Designing Women - The Complete First Season DVD Review - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TJ · 06-03-2009, 01:15 AM

What do you get when you get four sassy Southern women working together as interior decorators in Atlanta? You get Designing Women, the hit late 80s/early 90s CBS sitcom starring Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts, and Jean Smart. And now, the very first season of that hit sitcom is available on DVD for the very first time from Shout! Factory!

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason approached CBS about doing a TV series starring these four actresses in the mid-80s, but there was one minor problem: she had no clue what to do with them. She just knew that she wanted a TV series with her own talented cast and went from there. Eventually, CBS executives viewed the pilot episode, a series about women running an interior decorating business, and proceeded with caution, but went ahead and green-lighted the series anyway. The ratings weren’t great--in fact, they were terrible, bad enough to get the series moved to nine different timeslots in the final season and eventually led to an early cancellation of the series. But the series was given a second chance at the last minute and eventually became a television hit among fans everywhere.

The series aired for seven seasons on CBS and became one of the most popular series to ever air on CBS. It later aired in syndication on local stations and for over a decade on the cable network Lifetime, where it has gained an even larger fanbase. The series talked about every issue that you could imagine, and never steered away from controversial issues, such as AIDS, prostitution, domestic abuse, breast cancer, and more. An episode in one of the later seasons even focused on Delta Burke’s personal issues of dealing with her weight gain, through her character of Suzanne Sugarbaker.

And that is the story of how four talented actresses came together to create one of the greatest and most well-known television series in the history of television.

Read our review by Skees here:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/designi...dvdreview.html

Please post any questions or comments about this set.

Welcome back Skees!

Edster2973 · 06-09-2009, 06:42 PM

Great review TJ. I myself am almost done with the complete as well. Just wanted to clarify something for you though. Initially, the first few episodes, particularly the pilot, was shot on cheaper film stock and was switched later on during the rest of the season. This is why the visuals appear muddled and almost blurred. Nothing Shout! could do about it unfortunately.

Hope this helps...

Ed

06-03-2009, 01:15 AM	#1
TJ Site Owner Administrator Forum Star Join Date: Feb 03, 2000 Location: Marietta, GA Posts: 10,681	Designing Women - The Complete First Season DVD Review What do you get when you get four sassy Southern women working together as interior decorators in Atlanta? You get Designing Women, the hit late 80s/early 90s CBS sitcom starring Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts, and Jean Smart. And now, the very first season of that hit sitcom is available on DVD for the very first time from Shout! Factory! Linda Bloodworth-Thomason approached CBS about doing a TV series starring these four actresses in the mid-80s, but there was one minor problem: she had no clue what to do with them. She just knew that she wanted a TV series with her own talented cast and went from there. Eventually, CBS executives viewed the pilot episode, a series about women running an interior decorating business, and proceeded with caution, but went ahead and green-lighted the series anyway. The ratings weren’t great--in fact, they were terrible, bad enough to get the series moved to nine different timeslots in the final season and eventually led to an early cancellation of the series. But the series was given a second chance at the last minute and eventually became a television hit among fans everywhere. The series aired for seven seasons on CBS and became one of the most popular series to ever air on CBS. It later aired in syndication on local stations and for over a decade on the cable network Lifetime, where it has gained an even larger fanbase. The series talked about every issue that you could imagine, and never steered away from controversial issues, such as AIDS, prostitution, domestic abuse, breast cancer, and more. An episode in one of the later seasons even focused on Delta Burke’s personal issues of dealing with her weight gain, through her character of Suzanne Sugarbaker. And that is the story of how four talented actresses came together to create one of the greatest and most well-known television series in the history of television. Read our review by Skees here: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/designi...dvdreview.html Please post any questions or comments about this set. Welcome back Skees!

06-09-2009, 06:42 PM	#2
Edster2973 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 19, 2003 Location: Somerset, Massachusetts, USA Posts: 951	Great review TJ. I myself am almost done with the complete as well. Just wanted to clarify something for you though. Initially, the first few episodes, particularly the pilot, was shot on cheaper film stock and was switched later on during the rest of the season. This is why the visuals appear muddled and almost blurred. Nothing Shout! could do about it unfortunately. Hope this helps... Ed
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