News of the incredibly sad passing of Dixie Carter immediately took me back the late ’80s/early ’90s and watching Designing Women episodes with my mom. Read the full post.
Apr 11
2010
12:48 PM ET
Dixie Carter, R.I.P.: Her five best 'Designing Women' moments
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What about the show where Julia is on a tv show debating Mr. Brickett for City Council or some such?! Her dressing down of him and his outdated views on Americanism is one of the greatest “Terminator Tirades” EVER!
I loved her tirade on Southerners eating dirt but one of my favorite moments had to be when she was assuring Charlene her house wasn’t haunted and a chair slid across the floor. Typically deadpan Julia suggested she might want to get that fixed. It was so understated, I loved it.
She defined class and that’s what made her physical comedy so hilarious…witness the Abbott bannister and the night she mooned Atlanta.
WHAT A LOSS!
“Yes, you can give him a message. You do take shorthand, don’t you? Good, we take it in the South too. Anyway, just tell him that I have been a Southerner all my life, and I can vouch for the fact the we do eat a lot of things down here and we’ve certainly all had our share of grits and biscuits & gravy, and I myself have probably eaten enough fried chicken to feed a third world country; not to mention barbecue, cornbread, watermelon, fried pies, okra, and (pause)yes; if I were being perfectly candid, I would have to admit we have also eaten our share of crow, and for all I know during the darkest, leanest years of the Civil War, some of us may have had a Yankee or two for breakfast. But(pause) speaking for myself and hundreds of thousands of my Southern ancestors who have evolved through many decades of poverty, strife, and turmoil; I would like for Mr. Weaks to know that we have surely eaten many things in the past and we will surely eat many things in the future, but God as my witness we have never, I repeat, NEVER EATEN DIRT!!! ” Still cracks me up. I loved this show and Ms. Carter so very much.
As you can probably tell, I’ve been a fan of Ms. Carter most of my life, ever since “Designing Women” was on and I found out she was a fellow Tennesseean. She was the epitome of a Southern lady: witty, refined, passionate about the people and things that were important to her. There are very few like her left. RIP, Ms. Carter. My prayers are with your loved ones.
Definitely the Breast Cancer eppisode when she tells the doctor, “You don’t have to do the dying!”
I can’t find the clip on Youtube, but the episode where Sugarbaker’s was featured on the historic home tour. The tour guide began making up salacious tales just to increase interest, but Julia–in full “Gone With Wind” costume–was having none of it and let loose with a tirade at the top of the stairs. Something about all that Southern women have had to endure and ending with something about tourists and their slurpies. I wish I could find the clip.
… I can sooooo relate, working in retail!!! Still one of the best …
Without a question, the “Killing All the Right People” speech should be on this list. It’s FAR better than the stank mop clip.
RIP Dixie. We need more classy, smart, opinionated women like you.
Julia singing “How Great Thou Art” when Charlene’s friend who has been a victim of abuse walks in has to be my favorite moment.
It was Charlene’s cousin, Mavis, and she came in when Julia and the rest of the women were singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” as The Supremes, including Suzanne in blackface (she was trying to be “theatrically accurate,” not offensive — Anthony helped her out, even).
I cannot even begin to explain what Designing Women or Mias Dixie means to me…a great talent and a wonderful person has left us. My favorite episodes are the one where they are helping Mary Jo work in the fast food restaurant and ANY episode when she gives someone a good dressing down. One of the best is the tour of historical homes episode when she tells the organizer that “her little topknot is crooked…” Rest in peace Miss Dixie…you were one of a kind.
Almost every episode had a great Julia moment.
You missed the episode with the Porn poster and the porn magazines, where Julie kept driving over the guys advertising sign! PRICELESS!!!
Dixie Carter was a throwback to the great female stars of classic Hollywood. She was the sole heir to the throne vacated by Bette, Joan, Katharine, and Barbara (among others). She was both an elegant lady and a gutsy broad, and she will be missed.
My thoughts exactly! She would have been perfect in the Golden Era of Hollywood. It is a shame she was never nominated for playing the role of Julia Sugarbaker.
Suzanne was always my mom’s favorite, and whenever they would show repeats she would make my sisters and I watch them. I also loved Dixie Carter on Desperate Housewives, she was absolutely brilliant.
Full Moon Over Alanta………need I say more?
Oh, where to begin? Between being a gay man and being from Georgia, I was also hooked on DW from the beginning. I can’t remember someone’s name I met last week, but I can still remember lines from DW twenty years later. And no one delivered them better than Julia! RIP Miss Dixie.
I was actually the Governor of Georgia’s butler shortly before the series began, so I have a special place in my heart for the episode in which Julia got her head stuck in the staircase. But as far as favorites go, while I agree with your top 2 I would have to add the following:
#3: Payne brings home his girlfriend, who is much (much!) older than Julia was expecting. When the girlfriend, Primmy (which is short for Primrose, although Julia calls her “Grandma Moses”), laments that there’s no lavender for her bath, Julia graciously offers her “some 20 Mule Team Borax.” The entire episode is a showcase of great Julia moments.
#4: When Julia thinks Reese is going to propose to her at the elegant restaurant where they’re having dinner she tears through everything within reach, from the napkin to the rolls to the champagne bucket full of ice, looking for that little something that’s “yellow and fits on one finger.” You can imagine her surprise when Reese gives her the bird!
#5: While it’s a bit of a cop out, I think this spot should be intentionally left blank so it can be shared by all of the other wonderful Julia moments, too numerous to mention (let alone pick a favorite). Julia’s reactions to Mary Jo wanting bigger breasts and being lumped in the category with the “have nots;” Julia threatening to track down Charlene for getting her sequestered in the jury episode (“You’d be wise to ask, do I know where my baby is?”); and, of course, our very first glimpse of what was to become “classic Julia” came in the pilot episode when Julia guts Ray Don in the sushi bar (“We know who you are, Ray Don….”).
Dixie Carter may be gone, and Julia may be standing on her soapbox in the sky, but her comedic timing and her beautiful singing voice will be with us forever. As long as we have You Tube, we’ll have Dixie and Julia.
I am truly in mourning. I loved all the episodes but was particularly fond of the one where Julia puts “Phylis” in her place regarding the treatment of “crazy” people. Paraphrasing the quote: “In the South we do not hide our crazy people in the attic. We bring them down to the living room where people can admire them.” R.I.P. Julia/Dixie….
That is a brilliant episode, but the best lines in that one go to Bernice. “Everytime we go to McDonald’s, she asks, ‘How is the fish?’ And I always have to say, ‘Phyllis, it’s square fish.’”
The one where Julia tells Charlene’s doctor off after he “misses” her breast cancer, and tells her she doesn’t need a 2nd opinion.