The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Theme song “Georgia on My Mind” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, performed by Doc Severinsen

• 001. Designing Women – 9/29/1986
  • Atlanta, Georgia based businesswomen Julia (Dixie Carter) and her younger sister Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) combine their resources and form their own interior design company Sugarbaker & Associates. The elegant and liberal Julia acts as president at the firm, while self-centered former Miss Georgia World Suzanne holds no official title. Also investing in the partnership is Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart), a former secretary of Julia’s late husband Hayden, and Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts), Charlene’s next-door neighbor and the main designer. As the ladies try to keep the business out of the red, Suzanne announces that her gynecologist is retiring. Mary Jo suggests the services of her ex-husband Ted (Scott Bakula), from who she was just recently divorced after helping put him through medical school. Suzanne goes to see him, and when she returns, she announces that she is now dating him. Mary Jo is livid, considering all she contributed to his career and the fact that he constantly cheated on her. Ted winds up proposing to Suzanne, and so she arranges to have Ted over so that he and Mary Jo can work out their differences. Mary Jo tells him that all she ever wanted from him was a thank you for all she did to help him. He comes through with a sincere thank you, making Mary Jo feel grateful for the whole situation. Arlen Dean Snyder is Ray Don Simpson, who hits on the women in a restaurant and is severely rebuffed. 7/24/20

• 002. The Beauty Contest – 10/6/1986
  • Charlene works part time selling Kemper Cosmetics, and unbeknownst to Mary Jo, she has entered Mary Jo’s daughter Claudia (Priscilla Weems) in their pre-teen beauty contest. Although Mary Jo doesn’t think beauty contests align with their values, Claudia begs to be allowed to enter so Mary Jo gives in. As Suzanne is getting ready to turn 30, and a former Miss Georgia World herself, she is delighted to be able to coach Claudia. The announcement is made for the five finalists by the announcer (Brian Moore) and the current Miss Georgia World Marjorie Lee Winnick (Pamela Bowen), Mary Jo is surprised to find herself acting so petty toward the other girls, and also by her enthusiasm when Claudia’s name is called to be a finalist. Meanwhile in the dressing room Julia overhears Marjorie Lee and her friend (Elaine Wilkes) making fun of Suzanne’s glory days of baton twirling. Julia reads her the riot act and tells her that she was one of the greatest Miss Georgias ever and that her baton talent was unsurpassed. Suzanne overhears this and later expresses her appreciation to Julia. Claudia decides that the contest has changed her mother somewhat, so when she gets up to give her speech, she admits that she really doesn’t know what it means to win a beauty contest and that the prize should go to someone else. Back at the office home where Julia lives, Suzanne presents Claudia with one of her old prize tiaras, and Mary Jo tells her how proud she is to be her mother. Julia gives Suzanne a copy of her birth certificate without a birth date on it so that she can be whatever age she wants. Virginia Bingham is Debbie Buchanan, a contestant’s mother whose other daughter Stacy Nicole (Stacy Nicole Bloodworth) looks like Jessica Lange. Brian Lando is Mary Jo’s son Quinton. 7/24/20
• 003. A Big Affair – 10/20/1986
  • While Charlene deals with a fraternity that owes the Sugarbaker company money for sofas they purchased, Suzanne announces that she is hosting a dinner party for a rich importer named Mason Dodd (Walter Olkewicz), and she attempts to set up Charlene as his date. Charlene is reluctant since Suzanne didn’t seem to want him for herself, and when she meets him she finds out why: he’s fat. Still Charlene finds him amusing and decides to go to lunch with him to be polite, and soon finds herself attracted to him. However she is embarrassed to be in his company, and also wonders how it would be possible to make love with someone so fat. Meanwhile Suzanne is forced to get a new housekeeper named Consuela, who has the idiosyncrasy of constantly wanting to jump out and scare Suzanne. Both Mary Jo and Julia take pity on Walter, the head of the fraternity, and separately and privately agree to loan him the money so they can make payments on their furniture. Charlene decides that she is going to break it off with Walter, but agrees to wait until after the dinner party. During the party, Consuela scares Suzanne and causes her to drop the main course, which causes a huge delay in dinner. Around the table, Mason constantly pokes fun at his own weight which embarrasses Charlene. They talk after the dinner and Mason tells Charlene that he wants to break it off because she isn’t as rich or educated as he is. This hurts her feelings, but then he reveals that isn’t how he actually feels, but was using it as an example because he could see how embarrassed she was of him. She realizes how attracted to him she really is, and he agrees that he will try to lose weight but doesn’t want that to be mandatory… and they decide to stay together. The fraternity delivers flowers, payment in full, and a musical serenade to Suzanne’s house… which she assumes is for her. David Winn is Mary Jo’s date Dane. 8/16/20
• 004. Julia’s Son – 10/27/1986
