Product Details

• Actors: Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart
• Directors: David Trainer
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout Factory
• DVD Release Date: May 26, 2009
• Run Time: 535 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001O4KBNM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,384 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Designing Women: The Complete First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The mark of a great sitcom is whether the jokes and tone stand up to time, despite any outdated hairstyles and fashion. Designing Women is a great sitcom. The first season--which aired during 1986-1987--capitalizes on the leading ladies' charm and chemistry. Sure, the clothes may give away the era, but the dialogue is consistently whip-smart and funny. Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) owns an Atlanta interior design firm. She is a proper, well-mannered lady, but if you get on her bad side, watch out: Her words cut through like a knife, as evidenced in an episode where a clueless man thinks Julia and her friends might be flattered by his unwanted attention. Julia's sister Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) is the polar opposite of her feminist sister. A former beauty queen, Suzanne has been married and divorced more than a handful of times. Though shallow and blunt, Suzanne also has a heart of gold when it comes to things that really matter--like friends and family. Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts) is their petite, red-headed colleague. Divorced from a doctor who she put through med school, Mary Jo isn't sure how to navigate life as a single mom. Then there's Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart), whom Suzanne once referred to as a "big old donkey girl." Naïve and hopeful, Charlene sees the good in everyone--even Suzanne. The beauty of Designing Women is that while somes of the plotlines revolve around each character's insecurity, the writers also tap into what the women really want--even if they aren't aware of it. For instance, Suzanne volunteers to foster a child whose adoptive parents can't take her for a month. Never mind that this isn't the way foster parents or adoption works. The way Suzanne fusses over the little girl--even allowing Li Sing to wear one of her prized tiaras to bed--is as touching as it is funny. Meanwhile, Julia has a difficult time watching her 19-year-old son engage in a romance with a woman her own age. This season also tackles sexual harassment, racism, and cancer. There are some ridiculous premises--such as Charlene's being involved with a possible escaped criminal and Suzanne being worried that her maid cast a voodoo spell over her. But overall, Designing Women still manages to make viewers laugh, think, and even cry a bit. --Jae-Ha Kim

Product Description

When four strong, sassy and sexy Southern women running a fledgling interior decorating firm hit the television airwaves as Designing Women in 1986, they brought a new kind of Southern spirit to American television. Smart, ambitious and outspoken they embodied the new Southern woman. The much-married, alimony-rich beauty queen Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) uses her feminine wiles to attract business for the firm - and future ex-husbands for herself. Her sophisticated sister, Julia (Dixie Carter), is nobodys fool and runs the operation and her own life with a guarded graciousness. Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts) is the sweet-natured, recently-divorced mother trying to make her own way in the world as a decorator for the first time. Small-town gal Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart) is the naïve, overly-trusting bad-guy magnet who runs the office. They are all devoted to the business. They are each devoted to the other. Designing Women was a gift to American television that ran for seven seasons and continues winning fans to this day in reruns all around the world. All 21 episodes from Season 1 finally arrive on DVD.

Bonus Feature:

* Designing Women: A Reunion sponsored by The Paley Center for Media in 2006.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray!, Oh Joy!, Oh Rapture!!, February 26, 2009

By 

Guy Elliott-macintyre - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Designing Women: The Complete First Season (DVD)

What a treat it will be to at last be able to enjoy a full season set of this clever,witty and wonderful television comedy series!. In particular episode two, "The Beauty Contest" in which Julia delivers her famous "Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia" tirade to Miss Georgia World 1986 in response to offensive comments made regarding her sister Suzanne. Let us hope that we will be able to look forward to further full season releases in the near future!...

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Designing Women: The Complete First Season, June 10, 2009

By 

Lawrence W. Stephens - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Designing Women: The Complete First Season (DVD)

My Wife would give this show 5 stars. It was one of her all time favorites. As I often watch her shows with her I have to give it 3 stars due to the poor quality of the scan. I'm thinking it was done years ago for VHS release. They just grabbed these scans and ran them through software for DVD and shoved them out the door. If you pause the show you can see signs of compression. If you're watching on a 19" tube, probably not a problem, on a 37" LCD it appears like its out of focus. For a new release this is unacceptable. I/m going to pretend to watch and read my paper.
UPDATED 4/12/11 I have noticed other older shows that were "taped in front of a live audience" having the same problem in sharpness. The tapes were most likely recorded analog at a resolution that is in conflict with a DVD's resolution. If not properly converted in skilled hands these shows will suffer some degrading compared to filmed shows. So I am upping my review to 4 stars.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We've waited so long!, February 25, 2009

By 

Greg Anderson (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Designing Women: The Complete First Season (DVD)

Finally we are getting the seasons of this classic late 80's-early 90's sitcom. I hope they will continue with the rest of the seasons! Thanks to Shout!