Designing Women: Season 4
Season 4 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Designing Women Season 3.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 4 Progress Shield
The Proxy Pig and Great Pretenders
Sep 18, 1989
Mary Jo uses the mansion she's decorating to entertain, and Anthony suffers when his health insurance lapses and Suzanne must nurse his injured back.
One Night With You
Sep 25, 1989
A terminally-ill high school classmate's last wish is to spend one night with the girl of his dreams -- Julia. The catch is, she doesn't remember him at all.
There She Is
Oct 2, 1989
While preparing for Charlene's baby shower, the Sugarbakers women are surprised by a visit from the Director of Pageants for Miss Georgia. Due to a clerical error discovered in the
Nightmare From Hee Haw
Oct 16, 1989
The Sugerbaker women and their mates take a canoe trip in the Georgia backwoods -- which turns into a nightmare when them encounter some good ole boys.
The Girlfriend
Oct 23, 1989
Attempting to prove himself when Mary Jo hires him and some of his ex-convict friends to finish an incomplete remodeling job, Anthony gets a new girlfriend -- an ambitious young wo
The Rowdy Girls
Oct 30, 1989
While she is helping the Sugarbakers women choreograph a Supremes lip-synch routine, Charlene's favorite cousin inadvertently reveals that she is a victim of domestic violence.
Bernice's Sanity Hearing
Nov 13, 1989
The Sugarbaker women testify for Bernice when her niece Phyllis attempts to have her declared legally incompetent because she sings Bobbie Gentry songs to strangers on the street a
Julia Gets Her Head Stuck in a Fence
Nov 20, 1989
While posing for a gag photo at the governor's mansion, Julia gets her head stuck in the banister just before the annual ball.
Julia and Suzanne's Big Adventure
Nov 27, 1989
Julia and Suzanne's plans go awry when they travel to Japan to visit their mother: after discovering that she has gone to Paris to see a sick friend, they are robbed of their lugga
Manhunt
Dec 4, 1989
Desperately single Mary Jo, worried that her busy schedule will condemn her to a life alone, accepts coaching from Suzanne as she plans a weekend manhunt.
They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?
Dec 11, 1989
Fat as a feminist issue surfaces when Suzanne endures cruel jokes about her weight at her high-school reunion; Anthony enlists Julia and Mary Jo to join him in a two-day fast to fo
You Got to Have Friends
Dec 18, 1989
Mary Jo takes a second job at a fast food place when Ted's child support payment is late.
The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (1)
Jan 1, 1990
Suzanne and Mary Jo rush Charlene to the hospital when she goes into labor on New Year's Eve and conceives a desire to deliver the first New Year's baby. Dolly Parton plays Charlen
The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century (2)
Jan 1, 1990
Suzanne and Mary Jo rush Charlene to the hospital when she goes into labor on New Year's Eve and conceives a desire to deliver the first New Year's baby. Dolly Parton plays Charlen
The Mistress
Jan 8, 1990
The ladies are hired by wealthy stockbroker Ancel Pollard to decorate a house for a client's wife -- and a condo for his mistress. Suzanne is sure that straight laced Julia and Mar
The Fur Flies
Jan 15, 1990
The fur flies at a fashion show, where Suzanne's after-dinner mink causes a riot among animal-rights activists. Meanwhile, Charlene is forced to bring Olivia to Sugarbakers while s
Oh, What a Feeling
Jan 29, 1990
Julia and Suzanne negotiate for a new delivery van and drive a hard bargain with an overbearing salesman (Ross).
Anthony and Vanessa
Feb 5, 1990
Hired for a temporary job at Sugarbakers, Anthony's needy friend Vanessa learns the tricks of the trade from Suzanne, then goes to work reeling in Anthony.
Payne Grows Up
Feb 19, 1990
Julia is not pleased to learn that Payne is graduating early in order to marry his pregnant girlfriend. Upset at becoming a grandmother so soon, Julia gets tipsy at the wedding, th
Tornado Watch
Feb 26, 1990
A bizarre collection of characters is trapped inside Sugarbakers by a tornado warning, including hillbilly Daddy Jones who takes a liking to Bernice.
Tough Enough
Mar 12, 1990
A redecorating job for a sports account is right down Sugarbakers' alley when it pits the women against a macho, over-confident designer from an all-male firm. They determine to st
It's A Wonderful Life
Mar 19, 1990
Julia intervenes when Bill's grief over the loss of his first wife threatens his relationship with Charlene -- and she becomes convinced he is having an affair with his new cockpit
Suzanne Goes Looking For a Friend
Apr 9, 1990
A lonely Suzanne digs through her old pageant connections for a best girlfriend, not realizing that her friend's "coming out" meant that she was a lesbian and not just the oldest l
Foreign Affairs
Apr 30, 1990
When her maid Consuela is threatened with deportation, Suzanne puts Anthony in a dress and pays him to impersonate the terrified woman. But he performs too well, awakening romantic
Have Faith
May 7, 1990
When Mary Jo attends church with Julia and Suzanne, she ends up dating Gene Chapman, the minister, but feeling guilty about her sexual interest in him.
Their Finest Hour
May 9, 1990
An hour-long clip show of highlights from the previous seasons, including: razor-tongued Julia standing up for Suzanne against an insolent beauty pageant contestant, Julia defendin
Anthony's Graduation
May 14, 1990
An extremely anxious Anthony makes it to his college graduation despite a series of mishaps and his nervousness about his grandmother's visit and his performance as commencement sp
La Place sans Souci
May 21, 1990
At a plush spa, the sparse diet, vigorous exercise program and thermal mud baths bring out the worst in Suzanne -- especially when Julia and Mary Jo are encouraged to gain weight.