| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 22-24 minutes |
| Creator: | Linda Bloodworth-Thomason |
| Company: | Bloodworth/Thomason Mozark Productions Columbia Pictures Television |
| Country: | United States |
| Opentheme: | "Georgia on My Mind" (Performed by Doc Severinsen, seasons 1–2) (Performed by Bruce Miller, seasons 3–5) (Performed by Ray Charles, season 6) |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | CBS |
| Num Seasons: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 163 |
| List Episodes: | List of Designing Women episodes |
Designing Women is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS between September 29, 1986 and May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason Mozark Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television for CBS.
The series centers on the lives of four women and one man working together at an interior design firm in 1980s Atlanta, Georgia, called Sugarbaker & Associates. It originally starred Dixie Carter as Julia Sugarbaker, president of the design firm; Delta Burke as Suzanne Sugarbaker, the design firm's silent partner and Julia's ex-beauty queen sister; Annie Potts as head designer Mary Jo Shively; and Jean Smart as office manager Charlene Frazier. In the third season, Meshach Taylor was given a starring role for his previously recurring character of delivery man and later partner Anthony Bouvier. Later in its run, the series gained notoriety for its well-publicized behind-the-scenes conflicts and cast changes. Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks replaced Burke and Smart for season six, but Duffy was not brought back for the seventh and final season, and she was replaced by Judith Ivey.
Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) is an elegant, sophisticated, outspoken woman who is the co-founder and president of Sugarbaker & Associates, an interior design firm located in her own home in Atlanta. She is partnered with her younger sister, Suzanne (Delta Burke), an attractive, selfish, self-centered former Miss Georgia World, who invested her money but does not have an official position within the business. Naïve but sweet-natured Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart), who worked as a secretary for Julia's late husband, Hayden, also invested half of her savings at Sugarbaker's and works as office manager. Charlene's next-door neighbor and recently divorced best friend, Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts), is the main interior designer of the firm and also a full partner.
Alongside the women, there is Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor), an ex-convict who is hired as the company's deliveryman and later becomes a full partner. By late 1986, Julia and Suzanne's mother, Perky (Louise Latham), comes for a visit with her outrageous best friend Bernice Clifton (Alice Ghostley). Perky does not stay long and moves to Japan, leaving Bernice in Atlanta, where she begins to spend time with the others.
At the end of the fifth season, actress Delta Burke left the show after a much-publicized feud with the show's producers, so her character, Suzanne, moved to Japan to join her mother, Perky. Actress Jean Smart also left at the beginning of the sixth season after deciding she wanted to spend more time with her young child.
To handle Smart's departure, her character, Charlene, moved to England with her Air Force husband and their daughter. Julia and Suzanne's obnoxious cousin Allison (Julia Duffy) acquires Suzanne's share of the design firm and also rents her home. Anthony and Charlene's sister Carlene (Jan Hooks) move in with her. Carlene also begins working at Sugarbaker's, filling the office manager vacancy that older sister Charlene left behind.
Allison (Duffy) left after the sixth season. Texan widow Bonnie Jean Poteet (Judith Ivey), was written in for season seven. These changes failed to hold the attention of viewers who enjoyed the original cast of the first five seasons. Designing Women was cancelled after the seventh season.
See main article: List of Designing Women episodes.
The exterior of the house seen in the series as the location of the Sugarbakers' design firm is the Angelo Marre House located in the historic Quapaw Quarter district in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The home of Suzanne Sugarbaker seen in the series is the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, also in the Quapaw Quarter. Both homes are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
When the show debuted in CBS's Monday-night lineup in 1986, it garnered respectable ratings; however, CBS moved the show several times to other time slots. After dismal ratings in Sunday night and Thursday night time slots, CBS[1] placed it on hiatus and was ready to cancel the show, but a viewer campaign saved the show and returned it to its Monday night slot. The show's ratings solidified, and it regularly landed in the top 20 rankings.[2] From 1989 through 1992, Designing Women and Murphy Brown (which also centered around a strong, opinionated female character) aired back-to-back, creating a very successful hour-long block for CBS, as both shows were thought to appeal to similar demographics. The show was a top 30 hit for three seasons, from 1989 to 1992, in which the 1989–1992 seasons made it the most successful of the time and helped CBS, which struggled in the ratings around the late 1980s. A move to the Friday night death slot in fall 1992 caused ratings to fall again and the series to be canceled.[3]
Show creators Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason were strong supporters of longtime friend and then-Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary. Midway through the seventh season, Julia is stranded in the airport while attempting to attend Clinton's first inauguration, in an episode ("The Odyssey") that aired five days prior. Earlier in the series, Charlene mentions working for Clinton during his Arkansas governorship. Another Clinton-related joke was the introduction during the sixth season of the prissy character, Allison Sugarbaker, who makes it quite clear to the others that she attended Wellesley College, Hillary's alma mater. An early third season episode ("The Candidate") also revolves around Julia running for commissioner; she debates on television against a conservative candidate, to whom she eventually loses.
