History YMMV / DesigningWomen

** In "FORE!", Suzanne quips, "Black people just don't play golf!"

** The episode "FORE!" may go completely over the heads of younger viewers who don't have any memory of the how the sport was pre-Tiger Woods. Today, the idea of a black man being present in an exclusive golf club doesn't seem unusual at all.

** The 1991 episode "FORE!" revolves around Anthony getting invited into an all-white golf club by means of a diversity initiative. So much of the episode's humor revolves around Anthony's unusual presence as a black man in a high-strung golf circle, clearly dating it to before Tiger Woods joined the PGA.

** The episode "FORE!" may go completely over the head of younger viewers who don't have any memory of the how the sport was pre-Tiger Woods. Today, the idea of a black man being present in an exclusive golf club doesn't seem unusual at all.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Marla Maples once guest-starred to comfort Allison after being shabbily-treated by a man, encouraging her to put the man behind her and become her own person. She made a point of producing Donald Trump's phone number and ripping it up in front of her. A few years later, guess who she marries in real life?

** As noted in the main page, Suzanne is portrayed in the earliest episodes as a catty BitchAlert who regularly conflicts with Mary Jo. This begins to fade away as the first season progresses and starting in season 2, Suzanne's behavior is retooled to come across as more buffoonish then bitchy, beginning her [[{{Flanderization}} transformation into a slapstick character]] that becomes fully realized in season 3. This all coincided with Delta Burke's weight gain. Watching Suzanne slowly turn from a catty gold-digger into a generally harmless buffoon as she becomes further removed from her salad days as a beauty queen and gains a significant amount of weight may lead modern viewers to see parallels in her character ark to that of Sherman Klump in ''[[Film/TheNuttyProfessor1996 The Nutty Professor]]'', albeit in reverse.

** The season 3 finale "Julia Runs Over the First Amendment" revolves around Julia driving her car into a newspaper stand to knock down the billboard for a pornographic magazine that offended her, landing her into legal trouble. In the 2010s, vehicle ramming attacks became a common tactic used by terrorists and extremists worldwide, with a number of high profile attacks occurring in the United States over the past few years as they became commonly utilized by far-right extremists against left-wing protest movements such as Black Lives Matter. Not only would a modern viewer fail to find any humor in the situation or garner any sympathy for Julia's position, they may straight-up [[WhatTheHellHero view her actions as a form of domestic terrorism]].
*** Further, we learn that the ad in question is for a bondage magazine, which Julia [[BondageIsBad sees as morally repugnant]] and both S&M and porn being antithetical to feminism. In the 2020s, in which both S&M and sex work are looked upon more favorably, viewers would probably tend to side with the newstand owner, who reasons that the performers are all consenting adults. Meanwhile Julia's "Terminator Speech" against porn and bondage and the ending "gag" that Julia runs over the newstand again make her seem retrograde at best.

** In "I'll Be Home for Christmas", Mary Jo's son [[Film/HomeAlone1 sets up booby traps in their home to catch Santa Claus]].

** In "I'll Be Home for Christmas", Mary Jo's son [[Film/HomeAlone sets up booby traps in their home to catch Santa Claus]].

** Social media began equating [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Delta Hurricane Delta]] to Suzanne (playing off it [[NamesTheSame sharing a name with Delta Burke]]) once meteorologists started projecting it was going to hit Georgia.

** Mary Jo gets sexually harassed by [[Series/MurphyBrown Frank Fotana]]

** [[Series/YoungSheldon Mee-Maw]] used to be a divorced interior decorator.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Julia's "Terminator" rants.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** "Killing All the Right People" in the second season, that also included as a birth control/safe sex Aesop as well.
-->'''Mary Jo''': "I think that it really shouldn't matter what your personal views are about birth control, because, you see, we're not—we're not just talking about preventing births anymore, we're talking about preventing deaths. 25,000 Americans have died and we're still debating. For me, this debate is over. More important than what any civic leader or PTA or board of education thinks about teenagers having sex or any immoral act that my daughter or your son might engage in, the bottom line is that I don't think they should have to die for it."
** "The Curious Case of Clarence and Anita" in season 6, which makes blatantly clear Bloodworth-Thomason's sympathy for Anita Hill and her view that Clarence Thomas being confirmed to the Supreme Court is a massive injustice carried out by a male-heavy Senate that isn't conscious of women's issues.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: While most of "Killing All The Right People", the VerySpecialEpisode about [=AIDS=], is a {{Tearjerker}}, Kendall having his funeral done up not just for himself, but so other [=AIDS=] victims after him can have as nice a service as he did definitely counts as this.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The AIDS episode in the second season, that also included as a birth control/safe sex Aesop as well.

** As noted in the main page, Suzanne is portrayed in the earliest episodes as a catty BitchAlert who regularly conflicts with Mary Jo. This begins to fade away as the first season progresses and starting in season 2, Suzanne's behavior is retooled to come across as more buffoonish then bitchy, beginning her [[{{Flanderization}} transformation into a slapstick character]] that becomes fully realized in season 3. This all coincided with Delta Burke's weight gain. Watching Suzanne slowly turn from a catty gold-digger into a generally harmless buffoon as she becomes further removed from her salad days as a beauty queen and gains a significant amount of weight may lead modern viewers to see parallels in her character ark to that of Sherman Klump in ''Film/TheNuttyProfessor1996'', albeit in reverse.

* JerkassWoobie: Suzanne at her High School reunion in "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?"

* HilariousInHindsight: Gas station owner Eldon Ashcroft IV in "101 Ways to Redecorate a Gas Station", played by Creator/JonathanBanks, angrily telling Julia, "Your friend (Anthony) better not put his mitts on me ever again!" in light of Banks' now signature role as Mike Ehrmantraut on ''Series/BreakingBad'' and it's spin-offs.

* HilariousInHindsight: Gas station owner Eldon Ashcroft IV in "101 Ways to Redecorate a Gas Station", played by Creator/JonathanBanks, angrily telling Julia, "Your friend (Anthony) better not put his mitts on me ever again!" in light of Banks' now signature role of Mike Ehrmantraut on ''Series/BreakingBad'' and it's spin-offs.

** "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" resonates even stronger today in light of the body positivity and fat acceptance movements that emerged in the 2010s. You could retroactively argue that Delta Burke helped pioneer these movements with this episode and the publicity surrounding it, which was all in response to the tabloids constantly pestering her about her weight.[[note]]Burke gets noticeably chubbier as the series progresses, which made her the butt of jokes and subject to constant heckling from the tabloids. She asked series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason to write an episode revolving around Suzanne's weight so she'd have a means to respond.[[/note]]

** Sugerbaker's redecorates [[Series/Breaking Bad Mike Ehrmantraut]]'s dilapidated gas station and Anthony [[TookALevelInBadass better not put his mitts on him ever again]].

** Sugerbaker's redecorates [[Series/Breaking Bad Mike Ehrmantraut's]] dilapidated gas station and Anthony [[TookALevelInBadass better not put his mitts on him ever again]].

** Season 1 finale "Gentlemen's Suite" is about Mary Jo dealing with a client who constantly sexually harasses her before he ultimately lures her into a private room and tries to rape her. This episode was ahead of its time, as it aired years before the Clarence Thomas hearings brought widespread public awareness to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Julia's "Terminator" rants can cross into this.