Designing Women

If we can have a thread about Family Matters, I think we can have a thread about this show. As a young gay kid, I loved watching the re-runs. I was really taken with all of the strong, funny female characters. Looking back, as much as I love Dixie Carter, it's interesting to note that a lot of Julia's liberal Terminator speeches feel fundamentally conservative at heart. (The episode where Julia intentionally crashes into a magazine stand because of a nude, chained woman on the cover comes to mind. At one point I think she calls the people who run the magazine "pornographers" and tells them that eventually people like her are going to run them out of the state.) There are also some lines in the "Killing All the Right People" episode (which I'm sure was groundbreaking at the time) and some other episodes that feel slut-shaming. I think the creators said that they made it a point never to have any of the women have one-night stands. There's also the issue of Meshach Taylor's role as the comfortingly non-threatening and almost asexual black guy. Having said all of that, I still have a fondness for the series. I think Suzanne is one of the funniest tv characters ever, and Annie Potts was so damn loveable as Mary Jo. The episode with Mary Jo and the fake boobs is definitely a favorite. I hope there are some straight guys here who will admit to having watched this show, but I realize that it might be a longshot.