Designing Women
an Episode Guide
by Russell Wodell
Last updated:
Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:00
Designing Womenan Episode Guide
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| aired from: Sep 1986 to: May 1993 | 163 eps | CBS | 30 min | mono/ stereo | closed captioned |
regulars:
recurring characters:
A pioneering feminist sitcom conceived by the wife and husband team of Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (writer) and Harry Thomason (director), who served as executive producers as well. The Atlanta, Georgia decorating firm Sugarbaker's consists (initially) of four contrasting women who are not only well-founded characters but function as archetypes in the series' evolving internal debate over the problems of women -- particuarly, Southern women -- in a man's world. Widowed Julia Sugarbaker, an outspoken professional businesswoman with a sharp tongue and a mind to match, articulates a left-liberal, pro-feminist political position, but is not above being dogmatic and, occasionally, just plain wrong-headed. Her younger sister Suzanne Sugarbaker, a frequently divorced former beauty queen, is a pampered Southern belle who thinks physical looks are the key to success and takes an instinctively reactionary position on almost any issue - but sometimes surprises the others with an innately generous nature and flashes of practical shrewdness. Divorced mother Mary Jo Shively takes the middle road but finds that her relationships with men (a compulsively unfaithful ex-husband, various unsatisfactory boyfriends) incline her towards Julia's viewpoint. Naively optimistic office manager Charlene Frazier is the most conventional of the four, and in the course of the series marries into the military and finally gives up her job to concentrate on being a good wife and mother. The show's success in creating this foursome lead almost inevitably to its decline in later seasons: after the much-publicized departure of Delta Burke, the balance of the show's internal dynamic never recovered, the additional characters being so much less interesting than the originals, and as a result more and more of the action being focused on the comic foils of Anthony, the male black assistant (and later partner) and bizarre client/friend Bernice.
The guide that follows derives chiefly from the Library of Congress LOCIS database, the script archives listed in Worldcat (chiefly the New York Public Library), and the (incomplete and sometimes inaccurate) syndication information available through the Lifetime Network. Guests cast listing have been drawn from on-air information, TV Guide listings and, for the 1990-1991 season, Frank Lovece's The Television Yearbook: Complete Detailed Listings for the 90-91 Season. Where these sources disagree, I have used the most likely information but noted the conflict.
Production credits:
Bloodworth/Thomason Mozark Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television/CPT Holdings
Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Executive producers: Henry Thomason, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Pam Norris, Norma Safford Vela, Tommy Thompson, Douglas Jackson
Co-executive producer: Pam Norris
Producers: E. Jack Kaplan, Emily Marshall, Tommy Thompson, David Trainer
Supervising producers: Douglas Jackson, Tommy Thompson
Co-producers: Judith A. Burke, William Constentino
Associate producer: Judith A. Burke
Story editors: Dee LaDuke, Mark Alton Brown, Cathy Michon
Production credits:
Bloodworth/Thomason Mozark Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television/CPT Holdings
Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Executive producers: Henry Thomason, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Pam Norris, Norma Safford Vela, Tommy Thompson, Douglas Jackson
Co-executive producer: Pam Norris
Producers: E. Jack Kaplan, Emily Marshall, Tommy Thompson, David Trainer
Supervising producers: Douglas Jackson, Tommy Thompson
Co-producers: Judith A. Burke, William Constentino
Associate producer: Judith A. Burke
Story editors: Dee LaDuke, Mark Alton Brown, Cathy Michon
rc: Ted, Ray Don
Sparks fly around the office when Suzanne's new boyfriend turns out to be Mary-Jo's ex-husband.
b: 29 Sep 86 pc: 164230 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Ellen Chaset Falcon
rc: Claudia, Quinton
Suzanne is reminded of her past beauty pageant glories when Mary Jo's daughter Claudia enters a contest.
b: 6 Oct 86 pc: 164231 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
Charlene goes soft on some fraternity boys who are behind on their payment and (thanks to Suzanne) starts to date a charming but obese gentleman.
b: 20 Oct 86 pc: 164225 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
NOTE: Some sources credit this episode as w: Tom Seeley & Norm Gunzenhauser d: Michael Lessac
rc: Payne
Julia is shocked to learn her son is dating a college professor twice his age.
b: 27 Oct 86 pc: 164234 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
rc: Ray Don, J.D.
