Designing Women

First Show	1986
Last Show	1993
Genre	Comedy
Network	CBS
Slot Day	Monday
Slot Time	9:30 pm
Jumped The Shark when...	Votes
Exit...Stage Left (Delta)	84
Julia Duffy joins the cast	16
Never Jumped	13
Julia gets on the soapbox	9
Delta's Weight	6
Singing (Dixie Carter)	3
Not That There's Anything Wrong With It (Anthony)	2
Special Guest Star (Marla Maples)	2
Day One	2
New Kid in Town (Bernice)	2
Priscilla Presley	1
Hal Holbrook leaves the show	1
Julia goes through menopause	1
Gerald McRaney	1
It ran out of story	1
Birth (Olivia)	1
The Jackee rumour	1
Dixie gets bitchy	1

Other Thoughts:

When the cast director realized that these women just are not attractive anymore.
When Delta Burke gained about 100 lbs.
After Ray Charles sang the opening credits
When Delta left and poor Julia Duffy (so good on Newhart) was forced to play a variation on her Stephanie character. The problem was, it wasn't funny.
the very first time julia got up on her soap box to give a political commentary.she gave some kind of "southern women will not stand for this" kind of speech on every show
Not Duffy's fault, but by the time Burke left, the show was pretty much outta steam anyway.
It never jumped. It came close when Julia Duffy joined (the character, not necessarily Duffy herself). Delta was missed, but Judith Ivey as BJ Poteet was a fabulous replacement, and Jan Hooks was as great as ever.
When they got Julia Duffy on the show, they tried to have her do a variation on Stephanie Vanderkellen, but the problem is that there can only be one Stephanie Vanderkellen, and she was on Newhart. She was just funnier up in the frozen north than in Dixieland.
I dont think this show ever jumped the shark, but I have to consider that the opening with Ray Charles and the two new additions to the cast (Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks), gave the impression that we were about to see a whole different show. Same punchlines, good jokes, they knew how to carry humor, and I loved BJ Poteet. One thing I didn't like about the show is that sometimes it would get too moral and sentimental (cheesy), here we are tuning a program to get good laughs and instead you get a lesson on morality, issues and love. They can leave that to soap operas.
This show jumped the shark the moment they let Delta Burke go. Delta and Dixie were the best thing that was on that show. Dixie was just not as good without her.
The show never recovered after the loss of Delta Burke, though Jean Smart was a bright spot.
I think that when Hal Holbrook left the show, things went pretty much down hill from there. In the fifth season, Randa Oliver is left at Julia's house after Reese Watson has passed away and that is really the last decent episode. I don't know when Hal Holbrook left the show, but that is the episode that acknowledged that he was gone. Loved so many episodes! Bernice's Sanity Hearing, Payne's Wedding, The Rowdy Girls & when the tornado hits Sugarbakers. I still watch the re-runs & still love it!
People are too quick to dismiss the post-Delta years of this show. As enjoyable as she was, the BJ Poteet character of the last season was a breath of fresh air and one of the most entertaining characters on the entire show. Julia Duffy's character was kind of a let-down but she did have her moments. And any upset over Jean Smart's departure was eased with the addition of the hilarious Jan Hooks. So the show never jumped! It's the first couple seasons that aren't so enjoyable. The "mousy" Mary Jo character was a waste of Annie Potts' talent until she (Mary Jo) started to gain some self-confidence and lose her inhibitions.
Yeah, I have an idea, take away one of the coolest characters on the show and replace her with a SNL veteran, but let's not make her an independent character. Let's make her the sister of the beloved character that left. They should do that with all sitcoms to make it jump the shark.
I loved DW during its 4th 5th and 6th season. In fact, Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks brought an even greater comedy quotient to the series and it seemed to almost abandon its feminist slant during this period. Even though Judith Ivey was perfect as BJ Poteet, the show lost something when the characters stopped being true to form in the last season. Julia went from being a very outspoken but classy lady to a temper-throwing, self-absorbed, petulant bitch and that ruined it for me. For a show that prided itself on its true-to-life characters, they never should had tampered with character traits like that. There were some gems during the last year though--like when Mrs Beechum came to visit, and Carlene's boyfriend was a crossdresser--the Gone With the Wind finale could have been better but it was ok. Still a very well written, funny show--almost up to par with the Golden Girls but not quite.
I just knew that Dixie Carter was just like her character. A loud, cranky old southern woman who couldn't for just one episode shut her fool mouth and stop blathering on and on about some social pet peeve of the day.
this show jumped when there was a casting change. the replacemant of delta and gene was a bad move. linda bloodworth - thompson should have swallowed her pride for the good of the show. there were a few good episodes in the last two seasons, but not enough to make up for the loss. as for those of you who have responed with misogynistic ideas about julia and the issue about suzanne's weight, grow up! this is the real world, not everyone is a size 2. many of us admire delta and she is far happier than most, so lay off! and for those of you who don't know what misogynistic means, i suggest you go buy a dictionary.
The day Julia Duffy joined the cast.... why? why? why?
When Delta Burke left and Jean Smart left and were replaced by those new actresses. The brown-haired one was all right, but that bleached blonde one that used to be on Newhart was abominable.
two words - GERALD MCRANEY. as soon as he married Delta Burke...he filled her head with a bunch of crap and turned her against her fellow castmates...personally...i blame HIM!!!!!!!!
I'd have to say that Delta Burke's and Jean Smart's departure from the show marked the beginning of the end. I'm not saying that they were irreplacable (although they were terrific). But the show's biggest mistake was trying to replace them with different characters who were really just carbon copies without the charm. Julia Duffy was just reprising her "Newhart" role with all the nastiness and none of the humor. And Jan Hooks (whom I adore) was just an attempt to recapture the innocence of Jean Smart's character, but without the intelligence. So she just came off as stupid. Bad writing. And each replacement thereafter was just more and more floundering.
Despite coming close several times, DW never quite jumped the shark. Even after I got bored with Allison, BJ Poteet came and saved the day. By the final Gone With the Wind episode, it seemed tragic that it was going off the air. I have seen every episode and still watch it every day in syndication, and it's still great!
I loved this show and still watch reruns, but they started running out of story.
When those three new girls joined and most everyone else left
It's the first two seasons of this show that are the real bottom of the barrel. By season 3 things started getting good and remained so till the end. Sure Delta and Jean were missed but the new additions made for some great episodes during season 6. And Julia Duffy leaving was yet another step in the right direction because Judith Ivey's BJ Poteet was hysterical. Too bad she was only around one season.
The moment I saw Delta Burke's fried-chicken eatin' fat ass. This crap was on the air seven seasons? geezsh. This show started the disturbing trend of the South trying to take over this damn UNION. First shows like this make the air. Then a so-called "Modern" city like Atlanta gets the Olympics (good job guys! You ended a streak of 100 years of Olympics without a f--king bomb going off! Congrats!) and of course CBS (the Country Bumpkin Station) continuously trying to shove that godawful country music down our throats). Hey South! In case you don't remember, THE NORTH WON THE CIVIL WAR!!!!! Sincerely - disgruntled guy in Massachusetts (or as you redneck losers say "Taxachusetts" - but hey, at least we don't hang minorities by their balls up here)
To the person above that had the arrogance to suggest we buy a dictionary to help us decipher her cryptic, yet witty response, I say --- Julia, is that you on your soap box again?????
Jumped the Shark when Delta Burke left & all the others filed in to take her place.
I'm guessing the guy above wants the Olympics to be held some place safe... like Munich.
To the psycho who blames the South for everything I say to you I didn't know mental wards allowed their patients internet privileges. Southerners are not stupid or violent in fact that little pathetic post you did gives Massachusetts a bad name. And now back to the actual subject on this site Designing Women jumped when two of the original cast members left it no longer had the chemistry it did in the first couple of seasons
To the above poster. If you want to compare Atlanta to 1972 neo-nazi-filled West Germany I won't argue.
When Dixie started giving speeches that were too liberal & politcal. Also when Delta left.
Everybody made a big deal when Delta left, but does anybody remember that Jean Smart made a surprise announcement to leave at the end of the same season? I thought Jean had the most natural Southern accent, and she was the only one of the original quartet who wasn't Southern-born. I also was glad when they made the terrific Alice Ghostley (Bernice) a semi-regular; she provided some of the best laughs of the series. In response to the rant about North vs. South, that war ended 135 years ago. Were you in the Civil War or something, Mr. Massachusetts? Get over it! I don't like country music either, but I have this handy little device called a remote control. Oh, sorry, that's a 20th-century invention; you're too obsessed with ancient history to have known about that.
This show jumped the day it aired without Delta Burke and Jean Smart, Delta really made the show funny! When they replaced her with that Blonde Bimbo i really lost interest. The show just wasn't funny anymore.
This show was consistently well written and funny. I think that the characters of Julia and Mary Jo did things that were a bit out-of-character in the final season, however. And the final episode was the pits. The show deserved a better send-off than that.
Jean Smart seemed to lose some of her edge when she married and Olivia was born. The show was much funnier when she was dragging everyone off to Elvis conventions and dating all the weird guys she met at who knows where. Never liked Jan Hooks' character as a replacement.
Julia getting on the soapbox. At first, it was cute and charming. Then, it became more obvious that this was just predictable Leftist diatribe from the show's producers. If I wanted to hear someone preaching, I'd turn on "Jim and Tammy Faye". I once read that Jerry Seinfeld and his cast had two rules (both of which "Designing Women" should have heeded): 1) No hugs; 2) No learning. The heavy-handed leftist political messages took all the amusement out of the show. I'm surprised that Linda Bloodsworth-Thomason couldn't influence her buddy Bill Clinton to introduce some sort of government-sponsored subsidy to ensure the show continue in spite of its lack of appeal (for the good of the children). At the very least, Clinton probably could have scored Janet Reno for a guest appearance on the show. How about Monica Lewinsky as a replacement for Delta Burke? That would have given new meaning to the phrase, "Designing Women sucks."
