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Susan Harris

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Screenwriter

The Resume

    (October 28, 1940- )
    Born in Mount Vernon, New York

Why she might be annoying:

    Despite a decades long career in television writing, she is almost exclusively remembered as the creator of the beloved primetime megahit, 'The Golden Girls.'
    This despite the fact that her involvement in 'The Golden Girls,' compared to her earlier projects, was limited after the first season, due to her suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
    Some of her other shows have not aged well ('Benson,' 'Soap,' 'Empty Nest').
    She is divorced from renowned author and neuroscientist, Berkely Harris, whom she was married to for only four years.
    She continued to use the name Harris well into her professional life, even after remarrying.
    She used 'The Golden Girls' as a springboard to spin off both 'Empty Nest' and 'Nurses.'
    She wrote the infamous episode of 'Maude,' 'Maude’s Dilemma,' focusing on 'Maude' having an abortion.
    'Maude’s Dilemma' was aired two months before the historic Roe v. Wade decision in 1972, but was rerun in the decision’s aftermath, sparking renewed controversy and fanning the flames of the country’s abortion debate.
    She repeatedly made cameos on her show, 'Soap,' playing a prostitute.
    Her writing on 'Soap' and 'Benson' has been received by some as confusing, unrealistic, or inappropriate.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She has been married to the same man for over thirty years.
    She started out writing episodes for 'The Partridge Family.'
    Her show, 'Benson,' was one of the first major television shows to feature a black man as its title character.
    She specifically had Bea Arthur in mind when she created the Dorothy Zbornak character.
    She was a colleague of Norman Lear, and both were on the receiving end of death threats for airing 'Maude’s Dilemma.'
    The actors who got their start on one of her shows include Jerry Seinfeld, Mario Lopez, Billy Crystal, and George Clooney.
    She used 'The Golden Girls' to draw attention to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (about which little was known at the time) in the episode, 'Sick and Tired.'
    She reportedly was planning on retiring before being convinced to draft the pilot for 'The Golden Girls'.
    'The Golden Girls' reruns have been in regular international syndication since 1989.
    'The Golden Girls' received the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series twice, in 1986 and 1987.
    She was awarded the Paddy Chayevsky Laurel Award in 2005 by the Writers Guild of America.
    She was inducted into the Museum of Television and Radio.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 22 Votes: 77.27% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 75 Votes: 44.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying