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"Designing Women" (1986) More at IMDb Pro »

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23 comments in total

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10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Without Delta Burke and Jean Smart, this show floundered, 7 marzo 2001
Author: SkippyDevereaux de Parkersburg, West Virginia

This show was funny most of the time--and a might preachy some of the time, but always fun to watch. As long as Delta Burke and Jean Smart were on the show, it really was great, but when these two funny women left the show, it went downhill FAST!! That means that the first five years of the show were the best and should not be missed. Suzanne, Charlene and Anthony were the funniest characters on this show and Julia was too preachy, while Mary Jo was a pain in the neck--always whining about something!!

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Witty and Extremely Funny, 30 noviembre 2003

Author: vs661966 de Scranton, PA

"Designing Women" centered on four Southern women who worked at an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. The original cast included Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, and Meshach Taylor. The humor was outrageously funny, witty and topical and the actors all worked well as an ensemble since their characters were so well-defined and very different. I am puzzled by the many negative comments about this show stating that it was not funny. Were these people watching the same show that I was?

In 1991, both Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the series and were replaced by Julia Duffy, who had played Stephanie on "Newhart," and Jan Hooks, an alumna of "Saturday Night Live." Both were fine actresses but their characters were not well fleshed-out. Duffy's Allison Sugarbaker was a New Yorker and, in my opinion, just never caught on with viewers. Hooks' Carlene Dobber was simply a nitwit, which is a shame because Jan Hooks was hysterical and very versatile on all the seasons she was on SNL. They never developed a multi-layered character that utilized her full comedic potential, but rather one that was mostly a one-note caricature. So, this truly fine and funny actress was wasted in a silly role. Julia Duffy was replaced the next and final season by Judith Ivey, whose character was again a Southern type who fit seamlessly into the ensemble.

I often think the best character was Bernice Clifton as played by the outrageously funny and talented Alice Ghostley. Next to Suzanne Sugarbaker, this character had some hilarious and unforgettable lines.

There are many terrific episodes of this series. They are currently being rebroadcast on the Lifetime Network along with "The Golden Girls," another great series. Those who commented that "Designing Women" is a rip-off of "The Golden Girls" are mistaken; both are fine situation comedies in their own right but are also very unique and distinct from one another. The only thing common to both is that each show starred four wonderful comedic actresses. It would be great to have some solid programming such as both of these shows on the networks today.

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8 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Tornado Watch, 29 mayo 2001
Author: Nick-337 de Tennessee, USA

I just saw an episode of Designing Women entitled "Tornado Watch". In my opinion this was the best episode of the entire series. The writers and actors were at their peak of hilarity when they produced this little gem back in 1990. I've seen it many times and it never fails to make me laugh out loud. This particular episode had all the elements that made Designing Women one of the best television sitcoms in history. Dim-witted Charlene Stillfield makes a home video to send back to her hillbilly clan in Poplar Bluff. Aging beauty queen Suzanne Sugarbaker at her most 'PMS-on-a-diet' bitchy, shrieks "Happy Anniversary, Lois and Shimmy!" into Charlene's camcorder. Sassy single mother Mary Jo Shively is whining about some sexist pig again. Feminist Julia Sugarbaker is her usual cool-collected self but getting more frazzled by the minute. Ditzy senior-citizen Bernice Clifton drops by and so does Daddy Jones, an old mountain man. When Daddy breaks out the moonshine things really get zany. Ex-con Anthony Bouvier and his annoying girlfriend Vanessa groove to motown tunes in the background. It's an all-out madcap party. As Bernice and Daddy Jones dirty dance, Julia delivers the funniest line of the show, "I don't ever wanna see anything like this in my home again." Then, a nerdy client drunk on moonshine, strips down to bikini briefs and proceeds to sexually harass all the women. Luckily, a tornado rips through Sugarbaker's before things get too out of hand. The next day as everyone cleans up the mess, Charlene's outrageous home video airs on CNN...the perfect ending to this perfect episode. Many thanks to Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts, Meshach Taylor and Alice Ghostley for making us laugh for seven great seasons. Now we can see them all again everyday on Lifetime. Enjoy!

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Hilarious, often touching Southern belles, 4 agosto 2005
Author: blanche-2 de United States

Designing Women is a true classic show, certainly with its original cast, offering some of the best characters, chemistry, and scripts ever on television. The people behind the show were the Thomasons, good friends of Bill Clinton from Arkansas, and often, the show expressed their liberal point of view.

