I like Dixie Carter - I am talking about the hack writing.
So was i! 
I loved "Designing Women" until Delta Burke left the cast.
Left, as if it were her idea to do so? 
Sometimes the ranting was a bit much 
This show reached its zenith during the Reagan years. So few voices were out there balancing out the right-wing extremist equation. Bloodworth-Thomason's was nearly a voice crying out in a wilderness.
Most of "Designing Women's" rants were topical and bi-partisan. One addressed a New York Times article that suggested that southerners were educationally deficient and ate dirt. That article was typical in the serious decline of objective reporting going on throughout the United States. The idiosyncratic behavior of a small group of people was being applied as a stereotype applicable to all southerners.
Another episode tackled a sidewalk news stand selling magazines with pornographic images...a topic that should have been right up any right-winger's alley.
The characters in "Designing Women" are among the most well-defined any show has ever produced. The storylines would dwell on serious issues and ridiculous ones, none as ridiculous -- or endearing -- as those in which Delta Burke's "Suzanne" went around town with her pig Noelle on a leash and wearing some bit of fashion to complement Suzanne's outfits.
Suzanne Sugarbaker was the show's life blood, IMO. It truly represented who Linda Bloodworth-Thomason wanted to be, and Julia Sugarbaker was closer to who she actually was. Both characters bear resemblances to their creator. When Delta Burke left the show, it never truly recovered.
There was nothing "hack" about any of the writing...ever. It also featured a black character -- the wonderful "Anthony Bouvier" -- who started working as a delivery man and worked his way into a partnership with these four southern women. These four women would get Anthony all caught up in women's discussions, thus providing a reverse situation that many women have complained about for years -- inappropriate discussions in the workplace. Anthony's unique and unusual relationship with Suzanne was one of the great joys of watching this series.
The show advocated advanced citizenship for those with a broad outlook on life and personal responsibility, and it was never mean-spirited or bilious in its attacks on political issues...EXCEPT in the matter of AIDS and research and attitudes about the disease and those who have it. This during those years when the disease was epidemic and the most that was done was naming
Michael Jordan Magic Johnson to head up a commission that essentially did nothing other than say, "All right! See! We do recognize a problem!"
It certainly wasn't for everyone, but it succeeded in touching many people in many areas where its messages were unheard on the streets and in neighborhoods across America where politics were either Republican or Democratic.
As further evidence of its balanced approach to serious issues, it had its way with the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill investigation in Congress. One of the characters wore a T-Shirt that declared "She Lied" and another wore a sweatshirt stating "He did it!"
As one who believed Hill over Thomas, I thought the show should have taken a position in her favor. I'm certain those who believed in Thomas felt the opposite. That's why I loved the show. It celebrated our differences without dividing us.
Dixie Carter was a wonderful actress in a brilliant ensemble in one of the best TV comedies ever aired. I don't believe the show ever got an Emmy nomination for best comedy, but I could be mistaken.
