Let's pretend we're "Designing Women".

I'm Meshach Taylor's sassy delivery.

Add a touch of Robin Wright's friendly but not friends stance. 'excuse me do I know you ?'

I'm Suzanne Sugarbaker. I like driving down to the Dairy Queen with my pet pig, Noel.

I'm Ray Don's hairpiece.

I'm shoulder pads, clip-on earrings, and really, really big hair.

I'm Allison and I never fit on this show.

I'm the throw pillow Delta Burke holds over her expanding waistline and she sits squarely on the sofa to deliver her one-liners.

I am the sentence "Southern women will not STAND for this!" I am frequently on Julia's lips.

I'm Judith Ivey's stammer.

I am the line, "Mary Jo, I can't believe you said that!" I am not frequently far from Jean Smart's lips.

I'm the muzzy establishing shot of the great Victorian house of the Designing Women. You will see me at least 6 times per episode, accompained by spritely music.

I'm the fruit that got thrown at Reggie Mack Dawson.

I am the dreamy, faraway looks the cast throws towards Ray Charles the seasons he performs "Georgia on my Mind" on camera during the credits.

I want to be two things. First, Julia's righteously barked "Suzanne!" Second, the pauses Alice Ghostley would take in the middle of her jokes, usually before a swear word.

I'm Alice Ghostley's way with a drive-thru mic.

I am Consuela - never seen, but beautiful and mysterious, nonetheless.

I'm "Doin' It the Best I Can."

I am Bernice, with her very own public access channel. Let's talk sex for sale!

I'm some white girl.

I'm Julia's smelly mop.

I'm the rhetorical question, "Have you all just completely lost your minds?!" delivered loudly enough to be heard in the next county.

I'm Bill and Reese sleeping in the same bed even though we're vacationing with our girlfriends.

I'm the (justified) lack of recognition gets today -- in contrast to the still popular THE GOLDEN GIRLS.

I'm Nub the Gynecologist.

I'm a oversized shoulder pad. There are a lot of us.

I'm a news vendor trying to sell adult magazines as is my Constitutional right. Some crazy bitch keeps running into my newsstand.

I'm Dixie Carter's nails on a chalkboard voice.

We're Lois and Shimmy. Some loud, fat bitch wished us a happy anniversary.

I'm the attractive woman who owns the magazine that sues Julia for millions because she's a menace to free speech and r26.

Iiiiiiii am the night. the lights. went out. in. Georgia!

I'm the dogs howling when Julia sings.

I'm the baby wig that Suzanne bought for Charlene's baby to model in.

I'm the knowledge Charlene yearns for.

I’m Mary Jo and I’m sorry I’m late

I'm Mary Jo's hunky ex husband Ted.

I'm the very special episode where Mary Jo almost gets raped at that abandoned mall and so the girls decide to take up self-defense and half the episode is a self-defense lesson.

I am the excited DLers watching the reruns.

I'm Suzanne's glamorous fitness routine.

I'm Reva from "The Guiding Light", playing Charlene's battered wife BFF, and asking myself if this is really a step up from daytime.

I'm Delta Burke, you'll miss me when I'm gone.

I'm Dixie Carter. Everyone knew me from Different Strokes. It was difficult to star in a show with three unknowns.

I'm Judy Crown. I did hair for the show. Delta loved me until I went away to do another project. When I came back, Delta wouldn't speak to me.

I am the ONLY Emmy this show won.

I’m the big ole box of June Allyson bladder pads on Julia’s nightstand that belong to the no-lip woman Julia is forced to room with for jury duty.

I'm Ima Jean, and I need to move my car.

I'm the big ole box of June Allyson bladder pads on Julia's hotel nightstand.

I'm Season 6's cringe-inducing opening.

I'm J.D. Shackelford.

The studio keeps getting bags of letters asking when Ted Shively and I will be naked in a scene together.

I’m the dated political jokes and references that today’s audiences don’t understand.

I’m Miss Valdosta Feed and Grain. You just can’t be nice to me.

I'm Bernice singing Black Man Black Man.

I’m the brand new 1989 van.

I'm Donna Jo Karns, and I get the point, Lyle.

I'm rice cakes. Suzanne puts jelly on me, and sometimes after she eats me, she washes me down with some of Charlene's breast milk.

I'm Kyle Westheimer's parents, still in shock that he is, in fact, a bisexual.

We're the Golden Girls. We started the year before and were the much more sophisticated show.

EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!

This is my pet pig, Noelle!

[quote] We're the Golden Girls. We started the year before and were far less sophisticated with jokes older than Christ himself.

I’m the closet Anthony lives in.

I'm Lolita DuPage, and Suzanne doesn't believe that I'm really a man.

I’m Ms. Langford, but you can call me Gaby, and I’d love to sculpt big, black, beautiful buck, Anthony.

I'm one of Julia's political rants, which sounded very sharp and insightful back in 1989, but now just seem cringy and sanctimonious.

I’ll Dolly Parton, welcoming you to Charlene’s psychic pregnancy dream.

We're Tony and Cassandra Hall and we haven't stopped fucking since 1989.

I'm Suzanne's bra cup and Mary Jo likes to wear me as a beanie.

I’m Mavis, taking in a good amateur variety show while cowering in the corner with my children, fearing that my demonic husband will come beat us all to death while Suzanne lipsynchs in blackface.

I'm Ms. Betts, Manager of the Governor's Mansion, telling you that the Abbott Banister cannot be cut!

I’m the Christmas tree skit Bernice is wearing.

I"m Payne's MILF college professor.

I'm Payne McIlroy. I was supposed to be integral enough to the series that I was in the photos in the first set of opening credits, but averaged less than an episode a season.

I'm Hayden McIllroy, who sorta brought these ladies together. Julia was my wife, Suzanne was my sister-in-law, Charlene was my secretary and Mary Jo was her neighbor.

I'm Kendall Dobbs.

RIP me.

I'm Julia's purse.

I'm Art!

I’m the dirt that southern women eat.

I'm Julia's bewildering decision to name her only child "Payne." What sort of message was she trying to send him?

I am the high note Julia reaches when she sings How Great Thou Art for Charlene.

Damn it, I just rewatched that episode and those scenes at the end always make me cry.

I'm Dixie Carter, the Original Deplorable!

Dixie was never deplorable. She was an old school conservative, which in platform and principle is probably more liberal in some ways than today's Democrats.

If Designing Women were still on the air (and none of the cast members had died) I’m sure they would have great fun eviscerating Trump on a weekly basis. Of course, Suzanne would be the lone deplorable.

I believeDixie referred to herself sometimes as a libertarian and distanced herself from Reagan-era religious right Republicans.

THE JULIA

I'm the first day of the last decade of the entire 20th century!

I'm Dolly Parton's massive hooters.

"I knew!! I knew!!!!!!!"

Suzanne: Well, I guess she knew.

I'm the women's various later husbands and boyfriends, whom no one watching the show wants to see but who reassure viewers the women are not lesbians.

“Suzanne, would you please take Bernice shoppin’ at the maaalll?”

We're Marlene, Harlene and Darlene. Who's this Carlene chick?

I’m the good luck song that Suzanne’s maid, Consuela, taught her. Consuela,Consuela, bo-buela, Bonana-fanna fo-fuela, Fee fi mo-muela, CON-SAH-WAYLA!!!

I'm Li Sing, the Vietnamese orphan Suzanne tried to kidnap.

I am me missing every other network's live coverage of two large airliners making kamikaze attacks into the World Trade Center, because I was watching A&E's 8:30 to 9:00 am Designing Women rerun. Turning to NBC only a couple minutes before the first tower collapsed as perky Katie Curic explains Osama Bin Laden was suspected of being behind the attack.

I'm Dixie's two daughters who were in one episode and never seen again.

I'm Dixie's PSA and very visible face work.

I'm that little Chinese girl Suzzane tried to kidnap.

I'm the McDonald's arches over Suzanne's bed.