  • Julia is looking forward to a visit from her son Payne McIlroy (George Newbern) but is a little nervous to meet his new girlfriend Primrose “Primmie” Horton (Natalia Nogulich), with whom he seems more serious than usual. When she arrives, Julia and the others are completely taken aback to find that she is a teacher at the college and is 41 years old, or so Julia finds out from her drivers license. Julia and Primmie are immediately at odd, especially when she barks orders at Payne to take the luggage to ‘their’ room. Julia has a talk with Payne, who tells her that his father had previously had an affair with an older woman before meeting Julia, and advised Payne to do the same. Julia softens a bit, but when Primmie continues with her pretentious ways and tells the story about how she first saw Payne and thought he reminded her of poet Lord Byron, Julia finally tells her she is full of crap. As Payne and Primmie prepare to leave, Julia tells him she’ll try to do better the next time and how she still considers him her little boy. She also has a conversation with Primmie, who tells her that she is the most overbearing worst kind of mother, and warns Julia that she’ll fix it so he will never see her again. Julia in turn tell her that she found out from a friend at the university that Primmie has a Fall romance with a student every year and offers to go to the ‘wood shed’ with her. Payne overhears the conversation and tells his mother he knew about the Fall romances and wanted to check it out for himself. Then he warns Primmie that she will never come between him and his family, and assures her that his mother raised an independent man. Primmie respects him for standing up for himself and they still leave together, but Julia is now exceptionally proud of her son and not as worried anymore when she saw how he asserted himself. 8/16/20
• 005. Mary Jo’s First Date – 11/3/1986
  • The gals sit around the office one morning discussing how hard it is for women over thirty to get married, and come to the conclusion that Mary Jo’s life isn’t going anywhere thanks to her lack of spontaneity and general propensity to be a homebody. While Suzanne is having a brunch date at the Atlanta Braves stadium, she happens upon her old friend James Dean “J.D.” Shackelford (Richard Gilliland) who happens to be a recent divorcee. She talks a very reluctant Mary Jo into going out on a date with him, and he takes her to a very fancy restaurant. As Mary Jo had feared from a recently divorced man, he becomes aggressive when trying to kiss her, and she has to tell him that it took every ounce of courage she had just to kiss. She admits that she’s a mother and that she isn’t used to fancy restaurants, but that she does in fact like him. He responds by quickly saying goodbye and leaving. Meanwhile Julia had to deal with an IRS auditor who keeps hot on her tail during an audit. While they are chatting, Charlene recognizes him as Ray Don Simpson (Arlen Dean Snyder), a man who Julia once decimated when he came over to hit on the ladies while they were out once. Julia immediately goes into secretive mode and tries to hide her face so he won’t recognize her. J.D. returns to the office to talk to Mary Jo and admits that he has three kids himself, had borrowed the DeLorean that he was driving, and typically goes out for pizza. He apologizes for coming on strong and not being himself. Mary Jo likes this version much better and they arrange a date for the weekend. Ray Don never recognizes Julia and decides to drop the audit. However as he is on his way out the door, Julia repeats a phrase she had said when shutting him down, and it immediately occurs to him who she is. 12/1/20
• 006. Design House – 11/17/1986
  • Suzanne becomes discontent with her job of dining with and bringing in clients, after she insulted by one of them named Madeline Adams who is jealous of Suzanne for stealing all of the men’s attention. She claims she would like to start acting as a decorator instead of just doing ‘public relations.’ Julia is against it, but finally agrees to let her handle the next client who walks in the door, thinking that she will get bored and give up on decorating. The next person who comes in is Boyd (Stephen Tobolowsky), who brings the news that Sugarbaker has been selected along with seven other interior designers to decorate a room in Design House ’86. Suzanne claims that the job is hers, so she takes on decorating the master bedroom and babysitting the house on Mondays. The decorating goes well enough, and she brings in the other ladies at Sugarbaker to help, but on Tuesday morning, the gals see a news story that the house has burned down. Suzanne is seen behind the newscaster under a blanket with a man. Julia is livid that she could be so irresponsible, but when Suzanne returns to the office, she is apologetic and humble, admitting that she tried to start a fire in the fireplace. She asks their delivery man Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor) if he will take the rap, since he has been in prison before and still has to see a parole officer. One by one, the ladies – even Julia – agree to say that they were at the house with her. But it is all unnecessary when Boyd returns with the news that the fire was caused by faulty wiring. Suzanne is surprised, and admits further that she tries to roast marshmallows with a cigarette lighter on the sun porch. Julia is ready to punish her, but Suzanne says she’s rather return to her old job of lunching with clients, and she makes her first lunch date with Boyd, who is happy that the insurance paid handsomely and is ready to start up the new Design Armory. 12/2/20
• 007. Perky’s Visit – 11/24/1986
  • Thanksgiving is coming up and Suzanne is trying to learn how to cook so she can prepare a turkey for her friends and her mother Perky (Louise Latham), who is coming to visit with her friend Bernice Clifton (Alice Ghostley) from the retirement village where they live, who is slowly losing her mind and seems to talk in non-sequiturs. Charlene is in mourning because her boyfriend Mason has moved to Tokyo. Julia has had a run-in with the bank when they won’t let her and Mary Jo walk through the drive-up window. When Julia jumps in the back seat of the car a fellow customer is driving, the police were called. Anthony badmouths a customer named Tommy Thompson, who constantly insults Julia. Mary Jo is depressed to be spending her first Thanksgiving without Ted. Julia finds an article in the paper indicating that Tommy Thompson was dead, and possibly murdered. The ladies suspect that Anthony might be killer, considering he is an ex-con who won’t tell them why he was in prison, and the fact that he was just speaking ill of him. When Anthony shows up for dinner, the ladies walk on eggshells and try to avoid any conversation that might lead him to a violent outburst. Perky reveals that she is  thinking of moving to Montana, but then reveals that she is actually just sad that her daughters never really call to talk about anything of substance, and mostly just make small talk, and they promise to do better. A police officer (Tony Maggio) shows up after Anthony has fallen asleep on the couch, and they are quick to turn him in. However the officer just wants to return an earring that Julia lost at the bank during the incident. The ladies wish Anthony a happy Thanksgiving, and apologize for accusing him of murder. 3/25/21
