Quite Underrated

Aztec_Camera

Where to begin. Designing Women has always been one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. For the record I am also a huge fan of The Golden Girls. As many know these two shows have been heavily compared and contrasted for the longest time. The two shows do have striking similarities and many out there have accused Designing Women of ripping The Golden Girls off (And I do believe there is a hint of truth to that, but we'll save that for another time) but Designing Women stands completely on it's own. In many ways I think there is a sense of humanism & realism in Designing Women that is lacking in The Golden Girls, but enough about them.

I fell in love with the show straight from the Pilot. I was still in grade school but I thought it was hysterical. I enjoyed the great cast of characters and how beautifully they played off of one another. And the actresses who played those characters were amazing. Whether it was the kooky yet vulnerable Charlene (Jean Smart), the confidence and dry wit of Julia (Dixie Carter), the semi-neurotic girl next door Mary Jo (Annie Potts) or the over the top drama (And silliness) of Suzanne (Delta Burke), these characters made me laugh and laugh. They were all great performers but Delta Burke as Suzanne truly stood out as a one of a kind comedic talent. Burke surprised critics and viewers alike by showing she could bring a self absorbed former beauty queen (With a secret heart of gold) to new heights of hilarity. The show also benefited from the strong political sensibilities of it's creator/producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason as the show often took liberal political stances during a time when it was relatively taboo for sitcoms to do so. The show did struggle during it's last couple of seasons primarily due to a revolving door of cast changes. First, it was the very abrupt departure of Burke, which from a viewer stand-point was somewhat jarring. What I mean by that is that we had one of the strongest (And funniest) characters literally vanish in thin air without ANY explanation, it really kinda threw things off for awhile. After Burke departed we than saw Charlene leave. At least this time there was an explanation, her military husband had suddenly been permanently transferred to the UK. Next was the truly AWFUL casting of Julia Duffy as Sugarbaker cousin, Allison. Though I hold no ill-will towards the acting talent of Duffy, the character of Allison Sugarbaker was dreadful. She was completely unlikeable and had NO redeeming qualities. Someone must've thought the same thing as she too vanished without a trace after just 1 season. Let us also not forget the season 6 finale "Shades of Vanessa" which attempted to set up black comedienne Jackee' as a possible partner in the Sugarbaker firm for the upcoming 7th season. This idea never panned out, for whatever reason. Although it never "Jumped The Shark", the Allison character came pretty close to pushing it over that edge. I think Jan Hooks should get special mention as someone who continuously elevated the show. With a few years of Saturday Night Live experience under her belt she managed to create a funny, memorable character in that of Carlene Dawber, the sweet yet strange little sister of the departed Charlene. Eventually another character hopped on board, that of BJ (Played nicely by Judith Ivey) a wealthy widow who, in it's final season, became a partner to save the ailing Sugarbaker firm. I will always remember Designing Women as a genuinely funny show with quirky yet believable characters and great writing, despite some of it's messy cast changes. My all-time favorite episode is "Pearls of Wisdom", just for the laugh-til-you-cry hilarity of the salad bar scene.

At the time of this writing (June 07') a season-by-season DVD release is pending. Sony (The studio that will release DW on DVD) initially intended to release Season 1 in the summer of 06. However, a season-by-season release has been stalled due to music clearances. This is completely plausible considering the dozens (and dozens) of songs/pieces of music used throughout the series. Sony has stated that due to a market saturation of TV to DVD releases, the music industry is taking advantage of this by demanding big bucks for music licensing. Sony says that the music fees are so high that if they were to go ahead with the shows release it would mean a much higher than usual retail price for the sets. Sony has repeated that they are committed to releasing the show on DVD but want to keep the price point low so that casual fans and hardcore fans alike can enjoy the show without raping their wallets. And so we wait......

score 8/10

Aztec_Camera 25 May 2007

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1662296/