Designing Women season 1

The first season of Designing Women premiered on CBS on September 29, 1986, and concluded on May 11, 1987. The season consisted of 22 episodes. Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the series was produced by Bloodworth/Thomason Mozark Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television.

The series centers on the lives of four women and one man working together at an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia called Sugarbaker & Associates. It originally starred Dixie Carter as Julia Sugarbaker, president of the design firm; Delta Burke as Suzanne Sugarbaker, Julia's ex-beauty queen sister and the design firm's silent partner; Annie Potts as head designer, Mary Jo Shively; and Jean Smart as office manager, Charlene Frazier.

Broadcast history
When the show debuted on CBS' Monday-night lineup in 1986 (9:30 pm, EST) it garnered respectable ratings; however, CBS moved the show several times to other time slots. After dismal ratings on Sunday night and Thursday night time slots, CBS placed it on hiatus and was ready to cancel the show, but a viewer campaign saved the show and returned it to its original Monday night slot. The show's ratings solidified, and it regularly landed in the top 20 rankings.

Main cast

 * Dixie Carter as Julia Sugarbaker
 * Annie Potts as Mary Jo Shively
 * Delta Burke as Suzanne Sugarbaker
 * Jean Smart as Charlene Frazier

Recurring cast

 * Scott Bakula as Ted Shively
 * Priscilla Weems as Claudia Shively
 * Brian Lando as Quentin Shively
 * George Newbern as Payne McIlroy
 * Richard Gilliland as J.D. Shackleford
 * Meshach Taylor as Anthony Bouvier
 * Alice Ghostley as Bernice Clifton
 * Hal Holbrook as Reese Watson

Guest cast

 * Pamela Bowen as Marjorie Lee Winick
 * Walter Olkewicz as Mason Dodd
 * David Winn as Dane
 * Natalia Nogulich as Primrose Horton
 * Arlen Dean Snyder as Ray Don Simpson
 * Louise Latham as Perky Sugarbaker
 * Bobbie Ferguson as Monette Marlin
 * Lisa Peluso as Shannon Gibbs


 * Michael Ross as Gaylon King
 * Ronnie Claire Edwards as Ione Frazier
 * Andre Rosey Brown as Wendell Mack
 * Justin Burnette as Harold Thomas Frazier
 * Connie Chew as Li Sing
 * Geoffrey Lewis as Dr. Davis Jackson
 * Gregg Henry as Jack Dent
 * Ted Leplat as Hence Winchester

DVD release
The first season was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on May 26, 2009. Special features include the 2006 reunion bringing together the original cast mates and creator of the show, as well as a seven-page booklet written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason introducing the series.