Four fashionably dressed career women commiserate, fight, snipe, eat, and take care of each other while endlessly dissecting their personal lives and debating social issues (in truth, they never stop talking). They are frank about sex, and one of them is particularly bold. They are as different as can be, but love each other fiercely. One is naïve, romantic and a little old-fashioned. One is sexy and gorgeous, but can be surprisingly maternal, protective and caring. One is outspoken and worldly-wise, at times a little cynical. One is loyal, funny and unexpectedly brave. Men come and go, but these ladies always have each other. They also have a reliable male friend named Anthony, whom they treat like an honorary girlfriend.

Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte?

Nope. Mary Jo, Julia, Suzanne and Charlene!

More than a decade before Sex & the City became a phenomenon, writer/creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason brought together four distinctive female characters and set them to energetically chatting about everything from sex, to AIDS, to divorce, to beauty, to body image, to politics, to every ³­ism² in the book (feminism, sexism, racism, classicism, ageism), to men, to menopause. The show is set in an interior decorating firm in Atlanta, but it hardly matters (the women are rarely seen working). The joy of the series, and its immense appeal, comes from the uproariously funny insightful banter, the charm and chemistry of the ensemble, and the envelope-pushing social commentary.

Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) is the founder and guiding force of Sugarbaker & Associates Interior Design. A widow and the mother of one son, she is sharp-tongued, witty, opinionated, and the epitome of class. Her younger sister, Suzanne (Delta Burke), a cross between Elizabeth Taylor and Scarlett O¹Hara, is a beauty queen who lives on her looks and alimony. Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts), a creative and talented decorator, is a divorcee with two children at home, Claudia (Priscilla Weems) and Quinton (Brian Lando). Trusting and kind-hearted Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart) is the firm¹s business manager. Their deliveryman/handyman is the ever-patient Anthony (Meshach Taylor), a black ex-convict with ambition and drive.

Designing Women premiered on September 29, 1986, and was a huge hit with critics and fans. A cry went up when CBS moved the show around the schedule following initial ratings success on Monday nights, and then canceled the show in the spring of 1987. A protest campaign by viewers forced the network to reconsider, and the show returned to Monday nights, where it remained until the early 1990s.

While the show was mostly a forum for spirited conversation and debate, there were some notable plotlines. Anthony graduates from college and becomes a partner in Sugarbakers. Charlene meets the man of her dreams, marries, and has a child. Eventually she moves to England, where her Air Force Captain husband is stationed, and her kid sister Carlene (Jan Hooks) steps into her role at Sugarbakers. Julia¹s long-term companion, Reese (played by Dixie Carter¹s husband, Hal Holbrook), dies suddenly from a heart attack, throwing her into turmoil. Suzanne moves to Japan and sells her shares of the business to her obnoxious, pushy cousin Allison (Julia Duffy), who in turn pulls out her money to buy a Victoria¹s Secret franchise, leaving the firm financially strapped and opening the door to eccentric wealthy widow B.J. Poteet (Judith Ivey), who becomes the newest Sugarbakers partner and keeps the company afloat with an infusion of cash. Anthony wakes up in Vegas married to a showgirl named Etienne Toussant (Sheryl Lee Ralph).

Never more brilliant than when it took on the stuff of contemporary life, many episodes of Designing Women are still relevant, and might well be based on today¹s headlines. In Killing All the Right People, the impending death from AIDS of a young man leads Mary Jo into a spirited debate about abstinence vs. contraceptive education in schools. In How Great Thou Art, Charlene's faith is challenged when her minister of nine years leads a rally to keep women from entering the ministry. And in They Shoot Fat Women, Don¹t They?, Suzanne, who has gained quite a bit of weight, courageously reevaluates her life when she becomes the victim of cruel comments at her school reunion, while at the same time Julia and Mary Jo join Anthony in a fast to focus attention on world hunger. (This episode is of particular significance, as Delta Burke fought her own very public battle about her weight. Believing she was too fat to play sexy, the producers pressured her to lose. A feud developed when she didn¹t, and she was dropped from the show at the end of the 1990-1991 season. She has gone on to develop a line of plus-sized fashions, and is a vocal advocate for body acceptance.)

The final episode of Designing Women aired on May 24, 1993, but it immediately had a vibrant life in syndication, particularly on the Lifetime Television Network. It¹s hardly surprising that the show continues to resonate with audiences, because, like the Southern ladies its center, Designing Women is sophisticated, deeply charming, moving, witty, and impossible to forget.