When most of the cast changed. I always liked Annie Potts.
When the partners kept jumping ship. First Suzanne, then Alison, and then BJ. It was never a great show to begin with, but it was unbearable when you couldn't figure out who was who.
In the fifth season, when chunky mutt and "Friend of Bill" Linda Bloodworth made sure that Delta Burke was relegated to the sidelines. Once the center of the high-flying comic energy that was "Designing Women," Burke languished as Suzanne's role was diminished. Julia Duffy was "okay" as her ostensible replacement in Year Six, but once Judith Ivey joined the cast, this show was OVER!
I LOVED "Designing Women" during ts first run and even now that it's in syndication am still a faithful viewer. However, I think the show jumped the shark when it tried to replace original cast members Delta Burke and Jean Smart who departed the show. I'll admit that the first season of changes (which included new cast member Julia Duffy as Allison Sugarbaker) was still pretty funny; Duffy's character's condescending attitude was vaguely reminiscent of Burke's portrayal of Suzanne Sugarbaker. However, by the next season after Duffy, herself, also left the show and another new character was introduced (Judith Ivey), it was apparent "Designing Women" was through. The show didn't return after that season. Maybe they should have just closed shop after the fifth season instead of trying to replace half of the the original cast members.
The Big Lie: Remember the next-to-last season closer promising amusing black actress Jackee would join the cast? Retooling at its worst: trying to keep viewers by resolving a casting cliffhanger before the next season starts is risky in Hollywood. The writers were forced to scramble for a logic to all the loose ends they tied up, untying and retying them. Julia Duffy was just fine, but she came in with a built-in hurdle as the THIRD rich, spoiled, shallow member of the team -- a lot to overcome.
I don't know that I would say the the show ever actually "jumped", but rather took a new direction. "Designing Women" was a hilariously written and brilliantly acted comedy. Watching the four original "Women" (Burke, Carter, Potts, and Smart) develop over the first five years was a pleasure. The chemistry between them was amazing, and each brought something unique to each episode. The departure of the "politically incorrect" Suzanne Sugarbaker and the "wide-eyed" Charlene Stillfield was a loss, I'll admit. However, viewers seemed to immediately hold a grudge against the talented actresses that were brought in. Julia Duffy's "Allison Sugarbaker" just was not the right fit. Julia gave it her best, but the character just did not work. She did have her moments, however. Jan Hooks was adorable in her first year as "Carlene Dobber." Who can forget her many "former Mrs. Dwayne Dobber" stories, or her constantly inquiring ming..."Julia, how's that breakfast bar?" However, her character seemed a little flat in her second year. And Judith Ivey was fabulous as the flamboyant and spontaneous "BJ Poteet." Although her southern accent was a bit heavy at times, had the show lasted another season or so, her whimsical nature could have really injected a new sense of fun into the show. If given half a chance, these three actresses really could have shined and perhaps the show would have lasted a few more seasons. Thank goodness for the daily reruns on Lifetime!
Designing Women jumped the shark the instant Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. Now, don't get me wrong. The soapbox tirades of Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter's character) were the best part of that show to me, but Carlene, B.J., and Allison just didn't have the same kind of chemistry within the cast as Suzanne and Charlene did.
Dixie got so damned preachy and bitchy near the end. Also, it was obvious she was getting a little long in the tooth, so to speak, and she was wearing clothes that a 20 year old model would handle. It was obvious from that coffee commercial at the time that she considered her long legs and high heels to be assets; did anyone out there think she was hot?? Just act, lady; don't try to be a 60 year old sex kitten.
Designing Women jumped the shark when it started male-bashing it seemed when something went wrong in Julia and Mary Joe's life they Started on a long speech about how men brought ruin to their lives Designing Women continued to go down when they lost Suzanne because she was able to counter Julia's male-bashing in a way that Alison could not. Finally, The Shark finally ate Designing women when it began Clinton's National Political Career. In a couple of Designing Women shows from the late 1980s Bill Clinton's name was brought up.
When Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. Julia Duffy was a bust. Jan Hooks didn't cut it either. Judith Ivy was great, though - wish she'd been on earlier. But Suzanne and Charlene were the heart and soul of that show, IMHO. Remember them teaming up to beat Julia and MaryJo at Trivial Pursuit?
This episode was Delta at her finest hour. She had gained weight, returned to her high school reunion and put up with ridicule... and then gracefully accepted her award for most "changed" classmate....... with a Delta Zing. Suzanne Sugarbaker and all the ladies of Designing Women are a total inspiration. Timeless ... Lace...and fineless!
Designing Women jumped the shark by trying to make America think that Anthony is a big butch woman chaser...I mean, give me a break!!! Anyone with a little intelligence knows the Hollywood character the actor played in his debut film is Anthony in the closet...or trying to stay in the closet. The show plunged to the abyss when the writers made him do the hetero-redneck wet dream and marry a Las Vegas erotic dancer/singer, trying to make everyone remember that Anthony is just the token black character...not the token black AND gay character.
The show, as most shows do, jumped when they acquired new cast members and got rid of some of the old ones. Even though this show actually explained the losses and gains (some shows just replace characters without explaining it in the story line and that is really frustrating), it just isn't good to take the original chemistry away. Also, the show got entirely too feminist/ political towards the end. I enjoyed their different slants on things, such as when Mary Jo explained her stance on condoms being to fight A.I.D.S., however, the show went overboard and became more about that than about comedy.
Once they added Alice Ghostley to Designing Women it went down. It got worse once Jan Hooks and Julia Duffy replaced Jean Smart and Delta Burke. Alice Ghostley is so annoying. It annoyed me how she talked like she was so with the times and she was young. But she wasn't.
Ok, the show was fantastic the first five years, and even the sixth year with Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks had some promising episodes. But as soon as season seven rolled around, you knew that it was heading for the graveyard. The show became more cartoonish. And the worst moment that stands out for me was Julia ripping her blouse open while singing "The Wanderer". UGH!!
I believe Designing Women jumped the shark when Charlene's character changed after marriage. She went from being a wonderfully non-judgmental, kind person, who had no disdain for strangers or those different than herself, to being well to do rich lady who lunches. Basically, she became just like the Sugarbaker's clients.
When Delta Burke and Jean Smart left--the four original actresses balanced each other out perfectly to achieve a wonderfully comedic equilibrium. The actresses who replaced these two just could not achieve that, although they were good actresses.
The attempt to replace the vivacious and dynamic character played by Delta Burke was a lame one at best. Julia Duffy, while a notable actress, could not make up for the loss suffered by the move of Suzanne to Japan.
They should have gone out gracefully before all the ugliness with Delta Burke. By the time Delta left, they were above the shark. But, oh my, when Charlene left and they added her sister and he wealthy woman (whose name I cannot recall - a good actress, but woefully miscast) I was wishing the shark had eaten them.
DW actually managed to avoid a close call with the shark about halfway into the the sixth season when Bernice had just had all she could take of all the crap going on at Sugarbaker's since Allison's arrival and one day, while suffering from a particularly bad attack of "arterial flow problems," tied up Allison with those tasseled tie-backs earlier used to cover Anthony's eyes, thus shielding him from the blindness induced from seeing Allison's private parts, and forced Julia to recite her soapbox tirade "God is my witness I will burn down Sugarbaker's before I let anymore $%#$& tourists in my house" whereby Allison spontaneously human combusts and the Thomason's are so thankful to Bernice that she has delivered them from yet another mess that they on the spot beg on hands and knees for Delta Burke to return to Sugarbaker's as Suzanne Sugarbaker and open a boutique for the fuller figure gal on the mezzanine level of the design firm; for Julia to realize the error of her loud-mouthed, feminist ways and become the first soprano in the choir of Peachtree Road Arch-Conservative Freewill Baptist Church; for Charlene to moonlight as Jerry Lee Lewis' manager while raising her six adorable children and knitting a rug in her spare time; for Mary Joe to own a highly successful franchise of the first vegetarian "Burger Guy" in the metropolitan Atlanta area; and for Anthony to become Sugarbaker's first black, male decorator, what he has *really* always wanted to do; at this point the show continued at an unparallel rate of success, both in the Neilson ratings and also critical acclaim and remains comfortably to this day in the top-ten shows each week. Bernice, of course, is now the permanent host of the nationally broadcast TV show, "Senior Roundup."
This well-written show jumped the shark when Delta Burke left the show. I absolutely LOVE Delta Burke and I feel some of the best shows were when she had gained weight (and she was still beautiful). She and Dixie Carter had this sort of bond that was evident on the show. And that could not be replaced. I think Julia's character changed b/c she no longer had her baby sister to take care of anymore. I am waiting for the DW reunion show!!
I didn't tune into this show until the end of the first season. I enjoyed it from the start and will admit that I have most of the early episodes on tape. I love the humor, the witty dialogue, the facial expressions, the story lines. I agree that Julia is on her soap box way too often. I strongly agree that the first four designing women were THE BEST CAST. The evening before my wedding, which was the same year Delta got married in real life, my sisters and I watched the tape of Charlene getting married on the show. Schmaltzy, I know. But I loved that show. The vacation shows were a hoot, but my all time favorite is "One Night with You" -- which starts out with Suzanne being absolutely stunned that Charlene might know some influential people in Arkansas who can help her with charitable contributions. So many fun memories.
Whenever they would let Dixie Carter sing. Is there a rule that the more rich and powerful you get, the more musically talented you think you are? Didn't the crew making painful faces give her a clue?
