Designing Women
The Beauty Contest
TV Flash files “The Beauty Contest” as a desk essential hour — Designing Women (1986–1993) on CBS, season 1, episode 2, aired 1986-10-06, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E02: listed hour 2 of 163 in the Designing Women guide, hour 2 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1986-10-06 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Designing Women” (S01E01). Next is “A Big Affair” (S01E03).
Essential hour: “The Beauty Contest”. The Beauty Contest uses the title as argument: Julia's speeches as appointment TV, Southern feminism never had a better living room.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Suzanne's substantial beauty contest expertise rises to the fore with surprising results when Charlene sponsors Mary Jo's daughter in the Miss Pre-Teen Atlanta Contest.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Beauty Contest sit in the Designing Women guide?
S01E02 is listed hour 2 of 163 — hour 2 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 2.
When did Designing Women S01E02 air?
The Beauty Contest aired 1986-10-06 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I watch for the decorating or the speeches?
The firm is the set; Julia Sugarbaker's monologues are appointment television. Topical episodes go for the throat. Come for Dixie Carter at full boil.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Julia Sugarbaker speeches are appointment television — ensemble women's comedy with explicit politics. Bloodworth-Thomason's Atlanta design firm: Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Meshach Taylor. Southern feminism never had a better living room. Delta Burke's firing/weight tabloid saga became a workplace caution tale.
The instrument is a monologue that reupholsters the room. CBS's *Designing Women* (1986–1993), Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, sets an Atlanta interior design firm — Sugarbakers — and lets Dixie Carter's Julia Sugarbaker speak as if décor were politics. Delta Burke's Suzanne, Annie Potts's Mary Jo, Jean Smart's Charlene, Meshach Taylor's Anthony. Topical episodes went for the throat. Tabloid cast drama sometimes matched the scripts. The blotter will lead with Burke. The text is ensemble women's comedy with explicit…
Filed against
- Dixie Carter as Julia Sugarbaker
Dixie Carter’s Julia Sugarbaker made Designing Women appointment oratory — ensemble women’s comedy with explicit politics, Atlanta design firm, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Meshach Taylor. Southern feminism never had a better…
- Delta Burke as Suzanne Sugarbaker
Delta Burke’s Suzanne Sugarbaker made Designing Women a pageant with a dagger — Julia’s speeches as appointment television, Bloodworth-Thomason’s Atlanta design firm, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Meshach Taylor. Southern…
- Annie Potts as Mary Jo Shively
Annie Potts’s Mary Jo Shively kept Designing Women’s Atlanta design firm from becoming a pure speech factory — Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Meshach Taylor, Julia Sugarbaker sermons as appointment television. Southern feminism in…
- Jean Smart as Charlene Frazier
Jean Smart’s Charlene Frazier gave Designing Women its sugared drawl, then Watchmen, Hacks, and Mare of Easttown proved the 1980s catalog comic had a second, third, and fourth act. TV Flash files her as the long game: Atlanta living-room…
- Meshach Taylor as Anthony Bouvier
Meshach Taylor’s Anthony Bouvier kept Designing Women’s Atlanta firm from becoming a four-woman speech factory — 1980s ensemble comedy with explicit politics, Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart. Julia Sugarbaker as…