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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 9.2/10

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 1 - The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders
    8.4/10(111 votes)

    #1 - The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders

    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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  2. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 2 - One Night With You
    7.7/10(108 votes)

    #2 - One Night With You

    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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  3. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 3 - There She Is
    8.7/10(125 votes)

    #3 - There She Is

    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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  4. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 4 - Nightmare From Hee Haw
    7.9/10(141 votes)

    #4 - Nightmare From Hee Haw

    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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  5. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 5 - The Girlfriend
    6.7/10(100 votes)

    #5 - The Girlfriend

    S4:E5

    Attempting to prove himself when Mary Jo hires him and some of his ex-convict friends to finish an incomplete remodeling job, Anthony gets a new girlfriend -- an ambitious young woman who sees him as an upwardly mobile vehicle.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 6 - The Rowdy Girls
    8.2/10(145 votes)

    #6 - The Rowdy Girls

    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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  7. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 7 - Bernice's Sanity Hearing
    8.8/10(127 votes)

    #7 - Bernice's Sanity Hearing

    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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  8. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 8 - Julia Gets Her Head Stuck in a Fence
    8.1/10(134 votes)

    #8 - Julia Gets Her Head Stuck in a Fence

    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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  9. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 9 - Julia and Suzanne's Big Adventure
    7.9/10(126 votes)

    #9 - Julia and Suzanne's Big Adventure

    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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  10. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 10 - Manhunt
    7.5/10(109 votes)

    #10 - Manhunt

    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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  11. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 11 - They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?
    9.2/10(194 votes)

    #11 - They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?

    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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  12. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 12 - You Got to Have Friends
    7.7/10(104 votes)

    #12 - You Got to Have Friends

    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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  13. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 13 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (1)
    8.6/10(143 votes)

    #13 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (1)

    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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  14. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 14 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)
    8.8/10(173 votes)

    #14 - The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)

    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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  15. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 15 - The Mistress
    8.1/10(122 votes)

    #15 - The Mistress

    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(108 votes)

    #16 - The Fur Flies

    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 17 - Oh, What a Feeling
    7.8/10(102 votes)

    #17 - Oh, What a Feeling

    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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  18. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 18 - Anthony and Vanessa
    7.6/10(97 votes)

    #18 - Anthony and Vanessa

    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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  19. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 19 - Payne Grows Up
    8.1/10(106 votes)

    #19 - Payne Grows Up

    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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  20. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 20 - Tornado Watch
    8.6/10(127 votes)

    #20 - Tornado Watch

    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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  21. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 21 - Tough Enough
    7.1/10(96 votes)

    #21 - Tough Enough

    S4:E21

    A redecorating job for a sports account is right down Sugarbakers' alley when it pits the women against a macho, over-confident designer from an all-male firm. They determine to steal one of his prized clients, Cherokee Lanes Bowling Alley, but discover they must pose as regular bowlers.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 22 - It's A Wonderful Life
    7.7/10(95 votes)

    #22 - It's A Wonderful Life

    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 23 - Suzanne Goes Looking For a Friend
    8.2/10(118 votes)

    #23 - Suzanne Goes Looking For a Friend

    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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  24. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 24 - Foreign Affairs
    8.7/10(113 votes)

    #24 - Foreign Affairs

    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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  25. Designing Women Season 4 Episode 25 - Have Faith
    7.2/10(89 votes)

    #25 - Have Faith

    S4:E25

    When Mary Jo attends church with Julia and Suzanne, she ends up dating Gene Chapman, the minister, but feeling guilty about her sexual interest in him.

    Director:David Trainer
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 4 Ratings Summary

"The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders" is the best rated episode of "Designing Women" season 4. It scored 8.4/10 based on 111 votes. Directed by Harry Thomason and written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, it aired on 9/18/1989. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "One Night With You".