R93 meet R89

I'm Monette, Charlene's old friend.

I'm a whore, darlin'.

I’m the ghost Dixie’s naturally aged neck skin, pre-Designing Women!

"Oh, Suzannah"

While in Reese's office to sign legal papers with Julia, Suzanne offhandedly volunteers to keep a Vietnamese boat child for four weeks until her adoption is finalized. The more time the little girl spends with Suzanne, the more like her she becomes. Suzanne unexpectedly comes to love the girl, and isn't prepared to give her up --- running off with her when her adoptive parents come to pick her up.

I'm Karen and I want Mary Jo and Julia to skedaddle and hippity hop.

I'm Suzanne's most humiliating moment ... when Julia mooned 1200 people.

I'm Jan Hooks: a funny lady in a thankless role.

I'm the manure that Reese's colleague - the one that wanted to fuck him - put in a nice box and wrapped up with a bow.

R17 That was my hands down favorite episode of the two later seasons.

I loved Jan.

The creator said that Dixie despised having to make Liberal speeches on the show.

I'm the toilets Southerners chuck for sport!

[quote]She was VIETNAMESE, not Chinese.

They all look alike.

I'm the Beaumont Driving Club. I'm even more exclusive than the Mortimer Club. We rejected Barbara Thorndyke's application.

I am Helen Van Patterson-Patton.

I'm Daddy Jones.

I'm Mary Jo's bratty, entitled, materialistic, daughter, who always seemed more like should have been Suzanne's daughter.

Republican or not, there is no way this thoughtful and elegant woman would have been a Trump supporter:

I'm Suzanne, (illegally) voting for Nixon. Name the two episodes to back up this point ...

[quote]I am Helen Van Patterson-Patton.

And I'm her sister, Debbie.

r111, There's no way Suzanne could have voted for Nixon (other than illegally) if she was 18 in 1974 (the episode that centered around her 15th high school reunion in '89 was where she gave that moving speech about her weight and taking for granted having too much to eat after meeting that child from Africa who lost his family to famine).

I am the country club social committee who wonders why Anthony the token black member keeps showing up for events where there was “limited seating and limited space”.

We're a bowling team composed of sexist asshole straight male interior designers. Like Julia's made-up Civil War hero forebears, we're a complete crock of shit.

I'm [bold]SQUARE FISH,[/bold] Phyllis, OK?

I'm the "Don't have sex." Mary Jo whispers under her breath in hopes her daughter will subconsciously do her bidding.

I'm Bernice's complete slide into belligerent lunacy during the last season.

I'm the "Don't buy a gun" mantra Mary Jo and Charlene keep muttering under their breath to Suzanne.

I'm Julia's jogging buddy, Davina, with the large melon breasts.

I'm a whimsical carousel horse

We're Julia's alpha beau with a secret: a music collection including albums by Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Ethel Merman.

I'm Dash Goff.

I'm Julia's handsome symphony conductor boyfriend, who she begins dating just as menopause rears its ugly head.

I'm a kitchenette, where the ladies spend more time than they spend at their desks.

I'm Primmie, and I'm full of crap.

I'm the dark Georgia night that Suzanne fires a semi-automatic rifle into while hanging out the second story of her house.

I'm T. Tommy Reed. I was Anthony's "protector" in prison.

I’m the Viewers for Quality Television letter writing campaign that saved the show from cancellation. You’re welcome.

I'm the barely-speaking bit player hired to play the target of the Bloodworth-Thomasons' righteous indignation this week. I will slink out of every scene with my tail between my legs!

I'm the racial, gender, gay and class humor, which no one seemed to mind at the time, but which would be considered politically incorrect today.

I'm Etienne Toussaint Bouvier, Anthony's bougie girlfriend/wife.

I'm Rusty the handyman. My cousin is a Norge repairman over on SNL.

I'm Randa Oliver. I make a good argument for both retroactive abortion and corporal punishment.

I'm Perky!

I'm Clayton Sugarbaker. They even stole my name from "The Golden Girls."

I'm the crazy girl Anthony dated, who had Tina Turner hair, and a taste for Demerol.

I'm Julia's pantyhose. Having me changed in the front hallway of the Governor's Mansion was an experience she wanted to avoid

I'm Jimmy Carter, and Julia missed her dinner with me. However, she did make it for coffee, even though she was driving without her license.

R110, thank you for that. What a wonderful lady. I saw her stellar performance in MASTER CLASS back in the 90s. I wasn't expecting much, but she was phenomenal. We had a mutual friend, so I was able to meet her after the show. I'm also from Tennessee, so that made her even more gracious towards me. She was a bit of a diva, but in a good way.

I'm Reggie Mac Dawson and I bought you a circus.

This show was never funny nor sophisticated.

I'm the Madonna CDs owned by Julia's NOT GAY new boyfriend.

I'm also the Merm-A-Thon he attends with 600 gay men.

I'm the suspicion that most of this thread's posts came from one person.

I'm J. Benton Stonecipher.

I'm the warning the Bloodworth-Thomason's received from the FCC later in the show's run about how politicized a frau-sitcom had become.

I'm the banister Julia got her head stuck in.

I'm the hillbilly who thought "Bloodworth-Thomas" made her sound smart.

I’m Dixie Carter who was Delta Burke’s best friend. I was her maid of honor at her wedding. I allied myself with Linda Bloodworth Thomason, thereby stabbing Delta in the back.

Why wouldn't she align herself with Linda. Linda saved her career after she was fired from Different Strokes.

[quote]Why wouldn't she align herself with Linda.

Well, it's clear it was a much more acrimonious set than THE GOLDEN GIRLS; which might go some way to explaining why it wasn't as good.

But maybe it's more like: Why wouldn't she just try to stay out of it? Like the others mostly tried to. Especially if Burke was a friend.

I did like that thread, "Elders, tell me about Delta's feud with the producers".

It's one of those shows, like ONE DAY AT A TIME, that better lends itself to DL puns and memes than actual viewing.

I'm T. Tommy Reed, intimately familiar with Anthony.

I'm Suzanne's lesbian friend.

If they can put a man on the moon, they can put a man on her!

I'm that joke about the lawn jockey repeated multiple times despite not being funny the first time.

I'm the subtlety with which Dixie Carter approaches a monologue.

I do not exist.

I'm the one who told Dixie Carter she could sing.

I'm birth, death and Dolly Parton, all in the same episode.

I'm self-righteousness, an overloud laugh-track, and a lecture, all in every single episode.

I'm Diane English, who used my clout to get this show booted out of the post-Murphy Brown timeslot.

I wonder if she resented how CBS advertised them as a block?

Obviously, not everyone would want to be associated with DW.

I'm the joke Charlene told twice during the show's run.

"That reminds me of that story about a Southern woman who goes to this la-dee-da cocktail party in New York City. She turns to a Northern woman and says, "Where y'all from?"

The Northern woman looks at her and she says, "We're from where we don't end our sentences with a preposition."

So the Southern woman looks at her and says, "Oh...well then, where y'all from.......BITCH!"

So unfunny.

But, yes, the show was particularly bad at repeating jokes.

I'm a quickie. I was ordered in a restaurant by Charlene's parents who thought that was how you pronounced "quiche."

I'm Annie Potts' tranquilizers.

I'm the oversexed local news anchor who has a marathon lovemaking session with a bimbo weather girl, not realizing that Julia and Mary Jo are hiding under the bed.

^I'm the increasingly desperate strain was plots.

I'm the odd straight man watching DW, and it's only because I left the remote in the kitchen when I went up to get another beer.

The irony is that Delta and Linda Bloodworth Thompson made up with each other, I think in 1995 or so. They did that sitcom, “Woman of the House”; Delta played Suzanne Sugarbaker again.

It took quite a few years until Delta and Dixie made up. I’m not sure if they mended their friendship or were just friendly with each other. I doubt they were best friends again.

[quote]I'm the odd straight man watching DW

Oh, honey. No straight has ever watched that show.

This thread was better.

