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The Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 4

Every episode of Designing Women Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 4!

Binge this in 12h 30m•Peaking at 9.1/10

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
    Designing Women Season 4 Episode 11 - They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?
    9.1/10(191 votes)

    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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  2. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 14 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)
    8.8/10(171 votes)

    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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  3. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 7 - Bernice's Sanity Hearing
    8.7/10(124 votes)

    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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  4. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 3 - There She Is
    8.6/10(122 votes)

    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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  5. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 28 - La Place sans Souci
    8.6/10(108 votes)

    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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  6. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 13 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (1)
    8.5/10(142 votes)

    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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  7. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 20 - Tornado Watch
    8.5/10(120 votes)

    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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  8. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 24 - Foreign Affairs
    8.5/10(107 votes)

    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 1 - The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders
    8.3/10(106 votes)

    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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  10. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 23 - Suzanne Goes Looking For a Friend
    8.2/10(112 votes)

    S4:E23

    A lonely Suzanne digs through her old pageant connections for a best girlfriend, not realizing that her friend's "coming out" meant that she was a lesbian and not just the oldest living debutante.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 6 - The Rowdy Girls
    8.1/10(141 votes)

    S4:E6

    While she is helping the Sugarbakers women choreograph a Supremes lip-synch routine, Charlene's favorite cousin inadvertently reveals that she is a victim of domestic violence.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  12. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 19 - Payne Grows Up
    8.1/10(100 votes)

    S4:E19

    Julia is not pleased to learn that Payne is graduating early in order to marry his pregnant girlfriend. Upset at becoming a grandmother so soon, Julia gets tipsy at the wedding, then wakes up mortified -- and scantily clad -- the next day with Payne's frat house roommate (Young).

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 27 - Anthony's Graduation
    8.1/10(88 votes)

    S4:E27

    An extremely anxious Anthony makes it to his college graduation despite a series of mishaps and his nervousness about his grandmother's visit and his performance as commencement speaker.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  14. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 8 - Julia Gets Her Head Stuck in a Fence
    8.0/10(131 votes)

    S4:E8

    While posing for a gag photo at the governor's mansion, Julia gets her head stuck in the banister just before the annual ball.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 15 - The Mistress
    8.0/10(118 votes)

    S4:E15

    The ladies are hired by wealthy stockbroker Ancel Pollard to decorate a house for a client's wife -- and a condo for his mistress. Suzanne is sure that straight laced Julia and Mary Jo will never go through with the assignment.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  16. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 16 - The Fur Flies
    8.0/10(101 votes)

    S4:E16

    The fur flies at a fashion show, where Suzanne's after-dinner mink causes a riot among animal-rights activists. Meanwhile, Charlene is forced to bring Olivia to Sugarbakers while she looks for a nanny.

    Director:Hal Holbrook
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 4 - Nightmare From Hee Haw
    7.9/10(136 votes)

    S4:E4

    The Sugerbaker women and their mates take a canoe trip in the Georgia backwoods -- which turns into a nightmare when them encounter some good ole boys.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  18. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 9 - Julia and Suzanne's Big Adventure
    7.8/10(121 votes)

    S4:E9

    Julia and Suzanne's plans go awry when they travel to Japan to visit their mother: after discovering that she has gone to Paris to see a sick friend, they are robbed of their luggage and money. Meanwhile, Anthony and Mary Jo are stuck with an enormous telephone bill after calling in votes to a television poll.

    Director:Dwayne Hickman
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 17 - Oh, What a Feeling
    7.8/10(96 votes)

    S4:E17

    Julia and Suzanne negotiate for a new delivery van and drive a hard bargain with an overbearing salesman (Ross).

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 2 - One Night With You
    7.7/10(104 votes)

    S4:E2

    A terminally-ill high school classmate's last wish is to spend one night with the girl of his dreams -- Julia. The catch is, she doesn't remember him at all.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  21. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 12 - You Got to Have Friends
    7.7/10(97 votes)

    S4:E12

    Mary Jo takes a second job at a fast food place when Ted's child support payment is late.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 22 - It's A Wonderful Life
    7.6/10(88 votes)

    S4:E22

    Julia intervenes when Bill's grief over the loss of his first wife threatens his relationship with Charlene -- and she becomes convinced he is having an affair with his new cockpit partner, Gail.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Michael Ross

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  23. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 10 - Manhunt
    7.5/10(103 votes)

    S4:E10

    Desperately single Mary Jo, worried that her busy schedule will condemn her to a life alone, accepts coaching from Suzanne as she plans a weekend manhunt.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 18 - Anthony and Vanessa
    7.5/10(91 votes)

    S4:E18

    Hired for a temporary job at Sugarbakers, Anthony's needy friend Vanessa learns the tricks of the trade from Suzanne, then goes to work reeling in Anthony.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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  25. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 26 - Their Finest Hour
    7.3/10(86 votes)

    S4:E26

    An hour-long clip show of highlights from the previous seasons, including: razor-tongued Julia standing up for Suzanne against an insolent beauty pageant contestant, Julia defending Bernice's eccentricities, Mary Jo commenting on men and bra sizes, Charlene wondering about everything from killer bees to the personal habits of other women, Suzanne displaying a series of wacky dresses, and Anthony being plagued by a variety of indignities.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

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Season 4 Ratings Summary

"They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" is the best rated episode of "Designing Women" season 4. It scored 9.1/10 based on 191 votes. Directed by Harry Thomason and written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, it aired on 12/11/1989. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)".