• 008. I Do, I Don’t – 11/24/1986
  • Julia is celebrating her six-month anniversary with her boyfriend Reese Watson (Hal Holbrook), and when he tells her that he has a special gift for her that is yellow and will fit on her finger, the ladies all suspect it will be an engagement ring. They tell her that he is likely to hide it in something at dinner that night. During the dinner, Julia looks through everything that the waiter (Richard Balin) brings but can’t find anything, then finds out that Reese has gotten her a canary, proud that he remembered her telling him that she had lost hers as a little girl. Her disappointment and her mad search through the food tips him off that she was looking for a ring…so he proposes to her. She accepts and the two get drunk together, and then get married. The next morning, Julia instantly regrets it and tells her friends that she is going to let him down gently and ask for a divorce. But before she can bring it up, Reese shows up with annulment papers. This makes her absolutely furious and depressed and throws him up, and then she spends the next day in bed. Reese then shows up with a violinist and minister (Ritchie Montgomery) and tells her that he wants to do their marriage right. She says she’s touched by the gesture but isn’t ready to get married yet. With her ego spared, she agrees to go to lunch with him… but warns him that the next time he tries to trick her, not to have the parking valet from his club pose as a minister. 3/25/21
• 009. The IT Men – 12/11/1986
  • With Mason now living in Tokyo, Charlene has started to fall for her investment counselor Ed Boeving (Madison Mason), and feels very guilty for being interested in someone so quickly after Ed has left the country. Although she and Ed had agreed to see other people, she writes him a letter that tells her about the chemistry between her and Ed. Charlene introduces Ed to the other ladies, telling them all how much he looks like Jerry Lee Lewis. Meanwhile, Julia and Mary Jo go to visit a new client (Brandis Kemp) who wants to redecorate her bedroom as a surprise for her husband. Thanks to a photo on the dresser, the ladies learn that her husband is Ed. Before Charlene heads out for her next date with Ed, the ladies sit her down and tell her that Ed has been married for 19 years. Mary Jo agrees to go along to lunch with Charlene and Ed for moral support, but when Charlene confronts Ed about his marriage, and he mentions them having sex, Mary Jo is quick to rush out of the restaurant. It turns out that they never have had sex because Charlene still felt connected to Mason, and Ed assures Charlene that she is the first person he’s ever had an affair with. She tells him that she was planning to break his heart, since she still wanted to be with Mason. Ed also tells Charlene that he has left his wife because he has fallen for her, but when she is asked to make a decision, she leaves the restaurant. Later Charlene gets a letter back from Ed, and tells her that he understands that chemistry can’t be controlled and that he still loves her, but he is now seeing a stewardess named Ava who he met on the way to Tokyo. She is furious, and calls him off, but ends up sweet talking him. Rodney Stone is the waiter. 7/18/21
• 010. The Slumber Party – 12/18/1986
  • Suzanne is frazzled because she is afraid of her maid Consuela “Connie”, and hints that she might have to fire her, which causes Connie to retaliate by creating a voodoo doll of Suzanne and telling her that she’ll be dead by midnight. Meanwhile, Mary Jo is struggling with her demanding client Hence Westchester, she gets a call from her daughter Claudia reminding her that she’s having a slumber party that night. She asks Julia to help chaperone the party, and she reluctantly agrees. Suzanne insists on coming along so she’s not alone for her appointment with death. Charlene’s date cancels for that night, so she decides to come along too. When it starts thundering out, Suzanne becomes scared of the ominous sign. Charlene agrees that it is strange, especially since everyone is having their first sleepover. The girls have a slumber party with music and dancing, Julia falling asleep, and the other girls having a ‘bull session’ where they tell each other how they can improve, and doing it with constructive criticism. Suzanne starts to get insulting, and the others tell Suzanne how they’re tired of her thinking she’s prettier and better than everyone. She finally admits that she’s actually jealous of the other girls, and doesn’t think she is better at all. Just as they al make up, and Julia wakes up, there is a short in the lamp and the power goes out, causing Suzanne to think that her number is up. Charlene then tells them that it happens all of the time. Having survived the coming of midnight, Suzanne finds a voodoo doll in Julia’s purse, which she is explained she made of Consuela to ward off Consuela’s curse. When Suzanne tries to claim the couch to sleep on, Julia warns her that pulling out the pin from her doll will invalidate the cancellation of the curse. Suzanne then offers Julia the couch. Mary Jo makes a request that someone put ice down her pajamas to remind her of old times, and everyone is happy to oblige. 7/18/21
• 011. New Years Daze – 1/1/1987
