Designing Women reunion

[dwfan]

I think either CBS or Lifetime should produce a Designing Women reunion movie. The plot would be as follows-
Julia Sugarbaker still runs the design firm with BJ Poteet, Carlene, and Anthony. Mary Jo got married to JD Shacleford and moved out of Atalanta with Claudia and Quinton. Carlene also got married to a Mr. Mike Bedson, a man who runs a carpet business. Charlene is still over seas with her husband Bill and their daughter Olivia. Suzanne went to live in Japan with her mom, Perky and she met a congressman, they got married. He soon died and Suzanne moved to Washington DC to complete his term in 1995 (Women of the House). She did and then moved back to Japan with her mom. Allison Sugarbaker met a Doctor and they got married and had children They are living in New York City. Anthony and Etienne had two children and still live in Atlanta. BJ is still a widow and continues to live in Atlanta. Bernice still lives in the retirement village in Atlanta.
An announcement is made that Julia Sugarbaker is going to be married to a man from Texas. All of the above are invited as well as- Julias son Payne, his wife Sylvie, Clayton Sugarbaker, Julias and Suzannes half brother, and Rusty the elctrician.
The movie will go from there.

[Mary-Ann]

That sounds good to me. I will be sure to watch it if it ever comes out. Keep writing.

[HALANDME]

That's good but look at one that my friend Linda wrote....

[HALANDME]

Original Cast:

Suzanne Sugarbaker …Delta Burke
Julia Sugarbaker … Dixie Carter
Mary Jo Shively … Annie Potts
Charlene Stillfield … Jean Smart
Anthony Bouvier … Meshack TaylorClaudia Shively … Priscilla Weems
Payne McIlroy … George Newbern
*** and Hal Holbrook as the spirit of Reese WatsonAlso Starring:

Quinton Shively …Joshua Jackson
Olivia Stillfield …
Desiree Sugarbaker …

Special Appearance By:
Camilla Sugarbaker … Ginna Carter
Jennifer Sugarbaker … Mary Dixie Carter
Cecilia Sugarbaker Straton … Donna Mills
***and William Forsynthe as the spirit of Hayden McIlroy

Reunion Summary:

The timeless theme of motherhood, in addition to a variety of fondly remembered clips of the original 1986-1993 series, is woven through this heart-warming and long-anticipated reunion of the gang at Sugarbakers as they gather in Atlanta for the surprise sixtieth birthday party for Julia despite numerous life-altering events …
Julia … The last few days of her fifty-ninth year leave Julia Sugarbaker with rather wistful memories of those who have passed before, particularly the two men she’s loved and lost – Reese Watson and Hayden McIlroy. The memories of her two great loves, as well as the idea that she is reaching a landmark age, are what everyone seems to think has her in a depression. No one knows the secret she has been keeping from everyone for over a year … the Sugarbakers Design Firm is heading towards bankruptcy.
Suzanne … After managing to slide by in Washington D.C. for the past six years, Suzanne’s political undoing comes in the wake of the World Trade Center tragedy. A now-infamous television appearance on Live! With Regis And Kelly causes Suzanne to be drummed out of Washington after the trademark politically-incorrect Miss Georgia World denounces the Middle East on the air, calling the grocery store near her penthouse apartment “the marketplace” and wondering if “Mohammad behind the deli counter is slipping Anthrax into the American cheese.” She and her adopted daughter Desiree (Desi), now twelve, return to Atlanta penniless and hiding from the press.

Mary Jo … Feeling old and pathetically single, Mary Jo’s troubles begin when her daughter Claudia returns home from a year in Rome with the news that she is getting married. At the same time, she has to deal with high school senior Quint, whose kindergarten reputation as “the slickster” has only grown with him as he’s become a playboy just like his father. And when Quint sets his sights on freshman Olivia Stillfield, Charlene’s daughter and a tiny, blonde version of Suzanne, the long-standing friendship Mary Jo has shared with Charlene is put to the test in a mom-against-mom war. Her only escape is to throw Julia a surprise party for her sixtieth birthday in hopes of curing Julia’s outward misery and forgetting her own.