Concerned that Mary Jo hasn't dated since she and Ted broke up, Suzanne arranges a blind date for her with an old acquaintance, J.D. Shackelford, head scout for the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Meanwhile, Julia struggles through an IRS audit conducted by the same Ray Don Simpson who tried to pick up the women in a restaurant and suffered a tongue-lashing from Julia.
b: 3 Nov 86 pc: 164222 w: Cheryl Gard d: Jack Shea
An important client cancels because Suzanne was the center of male attention at her birthday party, causing Suzanne to want to be more than a "bimbo front person" for Sugarbakers. But her first professional work for the "Design House" goes up in flames while she is working on it.
b: 17 Nov 86 pc: 164228 w: Joan Brooker & Nancy Eddo d: Jack Shea
rc: Bernice
Julia and Suzanne's mother visits for Thanksgiving with her friend Bernice, and suspicions of murder make for an exciting Thanksgiving Day.
b: 24 Nov 86 pc: 164235 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
rc: Reese
Reese promises Julia a gift that's gold and fits on one finger, she thinks he's proposing, he thinks he's giving her a canary.
b: 4 Dec 86 pc: 164224 w: Emily Marshall d: Jack Shea
NOTE: As of this episode the first season was moved to Thursday evenings opposite NBC's Night Court, causing ratings to plummet and the series to be placed on hiatus.
Charlene sets her sights on another man weeks after her boyfriend Mason leaves to take a job in Japan, but what she learns about him is a real eye-opener: he's the husband of a Sugarbakers client.
b: 4 Dec 86 pc: 164232 w: Emily Marshall d: Jack Shea
rc: Claudia, Quinton
The Sugarbakers women agree to chaperone Mary Jo's daughter's slumber party-- while they wait out the possible results of a voodoo curse put on Suzanne by a departing maid.
b: 18 Dec 86 pc: 164233 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
The Sugarbakers women spend a New Year's night on the town party worrying that Charlene's old boyfriend, now an escaped convict and the target of a massive manhunt, may turn up.
b: 1 Jan 87 pc: 164240 w: Trish Vradenburg d: David Steinberg
rc: Ted, J.D.
Charlene is worried about a lump in her breast, so the women persuade her to seek a second opinion -- and she is booked for immediate surgery. Meanwhile, Mary Jo's ex-husband interferes in her romantic life.
b: 1 Feb 87 pc: 164243 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Barnet Kellman
NOTE: A letter-writing campaign by determined fans brought the series back, now on Sunday evenings.
rc: Ted, J.D.
Charlene undergoes breast surgery, people from Anthony's past catch up with him, and ex-spouses caause trouble for Mary Jo and J.D.
b: 1 Feb 87 pc: 164243 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Barnet Kellman
The Sugarbakers women must consider the ethical implications of a very lucrative job offer: decorating the old Chadwick mansion for an old friend of Charlene's -- which she intends to run as a bawdy house.
b: 8 Feb 87 pc: 164242 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Barnet Kellman
rc: D. David Morin [ Paul ], Diana Bellamy [ Unknown ], Dierk Torsek [ Unknown ]
The Sugarbakers women are jailed after Charlene's new beau Paul offers to get antiques for them wholesale -- and the bargains turn out to be stolen goods.
b: 15 Feb 87 pc: 164221 w: Trish Vradenburg d: Jack Shea
rc: Reese, J.D.
Julia's quarrel with Suzanne over the theme for the annual country club fund-raiser becomes the background to her jealous reaction to Reese's attractive young colleague, especially when he starts working long hours at the office.
b: 22 Feb 87 pc: 164244 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Arlene Sanford
Aspiring singer Charlene meets a big-time music promoter who persuades her she can become a recording star, prompting all ten of her siblings to visit. Meanwhile, an athlete's lonely wife hits on Anthony.
b: 16 Mar 87 pc: 164245 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Harry Thomason
NOTE: The series now moved to Monday evenings, where it built increased popular support.
Suzanne becomes a temporary foster mother to a Vietnamese boat orphan, who quickly adopts Suzanne's expensive tastes and questionable attitudes.
b: 23 Mar 87 pc: 164246 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Matthew Diamond
rc: J.D.
Mary Jo's divorced father visits but, to Mary Jo's horror, most of his time is spent with the new woman in his life -- Charlene.
b: 6 Apr 87 pc: 164237 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
The Sugarbakers suspect a lucrative assignment means compromise when the new client - a flamboyant couple - lavishes the designers with expensive gifts.
b: 13 Apr 87 pc: 164226 w: E. Jack Kaplan d: Jack Shea
Suzanne aims to get even when her baseball star ex-husband reveals intimate details in his racy autobiography, including his numerous infidelities while married to Suzanne.
b: 4 May 87 pc: 164239 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Barnet Kelman
rc: J.D.
A wealthy client expects more from Mary Jo than her professional services, but then his sexual advances endanger her relationship with J.D.
b: 11 May 87 pc: 164236 w: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason d: Jack Shea
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