  • On New Years Eve, the ladies are all planning a night out together at a restaurant with their dates. Charlene has a new date who no one has met, and everyone is excited to see who it is. Likewise, Suzanne has a new date as well, a wealthy guy named Worth Carrington (Russ Anderson), who happens to be a an 82 year old man. Mary Jo is meeting J.D. at the restaurant, but she is irritated that he has to drop off the kids at his ex-wife Janet’s house. She thinks that the ex is trying worm himself way into his life. While they are discussing this, Reese calls for Julia to inform her that he can’t make it because he is still traveling in New York. She reads him the riot act and decides not to go to the party, opting instead to play games with Anthony. As they ladies all watch Worth sleep his way through the evening, Charlene admits that her date is ‘Shadow’ (Thomas Callaway), a pen pal she had from prison. Once they all return back to Julia’s place, they hear a news cast just after the New Years ball drops, indicating that Shadow aka Peter Wallace has escaped from prison and is armed and dangerous. Charlene had believed that he was paroled, and didn’t know he was escaping. Everyone becomes petrified that he will come to Julia’s house. An F.B.I. agent named Herb (Nathan Haas) shows up looking for him as well, and asks the ladies to call him if Shadow shows up. The next day, J.D. and Anthony are still there to protect the ladies, when a police officer calls and tells them that Shadow has been caught. They all let their guards down, and men leave to get a pizza, when they hear an update on the radio that Shadow is still at large. As the ladies sit around telling each their New Year resolutions, when Shadow does in fact show up. F.B.I. Herb shows up again, and verifies that the F.B.I. had arranged to meet him there, as he is actually an undercover agent. Shadow tells Charlene how much he had appreciated her help, and how special her friendship with her friends is. They all toast 1987, and best that is yet to come. Suzanne Rains is the waitress. 1/16/22
• 012 & 013. Old Spouses Never Die – 2/1/1987
  • Charlene is excited because she has tickets to see Jerry Lee Lewis after he has canceled the last few shows she’s had tickets for. Mary Jo is upset not only with her ex-husband Ted, who doesn’t seem to respect her relationship with J.D., but also with J.D. ex-wife Janet (Julie Cobb) who relies on J.D. to do everything for her. She is also struggling with the fact that the two of them have never made love. For the final blow, Janet shows up at Julia’s and warns Mary Jo to stay away from her ex-husband as they are working on reconciling… which proves to be a complete lie. Meanwhile, Anthony is accused by a thug businessman named Mr. BB of making time with his girlfriend, so he attempts to force him to attend one of their poker games and bring along $5000, which he feels he will be cheated out of. He plans to leave town so that Mr. BB won’t see him again until after his Hawaii vacation with his thugs Otis (Frank Miller) and Clifford (John C. Anders), believing that he will have forgotten about him by then. When Suzanne takes a call from Mr. BB, she obliviously warns his to leave Anthony alone and assure him he doesn’t have the money to come to the poker game. Charlene finds a lump in her breast, but her Doctor Dr. Mitchell (John Petlock) tells her not to worry about it. When Julia hears this, she and the other girls tell her that she had better get a second opinion posthaste. Charlene is reluctant, but calls Dr. Mitchell to ask for a recommendation for a second opinion. When he hears this, he tells Charlene that if she doesn’t trust him, she needs to find another doctor. She winds up visiting Julia’s doctor Dr. Knight (Dennis Howard) and finds out that it is cancer after all. Charlene is terrified of dying before doing many things in life. Her further tests fall during the Jerry Lee Lewis concert, adding insult to injury. Charlene becomes so distraught that she picks up a hitchhiker named Calvin Klein (Michael Jeter) and brings him back to Julia’s place, where he steals some toilet paper and paper towels and is on his way. J.D. and Mary Jo have a date and are about to get intimate at her place when Ted shows up with the kids Claudia and Quinton to pick up some things. Then Janet calls and tells J.D. he needs to get over to her place to help with a water leak. The two blame each other’s exes for ruining the night, and the nearly come to the point of breaking up. Later J.D. gathers Ted and Janet into the same room, and reads them the riot act about he and Mary Jo building a life together, and telling them that they’d like to remain friends and wish them the best, but that they will not longer allow them to interfere in their love life. Charlene goes through her procedures and finds out that her lumps are benign. Mary Jo and J.D. offer to take her to another nearby Jerry Lee Lewis concert. Suzanne falls for believing that Otis and Clifford are Anthony’s cousins and sends them over to the hospital where Anthony is visiting Charlene. He jumps into the bed next to Charlene and pretends he is hospitalized with kidney stones. He calls in a nurse (Jennifer Andrews) to get Otis and Clifford out of there. Later he calls BB and tells him that he’ll never pay him the $5000 and he wants to beat him up, to do it right there. BB decides he respects Anthony and lets him off the hook. NOTE: This episode was a one-hour episode, later split into two episodes for syndication. 5/25/22
• 014. Monette – 2/8/1987
  • Charlene gets a call one day from Monica Martin (Bobbie Ferguson), a name she doesn’t instantly recognize, but quickly realizes that she is actually her good childhood friend Monette, who hailed from Poplar Bluff, Missouri with Charlene, but had moved to Pensacola, then St. Louis, and now resides in Atlanta. She has purchased the huge and swanky Chadwick House and wants Sugarman & Associates to redecorate it. Since Monette had been greatly admired by Charlene, she is anxious to take the job. The ladies all go to see place, and are thrilled when Monette gives them a budget of 100 thousand to 150 thousand dollars to spend. While Monette is showing Charlene around the upstairs, and odd older man (Dean Dittman) enters the house and begins staring down the ladies, and then asks Julia if she could have her specifically. The ladies have no idea what he is talking about, but then come to realize that ‘Monica’ is the madam of a cat house. They wait until they get back home to tell Charlene. She has a hard time believing it since she went to Bible school with Monette and thought she was very conservative. Julie refuses to decorate the house, no matter how much money is involved, if is indeed a cathouse. Charlene suggests they discuss it no further until they verify the truth. They decide to return to the house and ask her point blank, and Monette admits it freely. Charlene also finds out that despite the fact that she and Charlene had made a pact to save themselves for marriage, Charlene was actually quite promiscuous. Monette seems rather proud of the choices she has made, as it has resulted in her being a successful businesswoman and ‘love consultant.’ Julia feels it denigrates women in general, while Suzanne thinks it is a more lucrative option to marry several times so that she will be supported by alimony all of her life. Charlene makes sure that Monette knows that she loves her, but hopes she will decide to get out of the this lifestyle in order to find the true love of a man. Monette admits that she’s been considering it. Suzanne is just happy enough to find out that another one of Monette’s customers (Terry Willis) comes in and chooses her for his lady of the evening. 1/24/22
• 015. And Justice for Paul – 2/15/1987
  • Julia is worried about the money she is losing on the business, and is hopeful to cover the payroll with the money they get for fabrics from Mrs. Wagner. However Mary Jo returns from meeting with her, and informs Julia that they went with Regency Interiors after Mary Jo told her that the chairs she wanted to order were more suitable with 50 pounds less bulk, for fear that she would be injured by the ones she wanted. Meanwhile Suzanne brings news that she has engaged a new customer named Beau Masters. However, Suzanne also pegs him for being cheap, and when Mary Jo finds out from Masters and his wife that the most they will spend is $12,500. Charlene suggests that her friend Paul (D. David Morin) might be able to help find cheaper antiques. The ladies go to check out his inventory, and are pleasantly surprised to find some great stuff. However, the total of what they purchase comes to just over $13,500, but he gives them a discount and lets it all go for $10,000. They are thrilled with the haul and hire Anthony to get two of his prison buddies to transport the goods. Paul quickly takes off for Chicago, and as the ladies are packing up with the first of the antiques, police raid the building and arrest the four ladies. They are taken to jail by Detective Delaney (Dierk Torsek), where Julia threatens the prison matron (Diana Bellamy) for civil rights violations. They make repeated calls to Julia’s lawyer Reese Watson, but when no one can get hold of him, Anthony comes to the jail posing as Watson. Eventually the real Watson shows up and posts bail. The ladies all agree with Delaney that they will testify against Paul, but when they start getting phone threats, they all back out besides Julia. She is ready to go it alone, but on the morning she is supposed to report for court, one by one the other three ladies all show up at the house, and have decided to testify against Paul as well. 9/19/22
• 016. Reese’s Friend – 2/22/1987
  • Suzanne and Julia’s country club is having their pre-Spring ball to raise money for the Children’s Art Center, and Julia gets Suzanne’s idea to come as hobos turned down. Suzanne buys tickets for the other ladies at the office, and Suzanne gets a job for Anthony to work as a waiter to help him raise money for his classes. Meanwhile, Reese keeps having to cancel on Julia for their dates because he is working with a new young, attractive attorney at the firm named Shannon Gibbs (Lisa Peluso). Suzanne starts stirring the pot and making Julia self conscious about her age, especially since Julia seems to have deteriorating eyesight. Charlene visits a psychic and she tells her that she will meet the future father of her children at the dance. When Reese shows up and cancels yet another date with Suzanne – after breaking five already – Julia has had enough and thinks he is being shady about his relationship with Shannon, and tells Reese she refuses to go to dance with him now. Suzanne quickly hears the rumor that he is taking Shannon in her place. Charlene gets even with him by bringing a young stud named Harrison Wright (Brian Taylor). When they all arrive at the dance, Mary Jo has had too much to drink in the limo, and starts to behave like she’s quite tipsy. Charlene starts to guess that every guy coming her way is the future father of her children. Suzanne gets frustrated when she winds up dancing with a guy (Vincent Pantone) working in the kitchen. When Julia asks Harrison to dance, Reese overhears him tell her that it will cost extra. Reese and Suzanne wind up dancing together, and when Reese tells her that he bought new underwear, Julia assumes that it is really over. Reese is then taken aback when Shannon tells him that she really does want to go to bed with him. While Reese discusses this with his colleague Burton Riffel (Michael Griswold), Shannon approaches Julia in the powder room to tell her that she has no interested in stealing Reese away, but merely wants to have a short affair with him. Julia tells her that she is buried in compost and storms out. Ultimately Reese tells Shannon that he can’t have any sort of affair with her because he’s an old-fashioned guy who wants to be in a committed relationship and won’t cheat on Julia. This comforts Julia, and they dance together and make up. She asks him if he really has new underwear, and he tells her she’ll have to find out herself. 9/21/22
• 017. Nashville Bound – 3/16/1987