Charlene … After being over-joyed at the idea of moving back to Atlanta, Charlene hopes that Bill will retire from the Air Force and stay safe from the war with Afghanistan. However, Bill’s patriotism wins out and he signs on for one more term, causing a rift in their marriage. Further problems develop in the Stillfield home as fourteen-year-old Olivia enters high school and takes up with Quint. Olivia, as Dolly Parton warned Charlene in her dream years before, “is no angel”. She idolizes Suzanne, cares more about hair and make-up and money and men than she does her studies, and often locks horns with Charlene in the classic war between mothers and teenage daughters. That and her worries about Bill put Charlene in a mood unfit for the party being thrown for Julia.

Anthony … Marital problems with Etienne have Anthony feeling alone and confused. He passes it off, calling it the “seven year itch”, but it is far worse. Etienne desperately wants to have a baby, and after several years of infertility, it seems to be the impossible dream. Anthony’s career as an attorney for the D.A.’s office, as well as his various errands with the now-aged Bernice, have distanced him from his wife, and he’d seek advice and comfort in level-headed and nurturing Julia if not for her own troubles. That is why he is secretly happy to have Suzanne back in Atlanta, and the two old friends rekindle their close-but-odd relationship. He soon finds himself wondering if his feelings go deeper than that, however, when Dash Goff turns up for the party and shares a stolen night with Suzanne, and Anthony is plagued with jealousy.

Julia’s sixtieth birthday begins on a sad note. The party has been slated for Saturday, September 15, just four days after the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Julia had spent many hours in front of the television that week, too dazed by the tragedy to even come up with a classic Terminator speech for the first time in her life. The death reports have gotten her to seeing ghosts, as she is haunted with insomnia and visits from both Hayden and Reese. She must confront her own mortality as she approaches sixty, and this is even more true after a hysterical Charlene calls her to inform her that Bill is resigning with the Air Force.
The party is a who’s-who of Designing Women past, a true reunion for everyone, and their hidden personal troubles are obvious to the audience – Julia drinks too much and sings a tearful rendition of “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac. Mary Jo and Charlene fight over their kids in the ladies room. Suzanne watches Anthony and Etienne try to hide an argument from the party guests and they share an emotional dance to “If I Were Your Woman” by Gladys Knight & the Pips. (Lyrics are very appropriate.) The party is called short by more tragedy as Perky, now in her eighties, collapses during a toast to her daughter and is rushed to the hospital. She is said to have had a debilitating stroke, and is given six months to a year to live.
Devastated by everything that has gone on in the past week, Suzanne tries to find comfort with Anthony, but when she sees him leave the hospital with Etienne, she turns to the next available shoulder to cry on … Dash. He takes her home and spends the night, and complications arise when Anthony arrives at Suzanne’s the next morning to apologize for leaving so suddenly … and is greeted by Dash wearing one of Suzanne’s silk robes. Anthony is crushed, and they have a vicious argument that is clearly about the feelings for each other that they aren’t ready to admit. They angrily call off their friendship, and as he leaves, a series of clips from past episodes play which remind the audience of how close they once were. (Their descriptions of each other in “Dash Goff, The Writer”, him arriving to protect her in “Full Moon”, their dance in “The Bachelor Auction” – just to name a few.) They do not speak until a few days later, when he sees her at Julia’s during a visit to inquire about Perky’s health. Dash has since left town, and they go back to Suzanne’s to try and mend their relationship. They get into another fight in which they each try to get the other to admit their real feelings. He calls her on what she is too afraid to see – that accepting him as a romantic partner would mean that he is her equal, not a black ex-convict, but a successful lawyer who has turned his life around and is able to be with a woman of her status. She reminds him that he is married but picks on him for not seeing that Etienne isn’t right for him, and one thing leads to another and they wind up in bed! Afterwards, she gets terrified of how right it felt and practically pushes him back to Etienne. It isn’t until they all get together for Thanksgiving at Julia’s when Suzanne reveals she is pregnant. The only trouble is, the father could be either Anthony or Dash.
Meanwhile, Charlene runs into J.D. while Christmas shopping and he announces he’s back in town. She tries to mend her rocky friendship with Mary Jo by setting them up, and that old romance is rekindled. He is around for family functions like Claudia’s engagement party, and even tries to talk to Quint about the danger involved in hurting an impressionable younger girl like Olivia. Mary Jo is so grateful to have him back in her life that she starts ignoring her friends, particularly Charlene, who is still upset about Bill’s involvement in the Middle East.
Anthony decides to be honest to Etienne about his feelings for Suzanne, and about their one night stand and her pregnancy. He has been doubting his ability to have children since they have been infertile, which is why Etienne insists he’s doing all this for nothing, that Suzanne’s baby can’t possibly be his. He realizes that Etienne doesn’t love him nearly as much as Suzanne, and he comes to her door with a dozen white roses (Delta Burke’s favorites … a nice touch) and an engagement ring. He promises Suzanne that he will be a father to the baby regardless of its biological paternity, and they get together at last!

