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The Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 1

Every episode of Designing Women Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 1!

The Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 1

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...

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  1. 8.8/10(144 votes)

    #1 - Oh, Suzannah

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    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.

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  2. 8.4/10(197 votes)

    #2 - The Beauty Contest

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    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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  3. 8.1/10(149 votes)

    #3 - Julia's Son

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    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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  4. 8.0/10(138 votes)

    #4 - Perky's Visit

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    S1:E7

    Perky Sugarbaker, Julia and Suzanne's mother, and her friend Bernice hope to escape the dull routine of their lives in the retirement home by joining the girls and their ex-con handyman Anthony for the festive occasion, considering it an exhilarating change.

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  5. 8.0/10(126 votes)

    #5 - The Slumber Party

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    S1:E10

    Arriving at work one morning, Suzanne tells Julia, Mary Jo, and Charlene that when she tried to fire her maid, she put a voodoo death curse on her and proclaimed that Suzanne would be gone by midnight. Mary Jo invites Charlene, Julia and Suzanne to help her with Claudia's slumber party.

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  6. 7.9/10(126 votes)

    #6 - Design House

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    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:N/A
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  8. 7.8/10(202 votes)

    #7 - Designing Women

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    S1:E1

    Suzanne visits a new gynecologist, Mary Jo's ex-husband Ted, and a maelstrom of emotions is unleashed when she announces she is dating him.

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    Director:N/A
  9. 7.8/10(126 votes)

    #8 - Mary Jo's First Date

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    S1:E5

    Concerned that Mary Jo hasn't dated since she and Ted broke up, Suzanne arranges a bind date for her with an old acquaintance, J.D. Shackelford, head scout for the Atlanta Braves baseball team, while Julia struggles through an I.R.S. audit conducted by the same Ray Don Simpson who tried to pick up the women at a restaurant and suffered a tonguelashing from Julia.

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    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:N/A
  10. 7.8/10(122 votes)

    #9 - Monette

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    S1:E14

    When an old school chum of Charlene's, Monette, buys the old Chadwick mansion and asks Sugarbaker's to redecorate, the women are excited at the prospect of a most lucrative assignment--until they find out what the assignment REALLY is...

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  11. 7.8/10(751 votes)

    #10 - Grand Slam, Thank You Ma'am

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    S1:E21

    Suzanne's baseball player ex-husband, Jack Dent, writes in his autobiography that he had more groupie action than all the rock ""n"" roll bands in North America, and Suzanne vows revenge.

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  12. 7.7/10(104 votes)

    #11 - The IT Men

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    S1:E9

    When her boyfriend Mason takes a job in Japan, Charlene finds she has chemistry with another man, a man who happens to be married to one of the Sugarbaker clients.

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    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:N/A
  13. 7.6/10(108 votes)

    #12 - Old Spouses Never Die (2)

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    S1:E13

    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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  14. 7.6/10(105 votes)

    #13 - Bachelor Suite

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    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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  15. 7.5/10(115 votes)

    #14 - New Year's Daze

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    S1:E11

    It is New Year's Eve, and everyone is dressed in their finery, anticipating a fun-filled night on the town. The identity of Charlene's date is kept secret until a news flash reports that the infamous ""Shadow"" is the subject of a massive manhunt.

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    Writer:N/A
  16. 7.5/10(112 votes)

    #15 - Old Spouses Never Die (1)

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    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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  17. 7.5/10(102 votes)

    #16 - Seams From a Marriage

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    S1:E20

    When Anthony saunters into the shop wearing an enormous cowboy hat, followed by a breathless Mary Jo who has obviously been out all night as she is wearing the same clothes ahe had on when she left the day before, the others clamor for an explanation. It seems their appointment with Sugarbaker's newest client turned into an all-night bash, complete with Cajun buffet and country-western band.

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    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:N/A
  18. 7.3/10(118 votes)

    #17 - I Do, I Don't

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    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:N/A
  19. 7.3/10(105 votes)

    #18 - And Justice For Paul

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    S1:E15

    Suzanne picks up a client who wants period furniture on a shoestring budget, and the Sugarbaker women find that antique furniture at bargain prices is no bargain.

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    Director:Jack Shea
    Writer:N/A
  20. 7.3/10(116 votes)

    #19 - Reese's Friend

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    S1:E16

    A disagreement over the theme for the annual country club fund-raiser has Julia and Suzanne at odds, but the quibbling is forgotten when Reese appears with a gorgeous young women on his arm, explaining that she is a new attorney in his law firm.

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  21. 7.1/10(112 votes)

    #20 - Nashville Bound

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    S1:E17

    The news that Charlene's family--all ten brothers and sisters--will be in town at the same time is overshadowed by the news that she is going to become a recording star!

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  22. 7.1/10(104 votes)

    #21 - Mary Jo's Dad Dates Charlene

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    S1:E19

    When Mary Jo's divorced father arrives in Atlanta for a four-day visit and dances cheek to cheek with Charlene, Mary Jo becomes very protective.

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  23. 6.8/10(143 votes)

    #22 - A Big Affair

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    S1:E3

    Suzanne's intimate dinner party, planned to impress an important client, goes awry before it begins when she arranges a date between a more-than-hefty man and a reluctant Charlene.

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Oh, Suzannah" is the best rated episode of "Designing Women" season 1. It scored 8.8/10 based on 144 votes. Directed by Matthew Diamond and written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, it aired on 3/23/1987. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "The Beauty Contest".