Designing Women (TV Series) The Beauty Contest (1986) User Reviews

blast from the past

[jodi-44528 · 9/10 · 30 August 2019]

I loved this show when it aired, and thirty years later, it's still funny. Loved this group of ladies and how well they worked together. You could tell they all liked each other and had fun. The one thing that always struck me as funny is how none of them had a Georgian accent, especially the two sisters, as they grew up in the South. The first season was simply fun. In later seasons, the writers showed liberal politics - which detracted from some episodes. But overall, the show maintains its likeability.

another classic television moment

[susiq1067 · 10/10 · 11 May 2008]

This show became one of my favorites after it started in reruns. I had never seen it during its prime time run because I always worked nights. When I had my daughter, Designing Women was on at noon and at four (two episodes each time), which coincided with feeding time for the baby. I loved the writing, the characters, development, everything. And there is nothing like Julia when she goes off on someone (I don't think anyone could've played the part better than Dixie Carter, either). Her rant at the end at Marjorie is top of the line. I still hear in my head every once in a while "And THAT, Mar-jo-rie, is the NIGHT the LIGHTS went OUT in GEOR-GIA!"

The lights go on!

[mark.waltz · 10/10 · 3 February 2020]

Dixie Carter became a gay icon with her termination of someone who has the nerve to insult her sister in her presence. It's all about Mary Jo's daughter Claudia's (Priscilla Weems) desire to be in a beauty contest. As much as she hates beauty contests, Mary Jo turns into the typical stage mother which gives Suzanne the opportunity to take over and guide her to the crown.

This becomes one of the greatest TV episodes of all time with Julia's terminating of the beauty queen (Pamela Bowen) who dares to ridicule her sister. Gay bars all over the country still play this clip, and Dixie Carter was crowned for the way she delivers it. She comes off as bad, but there's heart there too, just as there is with the selfish Suzanne.

Carls Jr in Georgia

[dtegtmeier51 · 10/10 · 25 June 2007]

This is another program that is so well written, I laugh out loud every episode. 20 years after this episode originally aired and I caught a minor faux pas. Charlene, while talking about how much she enjoys selling her cosmetics on the side, mentions a woman she met at Carl's Jr. BUT, there are NO Carl's Jr. in Georgia or any other state east of the Mississippi. On that side of the country, those fast food restaurants are called Hardee's. Carl's Jr. restaurants are only in the West. They do share parent company CKE Restaurants, comprised of Carl's Jr./Green Burrito, Hardee's, and La Salsa. As many times as I've seen this episode over the last 20 years, I can't believe it took me this long to catch that!