this show can be funny at times, but it could never compare to the golden girls. as i said a cheap imitation of the golden girls. we have the lady friends who are frequently in the same house, just as the golden girls were. except the designing women didn't live together. we have suzanne sugerbaker (delta burke) who is slutty, man crazy, and thinkd highly of her beauty, like blanche devereaux. we have mary jo (annie potts), who is the divorced mother and considered dull and boring, just like dorthy zborneak. we have charlene (jean smart) who is considered the idiot who tells pointless stories, like rose nylund. we have julia (dixie carter), who is kind of like sophia petrillo because of her sarcasm and attitude. this show is like the golden girls but with younger women. the humor is pretty corny. it is not really even that funny. i can only remember laughing only a few short times. if you want a funny show, i really don't recommend this one. i would suggest the golden girls, the simpsons, futerama, or malcolm in the middle.*** out of **********.

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!

This show was great in its first 5 seasons. Then two of the original women left and the show slipped big time. They brought in Julia Duffy who couldn't be funny to save her life and Jan Hooks whose character acted just like her sister. My least favorite character had to be Mary Jo she was so boring she was a single mother who could not find a man and who wined a lot. They should have let her portrayer Annie Potts go right on out the door with Delta Burke and Jean Smart. Julia Sugarbaker was the best character because she stood up for what she believed in and she was strong and could last without a man unlike her friends. When they rid of Julia Duffy and replaced her with Judith Ivey I thought the show had at least 2 more seasons in it but I was way off base because that season was the last. The one problem that I saw with Ivey's character, B.J., was that she had the same attitude as Julia and how could you stand that kind of stuff on the same show. Anthony and Bernice were always fun to watch too. I miss this show and they really should do a reunion movie. It was one of the better comedies in the late 80s.

Designing Women was wonderful. I enjoyed Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts, Dixie Carter, Meshach Taylor, and Alice Ghostley's performances. They were the original cast. But my favorite character was portrayed by Judith Ivey. She is wonderful. Carlene had a different sense of humor than Charlene, even though they were sisters. But Dixie Carter and Annie Potts were great together. Delta Burke was good, but her very unfortunate leaving allowed different story lines.