Sweet Tea & TV

Whoa buddy. This is almost more than our little Southern hearts can handle. The tears, they are a’ flowin’. We’re switching decades. Charlene is having a gosh darn baby. Dolly Parton shows up. They’re talking about Steel Magnolias. We meet the sweetest woman who ever lived. Did we mention it’s a two-parter?!

Patreons can come back later this week for a potpourri-style Extra Sugar because we just don’t have time to cover it all! If you want to join the club, check out our Patreon page!

Is Steel Magnolias a touchstone of our friendship? YES! Can we identify movie trivia you’ve never heard before? Probably not, but if you love this movie as much as we do: we promise it’ll be a good time. 

Join us as we dive into thoughts on our most recent rewatch, favorite parts, memories, and some fun behind-the-scenes stuff. And, of course, there’s some Designing Women overlap! Why, at the end, you won’t know whether to scratch your butt or wind your watch.

Just remember: you know we love you more than our luggage!

Ohhhh boy! The time has come - we are ready to go all-in on the deepest of dives on Ms. Dolly Parton. She got some major face-time in the most recent Designing Women episode we covered (season 4, episode 13, which we called Babies, Cars, and…DOLLY PARTON!), so we figured it was time for a Dolly Deep-Dive. 

Buckle up, this one will be a long one. We’ll cover Dolly’s life and nearly-60-year career, talk a bit more in-depth about a couple of themes that continued to pop up in all our research, and, finally, we’ve got a special Grits Blitz to play! Told you - this is a jam-packed segment. 

It’s time! The women. The myth. The legend. From Pretty in Pink to Ghostbusters to Designing Women to The Big Bang Theory universe, Annie Potts has established an incredible career in movies and on TV. And we’re excited to give her the Extra Sugar treatment in this week’s episode.

The Sugarbakers take on a client with a wife and a mistress, and as Suzanne so wisely predicted, things get interesting. It’s like this: You don’t know what you don’t know, you know? Speaking of things we don’t know, Nikki sidebars on Unsolved Mysteries.

Then come back later in the week for an “Extra Sugar” where we’ll take a closer look at all the “m” words: you know, marriage, monogamy, and mistresses.

This week’s episode was all about infidelity, which opened the door to some (uncomfortably) interesting questions about the origins of monogamy, marriage, cheating–and how our perception of these concepts has changed over the course of human history. It’s messy! So, you know, get messy with us!

Uh oh, Suzanne’s love of designer clothing – namely, designer clothing made from cute, baby animals – has landed her in some hot water – and an arm sling – on this week’s Designing Women. But, don’t worry, Suzanne’s misfortune ALSO results in a new nanny for Charlene. Even if it was based on a sliiiiiiight misunderstanding…

Come back later this week for an “Extra Sugar” all about the real heroes: working parents. (P.S. Ironically, Salina is dropping in this sentence because Nikki is currently in the middle of her own two-job conundrum, which is why it’s so important for parents to tune in on Thursday for tips AND why the rest of us should listen so that we can be more empathetic humans.)

Poor Charlene is up a baby, but down a nanny in this week’s episode of Designing Women. As Sweet Tea & TV’s resident working mom, Nikki will try to fulfill her moral obligation to highlight the challenges working parents face in today’s workplace, as well as some of the policies that have changed the experience, and some that can change the experience. And, of course, we can’t skip a couple promising tips to give working parents some hope.

We’ve all been there: a car dealership in the middle of the night haggling over a new van after your old one broke down on the side of a busy interstate, with a grumpy client sitting next to you grousing about all the free work she’s about to get when you don’t deliver by midnight. Oh, you haven’t been there? Okay…but you’ve been to the car dealership, right? 

In this week’s “Designing Women” the ladies (+ Anthony) take us on a wild ride through a pretty universal experience: the art of navigating the car salesman. Along the way, we’ll learn some people are better at the art than…others.

Come back on Thursday for an “Extra Sugar” all about the world’s fanciest bathrooms thanks to the “luxurious” one in the dealership.

In this week’s “Extra Sugar”, we’re taking an investigatory look into the underbelly of…No we’re not!! This one is light, lighter than light. We’re talking about fancy bathrooms courtesy of Anthony’s shock and awe over the luxurious ladies room inside the car dealership. 

And, y’all, these are fancy. Couple of quick thoughts:

1. Money doesn't buy taste.
2. Why are people obsessed with gold finishes?! We mean, it’s fine. 

Be sure to check the show notes at www.sweetteatv.com for photographic evidence - you don't want to miss some of these!