History Series / DesigningWomen

* WithFriendsLikeThese: In one episode, Julia's efforts to make sure she gets to attend a deeply desired event are thwarted continuously by Charlene's informing on her, well-intentioned as it may be. At the end of the episode, when Julia finally leaves for her event, the others have to lock Charlene down to prevent her from doing it yet again.

* HeroicBSOD: In "There She Is," Suzanne's locked into this upon learning she must relinquish her 1975 Miss Georgia crown.

* RavenHairIvorySkin: Suzanne.

* VacationEpisode: Quite a few, sometimes together with all the love interests to boot.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: One of Carlene's boyfriends is this.

* BigBeautifulWoman: Suzanne.

* BrainlessBeauty: Suzanne Sugarbaker
* BrainyBrunette: Julia Sugarbaker

* EightiesHair: Thankfully toned down by the end of the series.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Suzanne and Julia, respectively, fit the trope in assorted ways.

* GayAesop: Combined with AIDS to boot, and Julia chewing out a client.

* TheGhost: Consuela, Suzanne's maid.

* HappilyMarried: Charlene and Bill; Julia and her now-deceased husband were also this.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Anthony has walked into the Sugarbaker's at inopportune moments quite a few times.

* SouthernBelle: Suzanne Sugarbaker especially and in particular, but really, all of the female main characters fit the bill one way or another.
** The show puts a button on this in an episode spoofing ''Gone With the Wind,'' when each lady imagines what she'd be like as Scarlett O'Hara.

* AnAesop: Frequently, and many delivered by Julia, who often [[AuthorFilibuster served as something of a mouthpiece]] for show creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Her fiery rants touched on all kinds of issues, from sex education and sweatshop exploitation to inane magazine editorials.

* BigFancyHouse: Julia's stately home, which doubled as the company's office, and was once even listed on the Atlanta Register of Historic Homes, right up until the tourists snapped the last of Julia's straws.

* BitchAlert: Allison Sugarbaker. As Anthony put it, Leona Helmsley in Tinkerbell's body.

* CelebrityCameo: The show had a smattering of celebrity appearances over the years, although possibly the most memorable is Music/DollyParton as Charlene's "guardian movie star" when she's in the hospital to give birth.

--> '''Ray Charles''': "I thought that was pretty good!"
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Mary Jo, in spades. One beer and she gets extremely loud, aggressive, and obnoxious.
** This characteristic yields particularly disastrous consequences in "Nightmare from Hee Haw," when her yelling attracts the attention of four hillbillies spoiling for a fight ...
* {{Catchphrase}}:

* DropInCharacter: Bernice did not work at Sugarbaker's, nor did she have a financial stake in the company, yet she spent much of her time there (much to the annoyance of the others, particularly Anthony).
** Lampshaded in that Perky, Julia and Suzanne's mother, asks them to keep an eye on her friend Bernice, since Perky herself is [[WalkingTheEarth always out of the country]].

* GeniusDitz: Every once in a while, when Julia, Charlene and Mary Jo were confused by something, Suzanne would be the one who figured it out, leaving the other three to wonder how they'd missed such an obvious fact.

* HumblePie: Julia occasionally had to eat a slice or two. For instance, the time she [[WardrobeMalfunction strutted down a fashion show runway with the back of her dress tucked into her pantyhose.]]

* PutOnABus: Suzanne moved to Japan and Charlene moved with her husband to England at the start of season 6, due to Delta Burke being fired and Jean Smart deciding to leave the show. Suzanne's departure was only mentioned, while Charlene stuck around for just one more episode to unceremoniously drop the news of her leaving.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Carlene Dobber for Charlene Frazier-Stillfield. Their similar first names are even lampshaded by Mary Jo in the season 6 premiere.
** Although Carlene was not among the family we met when Charlene's family comes to visit.

* {{Flanderization}}: Suzanne undergoes this as the series progresses. She gains a significant amount of weight, begins wearing more extravagant clothing, hair and makeup and behaving in a more buffoonish and slapstick manner, especially starting in season 3. As this coincided with Suzanne emerging as the show's BreakoutCharacter and Delta Burke earning two consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1990-91 (the only one of the female leads to earn a nomination), it can be seen as the rare case of Flanderization improving a series.

** This is cranked up several notches in the final two seasons, and as such Charlene and - to a lesser extent - Suzanne escape the worst of it (having both been written off the show by the sixth season). But poor Julia and Mary Jo have their flaws and eccentricities magnified to cartoonish proportions - especially in the final season - with Julia's political posturing going from just stern and opinionated to downright obnoxious grandstanding and with Mary Jo's going from being openly insecure and occasionally snarky to being a complete neurotic mess susceptible to delusions of grandeur. This is on full display in "Mary Jo vs. The Terminator" (Mary Jo and Julia spending an entire episode over proofreading a letter, and with their final argument nearly turning physical) and "Shovel Off to Buffalo" (Mary Jo believing that the face of Elvis appeared on her snow shovel and has the power to heal the sick, and - right before exiting Sugarbaker house with a group of Elvis pilgrims - calling a skeptical Julia over to smack her upside the head and yell "I HEAL your attitude!").