Yes, cunts, we know you all love Golden Girls and/or hate DW.

No need to make the same posts seventy fucking times.

[quote] So unfunny.

Yes, you are, toots. And tiresome too.

R170 They might not have been best friends again but Delta was bawling at Dixie's funeral.

Dixie and Delta seemed to genuinely enjoy seeing one-another and catching up at the DW Reunion at the Paley Center. Also, Delta guest starred on "Family Law", the legal drama that Dixie starred in during the early 2000s (a pretty forgettable show, but it was fun to see them together again).

Linda BT was angry at Delta, then made up with her for the Women of the House.

But in some interview in the last ten years or so, she was like, ugh, that bitch. (Not literally, but you could tell she was DONE with Delta.)

What exactly was the tension between all of them? Whatever happened backstage on TGG (it seems to be mostly Arthur annoyed that White kept playing with the audience when she wanted to get home) never came out onscreen. In fact, quite the opposite: the girls played well off each other; they had a real chemistry, so much so that one really believed in their friendship.

It never seemed that way on DW. They seemed... stilted. And by the fifth season you, if you look closely, begin to see some strain showing. It's just not as warm.

Three of the four actresses on TGG were longtime showbiz veterans, and so they probably approached it as just another job. They would have been already used to dealing with fans and the press, and at keeping things professional, even if they had personal disagreements with one-another, they did their work and went home. They were all in their 50s and 60s (an age where most actress have a hard time finding work), and were probably just grateful to be working, and didn't want to mess up a good thing.

The four ladies on DW, on the other hand were not well known (Dixie was probably the most accomplished of the four, but she was mostly considered a New York stage actress, even though she had done "Different Strokes", and a bunch of made-for-TV movies,she was not considered a big star in Hollywood; Delta, Jean and Annie were definitely not well known prior to DW), and so they were thrust into the spotlight in their 30s and 40s, and some of it was probably due to the same issues as when teenage and 20-something stars become suddenly famous and go a bit overboard. The "feud" between Delta and the Thomasons sounds like it was made worse because they weren't talking directly to one-another, but instead communicating through agents and publicists and lawyers,and so there was probably a lot that got embellished and miscommunicated. I think I remember Delta saying in an interview that she wishes that she and the Thomasons had just sat down and discussed things directly.

Golden Girls seemed like a tighter, more well-oiled machine and they benefited from preserving the original cast for the entire run. Designing Women took more time to find its legs, for the characters to find their voices, and unfortunately ended with a whimper, but when all the right elements fell into place, the show was great and one of the best written ensemble shows on TV.

Linda Bloodworth Thompson was an idiot. Anyone who has been in the South for five minutes can tell you that Delta Burke was *more* like a Southern woman after she gained all that weight. When she gained the weight, she was exactly like my aunts. Pretty face, snappy attitude, plus sized figure.

I'M GEORGIA POWER.

I'm Allison Subarbaker's shrink. It is my clinical opinion that she really does have OCD (Obnoxious Personality Disorder).

I'm the Texan Asian Guy.

I made a brief career in the Early Nineties with my super-exaggerated Texan accent coming out of my Asian mouth, to the shock of Suzanne and others.

I'm Dixie Carter speaking Japanese in the same episode ("Watashi no saifu no Sutorappu no gesha" -- "You're sitting on Suzanne's purse strap").

"Ahm frum Dallas!"

'I thought there was always a warm connection between the original four players. The biggest issue, to be honest, was CBS. They were getting something a little more highbrow than they bargained for with DW. They did want something broad, either a Cosby style show that was warm, or a GG type sitcom.

But CBS also had vestiges of the smart, brainy shows they had on in the 70s, and anyone who knew, say, Diane English or Bob Newhart knew they weren't going to give CBS that. I think DW and Newhart shared many of the same battles.

Jean and Annie had been in a show (or a pilot) together before DW, as had Dixie and Delta. They all got along well initially, but the character of Suzanne definitely started getting a lot of attention, and that had an adverse affect on Delta, who pretty much lost her shit over the course of a few years. And once you're in the middle of that sort of thing, it just starts to get worse.

It was managed well until about the middle of season 4, and then you can tell that the ice crept in, and it got to be a chore for the actors, which is probably why Jean Smart left as soon as she could.

I'm the thank you note Dash wrote.

"Yesterday, in my mind's eye, I saw four women standing on a veranda in white gauzy dresses and straw colored hats. They were having a conversation, and it was hot --- their hankies tucked in cleavages where eternal trickles of perspiration run from the female breast bone to exotic vacation spots that Southern men often dream about. They were sweet smelling, coy, cunning, voluptuous, voracious, delicious, pernicious, vexing and sexing --- these earth sister rebel mothers, these arousers and carousers. And I was filled with a longing to join them. But like a whim of Scarlett's, they turned suddenly and went inside, shutting me out with the bolt of a latch. And I was left only to pick up an abandoned handkerchief and savor the perfumed shadows of these women. These Southern women. This Suzanne, this Julia, this Mary-Jo and Charlene. Thanks for the comfort." -- Dash Goff, The Writer

I really thought LBT had no idea what to do with Mary Jo. That character was wildly swinging in different directions from episode to episode.

My favorite episode with her is also my favorite episode of all time: Julia's Purse.

Poor Mary Jo wanting to use junk yard parts to replace the bumper on Charlene's car that she had damaged. Charlene was now fairly wealthy and was a bit offended by the cheap parts offer. But she was also very funny at the art gallery with her impressions of the various pieces of "art." Suzanne was hilarious with her lips MaxiGlued shut and then making fun of Julia's art dealer friend, Claudette Nevins.

The end where Mary Jo tries to make Julia feel better by saying she'll buy one of Julia's paintings is warm and sweet, but then becomes a good laugh when the Fredholds are desperate to buy that painting, so MJ sells it to them for the exact price to fix Charlene's car.

That episode is just perfect!

And no Anthony or Bernice in overly big roles either - just the main four!

Oh, and then it ends with the others making fun of Suzanne as usual but then Charlene is the one who gets her fingers stuck to the MaxiGlue bottle!

LOVE that episode!

Hmm. This seems to suggest McRaney played a big role......

I’m that Payne in the ass, George Newbern!

“Did you ever stop to think? If we’d been born in different times and places, you know, both of us white, that we might actually have been friends?”

Golden Girls was better.

R194 needs to get her big ole bladder pads outta my face.

We're the 20 lb bag of dog food and a big 'ol box of Kotex in Mary Jo's shopping cart. Suzanne doesn't think we're "sexy" and Mary Jo will never catch a man with us in her cart.

We're two guys, one cart, fresh pasta.

I’m r198 s remote control that he quickly picks up to change the channel whenever this shitty show comes on.

I'm the retconning of Anthony from criminal to falsely accused. I fit the show's huffily PC '80s / '90s tone.

[quote][R194] needs to get her big ole bladder pads outta my face.

Hmm. This kind of line helps to sum up why I never found the show funny. Too broad, I think.

Actually, come to think of it, all of the characters (aside from Mary Jo who just had her name changed) were changed from the show's pilot. Not uncommon, but it emphasizes the point above: TGG started off well, knew what it was, and finished well. But DW was much more erratic in quality.

I'm surprised this thread's gotten to 200 posts. Most DW threads peter out quickly, or become GG threads.

I'm the one who's surprised that GG fans aren't content just to watch a show they enjoy, but feel the need to come over to another thread and badmouth a show that they don't even watch. Very low rent.

I'm Dolly Parton's sequined evening gown, which made Charlene look even more pregnant and frumpy in her bathrobe and slippers.

R203 They do that all the time. It's not enough that these fat, smelly cunts start 90 threads a week about that old tired show, but they have to stink up all DW threads with their fecal odor, as well.

[quote]I'm the one who's surprised that GG fans aren't content just to watch a show they enjoy, but feel the need to come over to another thread and badmouth a show that they don't even watch. Very low rent.

It's actually DW fans who aren't content: If people start talking about DW on a GG thread there's no loud, insecure screech. But DW fans get very defensive whenever anyone, on any thread, makes an unfavorable comparison between the two shows.

[quote]They do that all the time. It's not enough that these fat, smelly cunts start 90 threads a week about that old tired show, but they have to stink up all DW threads with their fecal odor, as well.

Very low rent.

Remember the good old days.

They were good.

They were old.

They were days.

I"m one of B.J. Poteet's billboards.

Ladies, thoughts on a reboot? They increasingly seem to reboot anything nowadays so maybe not as wildly far-flung as it seems.

A reboot would have been a lot of fun, if Dixie and Meshach were still alive, but it just wouldn't be the same without them.

On the contrary, I'd say the passing of Dixie Carter, Alice Ghostley, and Jan Hooks makes it the perfect time for a reboot.

Reboot or remake?

MURPHY BROWN's gotten a reboot.

ONE DAY AT A TIME's gotten a remake. (Though appearances from Mack Phillips and Glenn Scarpelli)

Is this the most recent photo of Delta and Gerald?

What would a reboot even be like?

I'm the combined funeral for Julia Sugarbaker, Anthony Bouvier, Bernice Clifton and Carlene Dobber that kicks off episode one of nu-Designing Women. Anthony's widows Etienne and Suzanne throw a lot of shade and Randa Oliver shows up with her p-whipped and Kushneresque husband.

[quote]What would a reboot even be like?

Charlene's daughter and Julia's granddaughter resurrect the business. Suzanne gets wind of it and comes in to "consult."

It doesn’t need a reboot. It was a product of its time...move on and create a new show from scratch.

Next thing you know, someone will want an all male, gay remake.

Yes, best to consign it to the past.

/thread.

Yeah, I loved, loved, loved DW but it ran out of gas after 4 seasons as it was. It does not need a reboot.

Now, I would not mind a series where Annie Potts, Jean Smart and Mary McCormack all work or live together. Then we get a little piece of DW and a little piece of High Society, too!

I could not imagine Jean Smart coming back to do a reboot, it just doesn't seem her style.

The only one who might possibly go for a DW reboot would be Delta. I think everyone else probably has not-so-fantastic memories of what happened.

Or they're, you know, dead.

[quote]Now, I would not mind a series where Annie Potts, Jean Smart and Mary McCormack all work or live together. Then we get a little piece of DW and a little piece of High Society, too!

Mary McCormack was not in "High Society."

I'm Kim Zimmer. I left one of the highest-paying soap opera jobs of all time in 1990 to become a nighttime television and movie star.

"The Rowdy Girls" was the only thing I did before going back to 'Guiding Light' in 1995.

Charlene sobbing: "We're the Rowdy Girls!"

Julia Duffy would need to be part of a DW reboot for sure!

And Suzanne's little Asian girl.

Julia Duffy was too good for that show.

R222, oops you're right! That's who I meant, obviously.

I'm Julia Duffy's pride and mortgage, dueling it out as she weighs whether or not to replace Delta.

I'm Mary Jo's padded bra, worn when she was trying to decide whether or not to get breast implants. I gave her Big Boob Power and she could have taken over the South, but she ultimately resigned me to the trash heap when she decided large honkers were best left to people who could handle them, like Suzanne.

I'm the whiny, pissy article written by the editor of Playgirl after the anti-porn episode of Designing Women aired, where I talked about how Designing Women USED to be my favorite show until ONE character's self-righteous speech about porn because it "degrades women" so offended me.

Now, here's a bunch of shots of hot men and their penises!

I'm Anthony dressed up as Consuela, during the immigration hearing. Hahahaha! My teeth are enormous!

I'm the wig that you think is yours but I'm not, someone else has had me for a LONG time----I just look very, VERY

SIMILAR.

I'm the whiny, pissy article written by the editor of Playgirl after the anti-porn episode of Designing Women aired.Now, here's a bunch of shots of hot men and their penises!

For historical edification purposes only, of course, the Playgirl centerfold for the month that episode aired was Jeff Thompson.

I am the speech Beah Richards gives as Miss Minnie Bell Ward. "I thought as I got older, the bold outline of truth would be revealed to me, but it hasn't happened. When I was young, I was in such a hurry. And now, I've been here a hundred years. It seems like only yesterday I held my babies in my arms. I'm glad to be going home. It's been a long time since I've seen my family. And I wish for all of you, all the love and happiness I had in my life -- and I hope the world keeps going toward freedom. And I hope that people everywhere can learn to live together in peace. As my pappa used to say......we ain't what we should be, we ain't what we're gonna be, but at least we ain't what we were....." (and Miss Minnie slowly lays back as she gasps her final breath and passes on.)

I'm the many episodes where the ladies take a vacation from work by vacationing with their coworkers (as we all do) and bring along their male counterparts. This allows for a battle of the sexes, in which each character/actor gets to spout off something they hate about the other gender, usually by shouting, "You know what I don't get?" and ending their turn at a tirade with audience applause and an insufferable held pose.

I'm the answer to the Trivial Pursuit question Charlene knew on her own without having to rely on Suzanne's cheating.

I am Charlene's copy of Stevie Wonder's "Signed Sealed Delivered" that skips.

But she keeps listening to the skipping part anyway....

I’m the toothbrush cup offered to Allison at Carlene’s apartment. I was rinsed out real good.

I'm the canary Reece gave Julia when she was expecting an engagement ring. ("It' s yellow, and it goes on your finger.)

I'm the gerbil that Bernice gave Charlene at her wedding shower.

^ Oops, baby shower

I'm the several-hundred references -- both specific and indirect -- to "Gone With the WindScarlet " made over the show's seven year run.

R143: wasn't that dishy Charles Frank defending his metrosexuality?

Frauen at R229.

Fraus love DW; Gay Men pefer GG.

I like both, though I prefer GG.

DW had great MOMENTS but it just felt too....obvious? It got too preachy at times. And, the cast did lose their chemistry....the show petered out by the end of the 4th season.

GG had sharper acting; all four of those women had superb timing and their characters were better defined. It had more of an edge.

I’ve been watching it for a couple of days thanks to this thread. I can’t imagine an updated version. The original series was such an interesting blend of well-defined (dare I say iconic?) characters and preposterous situations. Dixie Carter truly was a powerhouse, and Delta Burke was SO GODDAMNED FUNNY. I don’t really understand how Delta’s career was limited to this series because her line delivery and her facial expressions and gestures were comedic gold. I underrated Annie Potts’s performances when I was young, and while I still find Charlene to be the least funny character, I think Jean Smart did a good job in being a sort of grounding force. Knowing she was the accountant/office manager, you can see that in her performance, despite the character’s ditziness.

Annie Potts told Entertainment Weekly “we had our own #MeToo moment every Monday night,” and it’s pretty much true.

One thing Designing Women and Golden Girls have in common is that they made the women’s physical appearances a big part of the storylines and jokes, particularly at the expenses of Delta Burke and Bea Arthur, and I have a hard time imagining that happening today because it could offend so many viewers. But it made both shows feel more personal and at least for me it made me more sympathetic and more attached to them. I love both shows. Golden Girls was an endless barrage of zippy one-liners delivered by expert sitcom actors, and even taking away the politics of Designing Women, the performances are entertaining as hell. I absolutely buy Dixie and Delta as sisters, as absolutely ridiculous and histrionic as both characters are, and I love that they are both so grand and unapologetically in your face. Golden Girls’s joke writing is off the charts good, but the relationships among the women is tenuous and viewers really have to accept a leap of logic to imagine these women all ended up together and chose to stay together, but the DW characters for me feel like more of a natural fit in a more believable situation. Not that that matters in the end. Both shows did their jobs. I don’t rewatch any other television show from my childhood, but I return to both of these regularly.

I'm the BBQ mitts Julia wore to to examine a birthmark on a hobo's ass because a psychic told Charlene that's how she would know her future husband.

Oh, God, R247, tell me that wasn't an actual plotline, was it?

It wasn't totally without appeal... but never quite 'clicked' like TGG.

Yes,that really happened. Charlene was afraid the hobo might be her future hubby. When he passed out on the sofa she asked Julia to help take his pants off.

I'm all the people who incorrectly address Julia as "MRS. Sugarbaker". She goes by her maiden name, so she would either be "Miss" or "Ms".

I'm Carl Sagan. When I say cosmos, it makes Charlene hot.

Ya'll bitches care to post a link to where we can watch online free, if it's soo good.

I'm Patrick Warburton's tight jeans -- a rare highlight in the abysmal final season.

We're the eight finest breasts in Atlanta.

The show would have been better had Linda Bloodworth, not treated us like shit.

I'm Anthony Bouviers anal cavity...

I was NEVAH TOUCHED in prison.

I'm Delta Burke, crying my eyes out at Dixie Carter's Funeral.

Linda Thomason is fat now too.

Although it ran for the same amount of time as TGG, there does seem to be a certain strain and weariness in the later season, to both come up with scenarios and in general mood.

Some last seasons of TV shows just *feel* like last seasons, and that's definitely true of DW. Though not TGG since they had the dignity to rebrand as a new show once Arthur left.

I'm Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's cunty statement regarding Julia Duffy's dismissal: "She pedaled the bike as hard as it can be pedaled."

I'm a confused focus group audience, wondering why the young lady from Newhart is doing all her scenes while riding a bike.

Once harassed Delta, allegedly.

When Julia Duffy was dismissed after the sixth season, the reason given was that her character was "unlikable", which just seemed weird. She was INTENTIONALLY written as being petty, neurotic, and bitchy, in order to give the others something to play against. (The same could have been said of Suzanne, who was self-centered and materialistic, but she was also given an endearing quality that made up for some of her negative traits, and explained why the other characters loved her, despite her shortcomings. They could have found a way to do that with Allison too, given her some sort of redeeming qualities that made her a bit more of a well-rounded character, instead of just writing her out. It was a shame because Julia Duffy is a very good actress.

We're Big Edie and Mickey Junior. Why weren't we acknowledged as a Lesbian couple instead of a couple of "lumberjack girls"???

[quote]Why weren't we acknowledged as a Lesbian couple instead of a couple of "lumberjack girls"???

Because the show wasn't as progressive as it liked to think it was.

I'm Mandingo, the name Bernice won't stop calling Anthony.

I’m the first day of the last year of the entire 20th century.

I'm Phyllis McGuire and I'm a total cunt.

I'm the keg party Julia and Mary Jo attended.

I'm the motel room in "Stranded" that was "once a part of a suite". I'm still bigger than most NYC apartments.

I'm the back of Julia's dress, tucked up inside of her pantyhose.

I'm Roberta Harwood who was featured on "Unsolved Mysteries". I'm in hiding under the name Mrs. Philpott as Baby Olivia's nanny., and I'm too old to breastfeed.

I'm the breastfeeding organization, La Leaky.

I'm the Pink Giraffe which everyone knows is a Lesbian Bar and Restaurant. (Well, everyone except Suzanne.)

I am Sappho. I could be a Greek poet, a detergent, or even somebody's maid.

I am The Slickster, aka Quentin Shively.

I am the basement of the Sugarbaker house which disappeared for the tornado episode.

Hi, I'm Scott, Payne's deeply closeted college roommate. To divert suspicions of my true self, I make a point of publicly trying to hook-up with Payne's mother, Julia.

I'm a concubine, and Suzanne is waiting for me to fall out of bed.

I'm the movie "There's Some Black People Comin' Over for Dinner".

I'm a storyline appropriated from an old "Dick Van Dyke Show", in which a nude painting of Julia, for which she did not pose, done by her college art professor, appears in a gallery.

I'm every Stuckey's between Poplar Bluff and Atlanta.

I'm the Maxi-Glue with which Suzanne has accidentally sealed her lips shut, making some random lady think Rosalyn has hired a mime.

I'm the restaurant business, and I am RIDDLED with homaseckshality.

I'm Cybill's gay waiter, but this thread has me FASCINATED.

Every night I watch DW before I listen to my Joni Mitchell albums!

I am the moon.

If they can put a man on me, Suzanne says they can put a man on you.

I'm Karen from the Tour of Historic Southern Homes Tour.

I want Julia and Mary Jo to skedaddle and hippity-hop!

My name's Alicia! At least, that's what Auntie Suzanne calls me.

I am Mr. Donnie, who gave an incapacitated Anthony a new cornrow 'do and cried when he didn't like it.

I'm Mister Bailey, a feiline heir, whose deceased owner, before her death, hired the Sugarbakers to redecorate my house.

I'm the woman who was told my husband was sleeping with another woman. BUT I KNEW! I KNEW!!!!!!

I'm Cindy Birdsong and some white girl has my registration form.

I'm the bullet hole in Shadow's pants.

I'm the accessories department at your local J.C. Penney's, where more of Julia's purse art can be found.

I'm Cocky the African exchange student. Thanks to Suzanne's advice I no longer carry plates of food on my head.

All these posts remind me why I don't like the show.

R292 Well, I guess she knew!

I’m Gabby, and I wondered where ever did they find that big, black, beautiful buck?

I'm the Sugarbaker house set, the most primary of my many flaws is that I simply look like the set in a warehouse that I am.

I'm "Jo", Mary-Jo's name in the pilot, changed presumably because it sounded too dykey for the show's delicate and conservative sensibilities.

I'm Suzanne's pig -- a funny gag for one episode on TGG, but I lose my comedic appeal quickly as a running gag and symbolic fat joke.

[quote]I'm "Jo", Mary-Jo's name in the pilot, changed presumably because it sounded too dykey for the show's delicate and conservative sensibilities.

Yeah, funny thing about that name ...

Excuse me!

Well, Nancy McKeon had one of the most sever cases of dyke-man known to man. And recently she didn't even bother to tweet sympathies following the passing of Charlotte Rae.

*dyke-face

I'm a deer stand in the woods. Allison and Mary Jo's brother once "laid claim" to me.

I'm the decoration of the office/Julia's house, which would make any prospective client walk out right as soon as they walked in.

I will be Anthony.......that whining (more then Mary Jo)....non threatening black assistant who i suspect often wore Susanne's clothes.His performances as the "male" input were hilarious. Since his voice and mannerisms screamed Queen.I fell out when i learned of his convict past.....i could definitely see him in jail an loving it.I never got that rush to get his character married......he was obviously "fam" An Susanne constantly called him out on it......hence his pursed lip tantrums and shoulder pads bigger then Julia

I am "Black Man! Black Man! Where Did You Come From?" the song Bernice loves the most.

I’m the 2,000 square feet of floor space Julia sacrificed for that grand shopping mall-type view of the second level of her home.

I'm the 25-lb sack of dogfood and the big box of Kotex that Mary Jo had in her shopping cart when she went to the Piggly-Wiggly to try to meet men.

I’m Julia, who of all the women loves an unrefined, roughneck dude to talk dirty to me in poor English, call me a worthless whore, and cover my face in his hot wood glue.

I'm "Bird Doo Head!"

[quote]I’m not sure if they mended their friendship or were just friendly with each other. I doubt they were best friends again.

Dixie and Delta went to several McCain presidential events together with Hal and Gerald in 2008. Dixie also replaced Delta in Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway, and she helped throw a big party for Delta on her last night.

I'm Uncle Gertrude's. The ladies assumed that I was a (gasp!) lesbian bar because they were invited here by Eugenia Weeks, Suzanne's anchor dyke friend, but I turnred out to be just another mediocre yuppy eatery.

Designing Women had a rocky last two seasons. Well, season seven is just awful. But Golden Girls had Golden Palace, which despite the enormous popularity of GG, has only been rerun once.