Julia, Suzanne, Charlene, Mary Jo etc., have now all passed into syndication where they can be enjoyed all the time. These wonderful actresses fleshed out their characters so were able to laugh, be appalled, and cry with them: Julia, the widow, outspoken with a good heart; Suzanne, her beauty queen sister, selfish, shallow, and lovable; Charlene, the patsy, pretty, sweet, and naive; Mary Jo, the divorcée, struggling with dating and motherhood, self-deprecating and funny. And what can be said about that supporting cast of Meshach Taylor as Anthony and Alice Ghostley as Bernice? Perfect.

Even though I laughed hysterically at many of the episodes, two stand out - one where, during freezing weather, Suzanne and Anthony are stranded at a fleabag hotel for the night; the other was when the girls went on some sort of camping trip and were ordered around by a counselor - I'm vague on the details, but I can still see the look on Charlene and Mary Jo's faces.

Like the Golden Girls, with the loss of one of the cast, in this case Delta Burke, the show suffered, although it was still funny with Julia Duffy and Judith Ivey. But audiences find it difficult to accept new characters as replacements, no matter how good. The chemistry was never the same. Nevertheless, even the later episodes make for great viewing.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Quite Underrated, 25 mayo 2007

Author: Aztec_Camera de Denver

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Where to begin. Designing Women has always been one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. For the record I am also a huge fan of The Golden Girls. As many know these two shows have been heavily compared and contrasted for the longest time. The two shows do have striking similarities and many out there have accused Designing Women of ripping The Golden Girls off (And I do believe there is a hint of truth to that, but we'll save that for another time) but Designing Women stands completely on it's own. In many ways I think there is a sense of humanism & realism in Designing Women that is lacking in The Golden Girls, but enough about them.

I fell in love with the show straight from the Pilot. I was all of 10 years old but I thought it was hysterical. I enjoyed the great cast of characters and how beautifully they played off of one another. And the actresses who played those characters were amazing. Whether it was the kooky yet vulnerable Charlene (Jean Smart), the confidence and dry wit of Julia (Dixie Carter), the semi-neurotic girl next door Mary Jo (Annie Potts) or the over the top drama (And silliness) of Suzanne (Delta Burke), these characters made me laugh and laugh. They were all great performers but Delta Burke as Suzanne truly stood out as a one of a kind comedic talent. Burke surprised critics and viewers alike by showing she could bring a self absorbed former beauty queen (With a secret heart of gold) to new heights of hilarity. The show also benefited from the strong political sensibilities of it's creator/producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason as the show often took liberal political stances during a time when it was relatively taboo for sitcoms to do so. The show did struggle during it's last couple of seasons primarily due to a revolving door of cast changes. First, it was the very abrupt departure of Burke, which from a viewer stand-point was somewhat jarring. What I mean by that is that we had one of the strongest (And funniest) characters literally vanish in thin air without ANY explanation, it really kinda threw things off for awhile. After Burke departed we than saw Charlene leave. At least this time there was an explanation, her military husband had suddenly been permanently transferred to the UK. Next was the truly AWFUL casting of Julia Duffy as Sugarbaker cousin, Allison. Though I hold no ill-will towards the acting talent of Duffy, the character of Allison Sugarbaker was dreadful. She was completely unlikeable and had NO redeeming qualities. Although it never "Jumped The Shark", the Allison character came pretty close to pushing it over that edge. I think Jan Hooks should get special mention as someone who continuously elevated the show. With a few years of Saturday Night Live experience under her belt she managed to create a funny, memorable character in that of Carlene Dawber, the sweet yet strange little sister of the departed Charlene. Eventually another character hopped on board, that of BJ (Played nicely by Judith Ivey) a wealthy widow who became a partner to save the ailing Sugarbaker firm. I will always remember Designing Women as a genuinely funny show with quirky yet believable characters and great writing, despite some of it's messy cast changes. My all-time favorite episode is "Pearls of Wisdom", just for the laugh-til-you-cry hilarity of the salad bar scene.

