Designing Women
Designing Women was a US television sitcom that centered around the working and personal lives of four women in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on CBS from 1986 to 1993.
Sisters Julia Sugarbaker (Carter) and Suzanne Sugarbaker (Burke) are polar opposites. Julia is an extremely liberal and outspoke intellectual; Suzanne is wealthy, self-centered former beauty queen. They are constantly at personal odds but have launched Sugarbaker Designs, an interior design firm. Julia manages the company while Suzanne is mostly a financial backer who simply hangs around and annoys everyone.
The staff was rounded out by the practical Mary Jo Shively (Potts) and the ditsy Charlene Stillfield (Jean Smart.) Also on hand was Anthony Bouvier (Taylor,) an effeminate (but heterosexual) black man and former prison convict.
Usually the plot revolved around some sort of a professional or personal crisis of one (or all) of the characters intertwined with a larger moral battle. For example, in one episode, Mary Jo is upset about a newsstand in the neighborhood that puts pornographic magazines on open display. When she cannot lobby to force their removal, she ends up plowing into the newsstand with her car.
There was great controversy surrounding the show in 1991 because of the abrupt dismissal of Burke, a pivotal part of the series. Burke was fired because she had put on weight and was considered a detriment to the show. Her character was replaced by wealthy cousin Allison Sugarbaker (Duffy). At the same time Smart left the show to be replaced by Jan Hooks as Carlene Dobber. The character of Carlene was very similar to Charlene; however, Allison was a prim and proper conservative who proved the foil to uber-liberal Julia.
The program became infamous for the righteous monolouges delivered by Julia in indignation to other characters whom she felt were perpetuating injustices on women (or others.) Another popular character on the series was Bernice Clifton, an absent-minded and kooky neighbor played by acting legend Alice Ghostley.
The theme song of the program was "Georgia On My Mind". The theme was usually instrumental, but in the later seasons, it was performed vocally by Ray Charles.
Stars:
