“Georgia! Oooh, Geor-JUH!” Who can forget that classic theme song, which was really just a cover made famous by Ray Charles? That’s right, folks – We’re heading to Atlanta, to visit with the ladies of Sugarbaker & Associates, as we discuss the CBS primetime hit Designing Women.
If you’re not familiar, Designing Women premiered in 1986, and starred a lot of familiar faces, like Annie Potts (Ghostbusters) and Dixie Carter (Diff’rent Strokes), as well as Delta Burke, Jean Smart, and Meshach Taylor. Carter played Julia Sugarbaker, owner of an interior design firm where she, along with all the rest, worked. With its ensemble cast, the show’s strength was the chemistry between the actors, which is why it would later struggle amidst forced cast changes. Inspired by the rise of the 80s Working Woman, the show was known for its strong political and feminist stances, mainly conveyed via monologues delivered by Carter’s character.
It might sound weird, but I loved this show growing up. It wasn’t exactly what the kids were talking about on the playground, but I went through this strange phase in the early 90s, where CBS Monday night was “appointment television” for me. I couldn’t get enough of the one-two punch of Designing Women and Murphy Brown. God, I was a weird kid… Even though I’ll be the first to tell you I was “raised by the black Golden Girls“, Designing Women always felt more familiar. Julia Sugarbaker reminded me more of my mom than, say, Dorothy Zbornak.
We talk about it in the episode, but I’d say that the show’s legacy is more concerned with the behind-the-scenes scuttlebutt than the show itself. Delta Burke was considered the breakout star of the series, which resulted in TONS of drama. She would leave the show in the 5th season – a blow from which the show wouldn’t really recover. Fans seems to be divided into 2 camps: Delta Burke Era fans or Whole Show fans (I don’t think you’d find anyone who prefers 6-7 to 1-5, even though Julia Duffy did a serviceable job as the show’s new “resident bitch” in season 6).
This might sound like hyperbole, but I think this is one of the best discussions Adam and I have had about a show. It all came about because he floated the idea of us discussing the show featured in our next episode, Women of the House, which was actually a Delta Burke-starring Designing Women spinoff. I said that we couldn’t really cover that without “setting the table” by discussing the original show, so here we are. This also means you can consider this the “prequel” of our next episode, as we’ll still be exploring the Designing Women Universe. You know the drill by now, but the episode can be found here or wherever you get your podcasts!
