Sweet Tea & TV

In this episode, we're testing Salina's Southern movie knowledge in a game we like to call, Grits Blitz. Can she guess these twisted up Southern classics?

Hey y'all! Are we Southern enough to explore the better parts of Southern culture on TV and in entertainment? Join us for this prologue to learn more about us and our podcast - Sweet Tea & TV - before we dive into Designing Women, episode 1. 

In 1986, four brazen women shared Southern culture with the nation, through quick wit and real-life issues. 30 years later, two Southern women are revisiting the series to see what they got right, what they got wrong, and how the show holds in 2021. Let's explore episode 1 - the pilot. 

Buckle up, folks, we’re picking all the nits of this epic Designing Women episode, which dives into Suzanne’s identity as beauty pageant contestant. This episode is chock full: a homemade jingle, an epic Julia takedown, and a sidebar into the history of beauty pageants. NOT TO MENTION, a little extra sugar - where we revisit some “unfinished business” from episode 1.

The episode that reminded us sitcoms are not like fine wines - the jokes don't always age well. But, we had some fun and maybe learned that Salina plays the oboe...?

• Julia has a son (and he’s a very familiar face for many of us!) And he has a lady friend who does NOT impress Julia. A mother-son dynamic + a significant age gap + two very strong women —> as Salina always says, “WHAT could go wrong?” Turns out, a lot.

Let's get into the “madcap mayhem” that ensues after Suzanne sets Charlene up on a blind date, which doesn’t go quite the way Mary Jo wants it to. And a familiar face reappears. Stick around to the end for a little extra sugar where Salina takes us deep into the real-life Newsweek article the women discuss as the episode opens. 

We find out how you can work a job on a “trial basis,” we meet ANTHONY!!! In fact, Salina’s Sidebar explores Meshach Taylor’s recollection of his character and what the show meant to him.) Oh! And a house burns down. As usual, hang around till the bitter end for some extra sugar - a fun game about a well-known character actor.

Thanksgiving is gonna get awkward. We meet Julia and Suzanne’s mother, Perky, who comes into town along with her eccentric friend, Bernice. Julia and Mary Jo take a stroll through the bank’s drive thru, Anthony gets accused of murder, and we learn the dangers of a post-Thanksgiving sofa snooze. And stick around for Nikki’s Nibbles during this week’s Extra Sugar segment where Nikki fills us in on the history of pie. The kicker: Salina blind taste tests two pies -- can she figure out which is homemade and which is store-bought?

In this episode, Julia and her boyfriend - played by real-life husband, Hal Holbrook, take us on the 22-minute “will they, won’t they” roller coaster ride that no one - even them - wanted. We share our feelings about the onscreen pair and get a glimpse at the couple’s off-screen romance and marriage.