“Designing Women” Thursday: Delta Burke’s weight gain was comedy gold for Suzanne Sugarbaker

Since Delta Burke is one of the most beautiful women to ever grace a television screen, much was made of when she started packing on pounds during seasons two and three of Designing Women.

While the weight gain signaled trouble in the actress’s personal life, it was comedy gold for her character of Suzanne Sugarbaker, the self-absorbed beauty queen who simply got funnier and funnier as time went on.

By season four, Suzanne’s weight was written into several episode including the classic episode – They Shoot Fat Women, Don’t They - in which she attends her high school reunion and has to face judgment from classmates who remember a far more svelt Suzanne. The first clip is from that landmark episode which earned Miss Burke the first of her two Emmy nominations for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series.