 million people were watching Empty Nest.

One of the Golden Girls has died.

Estelle Getty, who played Bea Arthur's mother (even though Arthur was a year older in real life) on the NBC hit comedy Golden Girls (which also starred Betty White and Rue McClanahan), passed away this morning in Los Angeles. Getty was 84 years old and had been suffering from a disease known as Lewy Body Dementia for a number of years.

Getty appeared in several other TV shows over the years, including the Golden Girls spinoff The Golden Palace (which also starred a young Don Cheadle), Empty Nest, Nurses, Brotherly Love, Mad About You, Touched By An Angel, Blossom, Newhart, Hotel, and many others. She also appeared in the movies Tootsie, Mask, Mannequin, and Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot!

Interesting trivia: Getty played her Sophia Petrillo character in no less than five different shows: Golden Girls, Empty Nest, The Golden Palace, Nurses, and Blossom. That's gotta be some sort of record. She also played a character named Sophia in an episode of Ladies Man in 2000, though the character had a different last name.