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Chef George Geary made the cheesecakes the ladies frequently ate on The Golden Girls, which turns 40 on Sept. 14

He tells PEOPLE he was originally asked to make a carrot cake, but suggested cheesecake would look better on camera

“I used to have to do seven cheesecakes for every Friday night taping,” he recalls

It’s hard to imagine The Golden Girls without picturing the four ladies devouring a cheesecake over late-night talks.

But Chef George Geary tells PEOPLE the beloved series’ recurring dessert was almost carrot cake.

Geary, in his 20s at the time, was working at a grocery store near Paramount Studios in 1985, and would typically field requests for various TV shows.

In March of that year, he was asked to make a wedding cake for the Golden Girls pilot, in whic

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