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The Worst Episodes of Designing Women

Every episode of Designing Women ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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...
Genre:Comedy
Network:CBS
Episodes
163
Avg. Rating
7.4
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
7.7
7.4
7.6
8.2
8.5
7.2
7.5
7.5
6.8
6.6
7.8
8.5

Worst Episodes Summary

"Real, Scary Men" is the worst rated episode of "Designing Women". It scored 4.8/10 based on 77 votes. Directed by David Steinberg and written by N/A, it aired on 12/9/1991. This episode scored 0.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Trial and Error".

  • Real, Scary Men
    4.8/10(77)
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    #1 - Real, Scary Men

    Season 6 Episode 12

    Aired 12/9/1991

    When their van breaks down the women become unwelcome guests at a men's club retreat Wildman Sanctuary, where Anthony is trying to land a new account.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Trial and Error
    5.3/10(66)
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    #2 - Trial and Error

    Season 7 Episode 10

    Aired 12/11/1992

    B.J. goes overboard showering everyone with gifts, and law student Anthony gets carried away trying to help Mary Jo win a small-claims case involving her defective freezer.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Shovel Off to Buffalo
    5.3/10(70)
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    #3 - Shovel Off to Buffalo

    Season 7 Episode 17

    Aired 3/12/1993

    Worshiping hordes gather outside Sugarbaker's after the face of Elvis mysteriously appears on a snow shovel belonging to Mary Jo, who attracts the attention of a ""paraspectacular"" expert (Gilpin) -- especially when she apparently restores her neighbor's damaged hearing.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • The Vision Thing
    5.6/10(65)
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    #4 - The Vision Thing

    Season 7 Episode 9

    Aired 12/4/1992

    Etienne drives Anthony crazy trying to be the perfect wife, and the Sugarbakers crew throw a Las Vegas style wedding shower for them.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: Norma Safford Vela

  • Marriage Most Foul
    5.7/10(68)
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    #5 - Marriage Most Foul

    Season 6 Episode 5

    Aired 10/7/1991

    When Allison's ex-convict former flame (whom she turned in for insider trading) is released, she fears he is plotting revenge, instead, he proposes to her.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • It's Not So Easy Being Green
    5.8/10(69)
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    #6 - It's Not So Easy Being Green

    Season 7 Episode 18

    Aired 4/2/1993

    Anthony is jealous of Etienne's successful writer friend, who shares a vivid past with her, but tries to be gracious by throwing a signing party for him.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • The Odyssey
    5.9/10(70)
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    #7 - The Odyssey

    Season 7 Episode 12

    Aired 1/15/1993

    B.J.'s contribution to the Democratic Party gets the Sugarbaker crew invited to the Inaugural Ball, but the trip proves to be a party for no one, even Julia, who struggles to maintain a cheery disposition in the face of disaster as bad weather forces a change in plans.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • I Enjoy Being a Girl
    6.2/10(67)
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    #8 - I Enjoy Being a Girl

    Season 6 Episode 20

    Aired 3/9/1992

    On an overnight Girl Scout outing, Carlene's leadership abilities take a beating, while Allison's methods seem to charm the spoiled troopers, and Mary Jo and Julia advocate roughing it.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: Norma Safford Vela

  • Picking a Winner
    6.3/10(64)
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    #9 - Picking a Winner

    Season 6 Episode 6

    Aired 10/14/1991

    Mary Jo turns to a sperm bank to get pregnant, prompting mixed reactions at work. Meanwhile, Julia threaten to rip the draperies from the windows of the home of a wealthy client whose payment is overdue.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • Viva Las Vegas (1)
    6.3/10(62)
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    #10 - Viva Las Vegas (1)

    Season 7 Episode 6

    Aired 11/6/1992

    After Vanessa calls off their wedding, Anthony joins the gang on a getaway to Las Vegas, where he nurses his broken heart -- in the company of a show stopping showgirl he impulsively weds.

    Director: Charles Frank

    Writer: Norma Safford Vela

  • Wedding Redux
    6.3/10(62)
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    #11 - Wedding Redux

    Season 7 Episode 14

    Aired 2/5/1993

    Anthony and Etienne renew their vows for Etienne's visiting parents and Anthony's grandmother at a ceremony at B.J.'s, where anything that could go wrong does.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: Mimi Pond

  • Nude Julia, New York Morning
    6.3/10(66)
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    #12 - Nude Julia, New York Morning

    Season 7 Episode 15

    Aired 2/12/1993

    Julia's old mentor for her bohemian art school days in New York unveils his nude portrait of Julia.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Ms. Meal Ticket
    6.4/10(79)
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    #13 - Ms. Meal Ticket

    Season 3 Episode 16

    Aired 3/20/1989

    Mary-Jo overreacts to J.D.'s losing his job and moving in with her, but a psychic helps her sort out her feelings.

