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The Best Episodes of Designing Women

Every episode of Designing Women ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Designing Women!

Binge this in 3d 9h•Peaking at 9.5/10

Julia Sugarbaker, Mary Jo Shively, Charlene Frazier-Stillfield and Suzanne Sugarbaker are associates at their design firm, Sugarbaker and Associates. Julia is the owner and is very outspoken and strong-willed. Mary Jo is a divorced single-parent

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Designing Women Season 2 Episode 4 - Killing All the Right People
    9.5/10(281 votes)

    #1 - Killing All the Right People

    S2:E4

    "Killing All the Right People" is the 26th episode of the sitcom Designing Women. Originally airing on October 5, 1987, as the fourth episode of the second season, it features Tony Goldwyn as Kendall Dobbs, a young man dying of AIDS who asks the women to design his funeral. Series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's mother died of AIDS and her experience with her mother's disease and the prejudice associated with it inspired the episode.

    Director:Harry Thomason
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  2. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 11 - They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?
    9.2/10(193 votes)

    #2 - They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?

    S4:E11

    Fat as a feminist issue surfaces when Suzanne endures cruel jokes about her weight at her high-school reunion; Anthony enlists Julia and Mary Jo to join him in a two-day fast to focus attention on world hunger.

    Director:Harry Thomason
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  3. Designing Women Season 1 Episode 18 - Oh, Suzannah
    8.8/10(153 votes)

    #3 - Oh, Suzannah

    S1:E18

    While in Reese's office to sign legal papers, Suzanne off-handedly volunteers to keep a Vietnamese boat child, Li Sing, who is being adopted but needs an interim home for the next four weeks while final papers are being completed. Suzanne becomes attached to Li Sing quickly and doesn't want to give her over to her new family.

    Director:Matthew Diamond
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  4. Designing Women Season 2 Episode 10 - Stranded
    8.8/10(140 votes)

    #4 - Stranded

    S2:E10

    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.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  5. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 7 - Bernice's Sanity Hearing
    8.8/10(126 votes)

    #5 - Bernice's Sanity Hearing

    S4:E7

    The Sugarbaker women testify for Bernice when her niece Phyllis attempts to have her declared legally incompetent because she sings Bobbie Gentry songs to strangers on the street and introduces Anthony as her illegitimate son.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  6. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 14 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)
    8.8/10(172 votes)

    #6 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)

    S4:E14

    Suzanne and Mary Jo rush Charlene to the hospital when she goes into labor on New Year's Eve and conceives a desire to deliver the first New Year's baby. Dolly Parton plays Charlene's ""guardian movie star,"" who comes to her in a dream with news of her baby's birth, and Bernice goes for an unexpected ambulance ride.

    Director:Harry Thomason
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Designing Women

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  7. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 3 - There She Is
    8.7/10(124 votes)

    #7 - There She Is

    S4:E3

    While preparing for Charlene's baby shower, the Sugarbakers women are surprised by a visit from the Director of Pageants for Miss Georgia. Due to a clerical error discovered in the 1975 balloting, Suzanne must relinquish the crown she won 15 years earlier.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 24 - Foreign Affairs
    8.7/10(112 votes)

    #8 - Foreign Affairs

    S4:E24

    When her maid Consuela is threatened with deportation, Suzanne puts Anthony in a dress and pays him to impersonate the terrified woman. But he performs too well, awakening romantic interest in the Immigration and Naturalization Service examiner.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 28 - La Place sans Souci
    8.7/10(111 votes)

    #9 - La Place sans Souci

    S4:E28

    At a plush spa, the sparse diet, vigorous exercise program and thermal mud baths bring out the worst in Suzanne -- especially when Julia and Mary Jo are encouraged to gain weight.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  10. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 13 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (1)
    8.6/10(142 votes)

    #10 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (1)

    S4:E13

    Suzanne and Mary Jo rush Charlene to the hospital when she goes into labor on New Year's Eve and conceives a desire to deliver the first New Year's baby. Dolly Parton plays Charlene's ""guardian movie star,"" who comes to her in a dream with news of her baby's birth, and Bernice goes for an unexpected ambulance ride.

    Director:Harry Thomason
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  11. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 20 - Tornado Watch
    8.6/10(126 votes)

    #11 - Tornado Watch

    S4:E20

    A bizarre collection of characters is trapped inside Sugarbakers by a tornado warning, including hillbilly Daddy Jones who takes a liking to Bernice.