Definitely jumped after the Suzanne and Charlene characters left, particularly, in my opinion, Charlene. But, oh, that awful, awful opening-credit sequence with Ray Charles where the actresses -- all posed in such a contrived way just lounging about the piano in evening wear -- actually look embarrassed and uncomfortable to be there! Whenever I watch DW in syndication and this particular open comes up, it's MY cue to exit...stage left!
Regardless of her weight, Suzanne usually got the best lines. Personally, as a fat woman, my favorite episode was when Suzanne went to her school reunion and was voted "most changed" by her vicious classmates because of the weight she'd gained. Yeah, her feelings were hurt, and she wanted to leave, but she bravely spoke about how all of them had changed, and that none of them was still the same as they were in high school. GO SUZANNE!
Any episode where Julia got on her high horse about something and intimated that men are all evil and the cause of every bad thing since the beginning of time. If men did that they would be called the most dangerous thing on television. As preachy as it could be it could also be quite funny, especially before Delta Burke left. The show should have ended altogether when Jean Smart left.
In all honesty, it really jumped when Suzanne and Charlene left...but I overlooked that when Bernice, who I love, became a regular character on the show. She made up for the humor that was lost when Suzanne and Charlene left. But the show actually semi jumped way back at the beginning when Mary Jo looked like she shopped at Goodwill, and her hair looked like Little Orphan Annie's. She had absolutely no taste whatsoever. Thank God somebody told her to get rid of the outfits and the hairdo that made her look like the host of a kid's show...and finally she got some decent clothing and a better haircut. All in all I really did like this show...and I still watch reruns on Lifetime quite often.
When Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show, it just died. It had come perilously close to jumping the shark early on when that snotty, loudmouthed bitch Dixie Carter started going off on her "southern belles will not stand for this...with God as my witness..." outbursts. They should have kept Suzanne and Charlene and killed off Julia Sugarbaker instead.
Mesach Taylor could have been great as a likeable, over-the-top, campy, gay character. I mean, that's really what he was. I was old enough when this show was on to understand that he was gay. And then I saw the episode where he was dating a hot Asian woman, and was some kind of ladies man. That's when I realized the show had been stupid from the start.
Two words: Alice Ghostley. Ye gods, why was she even brought onto the show? Remember what she did to Bewitched?
I think this show never jumped the shark. BUT , even though i really love this show and continue to watch it on lifetime (because it is on 24-7), I have only a few problems with it. I hated it when every show turned into a pulpit for Julia Sugarbaker and her women's rights and southern hospitality opinions. He rants get tiresome. I also hated it when every word out of Anthony's mouth was "When I was in Prison..." or "I have this friend who I met in jail.." Those got tiring quick, and I just wanted to smack him around a bit. Why was he the only man on the show? And didn't they all just realize that he was gay? Sure he dated a few women, but real mean don't talk like he does. I also grew tired of Delta Burke and her perpetual "when I was in the Miss America Pagent..." comments. And one more thing before I go, when did these people ever work? I know being an interior decorator must be hard and all, but they sure never really did any real work on the show.
Day One. This show was a stupid waste of time. All these glamorous women with their glamorous jobs ever did was sit around and talk and get themselves into ridiculous situations that no one in real life would ever find themselves in. They never did a lick of work in the whole series.
Marla Maples guest starred in a stupid episode where the Designing Women supposedly "empowered" her to leave "The Donald." She delivered this stirring speech of independence and ended up marrying the creep like three months later.
I was the hugest, most obsessed fan of Designing Women until slick "willie" shook his finger in my face and lied, only to later find out the whole stinkin' mess was orchestrated by the Thomasons (masterminds of DW). The final blow came when I realized that Julia's tiresome rantings were just Linda Bloodworth Thomason's super liberal Hollywood political agenda soapbox crapoola. I haven't been able to watch it since.
Thanks to the increasingly shrill leftist politic of the Bloodworth-Thomasons, this show went to hell pretty quickly--but when Alice Ghostly joined the cast, you knew it was all over. I've seen her on more shows than I can count, and all I wanna know is "who decided that this woman has talent?" She may be the most annoying human ever to appear on a television--and yes, I realize the gravity of that comment. But--c'mon--she's not at all funny, and she plays that same dithering idiot in every appearance. The only mystery is trying to figure out what show she'll ruin next. Someone needs to mail Alice an envelope full of spores.
The show "jumped" when all of the dialogue turned into political rants on society, morals, racism, sexism, etc. This might as well been a show on CNN for feminists. The women for one were some of the most undesirable females on television, due in most part to their annoying, self righteous, bullshit speeches that they would give about every 2 minutes (not to mention, in some of the most nauseating accents ever!) This is the worst aspect of this show, but the a runner-up would have to be Meshach Taylor's role. Not only was he the only black person on the show, but he also played nothing more than an errand boy to 4 white rednecks. That's not an exaggeration either, hardly an episode could be seen where he wasn't bringing in their mail, picking up their dry cleaning, or some other petty shit. If the role of Anthony seemed out of place, that's because it was. He was put in to assure the viewer that the Designing Women were not racist. Sort of how in "Driving Miss Daisy", Morgan Freeman is not just Miss Daisy's driver, he is also her "companion". The show was very unfunny. Getting in the bullshit comments on morals or whatever became more important than laughter. One too many shows are doing this now.
Other problems with the show... the replacements Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks, too much plot devoted to Bernice, and Anthony when he's being sentimental. It's okay when he's funny, just don't make him be corny. Julia's singing also makes me cringe.
When all the Designing Women had men they'd all go on couple outings eg; the cabin, dinning out I believe they've even spent a Valentine's Day all together. Can't they all just get an individual life and stop co-existing/co-habitating with each other. It could've been an orgy if it weren't for television censorship.
I agree that it was a classic during its last few original cast seasons..........and, about Alice Ghostley.........genius.....people I know who "don't get her" usually don't get surrealistic humor, or non sequitors........and are more into the "real" humor of MTM show (but don't forget they had Georgette)......Bernice is hilariously "out of it" and if you ever knew anybody with an "arterial flow problem" you'd get it.......Her "Black Man" song......the time she worked the drive through at Burger Guy......how she got fired from a carwash for screwing a coworker in one of the cars.......Hell, she's the one who finally took Dixie Carter down a peg saying, "Let's take it outside......I've wanted a piece of you for a long time.......I'll cut you". Hilarious, Bernice......keep wearing that christmas tree skirt!
I don't think the show jumped the shark, I think the shark ate the show. Delta and Jean leaving the show killed it. And to the Mass. ass who may never read this, you for get we may be southern but like you we are americans and americans we are first. If you are so hell bent to trash the south, give us your name so we can trash you back, you just solidify the idea that northern people are rude. You are not just rude, you are hateful, full of hate, arrogant, ignorant and just plain unlikable and if you have nothing better than to trash the south you need to clean your own house so to speak.
I love Designing Women and love watching them on Lifetime Network. The show really should have ended when Suzanne and Charlene left. I wish they would have stayed because the show had more steam to go. The new characters were okay, but not the same. Actually I hated BJ she bored me. I liked Julia Duffy's character more than her, she was actually funny and cute. I adore Jan Hooks but even her character was not right there. And Julia was doing things that were out of character like stripping and getting crazy. What happened to the stuck up woman? LOL And Mary Jo got way too out of control towards the end and her mouth got too big. I mean before she would get loose and one drink would get her getting crazy which was fun, but they got too cartoonish towards the end. I love Bernice but they used her too much those last 2 seasons also. And you may notice that Julia's and Mary Jo's hair got VERY big and made their heads look huge. I think they wanted to establish that it was their show. And Anthony, I mean come on how gay can you get? And they would hook him up with women and pretend he is the big ladies' man when he really likes it up the wazzoo. And I hated that they would use the same saying ALL time. Like when Anthony was in jail, they could never say "oh I was in prison" he had to say "Due to my unfortunate incarceration" (however you spell it) I mean who in the world says that? And the funny thing is that someone who did not know these people would come on and say the same EXACT thing. Like they wanted to establish that Anthony is not a real criminal, he was just thrown in jail, maybe to not upset the NAACP on having the only black man on the show having been in jail. And with Bernice everyone would say she is not crazy, she just has "a artery flow problem above the neck" I mean even strangers seemed to say that too lol. Man, and how many democratic references did they have to shove down our throats. I know the producers supported the president and all that, but come on. At least Alison was a republican and could say her views, but seeing she was the person they all hated they could not care what she said and we were lead to believe that republicans were wrong. Sometimes it went from a sitcom to a drama about politics. But Suzanne kills me, I love her! I kinda wish for a reunion movie but i am sure it would stink like the others have (facts of life, growing pains, etc) but I miss them so much. Thank god for reruns and Lifetime tv
One of the GREATEST characters on this show was Susanne Sugarbaker, her chemistry with Anthony was undeniable and NO ONE and I MEAN NO ONE could make topless European or the word "naked" as funny as she did. Besides, she had a PIG for Christs sake and an illegal immigrant servant. Not only that but if you caught the episode with Charlene's childhood friend turned prostitute, Susanne gives the greatest explanation of why to get divorced and not be a whore!!! SHE'S GREAT. The episodes she isn't in should be stricken from syndication!!
Delta Burke going bye-bye. Julia Duffy is simply *not* funny. I turn it off when I see her in the opening credits. Bernice is obnoxious too, but Delta's leaving was the Sign of Doom.
