Designing Women: The Complete Second Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Designing_Women_2_DVD

Before there was Sex and the City, there were a couple of television series back in the 1980s that laid the foundation for that show to exist. The first series was The Golden Girls, which many people still love today. A year later Designing Women premiered. It was a series that was ahead of its time. While it didn’t openly talk about sex like that hit HBO comedy, it still featured four strong women with many opinions on various topics. However, Women almost didn’t make it to a second season. It was put in a poor prime-time slot for its first season, and only a write-in campaign by its cult following allowed this series to see the light of day for a second year. Five more seasons later and the program made the needed quota for syndicated bliss. But did Designing Women really deserve a second season to begin with?

The series centers on four women who work for the Atlanta-based interior design company Sugarbaker and Associates. Julia (Dixie Carter) is the loud and opinionated founder of the company. with the help of her business partners, including younger sister and spokesperson Suzanne (Delta Burke), who is an attention-seeking pageant queen beauty with numerous her ex-husbands; Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts), a designer and recently divorced single mother; and office manager Charlene (Jean Smart), the oldest of 11 children from the small town of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Other regular characters we get to know include Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor), who was a falsely accused ex-con with a heart of gold now and often plays the role of the male “voice of reason”. Finally, there is the scatterbrained and feisty widow Bernice Clifton (Alice Ghostley), who is a friend of the Sugarbakers.

The series was definitely a comedy, but the writers weren’t afraid to discuss series subjects such as sex, race, women’s rights and homosexuality, and AIDS. Unlike other sitcoms, though, they didn’t have a dramatic pause to discuss such issues. They talked about things in a comedic way that flowed naturally with the rest of the episodes. Unfortunately, most of the comedy from this show was topical humor. If you were alive to remember and understand the world issues from the late ’80s and early ’90s, you will certainly laugh throughout this season. If you weren’t, well the laughs will probably be hit and miss. The series might be too political for some as well. But it was this smart writing that made the series a success, and season 2 is no exception.

But despite the strong writing, Designing Women still wouldn’t have been the show it was if it weren’t for the four leading ladies. They played each of their characters beautifully. Dixie Carter had the most fun with her many irate speeches directed towards other characters. But Burke, Potts, and Smart had their time to shine as well. The acting never felt over-the-top, which is saying a lot since this is the 1980s we are talking about. Guest stars from this season including Gerald McRaney, Scott Bakula and Billy Baldwin all fit in nicely with the core cast as well.

This series might not be for everyone with all of its political commentary. But it’s a well written and funny show. It’s easy to see why so many people loved it during the first season and wanted it back for another season. It has an abundance of topical humor that has lost some of its laughs. If you enjoyed the The Golden Girls or even Murphy Brown, then Designing Women is something you should check out if you haven’t seen it in syndication. It’s definitely near the top of the list of the most entertaining sitcoms from this era, and the second season might even be better than the first season.

Episodes:

Disc One:

Episode 1 – 101 Ways to Decorate a Gas Station
A scruffy gas-station owner wins free interior decoration from Sugarbaker’s. Charlene consults a psychic about her future.

Episode 2 – Ted Remarries
Mary Jo can’t face her children being with her ex-husband’s new wife, who is spoiling them.

Episode 3 – Anthony, Jr.
Anthony goes to extremes to impress his girlfriend’s wealthy parents, inventing a pedigree family until an uninvited dinner guest informs him he is the father of her child.

Episode 4 – Killing All the Right People
News that a friend and fellow decorator is dying of AIDS (and wants Sugarbakers to design his funeral) gets Mary Jo fired up at a PTA debate on sex education and contraception.

Episode 5 – Half an Air Bubble Off
When an eccentric client harasses the women with bizarre decorating requests, they decide to matchmake him with Bernice.

Episode 6 – Dash Goff, the Writer
Suzanne’s visiting ex-husband, a novelist who loves flowery Southern words and women, is in a writer’s slump and contemplating suicide.

Disc Two:

Episode 7 – Heart Attacks
Reese’s fitness demonstration, arm wrestling an old buddy and sometimes rival, causes a heart attack, and subsequently a different treatment from Julia.

