There's some good news and some bad about The Golden Girls. First the good: Betty White will be returning to The Bold and the Beautiful to resume her recurring role as Stephanie's mother, Ann Douglas. She'll be appearing on a few episodes of B&B, but it could be extended even longer depending on storyline developments.

Sadly, the bad news is that Betty's Golden Girls costar, Rue McClanahan had to cancel a Castro Theater event in San Francisco on November 14 -- a salute in her honor called "Golden: A Gala Tribute to Rue McClanahan" -- because she's had to undergo heart bypass surgery in New York.

(S01E09) If you are looking for the post the correlates to Part I, it isn't there. We have just begun covering Brothers & Sisters, so, I am going to attempt to do two things with this review: Summarize my impressions of the season thus far, and talk about the most recent episode. There will likely be a lot of overlap. I am going to do a brief introduction of all of the main characters here, as well, because there are a lot of them, and it will help us all if we have a reference guide, especially new viewers.

There are many reasons why the networks tell us that the "early previews" of their fall pilots that they send us are not for review: the editing hasn't been completed, musical elements haven't been finalized, and the whole package isn't quite in ready-for-prime-time form yet.

But my guess is that the main reason for the admonishment is because of all the cast changes that take place before the pilot airs (or between the pilot and the first "real" epiosde). Case in point: the new ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters, which stars Calista Flockhart, has cast two-time Oscar winner Sally Field in the role of Nora, the matriarch of the family that is explored in the series. Field replaces Betty Buckley (remember stepmom Abby from Eight is Enough?), who played Nora in the pilot.

Of course, Field's no stranger to TV; she started her career in the series Gidget and The Flying Nun, and most recently played a recurring role on ER.

[via Mediabistro]