CBS tried to counterbalance ABC TGIF with a similar lineup only aimed at older viewers. The big draw being that the Golden Girls and Designing Women would now be together and on the same night! Unfortunately, they wound up getting the worst seasons of both shows and the lineup tanked.

Delta was inconsolable at Dixie's funeral.

I forgot that GG/GP changed networks at the end. Saturday night might haved worked for a woman-centric block (I've now forgotten what CBS was airring on Sat. nights in 1992-93 - Dr. Quinn, maybe?), but Friday night was NOT a good idea. DW had run out of steam, and so it likely would have been canceled anyway (and diidn't Annie Potts announce that she wouldn't be returning, if the show came back for an 8th season?), but that Friday night timeslot was the death knell.

I'm Bernice, who presumably would have become a partner/designer in season eight.

I'm the pillows Julia was clutching, as she backed away from Mary Jo's fake breasts in horror, when invited to "Go ahead, feel 'em".

I'm "Southern women will not stand for this", said seemingly unaware of the fact that white Southern women voted overwhelmingly for Roy Moore.

I'm wondering if once Burke and Smart left if they should've pulled A GOLDEN PALACE and renamed the show SUGARBAKERS.

I'm Julia's bedroom. I should be floating above the front lawn, but that doesn't seem to be case...

I'm the show's subtle homophobia.

I'm Annie Potts' quick glance at her watch.

I'm the room Harry Thomason once detained the actresses in to berate them about their 'ingratitude'.

I'm the door behind the kitchenette, which sometimes led to a big storeroom, sometimes to a small one (an oversized closet), sometimes Julia's dining room and kitchen, sometimes stairs leading to the basement, and then sometimes not, when the house was described as not having a basement. The writers must have kept an architect and construction crew on retainer.

[quote] DW had run out of steam, and so it likely would have been canceled anyway (and diidn't Annie Potts announce that she wouldn't be returning, if the show came back for an 8th season?), but that Friday night timeslot was the death knell.

Someone did, I can't remember if it was Annie. It seems to me she gave an interview a few months before saying that with the new people there might be some new stories.....but that may have been Dixie, and Annie was leaving. The link below was from the year before....

A moot point, as it were.

Wow: I missed this earlier this year

Annie Potts open to DW reboot

Well, then, r297, you are to be commended for your perseverance in reading nearly 300 posts about a show you don't like.

Yes, it was one of those sitcoms where at the end we would hear treacly music and usually a lesson would have been learned, but I loved it for most of the first five years. It's funny: Above the thread got briefly waylaid with a discussions about Diane English and the supposed superiority of Murphy Brown. I watched both shows and other than a few random moments, do not now recall one episode of Murphy Brown.

But Designing Women, I have been smiling reading these posts because so many of the episodes were memorable. I laughed till I cried remembering the one where Julia got her head stuck in the bannister at the governor's mansion: "Suzanne, of all the experiences I would like to avoid, I believe having my pantyhose changed in the front hallway of the Governor's Mansion would rank right up there."

It's a shame what happened to DW; Julia Duffy was wonderful on Newhart—and that's another show where I remember some of Stephanie's best lines and episodes—but I didn't last long into the sixth season.

In keeping with the aim of the thread, though, I'll say I'm the 40 Mule Team Borax Julia offered Primmie when she asked if there was any lavender for her bath.

"Julia Gets Her Head Suck in a Fence" was my all-time fave too. It always kills me when she sarcastically says to Suzanne, "My pantyhose are too dark for my dress? Well, we'd better DO SOMETHING. I mean in 45 minutes, when the finest people in Georgia are gathered before me, I wouldn't want anyone to say, 'Do you see that woman with her stuck in the staircase? The one the Governor just stepped over? Don't you think her pantyhose are just a bit too dark,for her dress?'"

I love DW and GG, but it seems like DW was hitting the “very special episodes” very hard from season 4 and onward.

Anyone know where we can stream for free? I’ve been watching piecemeal in daily motion and YouTube.

I'm BOOGERSHAKERS!

I'm Alice Ghostley's total lack of talent.

It never had a scene as funny as this.

I'd love to see a reboot.

Like I said before get Burke. Potts, Smart and even Duffy back.

It could work.

I'm Miss Piggy, Bernice's new name after her unfortunatelythe plastic surgery.

I'm Dixie Carter, never sure where to put the emphasis in those rambling LBT penned rants so just deciding to put it on EVERY. SINGLE. WOOORD.

I'm an oil rig, which is what Mary Jo would look like if she got breast implants the same size as Suzanne's.

Everyone remembers and either loves or hates Julia's big monologues.

But I loved Dixie's line readings on other things, too. She had a very dry wit and a wonderful way of saying lines. The whole jury duty bit.

And this:

Julia: Many things happened. During the course of the evening Mrs. Chesley consumed a full bottle of wine, whereupon she spat obscenities at the cast of “Jake and The Fat Man,” then she insisted my bathroom was not clean enough, proceeded to do something about it and told me my mop smelled.

Mary Jo: What?

Julia: My floor mop. Mary Jo. She said that it stank, and she wasn’t going to stand for it. That’s when I decided one of us had to go and since my name is on the mortgage…there really wasn’t much choice, know what I mean?

[quote]The whole jury duty bit.

Oh, that episode was one of the worst (after the repeated driving into newsagents stand cause porn is evil one).

On the one hand, the jury duty episode has Charlene and Suzanne collecting more merchandise than possible in that music store. On the other hand, Julia is especially snobby.

The problem was that bitch spent countless episodes prior blabbing on about civic duty and how, unlike her crass and unrestrained colleagues, she was simply so much more virtuous than everyone and unimpressed by celebrity.

Then, the second she gets into the jury room she starts haranguing everyone to hurry up (despite a man's life hanging in the balance) because she has an important event to get to; culminating in one of her signature fits of rage -- or, as she would call, 'strength'.

She reminds me a teacher I once had who was also a major cunt.

One of the show's defining episodes. For all the wrong reasons.

[quote]Then, the second she gets into the jury room she starts haranguing everyone to hurry up (despite a man's life hanging in the balance)

I agree with your post, except for this. It was a totally frivolous case about a wacko sperm donor who was suing a sperm bank. The sperm bank had burned down, and the plaintiff claimed that knowing his donations went up in flames caused him to be impotent.

I loved Julie in that jury duty scene (along with most of her Terminator tirades). She was such a boss and even if she could be strident at times, she was usually spot on:

We're Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, whom Suzanne has met (she at least stood in the Rose Garden with Jimmy) but Julia apparently hasn't.

Oops! That should be Julia of course.

The jury duty episode also has perhaps my favorite line of Suzanne's, after Charlene worries how mad Julia is at her and asks what she should do.

The whole bit here is hysterical.

I'm a baby who smokes, that Julia thought would be the person seated next to her on the flight to Japan.

Was the jury duty episode better or worse than Lucy on jury duty with Joan Rivers?

Look at the primary colors in this scene. Everything about the show was bold, no subtlety at all. I like that about it. And for all the complaints about Julia violating her integrity by trying to get out of jury duty, don’t you see that she’s truly Suzanne’s sister? They are both totally self-centered attention seekers with histrionic behaviors; Suzanne’s narcissism just directs people to her beauty, and Julia’s to her brains. Julia is just as dramatic as Suzanne. It was a smart character development.

I’m jean Smart I’m the only cast who doesn’t have her real life husband as a love interest. He plays Mary Joes So I quit.

The "Jury Duty" episodes are all pretty much all a reworking of "Twelve Angry Men",, customized with characters and details specific to whichever show is doing it: Julia on Jury Duty, Lucy on Jury Duty, Dick Van Dyke on Jury Duty, Edith on Jury Duty, Oscar and Felix on Jury Duty, etc., etc., etc. They all pretty much amount to a holdout juror, who's proven right in the end.

I'm the two gentlemen who only approach Julia and Mary Jo in a bar because Mary Jo's breasts are as big as they are.

One of my favorites is the "Tornado Watch" episode. I think it's the most underrated episode.

