Sweet Tea & TV

Designing Women S7 E6 Extra Sugar - Toast, Ghosts and UFOs, Oh My!

This week’s Extra Sugar is inspired by Mary Jo’s brush with the supernatural after Elvis’s face appears on her shovel in season 7, episode 17.

We’re also introduced to Jade Herman, a self-proclaimed expert in the “para-spectacular”, who “markets and promotes everything from Jesus’ face on a toaster to UFOs landing in a wheat field outside of London.”

Naturally, Salina then curated a list of five para-spectacular…occurrences…for your listening pleasure. So if you’re into toasts, ghosts, and UFOs, well, this one's for you. 

Designing Women S7 E7 - Julia Sugarbaker: Nude, Shrewd, All Attitude

Ah, the age-old fun-house version that’s not so “fun” - that’s what we were facing this season with Ms. Julia Sugarbaker. Her condescension was at an all-time high throughout the season and the runner of the tension between her and Mary Jo wasn’t our favorite part of the season. HOWEVER, there were some high points, so let’s chat about it.

And come back later this week for the second installment of the “Sweet Tea & TV Book Club” - we’re talking all things Dixie Carter’s 1996 book, “Trying to Get To Heaven: Opinions of a Tennessee Talker.”

Designing Women S7 E7 Extra Sugar - ST&TV Book Club Part Deux: Dixie Carter's Book

This “Extra Sugar” officially calls to order the Sweet Tea & TV Book Club! Grab your copy of “Trying to Get to Heaven: Opinions of a Tennessee Talker” by the one and only Dixie Carter and settle in for a gab-fest. This episode turned out longer than normal, but it turns out these two talkers - one a Georgia Talker and one a South Carolina Talker - also had a lot of opinions. 

Designing Women S7 E8 - ST&TV’s Final Thoughts on the Series

The time hath come, friends - we’re on our “Designing Women” farewell tour. After four years, seven seasons, hundreds of episode watches, and countless hours with these lovely creatures, our time together has come to an end. We’ll kick off the “goodbyes” sharing our all-time favorite episodes, ranking the seasons, and finally revealing our favorite characters (for today.) And, if we’re extra-nice, Salina may do some math for us! 

Come on y’all, let’s get into it! 

Designing Women S7 E8 Extra Sugar: The 2003 Lifetime Reunion

The year, Patreon friends: 2003. The goal: bring back the original cast of "Designing Women". Sprinkle in: LBT, Pam Norris, and allll the husbands for good measure.

 

We couldn't possibly close out the series without chatting about the Lifetime Reunion: general reactions, favorite moments, and biggest surprises.

 

Come on, y'all, let's get into it! 

Special Episode: Sweet Tea & TV Takes on Delta Burke’s Women of the House – The Gentle Woman From Georgia Is Not Finished

We simply could not wrap up Designing Women without acknowledging its extended universe and CBS network spinoff, Women of the House. This is the short-lived series that reunited LBT and Delta Burke, and the show that brought back Suzanne Sugarbaker. Turns out: this one had some off-screen drama, too, but the best of it was in service to women. We like that. 

We’ll talk about our general reactions, likes, dislikes, and a bevy of Designing Women cameos PLUS some stunt casting with purpose.

Special Episode: Sweet Tea & TV Takes on Thelma & Louise – Over The Ledge Together

Bernice Clifton has given us so much over the years. Her final parting gift? A reference to the iconic 1991 film: Thelma & Louise. It’s a shoot ‘em up, outlaw adventure featuring two outrageously talented women amidst a banger cast. It’s a bittersweet feminist text that shook up Hollywood stereotypes – and forever upholds the unshakable bond of female friendship. 

Brandon Davis from Front Row Classics returned to help us unpack this one: what it changed, what it didn’t, allll the trivia, and why this one holds a special place in our hearts - whether this was our first or 100th time seeing it.

Special Episode: STTV Book Club on Vacation - Marguerite by the Lake by Mary Dixie Carter

AGH! Red alert - STTV is back (sort of...) At a minimum, we are reemerging from our T. Swift pre-Reputation era cave long enough to reconvene the STTV Book Club!

We were so honored to be invited to a book release event by Mary Dixie Carter, author of Marguerite by the Lake (and daughter of Dixie Carter!) 

Her new novel - “An atmospheric, tense novel about the death of a glamorous garden designer, a widower trying to keep his secrets buried, and the beautiful young gardener.” - was the PERFECT excuse for Book Club!

This book took us on a twisty, turny ride and we have the thoughts. So grab a copy and join us for the ride! 

And bonus! Stick around at the end to hear an exclusive conversation Salina had with Mary Dixie.

Come on y’all, let’s get into it! 

Season 8 Trailer - Sweet Tea & TV Enters Its Golden Era!

Before we boarded our flight to Miami, we decided to take a quiz to see which Golden Girl we are. We both came in with some ideas of who we might be - tune in to the end to see if we were right. Then, take it yourself and let us know who you got AND if that’s who you thought you would get! THEN, come back Monday for our very new season of "Sweet Tea & TV."

And, as always, thank you for being a friend!

S8 E1 - Golden Girls: Welcome to Miami: Meet the Golden Girls

We’re back! Minus a very exciting special episode over the summer, we took a much needed, extended break from the pod. We also got in the lab, with a pen and a pad – and then Nikki came up with something REALLY good. Make sure to listen to find out what we’re up to long term, but short term, as we unsubtly teased earlier in the year: this is our golden era. It’s Golden Girls time.

So join us as Salina meets the gals (Nikki is already a cheesecake bestie), and then come back Thursday for an episode all about the representation of aging women in Hollywood. 

Wanna follow along with the exact episodes we’re watching? Great! Check out the series pilot and season 1 finale on Hulu.