At this point, words at the bottom of the screen read Six Months Later …

It is June, and Quint is about to graduate from high school. He asks Olivia to the senior prom, and this prompts Mary Jo and Charlene to have it out once and for all, and they iron out their problems and become the friends they once were. They are happily reunited just in time for the rehearsal dinner before Claudia’s wedding, where J.D. surprises Mary Jo with a marriage proposal, which she accepts. Anthony and Suzanne have already married, and Julia is becoming more and more interested in the handsome, widowed doctor that has been caring for Perky since her stroke. She still faces the problem of Sugarbakers going under, but when Charlene buys a tabloid and finds the headline Ex-Congresswoman Suzanne Sugarbaker’s Interracial Infidelity, Suzanne decides to sue for libel and use her settlement to buy back her shares of Sugarbakers and save the company. All seems to be going well, but when the gang returns from Claudia’s wedding, they are once again hit with tragedy, this time one they knew was inevitable – Perky dies from complications from her stroke. At the funeral, Dash and Suzanne make amends, and agree that they are better off as friends. He tells her that being “belled” by her was one of the best experiences of his life, and wishes she well in her marriage. Distraught over the sudden loss of her mother, Suzanne becomes hysterical and subsequently goes into labor four weeks before her due date.
As the gang awaits the birth of Suzanne’s baby, they ponder the true identity of the father. Suzanne and Anthony mutually agreed against a paternity test long ago, as well as a prenuptial agreement (over Anthony’s money … an interesting comic twist!) As they sit in the waiting room, they get to reminiscing, and a montage of clips is shown with the theme of Suzanne’s maternal instincts (her scenes with Noel, her scenes with Li Sing, and various others … ending with Julia telling her, “Now you know what it feels like to be a mother.”) Suzanne gives birth to a baby girl she names Georgia Belle Bouvier. Georgia is for Suzanne’s Miss Georgia World title, Belle for Dash’s book and her role in it. Julia comes in to see Suzanne with her baby in her arms, and gives baby Georgia a meaningful gift … a tiny tiara. Suzanne reveals to Julia that a blood test confirmed that Anthony is the real father after all, and everyone else comes in to see the baby. And as the movie ends, and “Georgia On My Mind” plays slowly in the background in piano solo, Suzanne looks at her baby in her little tiara and says, “You know, I may not be the most politically correct person in the world …” To which they all sarcastically say “Noooooooooo …” And she gives that classic Suzanne not-funny smile and says, “Anyway, I know you all never expected this in a million years, and I don’t blame you … but I’m looking at this little girl now, and you know what? It finally looks right.” And the scene fades out with everyone gathered around Suzanne, Anthony and the baby.

That was written by my friend Linda, please give input!!!

[DixieCarterIsMyMom]

That story was sooooooo great. I loved my mom's part, but where was I you said Also Starring:
Jennifer Sugarbaker: Mary-Dixie Carter

[HALANDME]

Oh, so sorry!! Hehe, I didn't write it, my friend did!

[DixieCarterIsMyMom]

oh ok

[HALANDME]

Hehe

[DixieCartersDaughter]

hahaha

[HALANDME]

Goodness, you laugh a lot!!!!!

[DixieCarterIsMyMom]

NOT REALLY!!!

[-*Forever*-]

Oh my Goodness. I must pause for breath. This was so good. Ever since (I'm not great with episode names) the one where Suzanne was helping Anthony try and win the "homecoming queen" thing, I thought they should be a couple... of course I wake up the next morning at 8:10, think "Oh, I'll miss the first ep and sleep longer" and I put it on at 8:24 and Suzanne and Anthony had gone on a date
<~~~ that was me

[GINGER GIRL]

LOL

[HALANDME]

Haha! Well I'll tell Linda, thank ya'll!

[Little Dixie Carter]

Your Welcome!