50 Fun Facts About Designing Women

In which Southern city do the Sugarbaker sisters run their interior design firm on Designing Women?

Atlanta is home to Sugarbaker & Associates, though the building shown in exterior shots really stands in another state.

Which actress, a former Miss Florida, played vain ex-beauty queen Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women?

Delta Burke won Miss Florida in 1974 as the youngest titleholder in the pageant's history, then earned two Emmy nominations as Suzanne.

Which standard about a Southern state plays over the opening credits of Designing Women?

Georgia on My Mind opened the show in an instrumental version. Hoagy Carmichael composed it in 1930, and Georgia made it the official state song in 1979.

Which Tennessee-born actress played the outspoken firm president Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women?

Dixie Carter was first runner-up at Miss Tennessee in 1959, decades before she played the older sister of a fictional beauty queen.

Which country superstar appears in a dream as Charlene's guardian movie star when she gives birth on Designing Women?

Dolly Parton played herself in the New Year's Eve episode, and the cameo won her a TV Land Award more than a decade later.

Which unusual pet named Noel does Suzanne Sugarbaker dote on in Designing Women, to her neighbors' fury?

A pig named Noel is Suzanne's pampered pet, and her neighbors keep making threats against it. When Noel runs away, she takes to mothering an injured Anthony instead.

On Designing Women, which star does Charlene idolize, and whose face later appears on Mary Jo's snow shovel?

Elvis Presley is Charlene's hero, and she talks the whole gang into a weekend trip to Graceland in the episode E.P., Phone Home.

On Designing Women, Anthony Bouvier is hired as the Sugarbaker delivery man shortly after which chapter of his life?

Serving time in prison is Anthony's backstory, yet he rises from delivery man to a full stake in the firm while studying law.

Which actor, the real-life husband of the actress playing Julia, appeared on Designing Women as her beau Reese Watson?

Hal Holbrook took the part only after much persuasion from the show's creators. He was already acclaimed for his one-man stage show as Mark Twain.

An Emmy-nominated Designing Women episode has a young decorator ask the firm to plan his funeral as he dies of what?

AIDS was the subject of Killing All the Right People, which the show's creator wrote after her own mother died of the disease following a blood transfusion.

Which politician, a close friend of Designing Women's creators, does Charlene say she once worked for as a secretary?

Bill Clinton was a longtime friend of the show's creators, and one of them produced The Man from Hope, the biographical film shown at the 1992 Democratic convention.

Jan Hooks left which sketch comedy show to play Charlene's sister Carlene in the last two seasons of Designing Women?

Saturday Night Live had worn Hooks down with the stress of performing live, so she accepted the creator's offer to replace a departing original star.

Alice Ghostley, eccentric Bernice on Designing Women, was earlier known as the bumbling maid Esmeralda on which sitcom?

Bewitched added Ghostley's shy Esmeralda in 1969 to fill the gap left by the death of the actress who played Aunt Clara.

Annie Potts, who played Mary Jo on Designing Women, has voiced which Toy Story character since the first film?

Bo Peep has been Potts's voice role since the original Toy Story in 1995. On screen she is also the Ghostbusters receptionist Janine Melnitz.

Which sitcom about another strong, opinionated woman aired back-to-back with Designing Women from 1989 to 1992?

Murphy Brown and the Sugarbaker crew formed a very successful hour-long block, because both shows were thought to appeal to similar audiences.

Which network aired Designing Women for seven seasons, at its best in a Monday night slot?

CBS shuffled the sitcom through several time slots and was ready to cancel it early on, before a return to Mondays turned it into a regular top 20 show.

When Suzanne Sugarbaker was written out of Designing Women after five seasons, the character moved to which country?

Japan was already home to the sisters' mother, so Suzanne was sent to join her when the actress left after a much-publicized feud with the producers.

Charlene Frazier leaves Designing Women in season six by moving abroad with her military husband to which country?

England was the writers' exit for Charlene after the actress chose to spend more time with her young child, and a younger sister took over her desk.

Charlene's husband Bill Stillfield on Designing Women is a colonel in which branch of the American military?

The Air Force later sends Bill to the Persian Gulf, and a lonely Charlene dreams herself back to the days after Pearl Harbor.

Mary Jo's ex-husband Ted on Designing Women practices which medical specialty, as new patient Suzanne discovers?

Gynecology is Ted's field, and the pilot's trouble starts when Suzanne visits her new doctor and then announces that she is dating him.

Which actor played Mary Jo's ex-husband Ted on Designing Women shortly before leading a time-travel drama?

Scott Bakula appeared from the pilot onward and has said things took off for him after it. Quantum Leap made him a leading man in 1989.

Which Simon & Simon star played Suzanne's ex Dash Goff on Designing Women and married the actress who played her?

Gerald McRaney met his future wife when she guest-starred on his detective series, and they married in 1989. He later reprised Dash in her spin-off.

Richard Gilliland, Mary Jo's boyfriend J.D. on Designing Women, married which of the show's stars in real life?

Jean Smart met Gilliland on the set, where his character was romancing someone else, and they married in 1987 and stayed together until his death in 2021.

On Designing Women, which nickname does Julia earn for her habit of telling people off in fiery speeches?

The Terminator became shorthand for Julia's liberal monologues, and the final season even titled an episode Mary Jo vs. the Terminator.

Charlene Frazier on Designing Women hails from which Missouri town, the real birthplace of the show's creator?