I'd like to make comment to the one who sad "Dixie got so damned preachy and bitchy..." Hmmm NO! Dixie did not, I feel her character was the best damn written one! And as far as her clothes go, you're probably just jealous that Dixie could pull off something like that, and that you (if you're a woman) or your wife or girlfriend (if you're a man) cannot! No need to bash Dixie when you're life can't be filled with someone like her! That's highly immature! And so what if she found her legs as an asset! You work with what you got, and Dixie got the legs! And you make her sound like she was parading around in a teddy, poll dancing! I'm sorry but I think you need to either rewatch DW or get your glasses checked! Because that's not what I seen! I seen a beautiful, loving woman, doing what she could to get the best out of her career! She may have been older, but she sure as hell didn't look it! And labeling her an "old sex kitten"... that's just tacky on your part, because it's not true, and very distasteful. Please, grow up before posting something so asinine again!
The show jumped the shark when Delta Burke left. That was the beginning of the end. Very clear point of reference. This show was one of my all time favorites until then. There was the BEST, warmest and most loveable chemistry between the original four women and Anthony....and then Bernice (her "not quite with it" character was HILARIOUS..remember when she WORE the Christmas tree skirt..."Anthony I love you like an illegitimate son!) Some of the episodes were very poignant. Made me tear up in the late eighties and they still do today. I remember "The Rowdy Girls" as one. Then one where Mary Jo has a friend dying of AIDS....and this is in the Reagan 80's mind you...and she makes the speech at the PTA about "for me...this argument is over....no matter what mistakes MY son or YOUR daughter makes....I don't think that they should have to die for it." And perhaps my all-time favorite poignant teary-eyed moment: "Suzanne's High School Reunion" when she gained the weight, went back to her high school reunion and everyone treated her badly....she gets up and makes the speech that talks about "girlfriends and sweet-faced boys who sang to me on the front porch.....and you can remember me any way you like..." Poignant and wonderful and awfully sweet...after all,it was bit of fluffy situation comedy at heart... And Dolly Parton as the guardian angel. "It's the first day of the last decade of the 20th century...and Olivia's comin'" HILARIOUS moments too. When Suzanne put Charlene's expressed breast milk in her coffee...Dash Goff's attempts to get the women to write: "She was the kind of a girl who would have dated Lee Harvey Oswald in high school." LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY. Anthony dresses up like Consuelo the maid and takes the citizenship test for her. "My teeth are HUGE. My feet are ENORMOUS." And when he is caught at girl's camp in the tent in a pink hat: "What's your name?" ......"Cindy." I actually LOVED it when (contrary to other posters) Julia got to be "THE TERMINATOR" but it only worked, as aforementioned, until Delta left the series. Suzanne tempered her sister and reminded Julia of her breeding and poise and her "rants" were articulate and clever...delivered with controlled force. Julia got away with it because she had credibility and commanded respect....beautiful, sexy, intelligent....this all, pardon the expression WENT TO SHIT when Delta left the show and the Julia character did things that were totally OUT OF CHARACTER. Actually became annoying. My favorite tirades of Julia's were in defense of her sister....THE ALL-TIME BEST of the best was when she told off some woman who was critical of Suzanne. "And just so you won't forget, Marjorie, my sister threw that baton higher, faster, farther than it had ever been thrown before...AND THAT WAS THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA." Yes, When Suzanne left the group (along with Noel the pig!) the show never recovered...in spite of other talented and funny actresses who stepped up to the plate. Sigh. Off to television history it went. But not without the indelible image of those lovely intoxicating four women in their gossamer white dresses and picture hats languishing on the porch...they turn and go into the house and with the bolt of a latch...left us alone leaving only a handkerchief and a whim of scarletts......(Dash Goff: "Being Belled.") Linda Bloodworth had a little Kismet there when she had her original cast. Pity things went south (pun sort of intended. sorry)
When the ladies squared off on the Clarence Thomas Debate. Naturally, the liberal, anti-Thomas positions were taken by the two 'intelligent' partners (They paraded around the office in "He Did It" shirts), Dixie Carter and Annie Potts. The two ditzy partners (Delta Burke and Amy Smart) were the Thomas supporters, but for all reasons save the fact that he might be innocent. Of course, I guess that's what to expect when the show's producer was a big FOB (friend of Bill). DW went off the air about a year after this episode...
When Delta Burke left the show that was the beginning of the end. They tried to replace her with Julia Duffy, but it just wasn't the same. Coupled with the fact that Jean Smart chose to leave the show at the same time, it was curtains for this once enjoyable show.
I have to correct the above poster who mentioned the Clarence Thomas episode. Yes, Dixie Carter and Annie Potts (Julia and Mary Jo) did wear "he did it" T-shirts...but Delta Burke and Jean Smart (Amy?) were long gone. It was Julia Duffy's character Alison who wore the "She lied" T-shirt showing that she believed in Clarence Thomas, and Jan Hooks character Carlene wasn't wearing a relevant t-shirt. As regards this excellent show jumping, it was of course when the Suzanne and Charlene actresses left the show. It was never the same after that.
Delta Burke's departure killed the show. Julia Duffy's character wqas grating on the nerves. Then, there was the endless of Charlene's relatives.
When Delta Burke left this show was doomed. The stupid writers should have did everything to keep her on instead of making fun of her weight and her beauty pageant past. Instead she was fired and replaced with Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks.
"DW" jumped the day Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. Julia Duffy brought in to replace Delta Burke? Um, no.
A show that was built on the powerful chemistry of its ensemble should have gone out gracefully when two of the four principal women decided to leave the show (not to exclude the wonderful Meschach Taylor). Thomason's decision to replace her comic backbone (Delta Burke) and the show's heart (Jean Smart) with actors who simply "fit the formula" was shark jumping at its lowest.
No doubt about - the show totally SUCKED once Delta Burke left! She provided great counterpoint to Julia and the others. The show got WAY too political after Burke left, and became an irritating pulpit for the producers to 'teach' us simple-minded Americans about compassion, and gun control and civil rights and gay rights and animal rights and martians' rights and the rights of inanimate objects. UUGGHHH!!!
I get so sick of the Delta's weight mess- the character was a grown up, snotty, over the hill beauty queen-Guess what Beauty queens get cellulite, just like the rest of us. The show jumped when she left and the massive character shift began- I loved the show and thought it was so funny, but it wasn't SNL and you can't just start shifting characters and expect the audience to stay tuned- another bites the dust!!
DW is and always will be one of my favorite shows, due largely to the fact that the original ensemble was perfect. The only good thing to come from the cast changes was that the talented and quite lovable Mesach Taylor had more exposure during the episodes. I did enjoy Jan Hooks portrayal of Carlene (remember she didn't call it PMS, she called it FTS-fixin' to start-what a hoot!)She always left me laughing uncontrollably. I have realized my preference for the original cast when I watch the reruns on Lifetime. When they run out of the original cast episodes and I start seeing Stephanie and BJ I am not as excited to watch.. Delta Burke's portrayal of Suzanne Sugarbaker was ( and always will be) one of the funniest characters in TV history. She would have been well worth the money and /or crow-eating (ass kissing) it would have taken the Bloodworth-Thomason's to get her to stay. What I would have liked to say to them when they said "goodbye" to Delta is"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND???"
Designing Women had a series of shark jumps. First, it jumped the shark when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show. Julia Duffy was just horrible, and her whining got on my nerves. Jan Hooks was too stupid to be funny, but I did like the actress who played B.J. The show should have ended when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. Dixie Carter got way too preachy, and the show wasn't funny anymore. It got on my nerves that she kept blaming men for everything that's wrong in the world. The show did not stay true to the actress' characters either. Mary Jo got to where she didn't care about what she said or how she acted, and her character was supposed to be kind of shy and eager to please people. Dixie Carter's character got too judgmental and hateful. Her character went from being just judgmental to completely obnoxious. Her character was a lot better when she just told people what she thought of them, instead of always preaching about something. It also jumped the shark with the annoying episode dedicated to Julia's menopause. I don't think anybody wants to watch any show that has a whole episode dedicated to a character's menopause problems. The final shark jump was with the series finale. "The Gone With The Wind" parody was just horrible. It wasn't funny, and it was an insult to the book, "Gone With The Wind."
The people in charge really blew it when they let Delta Burke and Jean Smart go. They should have done whatever they needed to do to keep those two talented actresses. In my opinion, they were the life of the show.This show was eaten by the shark after Delta Burke left, and it had a second feast when they had Hal Holbrook's character die. Delta was so shallow and so petty,that she was hilarious.Plus she & Dixie Carter were a funny duo as sisters.Hal Holbrook is handsome, and in real life has been married to Dixie Carter for years.During the 1970's,he was in several movies sponsored by Hallmark cards.I hated Jean Smart.She was so stupid & it wasn't funny.I have very low tolerance for that kind of behavior.She was abnormally obsessed with WW2 & Elvis. (Both were 'bleh'.) I got tired of her fantasies of that war...she mentally consumed every stereotype of that war and era.Annie Potts was great.What I think is totally unreal on the show was that Charlene, Mary Jo (even though she had been married & had 2 kids), & Julia (She had been married also & had one kid) all acted as if they were virgins,and the last ones on earth! When they went to that mountain cabin to ski & an avalanche struck, the women refused to sleep with their boyfriends,as if they were innocent teenagers at a church camp! As if the writers thought the viewers would actually believe they never had sex with their guys! Get real! Had I been there, I'd have chosen to sleep with my boyfriend and to hell with what the others thought.They were all older than 40 in real life.Jean Smart, who was Charlene, was born during the late 1940's.One internet page facted her as born during 1960 but that's crap,because I was born that year and I'm 41. Jean spoke in an interview of her thoughts concerning the death of JFK as she had lived it WHILE a teenager.I was only age 2 when it happened and recall nothing of it.I was in my 20's when that show was new on TV during the 1980's.Jean Smart was not that young,then.