    Director: Hal Holbrook

    Writer: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

  • On the Road Again
    6.4/10(66)
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    #14 - On the Road Again

    Season 7 Episode 4

    Aired 10/23/1992

    In an attempt at spontaneity, a carefree Mary Jo takes off for Nashville on ""a hen party on wheels"" with Julia and Bernice, but become terrified when a trucker Bernice flirted with at a diner pursues them. Meanwhile, back at the office, Carlene and Anthony put their noses to the grindstone studying for midterms.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Gone With a Whim (2)
    6.4/10(81)
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    #15 - Gone With a Whim (2)

    Season 7 Episode 22

    Aired 5/24/1993

    With Julia continuing to fight to save the antebellum Kearney mansion, B.J. struggles to save Sugarbaker's and Poteet Industries from a take over from the Kearneys. However, despite their efforts, Kiki Kearney announces her new plans for ""Kikibaker's,"" Lester Kearney announces that the purchase of Poteet Industries is complete, and the modernizing of the mansion gets under way. Though Anthony and the women are fired for insubordination, when Craig, a friend of Mary Jo's, stumbles on some embarrassing news about the Kearney's illegal financial activities, Poteet Industries and Sugarbaker's are saved from the take over.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: David Steinberg

  • Great Expectations
    6.5/10(100)
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    #16 - Great Expectations

    Season 2 Episode 13

    Aired 1/4/1988

    Anthony is dismayed when an old prison cellmate arrives at Sugarbaker's with a business proposition -- he wants Anthony to become his partner.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

  • The Girlfriend
    6.5/10(89)
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    #17 - The Girlfriend

    Season 4 Episode 5

    Aired 10/23/1989

    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: N/A

  • High Noon in a Laundry Room
    6.5/10(73)
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    #18 - 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

  • L.A. Story
    6.5/10(61)
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    #19 - L.A. Story

    Season 6 Episode 21

    Aired 3/23/1992

    Allison thinks she's invited to stay at Charles Nelson Reilly's home, so the decorators do Hollywood and get flimflammed on an expenses-paid trip accompanying investor Allison to the set of her movie.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Screaming Passages
    6.5/10(66)
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    #20 - Screaming Passages

    Season 7 Episode 5

    Aired 10/30/1992

    Julia fears the emotional roller coaster of menopause -- just as her affair with Phillip heats up, and is upset when she discovers a Sugerbakers ""Change of Life"" surprise party.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: Norma Safford Vela

  • Fools Rush In (2)
    6.5/10(62)
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    #21 - Fools Rush In (2)

    Season 7 Episode 7

    Aired 11/13/1992

    BJ offers to help a desperate Anthony, who invents various schemes to extricate himself from his hasty marriage to a Las Vegas showgirl.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Oh Dog, Poor Dog
    6.5/10(61)
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    #22 - Oh Dog, Poor Dog

    Season 7 Episode 13

    Aired 1/22/1993

    After eye surgery, Bernice overhears the gals talk of putting Mary Jo's dog out of its misery and figures they're planning her own mercy killing, so she barricades herself inside the storeroom. Meanwhile, Julia gets caught listing to a London phone line which plays tapes of Princess Diana's private conversations with her boyfriend.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A

  • Anthony, Jr.
    6.6/10(90)
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    #23 - Anthony, Jr.

    Season 2 Episode 3

    Aired 9/28/1987

    Anthony goes to extremes to impress his girlfriends' wealthy parents, inventing a pedigreed family -- then an uninvited dinner guest informs him he is the father of her child.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

  • Julia Drives Over the First Amendment
    6.6/10(104)
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    #24 - Julia Drives Over the First Amendment

    Season 3 Episode 22

    Aired 5/22/1989

    A nearby newsstand selling pornography offends Julia, to the point where she drives her car straight through it, and pits her against an equally determined publisher in the ensuing court battle.

    Director: David Trainer

    Writer: N/A

  • Too Dumb to Date
    6.6/10(65)
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    #25 - Too Dumb to Date

    Season 7 Episode 11

    Aired 1/8/1993

    Mary Jo dates a handsome idiot, a to-die-for toyboy male model who seems to have few toys in the attic and little in common with her.

    Director: David Steinberg

    Writer: N/A