MovieChat Forums > Designing Women (1986) Discussion > When did DW jump the shark?

When did DW jump the shark?

posted 17 years ago by reeceglenburnie
37 replies | jump to latest

I absolutely adore this show, always have. I remember Monday nights were the best night on television, Murphy Brown and Designing Women. I always used to feel so empowered after watching those back to back! LOL. But the show (DW) was simply AWFUL after two of the main charecters left and they tried to fill them in with poor replacements. They kept trying to 'fix' the show with new faces and it just got worse-Julie and Mary Jo became over the top and argued about EVERYTHING but instead of siding with them I was cringing, it just felt so forced. Anthony was useless and annoying and Bernice went from being funny to being irritating!! My question is, at what point do you think the show jumped the shark?

[–] mnsbf 15 years ago

Definitely "Jumped The Shark" when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left the show and they kept bringing in new characters. There were a few funny episodes after the exit of Burke and Smart; however, the show was never the same.

[–] SeemsSensible 15 years ago

I'm with what seems like general agreement that the show jumped the shark when Delta and Jean left. Julia Duffy was absolutely wonderful as Stephanie on Newhart, but miscast when she came on. Jan Hooks just seemed like an idiot.

But actually I think a lot of it was due to just poor to flat-out bad writing. I don't know how many of the early seasons that Linda Bloodworth-Thompson wrote all the episodes, but I seem to remember at least one year, surely the first, where an announcement ran congratulating her for writing all the episodes of the season. Of course, it'd be pretty much impossible for one person to keep up that level of creativity, but those early years were wonderfully written. There was an element of "continuity," for lack of a better word that is uncommon in sitcoms, which really gave it authenticity. As someone above pointed out, the Thompsons eventually had a lot of irons in the fire, and the writing on Designing Women became very, very bad.

Saw a last-season one with Judith Ivey not long ago, and it was just so mortifying to watch. It really was a shame that this show had not a steady decline, but a tsumani-level undoing.

[–] ChristmasStan 15 years ago

After Season 4 Linda Bloodsworth was no longer involved on the day to day operations of DW. Linda was now full time at the new Burt Reynolds sit-com called "Evening Shade". PAm Norris took over full time for season 5 & 6. As much as I like PAm she is no Linda Bloodsworth.

In Season 5 DW started to go down hill because of the fact they sidelined Delta Burke into the background.

Season 6 & Season 7 were bad compared to previous seasons of DW however they are still worth watching every now & again.

[–] ginda2000 15 years ago

This is the big mis-conception about the later seasons of DW - that the writing was bad. Actually, the writing for season six was probably the finest I have seen on any sit-com season. The plotlines are rich, the dialogue is razor sharp and the character development is good. Sadly, what is missing is the chemistry between the characters/actors.

Designing Women was first and foremost an ensemble show. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's vision was to get Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Delta Burke and Dixie Carter together in a room and make them talk - that's it! Taking Jean and Delta out of this mix killed the goose that laid the golden egg and viewers felt like they were watching a completely different show. Season Six is a great sit-com to watch, it's just no longer 'Designing Women'. Couple this with Julia Duffy who simply doesn't fit in and the show was destroyed.

By Season 7 the writing had declined to a dreadfully poor level and (I feel) Annie Potts (who had told the producers she would not return for a season 8 if they commissioned one) was hamming her part up as a means of protest, meaning she was contracted to complete those episodes but wanted to be out of the door like Jean Smart and Delta Burke! Knowing Annie Pottes was not going to return would also have spelled out to writers that the series would never get commissioned again. There is no way CBS would have given the show another season with another of their major characters gone. The Thomason's jumped ship, the writers scraped the bottom of the barrall and the actors coasted! Only Judith Ivey put in a good turn that year!

[–] ChristmasStan 15 years ago

The show went down hill when Linda Bloodsworth was no longer involved in the day to day operation of the show. Pam Norris was the show runner when Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks replaced Jean & Delta.

Pam did a poor job in the creation of these new charectors. The show suffered because of it. She was fired after season 6. The show went on for another year but the damage was already done. CBS saw the show was "bad" and for the final year it was moved to FRIDAY NIGHTS. Season 7 was the last. Had Delta Burke not of been fired the show may have survived another year!

As much as I detested the final 2 years there were still some great episodes durring those final years. Also note the first 5 years of this was some the best things that were ever written for TV. Those first 5 years are classic TV.

DW was made over years ago however the show seems timeless. Its still holds up!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] EntertainMe463 14 years ago

When Delta and Jean left, period end of story! They should have ended the show at that point.

It was painful to watch with Julia and Jan...love them otherwise, but the whole show was built on the original 4's chemistry...which was magic :)

"Could I BE any more entertaining?"...Chandler Bing

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] b73142 12 years ago

With all of her flaws, Suzanne was still lovable. Allison was too much like Julia's character Stephanie on Newhart. It worked on that show, but not on this one. And for those posters that said that viewers didn't notice about Carlene not being one of the original sisters names, I did b/c I have that on tape from a long time ago. I thought that it was impressive how Anthony could name off all of Charlene's family members after just meeting them. I also thought that it was cool how the family backed him up when that man was trying to bully him.

[–] morningsidemary 12 years ago

When Delta Burke left. She brought the physical comedy. She was truly funny without talking, talking, talking.

