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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!

The Best Episodes of Designing Women

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...

Seasons7

  1. Background image for Killing All the Right People
    9.4/10(263 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.

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  2. Background image for Stranded
    8.7/10(131 votes)

    #2 - 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.

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  3. Background image for The Wilderness Experience
    8.5/10(133 votes)

    #3 - 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.

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  4. Background image for A Blast From the Past
    8.4/10(95 votes)

    #4 - 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.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for Blame it on New Orleans
    8.4/10(88 votes)

    #5 - 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.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Dash Goff, the Writer
    8.3/10(135 votes)

    #6 - 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.

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Designing Women

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  8. Background image for Big Haas and Little Falsie
    8.3/10(122 votes)

    #7 - 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.

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  9. Background image for The Junies
    8.3/10(117 votes)

    #8 - 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.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Full Moon
    8.3/10(112 votes)

    #9 - 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.

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  11. Background image for Come On and Marry Me, Bill
    8.3/10(109 votes)

    #10 - 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.

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  12. Background image for Miss Trial
    8.3/10(101 votes)

    #11 - 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.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for The Big Circle
    8.3/10(87 votes)

    #12 - The Big Circle

    S5:E21

    Julia tries coping with her boyfriend Reese's death by looking after Randa Oliver, the supremely spoiled child of a client couple on an extended vacation.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Reservations for Eight
    8.2/10(137 votes)

    #13 - 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.

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  15. Background image for The Bachelor Auction
    8.2/10(87 votes)

    #14 - 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.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Old Rebels and Young Models
    8.2/10(87 votes)

    #15 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for The Women of Atlanta
    8.1/10(105 votes)

    #16 - The Women of Atlanta

    S3:E19

    A photographer shooting a magazine spread on the women of Atlanta asks the decorators to participate, but they become suspicious when he keeps encouraging sexier poses.

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  18. Background image for And Now, Here's Bernice
    8.1/10(89 votes)

    #17 - And Now, Here's Bernice

    S5:E12

    After Bernice gets a local public-access cable TV show, Mary Jo has her heart broken by a client and decides that Bernice's show is the ideal arena to air her views on men.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Pearls of Wisdom
    8.1/10(88 votes)

    #18 - Pearls of Wisdom

    S5:E13

    Mary Jo borrows and loses a string of pearls flaunted by Suzanne, subbing as a lifestyles reporter for local TV news. Meanwhile, a recurring dream about Julia upsets Anthony.

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    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for This is Art?
    8.1/10(80 votes)

    #19 - This is Art?

    S5:E18

    Amateur painter Julia inadvertently becomes the darling of Atlanta's art scene when someone tries to buy her handbag while she's attending a gallery opening; Suzanne inadvertently glues her lips shut.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for The Beauty Contest
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - 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.

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  22. Background image for Julia's Son
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #21 - Julia's Son

    S1:E4

    Julia's nineteen-year-old son, Payne, is bringing his girlfriend home from college for a visit, and Julia wants everything to be perfect for her ""baby."" Payne then presents his girl, Primmie, who is tall, attractive...and forty years old!

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  23. Background image for Design House
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Design House

    S1:E6

    Since Suzanne has money invested in Sugarbaker's and is tired of her image as a front bimbo for the firm, Julia assigns her to do the decorating of their next project. Unfortunately, the house burns to the ground while Suzanne is working on it.

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    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for I Do, I Don't
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - I Do, I Don't

    S1:E8

    The dinner is perfect, the champagne flows, Julia is presented with a single rose, and on a lark she and her current beau Reese get married. The next morning both parties regret their hastiness, and Reese appears with annulment papers. An argument ensues, and Julia finally agrees to sign the papers, thereby annuling their marriage and their entire relationship.

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    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for Old Spouses Never Die (1)
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - Old Spouses Never Die (1)

    S1:E12

    Mary Jo is brooding about her ex-husband's interference in her life, while Charlene distrusts her doctor's cavalier attitude toward the lump he found in her breast.

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  26. Background image for Bachelor Suite
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #25 - Bachelor Suite

    S1:E22

    When Mary Jo undertakes the decoration of Hence Winchester's new home, she finds herself the object of sexual harassment by her wealthy client.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Killing All the Right People" is the best rated episode of "Designing Women". It scored 9.4/10 based on 263 votes. Directed by Harry Thomason and written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, it aired on 10/5/1987. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "Stranded".