Show cover for Designing Women

The Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 5

Every episode of Designing Women Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Designing Women Season 5!

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...
Genre:Comedy
Network:CBS
Episodes
24
Avg. Rating
7.6
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3

Season 5 Ratings Summary

"A Blast From the Past" is the best rated episode of "Designing Women" season 5. It scored 8.4/10 based on 91 votes. Directed by David Trainer and written by N/A, it aired on 9/17/1990. This episode is rated 0.8 points higher than the second-best, "Papa Was a Rolling Stone".

  • A Blast From the Past
    8.4/10(91)

    #1 - A Blast From the Past

    Season 5 Episode 1

    Aired 9/17/1990

    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.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Papa Was a Rolling Stone
    7.6/10(77)

    #2 - Papa Was a Rolling Stone

    Season 5 Episode 2

    Aired 9/24/1990

    Charlene aims to make Anthony's 30th birthday a memorable one -- by hiring a private detective to find his long-lost father.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Working Mother
    7.5/10(80)

    #3 - Working Mother

    Season 5 Episode 3

    Aired 10/1/1990

    Resentment builds between Charlene and Mary Jo when Charlene wants to take a year off to look after her baby. The decorators cater to the whims of a rich, insufferable 10-year-old client as Mary Jo and Charlene ponder the joys and pitfalls of working mothers.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Miss Trial
    8.3/10(97)

    #4 - Miss Trial

    Season 5 Episode 4

    Aired 10/15/1990

    Julia's dinner plans with former President Jimmy Carter and his wife are put on hold when her slow-moving jury gets sequestered.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • The Bachelor Auction
    8.1/10(83)

    #5 - The Bachelor Auction

    Season 5 Episode 5

    Aired 10/22/1990

    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.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Charlene Buys a House
    7.8/10(86)

    #6 - Charlene Buys a House

    Season 5 Episode 6

    Aired 10/29/1990

    As the proud new owner of a grand but ghostly mansion, Charlene hires the decorators to give the place a facelift -- not mentioning that it's haunted.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Old Rebels and Young Models
    8.2/10(83)

    #7 - Old Rebels and Young Models

    Season 5 Episode 7

    Aired 11/5/1990

    Charlene's baby, Olivia, auditions for a modeling job, Mary Jo finds one of her former teachers in a nursing home.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Nowhere To Run To
    7.4/10(78)

    #8 - Nowhere To Run To

    Season 5 Episode 8

    Aired 11/12/1990

    Mary Jo takes up jogging, and inadvertently helps turn Julia into a fitness zealot.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • A Class Act
    6.8/10(77)

    #9 - A Class Act

    Season 5 Episode 9

    Aired 11/19/1990

    Anthony buys in to become a full partner; new student Charlene fends off an amorous psychology professor.

    Director: Dwayne Hickman

    Writer: N/A

  • Keep the Home Fires Burning
    6.9/10(74)

    #10 - Keep the Home Fires Burning

    Season 5 Episode 10

    Aired 11/26/1990

    With her husband away on a mission, Charlene guiltily draws close to a man in her support group for military spouses who wife is also away. Meanwhile, lottery fever sweeps Sugarbakers.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • My Daughter, Myself
    7.4/10(78)

    #11 - My Daughter, Myself

    Season 5 Episode 11

    Aired 12/10/1990

    Mary Jo forbids her nearly 18-year-old daughter to date a 34-year-old, then dates him herself, Julia is forced to crash the men's room at a football stadium.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • And Now, Here's Bernice
    8.2/10(85)

    #12 - And Now, Here's Bernice

    Season 5 Episode 12

    Aired 12/17/1990

    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.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Pearls of Wisdom
    8.1/10(84)

    #13 - Pearls of Wisdom

    Season 5 Episode 13

    Aired 1/7/1991

    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.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • High Noon in a Laundry Room
    6.5/10(73)

    #14 - High Noon in a Laundry Room

    Season 5 Episode 14

    Aired 1/14/1991

    Anthony, concerned with his masculinity after working with the women so long, tries standing up to his bullying neighbor, and is further humiliated when the women come to his rescue.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • How Long Has This Been Going On?
    7.5/10(75)

    #15 - How Long Has This Been Going On?

    Season 5 Episode 15

    Aired 1/28/1991

    Everyone at Sugarbakers is baffled to discover that sensible Julia has covertly been singing evenings at a nightclub, Anthony tries to muster the nerve to ask out a girl who works at the bookstore.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • The Emperor's New Nose
    7.8/10(79)

    #16 - The Emperor's New Nose

    Season 5 Episode 16

    Aired 2/4/1991

    Bernice gets an extraordinarily bad eye tuck and rhinoplasty from a plastic surgeon whose work leaves something to be desired.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: Michael Ross

  • Maybe, Baby
    7.3/10(75)

    #17 - Maybe, Baby

    Season 5 Episode 17

    Aired 2/11/1991

    Mary Jo, wanting a baby, turns to her friend and former beau; Suzanne takes up smoking as a way to diet.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • This is Art?
    8.1/10(76)

    #18 - This is Art?

    Season 5 Episode 18

    Aired 2/25/1991

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Blame it on New Orleans
    8.5/10(84)

    #19 - Blame it on New Orleans

    Season 5 Episode 19

    Aired 3/4/1991

    When the gang attends a convention in intoxicating New Orleans, Mary Jo unwittingly sleeps with a married man.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • I'll See You in Court
    7.5/10(73)

    #20 - I'll See You in Court

    Season 5 Episode 20

    Aired 3/18/1991

    Mary Jo runs across the man who mugged her the year before, but faces horrendous judicial red tape to bring him to trial.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • The Big Circle
    8.3/10(83)

    #21 - The Big Circle

    Season 5 Episode 21

    Aired 4/8/1991

    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.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Friends and Husbands
    6.9/10(73)

    #22 - Friends and Husbands

    Season 5 Episode 22

    Aired 4/29/1991

    Charlene, readjusting to married life upon Bill's return from the Middle East, quits her and Mary Jo's children's-book project.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Fore!
    7.5/10(68)

    #23 - Fore!

    Season 5 Episode 23

    Aired 5/6/1991

    Suzanne is jealous when Anthony is invited to be the first black (i.e., token) in the previously all-white Beaumont Country Club.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • The Pride of Sugarbakers
    6.7/10(73)

    #24 - The Pride of Sugarbakers

    Season 5 Episode 24

    Aired 5/13/1991

    Mary Jo and Julia demonstrate different coaching styles when their firm sponsors a Little League team.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Michael Ross