It's not that Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks were that bad, it's just that Delta and Jean were that good. They made the show. Without them, you just have a bunch of skinny neurotic broads bitching about pms and not enough public women bathrooms. They gave the show much needed depth and humor, otherwise it would have been too damn preachy and intolerable. I also loved how un pc delta was, and unlike some tv writers out there (like the dill holes on Friends), these writers always stayed true to the characters and remember their ticks, their phobias, etc. It's what made the show so consistent and really really funny. You could totally believe that Suzanne would shoot Anthony because of all the build-up of her having guns. btw my favorite ep was the one where Suzanne thought she was going to lose her crown of Ms. Georgia. She was waaaayyy funnier when she was fat! And I'm a size 2, just in case you think i'm some big woman just sticking up for the fatties!
I never liked this sitcom, and hated Jean Smart, who played Charlene, the most. She was so damn dumb! She got even worse after meeting that Colonel, and marrying him. She acted as though she was the FIRST woman who ever married, and then to have a baby. Her baby was ugly, and Charlene was fat. And the writers were assuming we the viewers would actually believe a wealthy (from old family money) AF Colonel would be interested in frumpy, ignorant, and fat Charlene, who was from a poor, Waltons-type family in the Ozarks? Get real! Mary Jo would've been more his type. Charlene looked about 10 years older than that colonel, besides. In fact, I'd think she'd have been a bit long in the tooth to be having her first baby. She was very annoying, and acted so self-righteous, like she was the last virgin on earth. It got sickening.
Out of loyalty to a once SUPERB show, I continued to watch after Delta Burke departed, but sadly it never came close to recovering. Suzanne Sugarbaker was one of the very best characters ever written. Her "Excuse Me!" catch phraise is an all-time classic and her scenes with Anthony (her best girlfriend) are priceless.
I hated this show from Day One, and think it was consumed by the shark during the first episode, but he spit it back out. I especially hated that Jean Smart! She was a stupid hillbilly, and a stereotype of such characters. I can't imagine an adult woman of her age being that dumb and naive. She was also obsessed with Elvis and WW2, having totally misguided ideas of the latter. She was a bitch to Mary Jo in that episode of Mary Jo's son getting in trouble, and she (Charlene) quit her job to be a housewife/mother. She accused Mary Jo of neglecting her son, and Mary Jo told her she didn't have the luxury of being able to choose to work or not, that she had to work. And why did Charlene use coupons after marrying Bill? He was a wealthy colonel! He had his old family money as well as his colonel pay. When they bought that big house, she was worried if they could afford it! It wasn't a mansion. If it were real life, he wouldn't have wanted her because of her family's financial and social position. After she married the colonel, she acted like she was the only woman to ever marry and then have a baby, and she became a frump. I'm amazed she was able to even get pregnant...at her age she'd be more likely to be going through menopause.
This is one of my all time favorite shows, but it really jumped when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left and were replaced by Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks. Julia Duffy was nothing more than an extension of her "stephanie" character on Newhart and she brought the show down. Jan Hooks (who I loved), but her character just seemed dumb. The show seemed to be turning around with the addition of Judith Ivey. It seemed like it was getting back to the core of what the show was about. but then CBS cancelled it. I think my fav post Delta/Jean show was during the last season when Mary Jo told Julia off. Someone finally had to do it and Mary Jo did it so well!!!!!
The episode where Delta Burke gets stuck in that tiny drive thru window, and the rest of the cast discuss various window treatments to hang over her big fat ass....
Okay, I'm not the target audience (I have testicles), but this show never made sense to me. I had to watch about ten episodes to understand the premise, which was: four women with annoying accents hanging around with the gayest man on Earth in a big house somewhere in the South, pretending they were all employed in some imaginary "business" and that the guy was straight. Seriously -- Anthony was a swishy, single ex-con (strike 1) who directed a community theater production of "Mame" (strike 2) and dressed up in drag to sing "Bosom Buddies" with Julia (strike 3 -- you're gay!). Then a few episodes later Anthony is hooked up with Jackee (whom I still think is a drag queen). Why the hell couldn't those bold liberals, the Thomasons, have an openly gay black character on their series? What a taste of classic halfhearted Clinton liberalism -- if we don't ask you if you're gay, Anthony, please don't tell us.
I was so glad to read that someone else remembered Berniece's Christmas tree skirt! And Delta calling he maid "Con- sue-ella". What about when Dixie's dress got tucked into her pantyhose in the back when she was on a runway in front of the crowd? I loved her rants! Also the Dolly Parton "Hollywood Guardian Angel". I didn't like the new women, or the boyfriends all that much. But the addition of Berniece as a regular character kept me watching after Delta left.
When Suzanne left and then Charlene and they brought in Allison, the took a hit. Julia Duffy can not act and she did not fit in with Mary-Jo or with Julia.
To me, Designing Women jumped the shark when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show. I didn't like the first season eps, it made me mad when Julia was mean to Suzanne. I couldn't stand Julia's character to begin with, but at least the other three made her tolerable. And I always loved it when Suzanne told them something would happen and then she was right, and her and Anthony's friendship was wonderful. I loved it when Mary Jo got drunk ("Wow, is it loud in here or what?"). I loved Bernice too, ("Black man! Black man!") I couldn't stand Allison, and Carlene was a bit annoying. When B.J. came into the show, they finally found someone to replace Suzanne. (Which should never have happened.) Some of my favorite episodes where Bernice's Sanity Hearing ("you people have got to get it together"), Nightmare from HeeHaw ("911!") and The Return of Reggie Mac ("He's not dangerous, I'm dangerous, I'm gonna kill him.") and one of my fave scenes, although I can't remember the episode was when Anthony walked in on the conversation between the women about their old teachers. After talking about his sixth grade? teacher who was afraid of the windows and the double jointed kid they got to act like he'd fallen out the window, the women are all looking at him like he's insane "On the other hand, I didn't hear the beginning of this conversation and it's entirely possible that that story was not appropriate." I also loved it whenever they asked him if he'd like to do something, "No, Charlene, that is not something I would be interested in, but thank you for asking." I loved the one where they went to New Orleans ("Last night I slept with a married man!"). Basically, after the first season up until they got rid of Delta. They might have been able to save it, had they brought in BJ, but Allison killed the show. Julia's soapbox discussions--the woman was basically a bitch. She talked down to everyone, these people were supposed to be her friends. They tried to make it seem like she should be a hero because she stood up for what she believed in, but that's not what she did. She wasn't self-confident, she was just a bitch. Suzanne was the role model. Even if she did own a gun, a pig and two divorces. And I loved Charlene's innocence. Her obsession with Elvis and all things trivial was refreshing. ("Didn't you guys ever thing about that?")So, as I was saying, once Delta and Jean left the show. They should have left it then. R.I.P. Sugarbakers
When Delta Burke left it was all over...and I loved the remaining cast...But the dynamic was lost. As it stood, the first years, it was great and I loved it.
I think it was inevitable that the show would "jump the shark" eventually...people change over time, and to keep the show the same without the characters changing would have been unrealistic. However, I think one of the nails in this show's coffin were the all-too-frequent tirades from Julia. It's SOOOO easy for someone born into money and an established social code to judge the rest of us who haven't had our path as well-greased. She was very classy, but a bit heavy-handed. I think B.J. was very amusing, and I just loved Carlene, although they should have made her a little less of a simp...it's ironic that Jan Hooks played Charlene's younger sister when, in reality, Jan Hooks is 2 years OLDER than Jean Smart! Her character was really sweet and likeable, though.
The show clearly jumped the shark when Delta Burke left...no one could replace that shallow, self-centered southern bell. Who cares what she weighed? I think it was great that she was still so cocky, even when she was heavy. (And I didn't even mind the "very special episode" about her weight at the beauty pageant.) The show only got worse with Julia Duffy and the even-more-annoying, Jan Hooks. (Nothing against the actresses...Julia Duffy was great on Newhart.)
The episode about Suzanne's weight problem was not on a beauty pageant episode; it was her 10 year high school reunion. It was a beautifully written and acted episode. I've never understood how the same people who could write/direct such an excellent dramatization of the struggle with weight issues became the people who fired Delta because she was too fat.
When Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show. Those two were my favorites and I would probably stuck with DW if either of them stayed. I did check in, every once in a while and saw Julia Duffy (sucked) and Jan Hooks (so-so), although Judith Ivey had her moments. But the show definitely lost something when they left. I loved Susanne's self-absorption and later, her surly, bawdy mouth and Charlene's romantic innocence and curiosity about everything trivial. They balanced Julia's liberalism and Mary Jo's beleagued cynicism.
It started out as the classic set up. 4 female friends; 1 smart one, one pretty one, one nice one, and one dumb one. When the dumb one and the pretty one left the show, the show was out of balance. I must say, however, that by the time Delta Burk and Jean Smart climbed out of the tank, it was clear that this show was swimming in the bowl. Julia had gone from being seriously sexy to trying to be cute and sexy. Her eyebrows suddenly looked permantly blown back. (Hello? Face lift city, sister.) The character development would have been fine if the show hadn't been used to peddle two things: the political views of Bloodworth-Thompson and Dixie Carter's night club act. Then they made a whipping post out of Delta Burke, who gained weight and was still FAR FAR prettier than Dixie Carter ever was. That was the crux of the behind the sceens war, if you ask me.
When Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show the loss was compounded by the addition of Julia Duffy playing a reprisal of her not-very-funny character from Newhart
I loved Suzanne Sugarbaker and her pet pig, Noelle! The time she swore up and down that the nanny that Charlene hired had been profiled on "America's Most Wanted". She played the whole Southern Belle (self-absorbed, and bitchy, but yet loyal and lovable) character so well!
When they got rid of Delta Burke and tried to replace her with a number of actresses, I quit watching. It was also unfunny after that because it became The Bill Clinton 1/2 hour infomercial.