In reality, Dixie Carter was a libertarian-leaning Republican who disagreed with some of the liberal views expressed by her onscreen character. However, she did support liberal causes, such as civil rights and same-sex marriage.[4] Carter cut a deal with the Thomasons in which Julia would sing a song in a future episode for every liberal-leaning monologue.[5] [6]
| Year | Association | Category | Nominee | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | BMI Film & TV Awards | BMI TV Music Award | Bruce Miller | ||
| 1992 | |||||
| 1987 | Casting Society of America | Artios Award for Best Casting for TV, Comedy Episodic | Fran Bascom | ||
| 1989 | |||||
| 1990 | |||||
| Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series | Harry Thomason for episode "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" | |||
| 1991 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Comedy Episode | "Suzanne Goes Looking for a Friend"[7] | ||
| 1990 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy | |||
| 1991 | |||||
| 1987 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Jack Shea for episode "The Beauty Contest" | ||
| Outstanding Costume Design for a Series | Cliff Chally for episode "Oh Suzannah" | ||||
| 1988 | Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Linda Bloodworth-Thomason for episode "Killing All the Right People" | |||
| Outstanding Editing for a Series – Multi-Camera Production | Roger Bondelli for episode "Killing All the Right People" | ||||
| Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series | Judy Crown and Monique DeSart for episode "I'll Be Seeing You" | ||||
| 1989 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Harry Thomason, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Pamela Norris, Tommy Thompson, Douglas Jackson, and David Trainer | |||
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Meshach Taylor | ||||
| Outstanding Costume Design for a Series | Cliff Chally for episode "Come On and Marry Me, Bill" | ||||
| 1990 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Harry Thomason, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Pamela Norris, Tommy Thompson, Douglas Jackson, and David Trainer | |||
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Delta Burke | ||||
| Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Harry Thomason for episode "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" | ||||
| Outstanding Editing for a Series – Multi-camera Production | Judy Burke for episode "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century" | ||||
| Outstanding Costume Design for a Series | Cliff Chally for episode "The Rowdy Girls" | ||||
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special | Larry Lasota, Anthony Constantini, Doug Gray, and Rick Himot for episode "Tornado Watch" | ||||
| 1991 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Harry Thomason, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Pamela Norris, Tommy Thompson, Douglas Jackson, and David Trainer | |||
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Delta Burke | ||||
| Outstanding Costume Design for a Series | Cliff Chally for episode "Keep the Home Fires Burning" | ||||
| 1992 | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Alice Ghostley | |||
| 1990 | Television Critics Association | Outstanding Achievement in Comedy | |||
| 2003 | TV Land Awards | Most Memorable Female Guest Star in a Comedy as Herself | Dolly Parton | ||
| Favorite Guest Performance by a Musician on a TV Show | Ray Charles | ||||
| 1987 | Viewers for Quality Television | Best Quality Comedy Series | |||
| Best Writing in a Quality Comedy Series | Linda Bloodworth-Thomason | ||||
| Best Directing in a Quality Comedy Series | Jack Shea | ||||
| 1988 | Best Quality Comedy Series | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series | Meshach Taylor | ||||
| Best Writing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| Best Directing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| 1989 | Best Quality Comedy Series | ||||
| Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series | Delta Burke | ||||
| Dixie Carter | |||||
| Annie Potts | |||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series | Meshach Taylor | ||||
| Best Writing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| Best Directing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| 1990 | Best Quality Comedy Series | ||||
| Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series | Delta Burke | ||||
| Dixie Carter | |||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series | Meshach Taylor | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series | Alice Ghostley | ||||
| Best Writing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| Best Directing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| 1991 | Best Quality Comedy Series | ||||
| Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series | Delta Burke | ||||
| Dixie Carter | |||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series | Meshach Taylor | ||||
| Best Writing in a Quality Comedy Series | |||||
| Best Specialty Player | Alice Ghostley | ||||
| 1992 | Best Actress in a Quality Comedy Series | Dixie Carter | |||
| 1994 | Writers Guild of America | Episodic Comedy | Linda Bloodworth-Thomason for episode "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century" | ||
| 1994 | Young Artist Awards | Best Youth Actress Recurring or Regular in a TV Series | Lexi Randall |
Shout! Factory has released all seven seasons of Designing Women on DVD in Region 1.[8]
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 22 | May 26, 2009 | |
| The Complete Second Season | 22 | August 11, 2009 | |
| The Complete Third Season | 22 | March 2, 2010 | |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 29 | September 14, 2010 | |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 24 | December 6, 2011 | |
| The Complete Sixth Season | 23 | April 3, 2012 | |
| The Complete Seventh and Final Season | 22 | July 17, 2012 |
On September 2, 2003, Sony Pictures released The Best of Designing Women, a single-disc DVD featuring five episodes ranging between seasons one through four: "Designing Women (Pilot)" (season 1), "Killing All the Right People" (season 2), "Reservations for Eight" (season 2), "Big Haas and Little Falsie" (season 3) and "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" (season 4).