  • Charlene’s family of 27 – including her three sisters and six brothers and their spouses and children – are all coming to Atlanta from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, for a family reunion, which will be held at Julia’s house. This visit coincides with what Charlene also considers great news: a guy named Gaylon King (Michael Ross) heard her singing at a nightclub and has told he that he’s a manager and she could be his next big star. Meanwhile, Anthony made a delivery to the home of NFL Atlanta Falcons team member Wendell Mack (Andre Rosey Brown) and was hit on by Mack’s wife Felicia. He wants nothing to do with her and has refused her advances. Julia goes off about how all of the strangest people and circumstances seem to gravitate toward Charlene and Anthony. Charlene brings Gaylon to meet everyone, and in his charming way, he tells them all that he’s not out to cheat Charlene, but that it will cost her $2000 to get her career kickstarted. Mack comes to see Anthony, but in a surprising twist, he berates him for turning him down. He says they have an open relationship, and he wants her to always be happy and get what she wants. However, when Felicia calls to return some furniture, and Anthony goes to pick it up, he turns her down yet again. Charlene keeps seeing Gaylon and even starts buying him gifts. On the night that her family arrives, Charlene introduces her parents Orville “Bud” (James Ray) and Ione Frazier (Ronnie Claire Edwards), her youngest brother Harold Thomas (Justin Burnette), and everyone in between. Then she takes off to the club where she is going to perform that night for everyone. Wendell Mack returns and angrily threatens Anthony again, but he convinces Mack to leave him alone because his entire family is there… and then proceeds to introduce every single member of Charlene’s family. Although Mack is flabbergasted since they are all white, he nonetheless apologizes and leaves. When the entire family arrives at the club. Charlene tells them that the place is closing up for the Spring and that Gaylon has taken off and abandoned her. She feels stupid, having been warned, and disappointed that she was swindled out of several thousand dollars. As she is lamenting to everyone, Gaylon returns and brings her back part of her money, admitting that they had spent $700 of it already. He tells Charlene that he’s never encountered someone who trusted in him so greatly and now feels guilty for tricking her. He tells her that she needs to wise up before someone really takes advantage of her. Julia is able to pay off the nightclub owner (Tom Kindle) to open the place back up for the night so that Julia can perform for her family. She sings them the song When I Dream. 1/10/23
• 018. Oh, Suzannah – 3/23/1987
  • During a visit with Reese, Suzanne absentmindedly volunteers to be a temporary foster mother for a Vietnamese boat girl named Li Sing (Connie Lew), when Reese’s partner Burton Riffel (Michael Griswold) mentions that he is representing her future parents Bill (Richard Jamison) and Rosalind Shelton (Ann Walker) from Birmingham, Alabama, but that they are tied up in paperwork that will keep them from adopting her for four weeks. Julia doesn’t think it is a good idea and insists that Suzanne is not ready for motherhood. However, from the moment Li Sing and Suzanne meet, they are two of a kind. Li Sing sings her the song Oh! Susanna, the two chat about southern culture, and Li Sing confides in Suzanne about her dead family. Soon Li Sing is dressing exactly like Suzanne down to the hairstyle. Li Sing celebrates her birthday with Suzanne and the ladies, and Suzanne gives her a credit card and her own pony. Julia once again berates Suzanne because she knows that Li Sing is not going to want to go to her new parents since she is being so spoiled by Suzanne. Julia then gets the call from Burton that the paperwork has gone through, and even though it hasn’t been four weeks yet, they are ready to take Li Sing to her new home. Suzanne passes on an embroidered pillow that was given to her by her own grandmother for Sing Li to take. Burton and the Sheltons show up at Julia’s place to meet Suzanne, but she is an hour late. She then calls from a restaurant and tells Julia that she doesn’t want to give her up. Julia rushes to see Suzanne and talk her down from her depression. Suzanne says she wishes she had never agreed to watch Li Sing, but Julia tells her that she received a great gift in now knowing what motherhood is like. She implores her to think about someone else for the first time in her life, and although she is loath to admit it, Suzanne realizes that Li Sing will be better off with her new parents. The take her to the Sheltons, and Suzanne tries to give them special instructions, even though the Sheltons already have kids. On her way out, Li Sing shows her new family how she can sing, and staring back at Suzanne, she sings Oh! Suzanna to her one more time. NOTE: Bill Shelton is named as “Ed Shelton” in the credits. Joe Nesnow is the delivery man. 1/10/23
• 019. Mary Jo’s Dad Dates Charlene – 4/6/1987
  • Charlene comes into the office with a portrait of a man she refers to the best-looking man left on Earth, which she bought at a Pick and Save for a dollar. Meanwhile, Julia finds out when Mr. Victor’s Dog Grooming Parlor that Anthony has been transporting animals in the company van, so she demands he puts a stop to it. Mary Jo comes to the office and delivers the news that her recently-divorced father and veterinarian Dr. Davis Jackson (Geoffrey Lewis) is coming to Atlanta to visit her for four days. She has been somewhat angry at him since the divorce and consequently hasn’t spent much time with him lately. Davis takes an instant liking to Charlene, and offers to take Mary Jo and J.D. out to dinner, but in order to make it a double date, he asks Charlene to come along as well. Mary Jo starts to feel uncomfortable when Davis and Charlene dance deep into the night. J.D. and Mary Joe leave before her father and Charlene do. For the next three nights, Davis doesn’t come home until 2am. When this starts to make Mary Jo late for work, she starts to take some jabs at Charlene, who insists that although they like spending time together, their relationship is completely platonic. She says if Mary Jo doesn’t believe her, she is free to ask her father. Mary Jo delivers some jabs to her father about him maybe spending more time with her the next time he comes. She also expresses some concern that Charlene has seen him in his underwear, as well as some sadness and bitterness about her parents getting divorced. However, he says he wouldn’t trade all of the good times for anything in the world. He also tells her that nothing went on between him and Charlene, but he had a great time with her. They part on good turns, and the next day at work, Mary Jo issues Charlene an apology for the way she acted. As a gift to make peace, she brings him the ‘best-looking man left on Earth’ in the flesh (Dan Dillon). 6/28/23
• 020. Seams from a Marriage – 4/13/1987
