Femmes d'affaires et dames de coeur

Designing Women was WAY before it's time! It is relavant to the Women's Tell All Movement of today. The show should have gone to the big screen with such a great cast and the stellar performances they gave and with no profanities! Bring it back so the audiences can see good humor with the correct language.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Loved this show for 5 seasons. It was witty, funny, sad, sentimental and had a lot of good moral lessons; like Suzanne's speech at her high school reunion after everyone made fun of her for being fat. Sometimes the producers pushed their personal political agenda too much, but overall it all evened out. Delta Burke and Dixie Carter carried the show with solid support from Jean Smart, Annie Potts, Meshach Taylor and Alice Ghostly. When Delta and Jean left, the show took a real nose dive. I just don't like Julia Duffy. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say it's the characters she plays; I didn't like her on Newhart either. A lot of the problem was that she wasn't southern, and it threw off the cohesiveness of the characters. Jan Hooks was okay, but the show just didn't work anymore without Delta and Jean. When Judith Ivey joined in Season 7 it was on it's way to being good again; but by that point it was too late to save it, the audience was gone. I'm amazed at reviews that say the show wasn't funny; they must not have watched the same shows I was watching. Also people who kept comparing it to the Golden Girls; aside from being four women, I don't find them at all similar.