[–] princessdiana2 12 years ago

Easiest question ever... when they fired Delta Burke. Jean Smart leaving the show sucked and would have left a hole in the show BUT Jan Hooks as (a lamely named) Carlene was able to play a cheap knock off of the Charlene character. I believe they thought they would get some of Suzanne's sassiness with Allison but all you got from Allison was mean and rude. Something that even at her worst was never Suzanne. I think they thought she would be easy to replace and boy were they wrong. I also believe there were many woman that were a little pissy that Delta got fired for gaining weight. Though Judith Ivey was a better fit it was to little to late AND she was still lacking. She sat around on the couch spouting home spun, country witty comments all day while talking about how rich she was. Woo Hoo, Delta Burke she was not!

[–] ginda2000 12 years ago

Delta never got fired for gaining weight. What happened was issues arose when Delta started dating and later married Gerald McCraney. McCraney felt Delta (and to be fair the other women too) were being treated poorly by the Thomason's. Carter, Potts and Smart kept their mouths shut, but Delta did an interview complaining about the working conditions egged on by McCraney. Harry Thomason then responded in an interview mentioning Delta arriving on set late and being suspended. Delta had been suffering from severe depression, anxiety attacks and was over eating. Couple this with the tabloid press ripping her apart. She should have been written out of the show for half a season to rest and recover, but Harry Thomason demanded she honour her contract. This caused the tension between Gerald McCraney and Harry Thomason to worsen and then Burke and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason stopped communicating (and these women had been friends for a long time). The other cast tried to keep out of the fight, but Delta's mental health was getting worse and the friction between the McCraneys and the Thomason's was growing. Dixie ended up siding with the Thomason's (remember they were also producing a show her husband was starring in) whilst Potts, Smart and Taylor tried to stay neutral and ended up sitting more in Burke's camp.

What happened at the end of 1991 season is unclear, however the Thomason's managed to get the network NOT to renew Delta's contract. She claims she wanted out of the show anyway, but I'm thinking that's more pride and I have heard her say she would have returned for Season Six. Apart of me feels the Thomason's were sensing a mutiny brewing with the McCraney's. Roseanne Barr had not long managed to get her show's creator and producer fired when he attempted to axe her from her own show (when they clashed). It's possible there was somewhat of a knife edge between the network letting the Thomason's go and keeping the original cast, or letting Delta go and retaining the production company. Because of Delta's health issues, she would have appeared 'flakey' and 'high risk' so the network agreed to let the Thomason's write her out for good.

Interestingly, after Delta left, Annie Potts then became angered by the producers when they refused to allow her character to become pregnant. She had told the network she would not be returning if there was a Season Eight.

It was apparent the network should have moved the Thomasons out of 'Designing Women' and taken control of the production themselves. It's clear by the two later seasons, cast changes and storyline quality of Season 7 the Thomason's company was not doing a good job with the series and (with Annie Potts) losing 3 of the original 4 cast is unforgivable.

[–] BoyWiththeGreenHair 10 years ago

I noticed the writers toying with the idea of MJ getting impregnated via artificial insemination, but the plotline never seemed to go anywhere. Was this a botched attempt to enable Annie Potts to "get pregnant," somehow?

[–] CarolStarr 10 years ago

When Delta and Jean were no longer on the show. Does anyone know why Jean Smart chose not to renew her contract?

[–] MammothPicturesReturns 10 years ago

When Delta Burke was fired and Jean Smart left the show. I like Jan Hooks but her character was just a poor man's version of Charlene. I also like Julia Duffy, but her character was mean and unlikeable instead of funny. The show went downhill fast after Delta and Jean left.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[–] ginda2000 10 years ago

I noticed the writers toying with the idea of MJ getting impregnated via artificial insemination, but the plotline never seemed to go anywhere. Was this a botched attempt to enable Annie Potts to "get pregnant," somehow?

Yes, I don't know the total history to it, but Annie Potts (at the time of DW) had a 10 year old son by her second marriage that had ended. She had re-married and (at nearly 40) had clearly told Linda Bloodworth-Thomason she was trying for another baby and to prepare her for the eventuality that she hoped to get pregnant at anytime. They had already incorporated Jean Smart' pregnancy into the show, so Potts hoped for the same thing.

The first a possible baby is mentioned is when Mary-Jo (in Season 5) asks JD to father her child. So by as early as 1991 Annie Potts must have been trying for a baby.

However, after the started filming Season 6 Annie Potts discovered she was pregnant and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason told her she would write it into the show. So the episode with the sperm bank was storylined. However, at this same time Thomason realised a lot of other sit-com characters were also pregnant. Murphy Brown was also a character who was single and pregnant and mostly due to this Thomason scrapped the idea of letting Mary-Jo have a baby in the same circumstances - as she felt the network wouldn't like it.

They still went ahead with the 'Picking A Winner' storyline but had Mary-Jo lose the baby at the end of the episode. This infuriated Annie Potts as she had been promised this pregnancy would feature in the show. For the second half of season 6 Potts then has to wear huge jumpers, sit down or cover her stomach. She then vanishes several episodes before the end of the season as she went on maternity leave.

I am not sure, but I think they had optioned the original actors (from Season 6 onwards) for another two seasons. However, Potts was so angry at the baby matter that she told them season 7 would be her last. Had she not be contracted to do season 7 she would have almost certainly left in Season 6. This was another reason why the network just axed the show at the end of Season 7 as they knew they couldn't keep it going with another original cast member replaced.

In addition, I think Potts was very uncomfortable with Burke's firing and basically gave loyalty to The Thomasons by remaining with the show when Burke and Smart left and was then slapped in the face herself, when they treated her pregnancy as an inconvenience.

[–] LilyViolet 10 years ago

I disliked Allison but B.J. got on my nerves. I have a hard time watching episodes with B.J.