This show jumped the shark when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. This show should have ended when they left. Another shark jump was Anthony getting married. He was so annoying. I thought he got so stuck on himself toward the end of this show. I don't know why any woman would want to marry him anyway
WHEN DELTA BURKE LEFT. I DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HOW MUCH WEIGHT THAT SHE HAD PUT ON, HER CHARACTER WAS FUNNY! THE LAST TWO SEASONS WERE JUST NO GOOD. TOO MUCH OF BERNICE ACTING STUPID, AS WELL.
Designing Women was the best sitcom ever and it never jumped until Jean Smart and Delta Burke left. Anthony, Mary Jo and Julia needed Charlene and Suzanne to make the show complete! And Julia Duffy as Allison was horrible. Delta's portrayal of Suzanne was the saving grace of this show. She has the funniest lines and the best storylines. Remember Reggie Mac Dawson stealing her money in the third season? Linda Bloodworth owes the success of this show to Delta.
It jumped the shark when Delta Burke left the show....Suzanne was the best on the series! :) So was Charlene until she left the show. I agree with those who said the lady who played B.J. made the show what it used to be at the beginning...I like B.J. also. It really went bad when Jan Hooks and Julia Duffy were on there, even though they tried their best in acting.
I have to agree that this show JTS when they changed the cast. Some of the post-change episodes were still funny (e.g., the Julia Duffy character’s dance with T. Tommy Reed); but the chemistry of the ensemble playing was gone. IMO, there were minor shark-moments in some of Julia’s tirades: she comes off as self-righteous and a humorless moral bully all too often. Re. the references to Anthony’s “unfortunate incarceration”: there’s an episode where Anthony’s future father-in-law does a background check on him and discovers that he was out riding with friends as a young man and winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time – not a total innocent; but it turns out that his ‘unfortunate incarceration’ really was pretty unfortunate. My beef with that character was that he was the archetype of the gay male buddy that plenty of women cherish; but the show’s producers didn’t have the guts to actually make him gay. One postscript: while a baby being born on a sitcom generally makes me think ‘uh-oh, it’s going downhill’, the two-parter about the birth of Charlene’s baby was one of my favorite episodes. Having Dolly Parton meet Charlene in a dream as a proxy for Mother Earth, and escorting the 104-year-old lady out of the physical world shortly after she dies might have seemed corny to a lot of viewers, but it sure worked for me. I thought it was quite touching.
Classic cast change jump. Julia Duffy, Jan Hooks, and Judith Ivey have all been faves of mine in their time, but sadly they just completely disrupted the chemistry. And as for Julia's rants: I watched this show when I was a kid with my mom. Granted, our whole family has been liberals since the Spanish Inquisition, no joke. One day I went to school and these guys were picking on this kid. I was about 10. I thought to myself "What would Julia Sugarbaker do here?" and proceeded to rip them a new one based solely on the power of my words. They went off crying and I had a new best friend. I will forever defend both the character and the actress and extremely classy people.
What a nauseating ensemble, and what a criminally boring waste of 30 minutes of air time! The above poster who broke up a fight wondering what Julia Sugarbaker would have done in that situation has too many issues to list here. But let me suggest that HE try not to imagine HIMself as Julia Sugarbaker in any given situation. The Julia character was annoying to say the least, and needed a few solid bitch slaps to wipe that self-satisfied expression off her cracking visage. Delta Burke was the size of a well-fed farm animal by the time she mercifully left the show, and no one with the gift of hearing could have possibly stood more than 2 minutes of Annie Potts' shrill. Go to hell Designing Women, for it has a special place for the likes of "y'all"!
Man, some of you people are too hard on Delta! I found her Suzanne to be the sexiest, most wildly attractive character in the history of television. When she became fuller-figured (thus looking more like a real person), she looked amazing and the show only improved. However, when she left, that certainly signaled the end. I've tried watching those putrid post-Delta shows, and they're just not worth anyone's time!
Never jumped! I thought it was finished when Delta Burke left, but each new cast member was great--particularly Judith Ivey--and the writing was sharper than it had been in years. I miss this show. It could be preachy but at least it wasn't just another vacuous sitcom.
When Jean Smart left at almost the same time as Delta Burke this show jumped. Delta was forced off the show but Jean's contract was up and no one made an effort to renew her. Jean and the producers knew something was wrong so it really jumped the shark when Jean left, Delta was fired.
The five main characters on the first five seasons of Designing women were Julia, Suzanne, Mary Jo, Charlene, and Anthony. The only two of those five I liked were Suzanne and Charlene. Julia was too bitchy. All she would do is gripe and talk about how everyone isn't as good as she is. When I was younger, I liked her because I thought she was a strong, intelligent woman who could tell it like it is. But now I realize she is self-righteous and bitter. All she does is point out the flaws in EVERYONE except herself. I've seen most episodes of the show and I can't think of an example where is she likable. Mary Jo is boring and so is her drama. She either had problems with her kids, her ex-hubby, or her current beau J.D. Its very tiring to see Mary Jo-centric episodes. Anthony was just irritating and got himself into lameass situations, which usually involves some guy wanting to kick his ass and Anthony tries to hide from him. Charlene and Suzanne were different. They were fun to watch. They both had variations on the "clueless" personality (suprisingly they weren't annoying.) Suzanne was the southern belle beauty queen and Charlene was a hill-billy from the backwoods of Poplar Blulff. They were fun and funny. Charlene and Suzanne were the only ones who could make me laugh out loud. Who could forget Suzanne's pet pig (noelle, I think the name was)? But in season six both Charlene and Suzanne were gone, and that is when it jumped the shark. Jean Smart's character charlene was replaced by Jan Hooks who played charlene's sister Carlene. I'll admit, Jan Hooks was excellent and Carlene was really funny too and she did make me laugh a lot, I still missed Charlene though. But Suzanne's replacement was horrible! The replacement was Allison Sugarbaker played by Julia Duffy, I think that is her name. She wasn't funny. She tried to act like the same clueless Southern Belle Suzanne was, but she couldn't live up to Delta Burke's excellent job as Suzanne. Allison just irritated me, she seemed more like a mini-Julia Sugarbaker to me. However in season seven it jumped back but jumped further at the same time. They got rid of Allison and brought on B.J. Bodine. That was a good thing; B.J. was intelligent, witty, attractive and funny. I enjoyed her character a lot. But at the same time, it was because of her character that DW jumped further. See, B.J. was mighty rich and in the last season they did all kinds of outrageous stuff that only people with bucks of a Donald Trump could do, like Las Vegas weekend vacations on a whim. The seventh season plots were lame, pathetic, and boring all because of B.J.! Which is sad because B.J.'s character was really likable and fun to watch. If they didn't make her rich and had more realistic plots, it would have been a lot better. But before I end this post I have to mention Bernice. She was a recurring character and she would make me laugh more than anybody on the show (remember when she had her own cable access show! that was great stuff!), the main reason to watch the final 2 seasons is too see Bernice!
I am a huge Designing Women fan, but it was all over but the cryin' when Delta Burke left! I wanted to sucker punch Julia Duffy and what was up with that fake accent of Judith Ivey! I also hated when Julia got up on her high horse and started spouting off Linda Bloodworth-Thompson's liberal mumbo-jumbo!
I'm pretty much in agreement with the posters that say that the show jumped the shark when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. With the original cast, you got a certain chemistry, but with the replacement members, that chemistry just wasn't there. Jan Hooks was a pretty good replacement for Jean Smart, but Julia "Ire of all Advertisers" Duffy never really fit in with the show. Whereas Delta's character was funny with her blatant political incorrectness, Julia's character was just a snotty, annoying bitch. By the time Judity Ivey came along, and as funny as she was, the show was out of steam and headed for an eternity of being re-ran on Lifetime.
Sure, losing half of the ensemble hurt the show. At the same time, a new producer was put in charge, which may account for some of the personality changes in the characters. One good thing: Bernice was able to say all the outrageous things that Suzanne used to. Jan Hooks improved with time, I liked Julia Duffy's pushy little Allison, but I could take or leave B.J. Poteet. Jackee or Anthony's previous girlfriend (the Tina Turner lookalike) would have made better cast additions than the showgirl he married. The reality is that the show had a strong run of seven seasons and had probably just about run its course.
This show JTS in the first two seasons when all they did was sit around babbling about feminism and the show just moved too slow. As they moved toward the 90's the show actually became more of a comedy. They went on more adventures, and I enjoyed the opening and the theme. The 1991-1993 seasons were a LARGE breath of fresh air. Delta and Jean seemed to lose heart in the show. I enjoyed the later seasons, because the new characters were very funny. I do not believe that the producers acutally meant to make clones of Delta and Jean. I enjoyed all the adventures they went on, they were hardly at the Sugarbakers home anymore. They always just seemed to have fun. B.J. Poteet was a good character. I believe the show deserved at least an additional 3 to 5 seasons. There was so much that could have been written based on these characters. Finally, ANTHONY WAS NOT GAY!
I agree that the show jumped when Delta left. Suzanne Sugarbaker should be remembered in the same breath as Fonzie and Fred Sanford when it comes to tv icons. On the other hand I felt Julia Duffy did an admirable job on the show. She was a bad girl and smokin' HOT! What more could you ask for? And yes Anthony was EXTREMELY gay!!!
Deta Burke(Suzanne)was a brilliant actor by anybody's standards. Allison was a wonderful character but she just couldn't replace someone so popular.
