This is happening just in time. My VHS tapes of just about all of the Designing Women episodes are on their last legs but I’ve held onto them as I await the release of the show on DVD. Music rights clearance has been the biggest hurdle and the reason why – except for a seven-episode best-of DVD several years back – the show has not been out on DVD even though it ended its run in 1993.

The DVD release date is May 26. I think it should be a national holiday!

I am a Designing Women fanatic, so much so that I was quoted in a book about the show, have met and interviewed the four main stars Dixie Catter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart and Annie Potts on several occasions as well as writer-creator Linda Bloodworth Thomason.

The characters: The much-married, self-centered beauty queen Suzanne Sugarbaker  (Burke) uses her feminine wiles to attract business for the firm. Her sophisticated sister, Julia (Carter), is nobody’s fool and runs the operation and her own life with a guarded graciousness. Mary Jo Shively (Potts) is the sweet-natured, recently-divorced mother trying to make her own way in the world as a decorator for the first time. Small-town gal Charlene Frazier (Smart) is the sweet and overly-trusting bad-guy magnet who runs the office.

Why do I love Designing Women so?

Well, we gays love strong women but even more than that, we love sharp and smart dialogue and this show has that in spades. It also has one of the best ensembles in the history of television who were all so different yet complimented each other so beautifully.

It is stunning that the show was never nominated for an Emmy for best comedy series. But Burke got two best actress nominations.

The three other actresses have received Emmy nominations for other projects though: Potts was nominated for the sitcom Love and War, Carter for her role on Desperate Housewives, and Smart has won three Emmys: two for her role as Lana on Frasier and one last fall for her role on Samantha Who? She was also twice nominated for 24.

This is one powerhouse quartet and I’ll have several more posts about them leading up to the DVD release of the first season’s 21 episodes.

Like most classic sitcoms, the show just got better and better with each passing season really hitting it absolute peak in seasons three and four. The show was not able to weather the departures of Burke and Smart after the season five but it did carry on for two more years with replacements Jan Hooks, Judith Ivey and Julia Duffy.

Comments

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One Remark

1. May 18th, 2009 at 10:59 am
   Allen says:

   More good news. DW season 2 will follow on August 11th!