** This is cranked up several notches in the final two seasons, and as such Charlene and to a lesser extent Suzanne escape the worst of it (having both been written off the show by the sixth season). But poor Julia and Mary Jo have their flaws and eccentricities magnified to cartoonish proportions - especially in the final season - with Julia's political posturing going from just stern and opinionated to downright obnoxious grandstanding and with Mary Jo's going from being openly insecure and occasionally snarky to being a complete neurotic mess susceptible to delusions of grandeur. This is on full display in "Mary Jo vs. The Terminator" (Mary Jo having an episode-long feud with Julia over how she proofread her letter, and with their final argument nearly turning physical) and "Shovel Off to Buffalo" (Mary Jo believing that the face of Elvis appeared on her snow shovel and has the power to heal the sick, and later smacking Julia upside the head for not believing and having a "bad attitude").

** This is cranked up several notches in the final two seasons, and as such Charlene and to a lesser extent Suzanne escape the worst of it (having both been written off the show by the sixth season). But poor Julia and Mary Jo have their flaws and eccentricities magnified to cartoonish proportions - especially in the final season - with Julia's political posturing going from just stern and opinionated to downright obnoxious grandstanding and with Mary Jo's going from being openly insecure and occasionally snarky to being a complete neurotic mess susceptible to delusions of grandeur. This is on full display in "Mary Jo vs. The Terminator" (with Mary Jo having an episode-long feud with Julia over how she proofread her letter that nearly turns physical) and "Shovel Off to Buffalo" (Mary Jo believing that the face of Elvis appeared on her snow shovel and has the power to heal the sick, and later smacking Julia upside the head for not believing).

* [[FiveManBand Five Woman Band]]: For the first five seasons...
** [[TheHero The Heroine]]: Julia
** TheLancer: Suzanne
** [[TheSmartGuy The Smart Girl]]: Mary Jo
** [[TheBigGuy The Big Girl]]: Charlene
** TheOneGuy[=/=]SixthRanger: Anthony

** Suzanne's home was pretty big and fancy itself (in fact, the used in establishing shots of Suzanne's house is actually a photo of the Arkansas Governor's mansion.)

** Suzanne's home was pretty big and fancy itself.

* WidowWoman: Julia Sugarbaker.

* TheCameo: The show had a smattering of celebrity appearances over the years, although possibly the most memorable is Music/DollyParton as Charlene's "guardian movie star" when she's in the hospital to give birth.

* CoolPet: Noel, the pig.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Suzanne's "Excuse me....EXCUSE ME!!!"

* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Anthony in certain season 1-2 episodes in the syndication cut.[[note]]The syndication cut has an abbreviated version of the season 3-5 opening applied to seasons 1-5 which gives Meshach Taylor main billing, even though Anthony was only a reoccurring character until season 3.[[/note]]

!!This show contains examples of:

* ShooOutTheNewGuy: Julia Duffy replaced Delta Burke at the start of the 6th season as the Sugarbakers' prissy cousin, Allison. The character, who was basically Duffy's ''Series/{{Newhart}}'' character Stephanie with a southern accent, was very poorly received and was gone by the 7th season premiere. Creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason blamed herself and the writers for not creating a more multi-dimensional character for Duffy to play. Jan Hooks was more successful as Jean Smart's replacement and was kept around for the final season.

* ShooOutTheNewGuy: Julia Duffy replaced Delta Burke at the start of the 6th season as the Sugarbaker's prissy cousin, Allison. The character, who was basically Duffy's ''Series/{{Newhart}}'' character Stephanie with a southern accent, was very poorly received and was gone by the 7th season premiere. Creator Susan Bloodworth-Thomason blamed herself and the writers for not creating a more multi-dimensional character for Duffy to play. Jan Hooks was more successful as Jean Smart's replacement and was kept around for the final season.

The cast was rounded out by [[MiscarriageOfJustice ex-con Anthony Bouvier]] (Creator/MeshachTaylor), [[CloudCuckoolander Bernice Clifton]] (Creator/AliceGhostley), and a steady parade of children, boyfriends, ex-husbands and assorted oddballs. After half the cast left in 1991, some [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute new characters appeared]] to replace them, but they were not as well-received. The series aired on Creator/{{CBS}} from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993 and spawned an unsuccessful spin-off (''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_of_the_House Women Of The House]]'').