Poplar Bluff is where the creator was born and went to high school, and she gave her hometown to both Charlene and her sister Carlene.

What is the first name of Julia and Suzanne's mother on Designing Women, seen in just one Thanksgiving episode?

Perky Sugarbaker visits once, bringing along her outrageous best friend Bernice, who stays behind and becomes a fixture at the firm.

What name do Charlene and Bill give their daughter, born in a New Year's episode of Designing Women?

Olivia arrives in The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century, an episode that earned an Emmy nomination for its editing.

In an Emmy-nominated Designing Women episode, Suzanne is hurt by cruel remarks about her weight at which event?

A class reunion, her fifteenth, is the setting, in a story written after the actress asked the creator for an episode that addressed her weight.

In the Designing Women episode The Candidate, Julia runs for which local office and loses after a televised debate?

Commissioner is the seat Julia chases, but her opinionated nature works against her and she loses to a conservative rival.

In one Designing Women episode, Julia gets her head stuck in a banister while decorating which building?

The Governor's mansion had hired the firm to decorate for its annual ball, and the banister could not be cut free because of its historical significance.

On Designing Women, how does Suzanne injure Anthony after mistaking him for an intruder?

She shoots him in the leg, piling one more worry onto a week when Anthony is already stressed about graduating and a visit from his grandmother.

Which actress joined the last season of Designing Women as Etienne, the showgirl Anthony marries on a whim?

Sheryl Lee Ralph played Etienne, whom a heartbroken Anthony weds on a group getaway just after his fiancee calls off their wedding.

Wealthy widow B.J. Poteet, who joins the firm in the last season of Designing Women, hails from which state?

Texas millionaire B.J. inherited her fortune after her tycoon husband had a heart attack at their own wedding reception.

Julia Duffy joined Designing Women as cousin Allison after years as Emmy-nominated heiress Stephanie on which sitcom?

Newhart brought Duffy an Emmy nomination every year from 1984 through 1990, but her season in the Sugarbaker office turned out to be her only one.

Meshach Taylor, Anthony on Designing Women, also played the flamboyant Hollywood Montrose in which 1987 film comedy?

Mannequin cast Taylor as a window dresser, and he returned for the 1991 sequel while still playing Anthony.

Before creating Designing Women, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason earned an Emmy nomination writing for which wartime sitcom?

M*A*S*H used five of her scripts, and the nominated one, Hot Lips and Empty Arms, was written with Mary Kay Place.

The house shown as Sugarbaker's on Designing Women actually stands in which state capital, far from the show's setting?

Little Rock is home to the Villa Marre, an Italianate house built in 1882 whose facade stood in for the firm in exterior shots.

In the Designing Women episode The Rowdy Girls, the women rehearse a lip-sync routine as which 1960s girl group?

The Supremes routine is the light half of an episode in which Charlene discovers that her favorite cousin is a victim of domestic violence.

The final Designing Women story has the firm redecorating a home that resembles the great house from which classic film?

Gone with the Wind inspires the finale, titled Gone with a Whim, in which the new lady of the house wants to swap the grand staircase for an escalator.

In the short-lived spin-off from Designing Women, Suzanne Sugarbaker takes over what from her late husband?

A seat in Congress takes Suzanne to Washington in Women of the House, which reunited the actress with the producers she had feuded with.

Which cable network reran Designing Women for more than a decade and aired the cast's 2003 retrospective special?

Lifetime brought five of the stars back together in 2003 to share memories, alongside interviews with the creators and several writers.

Marc Cherry, once personal assistant to the actress playing Julia on Designing Women, later created which hit series?

Desperate Housewives let Cherry cast his old boss as a scheming mother-in-law, which brought her the only Emmy nomination of her career.

Julia's actress on Designing Women disagreed with some liberal speeches; what was she promised for delivering each one?

A chance to sing was the bargain: for every liberal-leaning monologue, Julia would get a musical number in a future episode. Off screen, the actress leaned Republican.

What is Suzanne Sugarbaker's role at her sister's design firm on Designing Women?

Silent partner Suzanne put up money but holds no official position, leaving the design work to Mary Jo and the paperwork to Charlene.

Julia's beau Reese Watson was killed off on Designing Women so his actor could join which other sitcom?

Evening Shade came from the same husband-and-wife producers and starred Burt Reynolds, so Reese's death in season five freed the actor for their newer show.

Designing Women's lone Primetime Emmy win, for a World War II dream episode, came in which craft category?

Hairstyling brought the show its only Emmy from eighteen nominations, for I'll Be Seeing You, in which Charlene dreams the gang into a wartime USO.

Cousin Allison exits Designing Women after one season, leaving the firm to invest in a franchise of which retailer?

Victoria's Secret gives the prim, conservative Allison her off-screen exit, and a wealthy widow then buys into the firm in her place.

On Designing Women, the accountant who steals Suzanne's savings spends what is left on which gift for her?

A circus is what Suzanne gets when the women finally track down Reggie Mac Dawson, working as a bellboy and pianist in a hotel.

The network moved Designing Women to which night for its final season, a slot blamed for sinking the ratings?

Friday was known in television as the death slot, and the move there in fall 1992 sent the ratings down and ended the run.

In the Designing Women episode Mr. Bailey, a late client leaves her millions and prepaid decorating services to whom?

Her cat inherits everything, and a delivery man later reveals that Mr. Bailey had a famous past of his own.