On September 28, 2010, Shout! Factory released Designing Women, Volume 1, a single-disc DVD featuring seven episodes from the first season: "Designing Women (Pilot)", "A Big Affair", "Design House", "I Do, I Don't", "New Year's Daze", "Monette", "And Justice for Paul".
On June 5, 2012, Shout! Factory released Designing Women – 20 Timeless Episodes, aimed for casual fans to enjoy the series without buying full season sets. The 2-disc DVD set included the following episodes, ranging from seasons one through five: Disc 1 – "Designing Women (pilot)" (season 1), "New Year's Daze" (season 1), "Monette" (season 1), "Oh Suzannah" (season 1), "Ted Remarries" (season 2), "Killing All the Right People" (season 2), "Heart Attacks" (season 2), "Return of Ray Don" (season 2), "Big Haas & Little Falsie" (season 3), "The Wilderness Experience" (season 3). Disc 2 – "The Naked Truth" (season 3), "Stand & Fight" (season 3), "Nightmare from Hee Haw" (season 3), "Julia Gets Her Head Caught in a Fence" (season 4), "Julia & Suzanne's Big Adventure" (season 4), "Foreign Affairs" (season 4), "A Blast from the Past" (season 5), "And Now, Here's Bernice" (season 5), "This is Art?" (season 5) and "The Pride of the Sugarbakers" (season 5).
CBS ran reruns of the show in their daytime lineup at 10:00 a.m. (ET) from April 1991 to June 1992. Subsequently, Designing Women aired on the Lifetime cable network for over a decade. Despite its popularity, the show left the network on August 4, 2006.
A 90-minute retrospective special, The Designing Women Reunion, aired on Lifetime on July 28, 2003, reuniting Burke, Potts, Smart, Carter and Taylor in which they shared memories from their time on the series, and also featured interviews with the Thomasons and various writers. Actors Alice Ghostley, Hal Holbrook, Gerald McRaney, and Richard Gilliland also took part in the special.
The series also aired on Nick at Nite beginning October 2, 2006; however, it quickly left and later appeared on its sister network TV Land, airing at various late-night and morning times occasionally until the network lost the rights to air the show in 2008. The series aired on ION Television in 2007[9] and has also aired on Comedy Gold, TV Guide Network, and Logo.
In recognition of the show's 30th anniversary, getTV began running the series in June 2017 with nightly blocks featuring 30 fan-favorite episodes, after which the series began airing regularly on the network.[10]
As of Spring 2021, Antenna TV airs two episodes of the show on weeknights at 12:00 and 12:30 a.m. ET,[11] while FETV airs the show weekdays at 3:00 and 3:30 a.m. as of March 2021.[12]
As of August 28, 2019, the series is available for streaming on Hulu. The episodes are not the original versions aired on CBS, but syndication edits, which contain an altered opening credit sequence and choppy edits to allow more time for commercials.
As of 2024, all 7 seasons are available on Prime Video.
Burke returned as the Suzanne Sugarbaker character in the 1995 spin-off series, Women of the House. The series ran for one season, airing on CBS from January 4, 1995, to August 18, 1995, with the final four episodes airing on Lifetime on September 8, 1995.