  • The Sugarbaker crew has begun working for a rich, eccentric couple named Shelby (Guy Boyd) and Sissy Tate (Janet Carroll). Julia is particularly annoyed as her employees have begun accepting gifts from there, and Suzanne has begun taking art lessons from Sissy’s instructor Vlasco, Charlene is always on the phone to Sissy, and Mary Jo attends an all-night party on their yacht. Mary Jo gets tired of being yelled at by Julia, so she suggests that Julia take over the project and she gives her the diamond bracelet that Sissy gave her to return to Mrs. Tate. Anthony is starting to be seduced by them, as he has accepted Mr. Tate’s cowboy hat. Julia does in fact take over and says no to them when they offer her a horse and a dinner in New Orleans. Nevertheless, the horse winds up delivered to the office anyway, and she too is soon swept up by their charms and wealth. She goes along with Shelby on their private jet to Miami to discuss plants for their estate add-0ns, and also to eat at Stoneseifer’s. This trip rouses the curiosity of Sissy, who calls to report this trip to Charlene. When a private detective named Malcolm Box (Tracey Walter) shows up to verify that it is Julia in the photo that he took in Miami. He also tells them that the Tates have been planning to divorce for sixteen years and have each hired private detectives to follow each other. Julia is furious with being followed, and the girls vote unanimously that they are professionals and that they are going to drop the Tate account. They all go to see the Tates and tell the point blank that they are giving up the account because they have been unable to keep their professionalism while working on the account. The Tates promise to be better and also apologize for having Julia followed. They agree to finish the job, but the Tates begin to argue amongst themselves about how to decorate Mr. Tate’s gun and trophy room. Sissy wants it to be decorated around a rare vase in the room, but Shelby practically calls off this room being touched. To show his annoyance, Mr. Tate pulls out one of his rifles and shoots the vase. Sissy then grabs another rifle and shoots one of his animal heads. The girls have had enough of this behavior and sneak out of the house. Once home, they point out that they are now all wearing fur coats while Anthony is wearing another nice cowboy hat, and the ladies are all thankful that the Tates give out such nice gifts to apologize for their outbursts. 6/29/23
• 021. Grand Slam, Thank You Ma’am – 5/4/1987
  • Charlene hides the Home section from the newspaper from Julia because the ad that Charlene placed is microscopic. Meanwhile, Suzanne gets a phone call from ex-husband Jack Dent (Gregg Henry), who wants to have dinner with her and discuss the manuscript for a book that Jack is writing about his life in baseball. Suzanne doesn’t want to read the book, so she simply tells him that she did. Julia suggests that she should read the book since their relationship was so tempestuous. Suzanne tells Julia to read the book, and she won’t even ask what is in it. Anthony has actually read part of it when it ‘fell out’ of its envelope. Julia confirms what Anthony said and is outraged about how often he admits to stepping out on her. Julia finally tells Suzanne about all of the cheating in the book, so Suzanne reads the book. While the ladies are out for drinks to discuss the book, they see Jack on TV and he is more popular than ever due to a terrific pitching streak. After confessing that she once put Ben Gay in Jack’s athletic cup and costing them a game, she decides to take a cab to the stadium to see Jack. She shows up and enters the locker room, snaps him with a towel, and criticizes what he wrote in his book. He apologizes and tells her that he had wanted her to read the book ahead of time to make sure she wouldn’t be mad. He asks if he can come over after the game in order to explain what he wrote. She turns him down, but that night, he shows up at the house and manages to get past the maid Consuela. Jack tells her that after getting his book turned down three times, he was forced to put in juicy parts to sell it, and that he wrote the parts about the groupies with a couple of his teammates. He said he never actually cheated on her and had even dedicated the book to her. He tries to flirt with her and get her back in bed, but after he objections, he settles for a passionate kiss. As he leaves, he tells her they’re now even for the athletic cup. Troy Evans is the man in the bar. Craig Marks is the waiter. Jim Fitzpatrick and Ian Patrick Williams are the players in the locker room. 10/23/23
• 022. Bachelor Suite – 5/11/1987
  • Julia is not happy about the gaudy bachelor pad they are designing for the successful contractor Hence Winchester (Ted Le Plat). Mary Jo has been working on his project and comes back to work disgusted by the constant changes in what he wants, as well as the revolving door of women who are in his house each morning. She refers to his bathroom as a sex chamber, but Suzanne doesn’t see what difference it makes as long as he pays for it. Julia, however, wants to maintain dignity and a good reputation in their work. Mary Jo also mentions that J.D. is not comfortable with her working for Hence, after making the mistake of telling him that she thought Hence was sexually harassing her. Julia is up in arms when she hears this and tells her that she shouldn’t feel obligated to work for him if she is uncomfortable. Mary Jo thinks that most of his unwanted touching is too ambiguous to call out. Hence stops by the office and Julia calls him out about his touching, to which he responds by smacking Julia on the butt. Julia says she is keeping a list of people who have done that. Charlene and Suzanne are too titillated by Hence to care about his harassment. After Mary Jo leaves with Hence, she comes back inside with her dress torn and declares that no one has that much trouble finding the stick shift. Mary Jo decides then and there to quit working for him. Later, as Mary Jo tries to prepare a romantic dinner for two, J.D. shows up with his three kids Burt (Victor DiMattia), Hannah (Jandi Swanson), and Rex (Jason Gourson). The change course to have a more informal meal, but once they have some time alone, J.D. finds out more about Hence. J.D. is upset when Mary Jo acts as if it is no big deal. Making matters worse, Hence calls