"Designing Women" The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century: Part 2 (1990)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Harry Thomason

Writer:

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (written by)

TV Series:

"Designing Women" (1986)

Original Air Date:

1 January 1990 (Season 4, Episode 14)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Charlene goes into labor, while the other ladies meet a dying 102-year-old black woman who tells them of her life experience as a woman of color in the South. |

Plot Keywords:

Atlanta Georgia | Feminism | Sitcom | Friendship Between Women | Sister Sister Relationship

Cast

Delta Burke	...	Suzanne Sugarbaker
Dixie Carter	...	Julia Sugarbaker
Annie Potts	...	Mary Jo Shively
Jean Smart	...	Charlene Frazier Stillfield
Meshach Taylor	...	Anthony Bouvier
Alice Ghostley	...	Bernice Clifton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Virginia Bingham	...	Debbie Hammonds
Olivia Brown	...	Vanessa Hargraves
Diane Dorsey	...	Nurse
James Higdon	...	Attendant
Daryle Ann Lindley	...	Nurse
Lynne Marta	...	OB Nurse
George Nejame	...	Attendant #1 (as George NeJame)
Conor O'Farrell	...	Attendant #2
Dolly Parton	...	Herself
Beah Richards	...	Minnie
Bill Shick	...	Orderly

Series Cast

These people are regular cast members. Were they in this episode?

Douglas Barr	...	Bill Stillfield
Richard Gilliland	...	J.D. Shackelford
Brian Lando	...	Quinton Shively

Country:

USA

Color:

Color

Company:

Mozark Productions

Movie Connections:

References An American Tail (1986)

Soundtrack:

Somewhere Out There

Beah should have been nominated for another Emmy!

Beah Richards was an extraordinary actress of high caliber performances. This episode is no exception because she plays a dying centenarian who recalls her life and history. She really becomes the role so quickly and easily. She plays Minnie, a 103 year old woman, who outlived all of her five children. She prefers to remain in the maternity ward. You can't forget that Charlene giving birth is the reason for this moment. Charlene meets God played by Dolly Parton, an American treasure and living legend. Minnie speaks about going home to God and seeing her relatives. That scene moved me to tears. I'm not one for tear-jerker but it did move and send chills down my spine. I guess I do remember watching this episode when it first aired on network television.