Jump The Shark: Designing Women

[tlc38tlc38]

I personally like all 7 seasons of the show. I don't think it jumped.

[Anna Karenina]

BJ Poteet was so annoying to me. She always looked like she was laughing at a joke in her own head that nobody else could hear.

The last season was just horrible.

I did like Carlene and thought Allison was funny but they didn't know what to do with her and two replacements in one year was just too much of a change at one time.

The show was at its best with the original cast of course and I liked it despite how preachy it was at times. Murphy Brown gave it a run for its money though in the preaching and lecturing department.

Also, there was an excessive use of the laugh track machine. Very annoying when there was a huge laugh sound on every other line of dialogue.

[Kasey]

I liked BJ but the lack of 'diva' character that final season threw off the balance. Jackee should have came on as planned because IMO she would have been much better than Sheryl Lee Ralph whom I think cheapened the show. There were some clunkers that final season but a few are also among my series favorites.

[TV Guy]

I would argue that Charlene's departure hurt even more than Suzanne's. Charlene had this wonderful warmth that balanced out the shrill Julia. Without her, Julia became more difficult to take, and Mary Jo started to be more like her.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

I would argue that Charlene's departure hurt even more than Suzanne's. Charlene had this wonderful warmth that balanced out the shrill Julia. Without her, Julia became more difficult to take, and Mary Jo started to be more like her.

http://www.looper.com/35589/actor-re...s-ruined-show/

Delta Burke had not been happy on the set of Designing Women for years. In 1990, she told the Orlando Sentinel that the show was "not a good workplace, not a good environment." She even claimed that producer Harry Thomason routinely screamed at cast members and told them they were expendable and even criticized Burke when she gained weight. CBS grew so tired of Burke lashing out at the show's producers and the network in the press that they fired her from Designing Women in 1991. Tiring of a tense workplace, cast member Jean Smart (scatterbrained Charlene) also left the series after the 1990-91 season.

That meant that Designing Women, a top 20 show, had lost half of its main cast. Replacing Burke was Julia Duffy, fresh off a seven-year run on CBS's Newhart, as Suzanne's cousin, the equally haughty Allison Sugarbaker. Replacing Jean Smart was Saturday Night Live veteran Jan Hooks as Carlene, Charlene's similarly dumb-dumb sister. Despite ratings on par with previous years, CBS fired Duffy after her sole season on the series, and replaced her with Judith Ivey as a rich Texan widow named B.J. Poteet. It didn't do much good, because CBS moved the show to Friday nights, where it slipped into ratings oblivion—and then cancelation.

Read More: http://www.looper.com/35589/actor-re..._campaign=clip

[KatieAnn]

Has anyone other than Delta Burke ever said anything about DW not being a "good workplace, not a good environment?" I believe that's how she felt, but she was also going through some struggles at the time, that could have colored her own feelings.

Since Delta was hired as the pretty and young one, and her weight did go up noticeably after a while, I can't really blame producers for being frustrated. Not to the point where they would be abusive. Her emotional struggles put a strain on the show, and the pressure of the show must of added to her struggles.

I tried watching once Delta left but I don't remember ever enjoying an episode once she and Jean Smart were gone.

[horizonbeach11]

Definitely season 6 when Allison Sugarbaker was introduced. Not that it was Julia Duffy's fault, because she didn't write the character, she just had to act it, but Allison was possibly one of the most unlikable characters in the history of TV, I mean, she had zero redeeming qualities. She was whiny, selfish, vindictive, self-righteous, and yes, obnoxious. If they valued the show they would have tried to make her at least a little likable, but written like she was, it just made it all the more obvious what the show lost in Delta Burke and Jean Smart.

It was a bad, bad decision to bring Allison Sugarbaker on board.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

I would argue that Charlene's departure hurt even more than Suzanne's. Charlene had this wonderful warmth that balanced out the shrill Julia. Without her, Julia became more difficult to take, and Mary Jo started to be more like her.

I wonder if Delta Burke's departure hurt Dixie Carter's character the most? Suzanne was just as strong and big a personality as Julia and their distinctive perspectives balanced each other well. Jean Smart and Annie Potts' characters were both much gentler, and once Burke left, Julia just came across as over bearing and self-righteous (but without a good foil in Suzanne).

[rcbrad]

Originally Posted by horizonbeach11

Definitely season 6 when Allison Sugarbaker was introduced. Not that it was Julia Duffy's fault, because she didn't write the character, she just had to act it, but Allison was possibly one of the most unlikable characters in the history of TV, I mean, she had zero redeeming qualities. She was whiny, selfish, vindictive, self-righteous, and yes, obnoxious. If they valued the show they would have tried to make her at least a little likable, but written like she was, it just made it all the more obvious what the show lost in Delta Burke and Jean Smart.

It was a bad, bad decision to bring Allison Sugarbaker on board.

The producers admitted that it was their fault that this character turned out the way it did. I did not really dislike the Allison character a whole lot, but she could have been softened up some to make her more likable.

Another problem with the Allison character was the way the other characters interacted with her. It came across that they really did not like her much, so therefore the audience did not like her a whole lot either.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by horizonbeach11

Definitely season 6 when Allison Sugarbaker was introduced. Not that it was Julia Duffy's fault, because she didn't write the character, she just had to act it, but Allison was possibly one of the most unlikable characters in the history of TV, I mean, she had zero redeeming qualities. She was whiny, selfish, vindictive, self-righteous, and yes, obnoxious. If they valued the show they would have tried to make her at least a little likable, but written like she was, it just made it all the more obvious what the show lost in Delta Burke and Jean Smart.

It was a bad, bad decision to bring Allison Sugarbaker on board.

Allison when you get right down to it was just plain shrill and mean-spirited. I don't know that's on Julia Duffy or the writers, but either way, Allison didn't have the charm that Delta Burke's Suzanne had to make up for her own selfish moments.