    Director:William Crain
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  12. Designing Women Season 5 Episode 1 - A Blast From the Past
    8.6/10(102 votes)

    #12 - A Blast From the Past

    S5:E1

    Sugarbaker's is beset by tourists when the building's Civil War foundation puts it on the Tour of Historical Homes, Mary Jo opens her heart to an old friend eager to make good on a marriage pact they once entered into.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Designing Women Season 5 Episode 19 - Blame it on New Orleans
    8.6/10(96 votes)

    #13 - Blame it on New Orleans

    S5:E19

    When the gang attends a convention in intoxicating New Orleans, Mary Jo unwittingly sleeps with a married man.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Designing Women Season 1 Episode 2 - The Beauty Contest
    8.5/10(215 votes)

    #14 - The Beauty Contest

    S1:E2

    Charlene sponsors Mary Jo's daughter in the Miss Pre-Teen Atlanta contest, and despite her depression over her own upcoming 30th birthday, Suzanne coaches Claudia on how to walk and smile.

    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  15. Designing Women Season 3 Episode 8 - The Wilderness Experience
    8.5/10(139 votes)

    #15 - The Wilderness Experience

    S3:E8

    The women embark on a wilderness survival course designed to build leadership -- but it's first-time camper Bernice who ultimately takes command.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  16. Designing Women Season 2 Episode 6 - Dash Goff, the Writer
    8.4/10(142 votes)

    #16 - Dash Goff, the Writer

    S2:E6

    Suzanne's visiting ex, a novelist who loves flowery Southern words and women, is in a writer's slump and contemplating suicide.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  17. Designing Women Season 3 Episode 5 - Big Haas and Little Falsie
    8.4/10(128 votes)

    #17 - Big Haas and Little Falsie

    S3:E5

    Mary-Jo contemplates breast enlargement after receiving an inheritance from her uncle Dude stipulating that she must spend it on something frivolous.

    Director:Harry Thomason
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  18. Designing Women Season 3 Episode 15 - Full Moon
    8.4/10(119 votes)

    #18 - Full Moon

    S3:E15

    A full moon coincides with strange occurrences, including Mary Jo's sudden conviction that Claudia and her boyfriend are up to no good.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  19. Designing Women Season 3 Episode 18 - Come On and Marry Me, Bill
    8.4/10(120 votes)

    #19 - Come On and Marry Me, Bill

    S3:E18

    Charlene's wedding is in jeopardy when she finds Bill handcuffed to a scantily clad dancer after his stag party.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  20. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 1 - The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders
    8.4/10(110 votes)

    #20 - The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders

    S4:E1

    Mary Jo uses the mansion she's decorating to entertain, and Anthony suffers when his health insurance lapses and Suzanne must nurse his injured back.

    Director:Harry Thomason
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  21. Designing Women Season 5 Episode 4 - Miss Trial
    8.4/10(108 votes)

    #21 - Miss Trial

    S5:E4

    Julia's dinner plans with former President Jimmy Carter and his wife are put on hold when her slow-moving jury gets sequestered.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Designing Women Season 2 Episode 22 - Reservations for Eight
    8.3/10(145 votes)

    #22 - Reservations for Eight

    S2:E22

    A romantic ski weekend becomes a battle of the sexes when an avalanche sidelines the Sugarbakers ladies and their boyfriends.

    Director:Hal Holbrook
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  23. Designing Women Season 3 Episode 12 - The Junies
    8.3/10(122 votes)

    #23 - The Junies

    S3:E12

    Charlene becomes a part-time saleswoman for ""Lady Jun"" cleaning products, and when she repeatedly succumbs to psychological pressure from her friend Libby despite her stated intention to quit, Julia determines to rescue her from this ""cult"" -- and winds up taking on Lady Jun herself. Meanwhile, Anthony receives an unusual nomination from his junior college -- as homecoming queen -- and gets unexpected support from Suzanne.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Designing Women Season 5 Episode 5 - The Bachelor Auction
    8.3/10(97 votes)

    #24 - The Bachelor Auction

    S5:E5

    When organizational confusion leads to Suzanne winning a date with Anthony in a bachelor charity auction, the two reluctantly try to make the best of a very awkward situation.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Designing Women Season 5 Episode 7 - Old Rebels and Young Models
    8.3/10(93 votes)

    #25 - Old Rebels and Young Models

    S5:E7

    Charlene's baby, Olivia, auditions for a modeling job, Mary Jo finds one of her former teachers in a nursing home.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Killing All the Right People" is the best rated episode of "Designing Women". It scored 9.5/10 based on 281 votes. Directed by Harry Thomason and written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, it aired on 10/5/1987. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?".