The writing on this show was uneven from the beginning, but on balance it got worse and worse. I think all the actors did the best they could with the material, but face it: the writers let them down. Allison and Carlene were never any more than cartoon characters, and Anthony was never believable as a straight man. I don't think that was Meshach Taylor's fault; I think Linda Bloodworth-Thomason should have admitted to herself that she didn't have the slightest idea how to develop a straight male character, and written Anthony as gay. Mary Jo was never likeable, and by the middle of Season 3 I hated her guts. By the end of Season 3, Julia was getting too shrill and deranged to be likeable, too. The writers missed a lot of good opportunities: the Perky Sugarbaker character had possibilities, and they could have made much better use of Bernice Clifton. Vanessa Hargraves was by far the funniest and most appealing of Anthony's girlfriends, and his ambivalence about her might have made more sense if he had been written as gay. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason at her best was wonderful, but she never wrote anything worth taping after Season 3, and Pam Norris' last good show was in Season 4. But the show was usually worth watching as long as Delta and Jean were on board. The only halfway decent episodes in Season 6 were written by Michael Ross and Thom Bray. There were no good episodes in Season 7, despite the addition of Judith Ivey. And a word to everybody who criticizes Delta Burke for her weight: Delta Burke was one of the most beautiful women ever on television, ranking with Lucille Ball, Phylicia Rashad, and maybe Jennifer Aniston -- let's see how Aniston looks when she's 45 or 50 -- and Delta Burke fat was more attractive, sensuous and appealing than Courteney Cox or J Lo can ever hope to be.
I agree about Delta Burke. The script had Suzanne saying hilarious things that Everybody Has Thought At One Time But Never Had The Nerve To Say. Example: "Whenever people [on vacation] talk about seeing the 'real' anything, what they're really talking about is hanging out with poor people." Julia's tirades were sometimes entertaining, but she was basically the humorless character in the show.
I have to go with Designing Women jumping when Dixie Carter got on her damn soapbox and starting wailing away on whatever topic was being covered in that episode. It could have been about Jack Palance and Cheese Whiz and sure enough, there goes Julia complaining for 5 minutes about how ol' Jack and CW were bad and after she was done, the lemmings in the audience would start clapping and cheering like she was the next coming of Jesus. I was about 15 when this was on, but even after the third time this happened in three weeks, I knew this show was done. Too bad no one at CBS thought so.
DW jumped Old Jaws, to put it bluntly, when the fat one left. She was a hoot, slender or stout. Try watching the reruns without Delta and see if you can stand it. Something weirdly wonderful is missing.
I loved this show--never missed it. Growing up in the South, it was just great to see a group individuals that talked like I did and weren't all a bunch of hillbillies. All that changed when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the cast. There was such a chemistry among the four women, with the occasional perk of having Alice Ghostley dropping by to crack me up as Bernice Clifton. It seemed like the characters started hating one another once Delta Burke and Jean Smart left. Oh, sure--they got on each others nerves before, but, there was always this underlying sense of love among them. Once Julia Duffy's character, Allison, showed up--nobody liked her. Mary Jo and Julia started going at odds against one another. Carlene got on everyone's nerves. Anthony's character grew to a certain level, but, once he graduated and was in law school, he kind of had no where else to go. With the cast change, he was basically there to hate Allison more than anyone else, and that got old. The only relief we had was when Bernice would drop in, but, even she started getting more hostile than lovable. I lost interest, and never did watch the show as much, so I sort of missed Judith Ivey all together. Now that it's on Lifetime in reruns, the few episodes I've managed to catch with Judith Ivey I realize I wasn't missing all that much. Now when I happen to catch it, if Suzanne and Charlene aren't sitting on the couch and at the front door, I just turn the channel.
Absolutely when Delta Burke left the show. She was amazingly funny. It seemed to me, she was getting less lines before she ever left. Maybe a faceshot of her smiling or rolling her eyes...When they let her go..the show went steadily downhill from there. Through thick and thin, Delta Burke is a beauty. And, she had such talent. It should have been recognized . No one could come close to replacing her...
When Delta Burke and Jean Smart left at the same time the show jumped. It may've worked if they'd gone a year apart but trying to abruply watch new players in their type of roles was jarring. I think the writers didn't quite know what to do. Everyone agree Julia Duffy was a mistake. Jan Hooks was always very good. The writers left Mary Jo alone but turned Julia into a real pain of a person. Without her usual persona of the first five years and wihout Jean Smart the heart in the show disappered. Judith Ivey brought some of it back - but most of us had left by then. Delta bUrke -well irreplaceable on that show
"Designing Women" JTS the moment Delta left the show. Julia Duffy was so not funny when she was on the show nor were the other two actresses Jan Hooks and some other lady I forgot her name. Delta was hilarious as the stuck up snob Suzanne Sugarbaker. She made the show funny. The show should have been cancelled the second Delta was gone.
The first season was a bit awkward, but once this show hit its stride in the 2nd season, it was unstoppable- seasons 2-5 were excellent. In the 5th season, it was obvious that Suzanne's character was being dimished due to Delta Burke's problems with creators, but it still held up. And Alice Ghostley as an occasional guest was hilarious. It was season 6, with the departure of Burke and Jean Smart that DW suffered- it didnt become terrible, mind you, just so-so. Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks just didnt have the same chemistry, and the time for a natural rapport to develop wasnt there- perhaps if only one character had left instead of two, it wouldnt have been so traumatic. Season 7 was a mess- BJ (Judith Ivey) was actually an improvement, but the change further messed up any sense of stability in the cast. Ghostley as a regular seemed like a coverup of the problems, and the episode where they are celebrating Bill Clinton's entrance in the White House was terrible (I wonder how Julia would have felt about the "Zippergate" scandal a few years away). One funny aspect of those last episodes was Bernice's bellowing "black man! black man!" to Anthony...thats about it...
I must agree with some of the previous posters....this show lost its steam when the producers (Harry Thomas and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason) started using the character of Julia to spout out their political beliefs, usually through Julia. And, of course, their buddy Bill Clinton got a mention on the show when he was governor of Arkansas. One of the political themes that I remember most: prayer in school (against, of course). The show was funny when they made fun of Suzanne's shallowness or Bernice's nuttiness, but once they started telling us that prayer was a bad thing, and that Jimmy Carter (Democrat) was morally superior to Ronald Reagan (Republican), it became unfunny and jumped the shark.
When they fired Delta Burke (not because her weight, but for her crisis of depression, what sounds even worse for me). That Suzanne was one of the coolest characters of all time, and inspiring some others great ones, like Samantha (Sex and the city) and Karen (Will & Grace). In fact, Karen Walker is Suzanne Sugarbaker (see the maid, the queer appeal, the cute-bitch personality).
The show really jumped not because of Julia Duffy but because of Jan Hooks. Also the writing of the two characters was inferior. In Season One you recall Mary Jo hated Suzanne. It took awhile to get Mary Jo and Charlene to like Suzanne. After this the chemistry clicked. The first jump came when the made Anthony innocent. Why is it NO American sit-com can have a character that was bad. It was hysterical when the women thought Anthony was dangerous. By making him "innocent" of the crime (he just "happened" to be in the car when the store was robbed), you turned him from someone who "paid his dues and is learning to go straight" to "pathetic martyr." The chemistry between Anthony and Suzanne was great. The next jump came with the additon of Carlene. While Charlene was naive, in many ways she just didn't care, she preferred to think of everyone as nice. She wasn't STUPID, she was just naive so to speak. Carlene was STUPID...And why WAS she there? Julia and Mary Jo designed. Suzanne sold and Charlene was office manager. ALL of the girls put money in. This made them roughly equal. But clearly Carlene was in school and had no money. If she WAS being office manager in Charlene's absence it wasn't explained that way. When Allison came in it could have worked. BUT Allison was written as a phoney. If she had BEEN written as a strong women who could stand up to Julia it would've worked. This was actually done to a lesser degree with BJ. Instead Allison was written as a loser who just pretended. I did LOVE the episode where she forced Julia to admit she was right. THAT should've been the conflict. Also making Anthony a partner was a mistake. He was only funny as a flunky. And all the others referred to him as so good-looking. He was not. Delta Burke was funny but another reason the show jumped was after 4 years it went into syndication. Suddenly a VERY thin Delta was on 5 days a week competing with herself. Suzanne was a great role. As noted she said what other people just thought. But you liked her anyway cause whatever her opinion it was not born from hate. By the way DW achieved it's best season ranking number 6 for the YEAR, the year Julia Duffy was on it. The next year DW was moved to Fridays to anchor CBS attempt to take over from ABC's TGIF. Remember "Golden Palace" leading the line up off. Truth is after Jean and Delta left the WRITING was not up to snuff. Without anyone to bring Julia back to earth, she did sound like a preachy bitch. Suzanne could humble her.
The show was great! Jean, Dixie, Delta, Annie, Jan, Judith, Julia, Mashach, Alice, Pricilla (Claudia Shively) and the rest of the cast did wonderfully! Thank you. Mrs Smart, Mrs, Carter, Mrs. Burke, Mrs. Potts, and Mr. Taylor, you are a great influence on my family. I even got some of your episodes on tape. I even got your best for Christmas. If you haven't seen this show, go to lifetimetv.com and BUY it. It's something to cherish forever more.
When Delta and Jean Left the show. Also note the creator of the show Linda Bloodsworth also "left". She was writing her new show called "Hearts of Fire" Linda was the most important woman on this show and when she was no longer as involved with it the show "Jumped the Shark" However I will watch an old episode from the first 5 years of that show then a new episode "Yes Dear", "King of Queens" or any new Jason Alexander sitcom.
Great show, but is it just me, or where these gals--attractive as they were--just a tad bit OVERDRESSED for merely hanging around the house all day?!?
