The ladies of Designing Women last changed the interior decorating of Atlanta homes more than two decades ago, but the show just might be making a comeback in the 21st century.
The classic show that starred Delta Burke and Annie Potts reportedly has a modern reboot in the works. The show originally had a seven-season run on CBS that ended in 1993, and it was featured in syndication on TV Land for a time.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, networks and streaming services alike are taking a renewed interest in sitcoms that address political and other topical issues, and Designing Women certainly fit that bill for the late 80s and early 90s.
Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart and Meshach Taylor starred on the original series, which took on subjects including women’s rights, domestic abuse, homophobia and racism during its run from 1986-1993. A season two episode exploring AIDS prejudice — inspired by (creator Linda) Bloodworth-Thomason, whose mother died from the disease — earned two Emmy nominations. Designing Women was nominated multiple times for best comedy but never took home the Emmy in the category. Burke earned two lead actress nominations and Taylor was also nominated.
As Annie Potts told EW recently, the climate seems right for a reboot of the 90s classic and said she’d “be there in a minute” if she was asked to reprise her role on the show.
“I would love that,” she said. “I don’t know when I’d find the time for it, but I think that they could use a show like Designing Women — feisty smart women that didn’t take any B.S. from anybody. Every Monday night was a #MeToo moment for us, and we were talking about it; we were very political. I’m sad that there’s not such a strong voice, I don’t think, in any singular show. Nobody is doing what we did then. So yeah, if [creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason] wanted to write six episodes and do it in my hiatus, I would be there in a minute.”
There’s no word on whether any members of the original cast will still make an appearance on the show, or if some modern version of Sugarbaker & Associates would be involved, but it seems like there’s real momentum to get some Atlanta interior decorating drama back on the small screen very soon.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