At the time of this writing (June 07') a season-by-season DVD release is pending. Sony (The studio that will release DW on DVD) initially intended to release Season 1 in the summer of 06. However, a season-by-season release has been stalled due to music clearances. This is completely plausible considering the dozens (and dozens) of songs/pieces of music used throughout the series. Sony has stated that due to a market saturation of TV to DVD releases, the music industry is taking advantage of this by demanding big bucks for music licensing. Sony says that the music fees are so high that if they were to go ahead with the shows release it would mean a much higher than usual retail price for the sets. Sony has repeated that they are committed to releasing the show on DVD but want to keep the price point low so that casual fans and hardcore fans alike can enjoy the show without raping their wallets. And so we wait......

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A witty and wonderful show, 3 agosto 2003
Author: sadierose de United States

This show had a lot of wit and humor. It was such a greatly written show about issues that were (and still are) important. They were brought to light for others to learn and understand.

Additionally, the comedy was hilarious. I found the women to be fantastic characters and the actresses did such wonderful jobs. I loved the speeches Julia fired upon people, the useless stories Charlene recalled, the wit that Mary Jo displayed, and the way that Suzanne was ignorant and it was done in such a humorous and revealing way. I just think this show was ingenious!

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It should have been these four women!, 13 octubre 2006

Author: Sylvia Marciniak (sylviastel@aol.com) de United States

One of things that bothered me about Designing Women was the loss of Delta Burke and Jean Smart leaving the show. Saturday Night Live's Jan Hooks and Newhart's Julia Duffy joined the cast but the show was never the same again. Alice Ghostley and Meshach Taylor were regulars in supporting roles. I remember watching this show on Monday nights when it first aired. They were four loud, opinionated, Southern broads with a sense of humor and chemistry. I truly could believe that Suzanne and Julia played by Dixie Carter and Delta Burke were sisters. I didn't care about Suzanne or Delta's weight. It wasn't an issue but people in Hollywood think that weight is a bigger issue than it should be. Anyway, I never saw the four women ever appear to be working. The place didn't look like an office but an actual house. I know they were supposed to be interior designers but I never saw them do any work. Anyway Annie Potts and Jean Smart were great as the divorced mom and single receptionist. I remember the episode in which Julia was a juror and she was invited to meet President Carter and his wife. Well she missed the dinner but they invited her for desert because of her obligations. It was a well-written show too and very well acted.

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THE BEST SHOW EVER!!!!, 9 febrero 2002
Author: jenjen5159 de Iowa

Frankly, I thought this show was fantastic!!! Not only were Dixie Carter,Delta Burke, Annie Potts and Jean Smart fantastic in their roles, the series itself was fantastic! And despite the big arguement over Delta's weight, the show still succeeded. I mean, I LOVE Dixie Carter. She is just about as beautiful and intelligent as they come. And being born in Tennessee and doing as well as she has done for herself isn't easy...I just admire her so much. And this show just brought out the best in her with her tirades and all!! I just LOVED it! It's a great show and EVERYONE should watch it! If ya'll want to IM me, my SN is ClssySssyJen or you can email me at Dianarossdiva@yahoo.com!

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DW is the BEST, 20 septiembre 2001
Author: DixieCarter4Life (DixieCarter4Life@aol.com) de USA

I LOVE "Designing Women" I've been a fan for years now! And I'm a HUGE Dixie Carter fan! In my opinion "Designing Women" is the BEST show that was ever put on tv. I wish there would be more, good ole shows like "Designing Women" Don't get me wrong, I like the new shows out, like "Any Day Now" and "Family Law" but I think everyone who's a "Designing Women" fan would have to say "Designing Women" was well written, had 'true' stories that people could relate to, and much much much more! But probably one of the biggest thing that made the show such a hit had to be the actresses! They had the BEST casting.... I LOVE every single one of the actresses on the show! And Meshach Taylor is a wonderful actor, as well as Hal Holbrook (Hal the Hottie), Gerald McRaney, and Douglas Barr, and of course all the rest of the guest stars! My favorite guest star was for sure was Ginna and Mary Dixie Carter! They were both wonderful when they starred, and I hope they become just like their Momma! I will for sure be a huge fan! But all in all, "Designing Women" is the best show that ever was, and will continue to be!

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wonderful show...hated to see it end, 9 noviembre 1998
Author: susan de southern illinois

I would love to be able to send alice ghostley a fan letter or set a message sent to her, that I just love her as an actress! I have never wanted to do this sort of thing before, but I just love her and want her to know it...so if you know of a way, let me know...please! susan scking@accessus.net

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