It was one thing to fire Delta Burke, but the way they explained her departure was awful. Mary Jo and Charlene sitting in the living room, saying they'll miss Suzanne--they could at least have shown Suzanne saying goodbye to her sister and friends. I have a few other points to add: 1) most of the other posters have remarked that Julia's rants were tiresome, but let's not forget that on at least 2 occasions her posturing backfired in her face. First there was the episode where she runs for the city council. The other women and Anthony told her not to get on the soapbox because it would alienate the voters. Of course, when she has to face her opponent in a debate, she loses her cool and loses the election. THen there was the post-Suzanne episode where Anthony was the victim of racial profiling at a mall. Julia gets the other women to join hwer in a sit-down protest, they get arrested, and the whole fiasco is splashed all over the news. In the end, Anthony points out that Julia can't really understand what it's like to be a black man in America. Plus there's the fact that Julia's co-workers nicknamed her "The Terminator" (which I doubt was meant to be a compliment). 2) Did anyone else notice how much Mary Jo changed over the years? At the beginning she was very shy and mild-mannered but by the end of the series she was almost as loud and obnoxious as Julia had become.
EXCUSE ME, EXCUSE ME!...time for me to put in my two cents. IMHO, the show JTS at the beginning of its fifth season, the last one of Delta Burke and Jean Smart. As for the seasons before that, well, season one was spent establishing the characters and fighting to keep the show on the air. Although Julia is a total bitch the show is watchable. Season two gets funnier, as the performers further shape their characters. The hostility between Mary Jo and Suzanne is thankfully abolished, and Julia becomes relatively softer and less of a Medusa. (Don't get me wrong, I love Dixie Carter, but not when Julia is being mean.) There are some wonderful episodes here, mainly the two-parter about Reggie Mac Dawson absconding with Suzanne's money, and one show about Charlene being heartbroken because her church won't allow women to be deacons. But the third year is when things really start cooking. Ironically, Suzanne/Delta gaining all the weight seems to galvanize this show, and the writing and acting is top-drawer. Too many funny episodes here to mention, but I can't leave out the wilderness experience with Big Edie and Mickey, Jr., or Bernice getting married while Suzanne battles PMS and Julia is outraged because The New York Times says that southerners eat dirt! The fourth year is this shows absolute greatest. Everything comes together and there is not a clinker in the bunch, at least no serious clinker. Bernice's sanity hearing, Julia and Suzanne's trip to Japan, Mary Jo working at Burger Guy, Suzanne's fur coat mishap, Suzanne thinking Charlene's nanny was on "Unsolved Mysteries", when the tornado is coming and Sugarbaker's is filled with wacky characters, and in my opinion, the two funniest shows of the season: where Anthony pretends to be Consuela, and where the ladies go to "La Place Sans Souci", the health farm. The show and Delta should have won the Emmys they were nominated for this year! If there is any season I'd love to have on DVD, season 4 is it. But starting with season 5 there is a definite letdown from which the show never recovers. For one thing, the offstage battles Delta is having with the producers is clearly evident, as Suzanne's screen time is drastically lessened (BIG mistake) and what screen time she has has her getting insulted by Julia and Mary Jo non-stop (Mary Jo is particularly spiteful--in fact, the character has largely become unrelentingly mean. More on this in season 6) and being humiliated by such things as gluing her lips together, and having the secondary--or tertiary--story in each episode. No story is built around her, maybe three at the most. Delta Burke may have been a diva, but she also must be a trouper to have put up with this shit for a whole year. And then gets fired anyway! Charlene in this season loses any smarts and delicacy she ever had--the character has become dumb, shrill, and tactless. Seeing Suzanne and Charlene cheapened, and seeing EVERY episode center around Mary Jo and Julia sours this whole season for me. (And boy, are they reaching to spotlight MJ & J: coaching a softball team, taking up jogging, MJ wants her ex-beau, J.D., to father a baby for her, Julia becomes a lounge singer, MJ & J take care of MJ's old teacher, etc., etc. Cut it out!) There are a few classics this season, however: Charlene buying the haunted house, the gang's trip to New Orleans, and Bernice's nose job. But quite frankly, I was relieved for Burke and Smart when this year ended. I looked forward to season 6, because Julia Duffy was a HUGE favorite of mine, and Jan Hooks was a favorite from "S.N. Live". I could not have been more wrong. Carlene was the dumbest damn character in this show's history--she would have been a good match for Nub, Digger, Junior, or even Daddy Jones up in the Georgia mountains! But what happened to Julia Duffy is even more abominable. The meanness that attacked Burke in season 5 was transferred to Duffy in season 6, both on-and off-screen. The character of Alison was badly drawn and totally unlikeable, yet I was always pulling for her because she was surrounded by somuch venom, especially from Mary Jo. MJ has become a total bitch by this time, and shows such as her filling the "cuss box" jar while cussing at Alison all the while are just too much. Julia, with comments to Alison such as, "At least we haven't thrown your little butt out into the street yet", is no better, and the whole Alison vs. Anthony thing was something that should have been dropped after about the second episode. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" had a similar situation with Sue Ann, but where Sue Ann was catty, half-evil, and sex-crazed, she had good traits, as well! She was a great cook, knew her stuff when it came to her job, was smart, witty, and despite her faults, touching and likable. Alison could have been great at her job and helped the Sugarbaker firm, all the while driving everyone nuts half the time. She could have been a fish-out-of-water in Atlanta, bemused but fascinated by the South, or at least had the spunk and wit to slam insults back at those who hurled them at her. But no--the character was hopeless and as great an actress as Julia Duffy was, what could she do with this? As with Burke and Smart, I was glad when the season ended and Duffy was put out of her misery. Judith Ivey was a great addition in the seventh year. Here was someone who would stand her ground! But every show this year seemingly was the same: seven exquisitely gowned people (sorry, Anthony was exquisitively suited) sitting around, talking. The show was static, and I don't mean just in terms of pace. Anthony in particular (when he became a partner and did nothing except wear suits and TONS of jewelry [you can take the man out of the ghetto, but...] he became boring as hell) seems to be on automatic pilot. Thankfully the show was getting miserable ratings on Friday night so it was able to get the ax. And at much as it seems otherwise after my comments, I DID love this show and hated to see it go wrong and Mary Jo become mean, and Charlene dumb, etc. Delta Burke and Dixie Carter and Annie Potts and Jean Smart are so wonderful and unforgettable--I loved them all (and still do). And ditto for Alice Ghostley--she was just too funny as Bernice. Black man, black man! She makes me laugh until I hurt. I wish she had won an Emmy for the great Clarence Thomas episode. Now that Delta has made up with everyone we MUST have a reunion movie. When this show was great it was damned great. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason was a sharp, intelligent writer and as a fellow southerner, I tip my hat to her for showing that we're not all slack-jawed simpletons down here in Dixie! (And we don't eat dirt, either.) And as Julia would say, "All right, that's it."
DESIGNING WOMEN was a clever and entertaining sitcom that could hold my attention. It got a bit preachy at times and the feminist slant got to be a bit much at times, but it was the 80's. I have to agree with the concensus that the show jumped the shark when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show. Having had weight problems all of my life, I was not bothered by Delta's weight gain and was able to relate to what Suzanne was going through. The episode, "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They" wrote directly to this and was absolutely brilliant with a devastating performance by Delta Burke as Suzanne returns to her high school reunion and is voted "Most Changed." It was sad and touching and one of my favorite episodes. I think Jean Smart was one of the most underrated actresses on television. There was an episode called "The Rowdy Girls" where Charlene learns an old school chum, played by Kim Zimmer of GUIDING LIGHT, is being physically abused by her husband and Charlene tries to help her. Smart hit all the right notes in this episode and the scene where she confronts Zimmer about it still brings tears to my eyes whenever I think about it. This was the same episode where Suzanne appears in black face for their tribute to the Supremes. The show was never the same after these two actresses left. Julia Duffy tried hard, but her character was just unpleasant. Jan Hooks was just this side of a cartoon character and Judith Ivey, a fine dramatic actress, was just out of her element in a sitcom.
This was one of the best shows on television for its first five seasons and the New Year's episode featuring the birth of baby Olivia is one of the best written shows of all time. Unfortunately it wasn't too long after that when the behind the scenes turmoil resulted in the departure of Delta Burke. Then Jean Smart quit. Now, I've always liked Julia Duffy but her character was just so unlikable. Delta's character said horrible things sometimes but you still loved her just the same because she was so over-the-top. Julia Duffy's Allison was played as a straight-forward bitch. Jan Hooks is a great comedienne and was funny on the show, but without Delta and Jean the magic was gone. And why Olivia Brown was never made a regular after her hilarious turn as Anthony's New Year's Eve date I'll never know.
I just saw the one where they depict Marla Maples as a victim of a rich man's ego (Trump). WHAT?!!!Where's miss high and mighty Julia to point out that it was an adulterous affair? And the audience is cheering her on. This show is supposed to be pro-women? A hypocritical jumping if ever there was one.
I do agree that when Delta chose to leave it left a big hole in series that couldn't be filled. I slowly lost intrest after that. Some of my favorite episode were the ones that centered around her. Like when she maxie glued her lips together! With out Delta is just wasn't the same.
This show was well written, well acted and was the beneficiary of a great lead-in, (Murphy Brown) and Northern Exposure after. Dixie Carter was wonderful. Jean Smart BORN to play her role. Annie Potts was just TOO cute. Meshach Taylor provided a good foil for the others. Alice Ghostley was HILARIOUS. Jan Hooks was a bit too much at times, and poor Julia Duffy really was in an unwinnable situation, IMHO. Obviously, Delta Burke appears to be the 'lightning rod' character, gauging by reading through the comments. However... and I didn't see this mentioned or just missed it but.....am I the ONLY one that recalls Delta's annoying habit of ALWAYS looking directly into the camera? I noticed this early on in the series' run and thought at first it was just an aberration or just me. But, I started watching for it and it almost becomes comical at times. She's CONSTANTLY checking the camera. Maybe this sounds nit-picky but try it... watch her eyes, especially when she's NOT 'in scene' I remember being surprised someone didn't say something to her about it.