Episode 8 – Cruising
When the Sugarbaker ladies combine business with pleasure on a cruise ship, Mary Jo and Suzanne renew their friendship when they discover they are both being pursued by the same man.

Episode 9 – I’ll Be Seeing You
Charlene dreams the ladies are back in WWII and the USO. Soon, a handsome Army colonel appears at the Sugarbaker’s shop, and Charlene is sure her friends have arranged his appearance as a surprise answer to her birthday wish for a soldier.

Episode 10 – Stranded
While Charlene, Julia, and Mary Jo get the flu on a trip to St. Louis, a snowstorm forces Suzanne and Anthony to share a motel room in Tennessee.

Episode 11 – Howard the Date
Mary Jo, Julia, Charlene and Suzanne end up on a group date after they feel sorry for a nerdy former acquaintance of Mary Jo’s, who shows up dateless for their high school reunion. As the reunion drags on, Howard, formerly the nerd, develops an obnoxious ego as he brags about how he handles his “four women”.

Disc Three:

Episode 12 – I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Charlene and Anthony scheme to outsmart Mary Jo’s disbelieving son on Christmas Eve until their hired Santa beats them to it by swiping the Sugarbakers’ Christmas gifts.

Episode 13 – Great Expectations
Anthony is dismayed when an old prison cellmate arrives at Sugarbaker’s with a business proposition. He wants Anthony to become his partner.

Episode 14 – Second Time Around
Charlene withdraws after being dumped by her boyfriend, Bill, who is still grieving the loss of his first wife. Julia then shares with Bill her own personal experience about losing her husband and tries to convince him that being with Charlene is okay.

Episode 15 – Oh, Brother
Julia and Suzanne disagree on how to handle the arrival of their half-brother, a recently discharged mental patient with aspirations to stand-up comedy.

Episode 16 – There’s Some Black People Coming to Dinner
Mary Jo gives Claudia permission to go to a school dance with a black youth, contrary to his father’s wishes.

Episode 17 – The Return of Ray Don
A penniless Suzanne faces stiff fines for back taxes, so after trying to charm Ray Don at the IRS, she sells off her possessions and considers marriage to wealthy octogenarian, Wilmont Oliver.

Disc Four:

Episode 18 – High Rollers
After Charlene unwittingly puts a bug in Suzanne’s ear by relating the success story of Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express, Suzanne flits off to Atlantic City with Charlene and Anthony in hopes of winning a bundle to pay off debts by employing Anthony’s gambling expertise.

Episode 19 – The Incredibly Elite Bona Fide Blue-Blood Beaumont Driving Club
Suzanne and Julia clash over a posh club’s offer of membership when Suzanne discovers discrimination in the club’s bylaws.

Episode 20 – How Great Thou Art
Scruples cause Charlene to resign from her church after she loses faith in her minister when he votes against allowing women in the ministry.

Episode 21 – Ted-Bare
On the brink of marrying a young woman, Ted begins to appreciate ex-wife Mary Jo’s maturity, but his sudden attentiveness strikes everyone else as suspicious.

Episode 22 – Reservations for Eight
A romantic ski weekend becomes a battle of the sexes when an avalanche sidelines the Sugarbaker ladies and their boyfriends.

The video is given in fullscreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The transfer is decent enough, but there is noticeable grain and various other issues. Nothing that majorly detracts from the episodes, though. About as good as they were on TV, which is a slight disappointment, but not much given the age of the show.

The audio included is in English 2.0 Stereo sound. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear. No major problems with the exception of music changes due to copyright issues.

There are no extras for the second season DVD set.

The second season of Designing Women is probably stronger overall than the first season, and this paved the way for many more seasons to come for the show. If you have never seen the show, it probably isn’t for you unless you love shows from the ’80s and/or the Sex and the City type of show with strong women in the lead role. Fans of the show will certainly be disappointed by the lack of extras and below-average audio and video quality.




Shout Factory Home Entertainment presents Designing Women: The Complete Second Season. Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Starring Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Meshach Taylor, and Alice Ghostley. Running time: 540 minutes. Rated: NOT RATED. Released on DVD: August 11, 2009. Available at Amazon.com

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