I am of the last generation of children who can remember what it was like to watch original network television programming on Saturday nights, particularly of the NBC sitcom variety. Before Saturday night became a junkyard of repeats, irrelevant specials, and low-rated reality fillers, it was once a comedic land of milk-and-honey. My earliest memories hark back to the late 80s when The Facts of Life aired first-run episodes, kicking off a two-hour block of sitcoms that came and went: 227 , Amen , Gimme a Break , the short-lived Throb (anyone?), Empty Nest , Nurses , Mad About You ... These were usually followed by a 10pm drama ( Hunter , then Sisters , then The Pretender ) which usually heralded my bedtime. But the grandaddy (or grandmommy) of Saturday night sitcoms, for me and countless others, was - and will always be - The Golden Girls . Upon re-watching the series from the beginning on DVD - a luxury only unemployment or a freelance career can bestow - I've learned a fe