The production team were desperate for Bea Arthur to return for the second and third seasons that they offered to cut down the episode number and work around her schedule. Arthur declined the offer a number of times. Had Arthur returned the second season would have seen the girls return to their Miami home and The Golden Girls would have resumed.
The reason why it was cancelled was because the ratings kept slipping throughout the first season, mainly because many viewers thought that without Bea Arthur, the show wasnt as good and didnt have the same dynamic as The Golden Girls.