...for all the complaints about Julia violating her integrity by trying to get out of jury duty, don’t you see that she’s truly Suzanne’s sister? They are both totally self-centered attention seekers with histrionic behaviors; Suzanne’s narcissism just directs people to her beauty, and Julia’s to her brains. Julia is just as dramatic as Suzanne. It was a smart character development.

r352, remember the season 1 episode where Julia thought Reese was going to propose to her? That episode makes your point (also a very funny episode, especially the scene in the restaurant):

Julia: Reese Watson doesn't have to marry me, but he sure as hell ought to want to be married to me! Charlene: Now Julia, that's selfish and small-minded. J: That's who I am. Mary Jo: You are not those things. J: Yes, I am! I have to have my way! It's a chromosomal defect among the women in our family. Suzanne: It is not. J: It is too. You're like that. Mother's like that. All the Sugarbaker women are like that.

Yep R357. I know the ladies well!

R354 Don't forget about Aunt Bea on jury duty with a young Jack Nicholson as the defendant.

I'm Mr. Hitchcock, the blind man who you'd swear was a flaming homosexual but, on Designing Women, I'm merely Southern.

I am the Breastathon at the Olympics.

[quote]I agree with your post, except for this. It was a totally frivolous case about a wacko sperm donor who was suing a sperm bank.

You're right. Though, actually, I think that makes it worse. I assume that was supposed to be a joke (disregarding how it got to (a jury) trial), but it really is just another example of the show's misandry.

[quote] I loved Julie in that jury duty scene (along with most of her Terminator tirades). She was such a boss and even if she could be strident at times, she was usually spot on

Sometimes. The jury tirade has is own problems. But it's part of a pattern. I did agree when I first saw the show at about fourteen. Now I see how the tirades are less smart 'n' sassy and more aggressive and pigheaded. One thing that actually helped put it into perspective for me was realizing that if Anthony was to start screaming at anyone who had a minor disagreement with him (as Julia does) the police would be called.

[quote]Was the jury duty episode better or worse than Lucy on jury duty with Joan Rivers?

Worse, much worse. It wasn't really the trial element; it was another illustration of Julia being a horrible person we're supposed to admire.

[quote]And for all the complaints about Julia violating her integrity by trying to get out of jury duty, don’t you see that she’s truly Suzanne’s sister? They are both totally self-centered attention seekers with histrionic behaviors; Suzanne’s narcissism just directs people to her beauty, and Julia’s to her brains.

Yes, WE see it. The show didn't. They never framed it that way.

[quote]It was a smart character development.

No, it wasn't. The producers obviously viewed Julia differently from how she came across on screen -- not as a voice of morality, but as a rageful shrew.

[quote] The "Jury Duty" episodes are all pretty much all a reworking of "Twelve Angry Men",, customized with characters and details specific to whichever show is doing it

Well... the episode might've worked if one of the other characters was doing it, but not Julia.

[quote]Julia: Reese Watson doesn't have to marry me, but he sure as hell ought to want to be married to me! Charlene: Now Julia, that's selfish and small-minded. J: That's who I am. Mary Jo: You are not those things. J: Yes, I am! I have to have my way! It's a chromosomal defect among the women in our family. Suzanne: It is not. J: It is too. You're like that. Mother's like that. All the Sugarbaker women are like that.

A brief moment of humility before the show became self-consciously aware of her... 'Terminations'. Maybe they should've kept it up, maybe the problem was Dixie Carter, maybe the problem was Julia changing from moral arbiter to LBT's puppet.

They do define the show, for better or worse.

I'm the business' remarkable ability to stay afloat despite Julia shouting away half their clients.

I'm Dixie Carter's limitations as an actress. The more you see my tirades the more you realize she does them all the same way regardless of the situation.

She was a fictional television character. We live in an age of Trump and Omarosa and Kellyanne and Sarah Sanders and Meghan McCain and Laura Ingraham and Milo Yiannopoulos and Richard Spencer and Steves Bannon and Miller, and someone is spending time and energy hating Julia Sugarbaker? Hate Mommie Dearest at least, or Faye Dunaway in Netowork. Hate someone worth hating. Hate Faye Dunaway.

R365!

Bring me the axe!

Julia Dearestbaker

The Golden Girls thread has surpassed this one in posts. Not a surprise. Though, we might get some more posts from that one person.

Julia Sugarbaker was an extremely annoying female character. Dixie Carter made her even more unlikable. The two best characters, Suzanne and Charlene, were written out of the show, and they helped to balance the show out with their humor...Julia and Mary Jo were the limit...they were both shrill, humorless harpies. And Anthony was just an embarrassment.

How did Alice Ghostley get along with the rest of the cast? Were any of them at her funeral?

OMG reboot or revival in the works.

Oh, God. Speak of the devil.

[quote]How did Alice Ghostley get along with the rest of the cast? Were any of them at her funeral?

From what I've read online, only Meshach Taylor attended. I don't think there was any bad blood between her and the rest of the cast, but she and Meshach were reportedly very close.

The other three gals were at Dixie's just two years later.

A shame what Delta Burke did to her face

That's awful that some of the women didn't attend Ghostley's memorial service. Did they attend Meshach's funeral?

Not one of them said anything when Jan Hooks died. Pathetic.

What was the cause of Meshach death? He was still young, wasn't he?

Big Tommy Reid finally found him.

Is the pig who played Noel still living?

I'm the hairdo that made Julia's face look too sharp.

I’m the used tampon

Colon cancer R377—oddly enough, the same as Alice Ghostley.

The episode where Julia gets her head caught in the Abbott banister at the governor's mansion is the all-time funniest episode.

Period.

Ana Navarro must be cast in the reboot as the Julia Sugarbaker surrogate. Her improvised sing-songy rhyming rants are a direct legacy of this show.

I’m the sassy-butch photographer’s assistant who stole the film of Julia sucking pearls from her misogynist boss!

I’m the table-waiting, Bette Davis-impersonating dinner cruise drag queen who stole Suzanne’s wig!

[quote]Big Tommy Reid finally found him

T. Tommy Reed.

I’m Hitler, shrinking and shriveling as Julia Sugarbaker tells me off on the phone. Which she actually did in season two.

I'm Dixie Carter's castmates. I am so goddamned sick of her soliloquy-like rants that easily up a minute or two of almost every episode and require me to stand there, admiring her tirelessly no matter how ridiculous the rant and acting as if she gave the Gettysburg Address when shes finally done. I can't wait for this show to be cancelled or I get fired.

Agreed r383.

I am the complete lack of fucks given to the Julia haters.

I'm the producer who decided to name Charlene's replacement 'Carlene'. The show was cancelled two seasons after.

I'm the increased prominence of Bernice as the show wears on and begins to run out of ideas.

I'm the characters who are nothing like how they are in the pilot episode.

I'm the curious way Julia always SEEMS like a Republican.

I'm the unanswered phones at the office / house as everyone decamps elsewhere for an adventure.

Do most interior design firms have their own van driver, a la Anthony?

I'm the show's hatred of men and sex.

I'm the unfunny fat jokes that seem to be written just to embarrass Delta Burke.

I'm Nub's daughter Female.

I'm the full three minutes of screentime a Julia tirade requires.

R397 EX-CONVICT van driver slash on-call personal driver slash traveling personal caddy slash handyman.

Julia is worse than Ann Romano.

I'm the show's general absence of syndication nowadays.

I'm Morgan Brittany's role as Katherine Wentworth that Delta allegedly turned down to do 'Filthy Rich'.

I'm casting the remake:

Julia - R*se M*Gowan

Suzanne - Chrissie Metz

Anthony - EJ Johnson

Bernice - Ellen DeGeneres

And Anthony is worse than Stepin Fetchin and Jack McFarland.

[quote]Julia is worse than Ann Romano.