her while J.D. is there and apologizes and says that he wasn’t himself because his dog has just died. He also begins sending her several deliveries of flowers. When he starts crying on the phone, she agrees to finish the job. J.D. is furious and storms out when she refuses to quit working for Hence, only to return to pick up his kids. When Julia and the other ladies find out that Mary Jo has gone back out to work with Hence, they decide to go check on her to make sure everything is alright. Sure enough, when Mary Jo arrives, Hence is in his robe and locks her in his room. He won’t keep his hands on her and tries to get her in his hot tub and his bed. Hence won’t give her the key to his room unless Mary Jo gives him what he wants. Mary Jo tells him that he is a rapist and refuses to do anything with him. When he won’t let go of her, she hits him over the head with a vase. J.D. then shows up at the house and brings Hence around and asks him what his dog’s name was. When Hence doesn’t recall a dog, J.D. punches him and knocks him out a second time. J.D. and Mary Jo make up, and Julia leaves a note behind indicating that Sugarbaker’s always finishes the job. 10/23/23
• 023. 101 Ways to Decorate a Gas Station – 9/14/1987
  • Charlene has visited her psychic Tova and was told that she will meet a man with the initials E.A., who will be diamond in the rough and have a mole on his cheek. Meanwhile, Julia is having trouble convincing the bank to extend her loan, so they try to think of some moneymaking ideas. They decide to offer a free room makeover drawing, which will correspond with a big sale to draw in customers. However, things backfire when the winner is a seemingly poor hobo named Eldon Ashcroft IV (Jonathan Banks). Although they are aghast, the agree that a tough job like this will bring them publicity. Charlene notices that the winner’s initials are E.A.  and he has a mole on his cheek. They quickly find that Eldon is a very difficult customer, and when they fumigate his shack to being working, he insists on staying at Julia’s place instead of braking his record of never staying in a motel. Charlene decides to try and get to know him to see if he could be husband material and finds that he’s had absolutely no experience with women. As the ladies try to update the Atlanta Journal on their progress with the home makeover, they get frustrated as Eldon is wishy washy about picking out anything at all. He wants a flagpole in the living room, a vibrating bed with a coin box, and flooring that will not be noisy when he walks. After Julia finally yells at him, Eldon gets offended and leaves, then returns and passes out on the couch. Charlene returns to Tova to clarify her future husband and finds out that the E.A. she saw has a mole on his butt cheek and not his face. She decides they need to sneak a peek while he is passed out. Anthony comes home as they are trying to remove his pants, and they ask him to take over the job. Once he gets a peek, he verifies that there is no mole on his butt cheek. Charlene is relieved and says she can start her life over again. When Eldon wakes up, he apologizes for being so stubborn, and admits that he just didn’t want the experience of having these ladies decorate his place come to an end. He quotes O’Henry’s The Four Million to them and impresses them all with his depth. They decide to finish up the job and then to use the quote he gave them as their motto: “Everybody is worth knowing.” Eldon agrees to finish the project but sets up a boundary that Anthony has to keep his mitts off of him. Charlene agrees that even though things didn’t exactly work out, she is glad that she got to know Eldon. Terry Burns is the reporter, Kyle Wellborn. 2/28/24
• 024. Ted Remarries – 9/21/1987
  • After having his credit card cut up years earlier while buying some dress shirts by a man named Kennet Kannit, he finally gets a new Gold Card and takes delight in calling Kannit and rubbing it in his face. Meanwhile, Mary Jo’s kids Quinton and Claudia are going to be spending the weekend with their father, so she looks for something to occupy her time while they are gone. Her friends find it hard to believe that Mary Jo is still decorating Ted’s den with the help of his girlfriend Tammy (Eileen Seeley). When Ted and Tammy bring them back to Mary Jo after an afternoon shopping trip, Mary Jo is a bit annoyed that they’ve taken Claudia to get her hair cut and re-styled. Claudia also announces that her father and Tammy are going to get married. Suddenly Mary Jo finds herself in competition with Tammy for the kids’ affections. While Tammy buys Claudia a new dress for her school dance, Mary Jo buys a wooden carousel horse with Anthony’s credit card that Claudia always wanted. Julia tells Mary Jo a story about the time she had rheumatic fever and her parents started giving her everything that she wanted. However, one day when they wouldn’t let her go swimming, she started holding her breath until she turned blue. Her mother called her bluff and told her if she was going to die to do it outside on the veranda because she was expecting guests. That night, Ted and Tammy bring the kids home late and the kids tell their mother that they want to spend the night over there. When Mary Jo tells them no, Claudia tells her that she might want to move their permanently. When Tammy tells Claudia not to talk to Mary Jo like that, Mary Jo tells her she’s just seen a glimpse of something she never wants to see again: another woman acting like her kids’ mother. She calls Claudia’s bluff and offers to help her pack. Claudia is shocked and questions why her mother is being so short with her. She tells them that her house is a home and not a prison, and if they decide to move in with their dad, she will miss them more than anything, but wants to make sure that as long as they live there and she is their mother, she will call the shots. Claudia tells her that she wants to stay, but wishes they could move their father’s gym to their house. Later, Anthony buys some furniture from Julia wholesale and wants to use his card. However, the credit card company tells Julia that she needs to cut up his new Gold Card. Peter W. Hass is the delivery man. 2/28/24

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