Hold me, Anthony -- I'm scared!

r406 if that's who they cast you should just kill yourself now :-o

r341 I'm not sure I ever saw that episode, but there used to be a YouTube video (now regrettably taken down) of just that scene that you quoted, where Julia stops by Mary Jo's to see if Miss Crown wants to go back to the nursing home too. The person who posted the video titled it "Stank Mop." I watched it so many times because I have a Southern aunt who sounds exactly like Julia in that scene; it is uncanny. The same modulation in her voice and inflections, the same sort of soft drawl. The episode is called "Old Rebels and Young Models," but I've never been able to find it online. Dixie's delivery was great.

I'm Dorothy's speech to the doctor, somehow so much more powerful and affecting than anything Carter was capable of.

R411 Bea Arthur’s cue cards that you can see her glancing at helped there.

You can also see cue cards on DW.

Alice Ghostley definitely used them.

I'm the timeslot the show was moved to after it was up against THE GOLDEN GIRLS which it never once managed to beat.

I'm the idiot above, so intent on creating a DW/GG rivalry, as to allege that the two shows aired opposite one-another; they never did. GG always aired on Sat. Nights until its last season, and DW was always on during a weeknight, most notably, Monday nights. During the 1992-93 season (final season for both shows), GG, now rebranded as GP, and having moved to CBS aired as a block with DW on Friday nights. But they never aired opposite one-another.

I'm Julia saying, "I know y'all think I have my head stuck in this banister, but I don't, because that would be RIDICOUS!"

I'm the cavernousness of the main set, aiding the show's stagy feel.

I’m the queen who has a PhD in all things Designing Women and Golden Girls. I am ready to pounce on any inaccuracies or outright lies about my gurls! Mmmmkay! *bend and snap*

I'm the lack of iconic theme tune.

I'm Julia's Alexis Colby style outfits.

I'm Olita Daniels, Bernice's off-camera nemisis at Hilcrest Leisure Land, described as being an aging, embittered "queen bee" type (sort of a geriatric version of Suzanne)

I'm the BREATH Bernice takes (BREATH) between words when (BREATH) delivering her lines. I wonder (BREATH) why, as nice as Alice Ghostley (BREATH) was, why (BREATH) no one ever thought that (BREATH) my constant inter (BREATH) ruption sort of im(BREATH)peded the flow (BREATH) of her dialogue.

I never liked Alice on Bewitched or DW. She wasn't funny. She even sucked on Hogan's Heroes.

WHAT. ABOUT. DIX. IE. CAR. TER'S. WAY. OF. TALK. ING. LIKE. THIIIIIIISSSS.

All her usual nuance...

PEEEE. EEEEE.

r424 Sucks at life

.....

Imagine if DW and GG teamed up for a Civil War themed crossover episode. DW is the Confederacy. GG is the Union. They battle it out in a sequin flying catfight.

[quote]Delta, Jean and Annie were definitely not well known prior to DW

Annie had just done Ghostbusters and Pretty in Pink. She was arguably the best known of the four.

I'm Charlene's Elvis memorabelia.

Add me to the list of people who hated Alice Ghostley's jittery voice. Why do I keep imaging she said 'oh, well' in every sentence? It was worse than Carter's.

Filthy Rich was the number one rated show in the country for the summer of 1982. So people knew of Dixie and Delta.

Was it? In summer? Do you mean when traditionally TV was filled with reruns? It only lasted one season, didn't it? So hardly a hit.

I'm the Sugarbakers' next conference, which Julia can only hope is somewhere in the vicinity of the Betty Ford Clinic.

Does anyone want to do a run down of the ratings, or will I?

I'm Dixie's Carter's facelift.

[quote]While working on the show, Burke felt particularly pressured to maintain a slender figure. "That's when I discovered crystal meth, a powerful amphetamine that cut my hunger but made my heart race", she revealed in her autobiography.[10] It had the side effect of paranoia and making her lapse into unconsciousness

Hmm! I had no idea she did meth.

Here's a site I ran across trying to find the episode "Old Rebels and Young Models" (which I never did find; Sony made YouTube take down the DWs):

[quote]Goofs & Glitches: This page is to poke fun at the continuity problems, history re-writes and unexplained oddities within the series that fans are so quick to notice. So how many of these did you spot?

Some of these have been discussed upthread (e.g., the several iterations of the storage room/dining room). At one time I noticed artwork being repurposed: A painting in Mary Jo's living room turned up in Suzanne's bedroom (which the site points out was never the same room twice; same with Julia's).

When fraus design websites.

I am Les Moonves. Hey smarty pants chicks I am canceling all of your shows. You won't fuck at trade shows and you are all too old anyhow even if I would have fucked you.

R342 -- that was the best.

R243 I meant.

Sorry, sorry. I mean R234! Finally right this time.

[quote]I'm the many episodes where the ladies take a vacation from work by vacationing with their coworkers (as we all do) and bring along their male counterparts. This allows for a battle of the sexes, in which each character/actor gets to spout off something they hate about the other gender, usually by shouting, "You know what I don't get?" and ending their turn at a tirade with audience applause and an insufferable held pose.

Reservations for 23, Plus Ursula the Sea Witch

The "many" episodes?

There was exactly one episode like that, but nice try

They went to the mountains, the beach, the backwoods, and Australia.

No, there were at least three, R447.

Australia? I thought that was Natalie, Blair, Tootie and Jo.

No they went to Paris, r450

r451

Didn't they fly to Shanghai?

I’m the ongoing references to Gladys Knight and the Pips the show uses in jokes and music.

Well crikey, r452!

The fourth vacation was to Vegas in the last season. They also nearly went to the Clinton inauguration (Carlene was the only one to make it).

We're the crew and the rest of the cast still traumatized from the time that old hag Dixie Carter lifted her dress to do some kind of dramatic dance and we all were forced to notice that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

She cried to her husband later, "Mr Holbrook, everybody saw my fancy."

Some of us are still paying therapists to help us deal with the mental trauma the sight of Dixie's Cooch caused us all.

[quote]the mental trauma the sight of Dixie's Cooch caused us all.

The stories I could tell...

I'm the pathetic Dixie fans trying to come up with excuses and lies about her political leanings.

I’m Julia Duffy, contractually bound to the network and giving my all in a part I didn’t really want to do on a show where the producers and cast don’t like me.

I am the excerpt of Julia calling Charlene a big ole donkey Girl Scout from the Fair Price Motel that gets cut for time in reruns.

JULIA: (on phone) Hello, Charlene. I just wanted to thank you again for turning me into the judge. Now, the whole jury is sequestered till Lord only knows when, and I am here in Motel Hell, sharing a room with a women with no lips.

CHARLENE: Julia, I had to do it. We violated that law. By the way, I don't think your supposed to be making telephone calls. I'd hate to have to report this, too.

JULIA: If you are so all fire, heaped up about turning people in, I believe you'll find some overdue library books in my upstairs den. Why don't you just report that too, and maybe you'll get your merit badge, you big 'ole donkey girl scout!

CHARLENE: Now, Julia, you sound overwrought.

Charlene was such a dumb cunt doing that.

It seemed really forced that plot point.

I'm Mary Jo's personality -- I'm not really very established and vary widely from episode to episode depending on what point LBT wants to make.

I'm Charlene being a typically clueless, self-absorbed white woman. I romanticise WW2 and the lives of soldiers, and ask Anthony if he agrees.

When he correctly points out that those times weren't great for African Americans and that even the Black soldiers who fought in the war were discriminated against, I do the Becky response by pretending to care. "I see your point, Anthony, but..."

I don't even have the decency to acknowledge that I am more interested in talking about my stupid fantasy than in actually thinking about what Anthony has to say.

Good post, R464.

The show was really very conservative in its values...

[quote]I'm the many episodes where the ladies take a vacation from work by vacationing with their coworkers (as we all do) and bring along their male counterparts. This allows for a battle of the sexes, in which each character/actor gets to spout off something they hate about the other gender, usually by shouting, "You know what I don't get?" and ending their turn at a tirade with audience applause and an insufferable held pose.

They got a lot of mileage from that one.