- sweetteatvpod
Designing Women S2 E23 - Finale, Finale
Updated: Jun 22
That’s right - 24 hours of recording later, and we STILL have more to say about season 2. So, whatcha say, finale-finale?
Let’s do a “by-the-numbers” - we promise, we’ll make it good! Ooohhh, and let’s revisit some of our favorite moments of the season! Ooohhh, and I think we HAVE to revisit some of the references we’ve dug into this season. We learned a lot along the way - whether we liked it or not.
And stick around for “Extra Sugar”, where we learn about the woman, the myth, the legend: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Here are a couple references, if you want to peruse later:
More than anything: THANK YOU, friends, for continuing on this journey with us! It’s been so fun to hear from some of you this season and we’re looking forward to more in season 3!
Come on, let’s get into it!
Or listen on Apple Podcasts |Spotify |Google Podcasts.
Transcript
Speaker A: It.
Speaker A: What's?
Speaker B: COVID we have to cough into the microphone.
Speaker A: I want something for you to cut out later.
Speaker B: Coughing your armpit.
Speaker A: Try and try and cut that out.
Speaker B: Isn't that what they tell you to do?
Speaker A: Oh, is it?
Speaker B: Cough into your armpit in a podcast?
Speaker A: Oh, just for health reasons.
Speaker A: Oh, I think it's behind your knee.
Speaker A: That's the safest.
Speaker B: Cough into your pinky toe.
Speaker A: I thought you meant for sound quality, because I'm often like turning my head to, like, drink.
Speaker B: Oh, right.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Well, there's some behind the scenes stuff for you.
Speaker B: Well oiled machine over here.
Speaker B: Hello, Selena.
Speaker A: Nikki give me much to work with.
Speaker A: How are you?
Speaker A: I'm good.
Speaker B: And hello, everyone.
Speaker B: How are you?
Speaker A: Good.
Speaker A: Go ahead.
Speaker B: Oh, my.
Speaker A: You're going all in.
Speaker B: If you're going to commit, commit is.
Speaker A: The second city now.
Speaker B: It's been a minute for us.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: Not for you all.
Speaker A: Well, maybe I don't know what you're doing.
Speaker A: I don't know what order maybe you'll listen to this.
Speaker A: Maybe it's 2027.
Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B: Well, it's not 2027 right now.
Speaker B: It's 2022.
Speaker B: But it has been a month since we recorded this.
Speaker A: Is Nikki keeping us on track?
Speaker B: Long time.
Speaker B: What have you been up to in the last month?
Speaker A: So not as much as I probably should have been.
Speaker A: I feel like everything I'm going to say is going to really date this, so I apologize for that.
Speaker A: But first of all, the most important thing is that you need to know what my state of mind is right now.
Speaker B: Okay?
Speaker A: All of you.
Speaker A: I got spring fever like a mother.
Speaker A: I get that I got to get out, but I'm here.
Speaker B: Except you walk outside today and it's snowing.
Speaker A: That's true.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: I mean, we had that whole false or fake spring or whatever.
Speaker A: We took that all the way.
Speaker B: Took it all the way.
Speaker B: I got sunburned last weekend doing yard work, and then today it's snowing.
Speaker A: My friend in Kentucky, she sent us the pictures.
Speaker A: They have snow.
Speaker A: Right now they're thinking it could get up to, like, 2015 snow apocalypse levels for them.
Speaker B: Oh, no.
Speaker A: It's like the last time they've seen something this significant.
Speaker A: I think there's like, five inches right now.
Speaker A: And it was 60 degrees before all of this happened.
Speaker B: Wow.
Speaker A: Thank God that climate change isn't real.
Speaker B: I know.
Speaker B: Imagine if it were real.
Speaker A: It would be terrible.
Speaker A: It would be so terrible.
Speaker A: But it's just funky spring in the south.
Speaker B: You know what I'm saying?
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: It's just weird.
Speaker B: Like, for the last 25 years yeah.
Speaker A: We're both looking at each other like we're dead.
Speaker A: So I just want to be clear in case anybody doesn't pick up on the subtle sarcasm.
Speaker B: So what do you do with your spring fever?
Speaker A: I bottle it.
Speaker B: Sure.
Speaker A: I bottle it and I sometimes cry a little.
Speaker A: How about you?
Speaker A: I really haven't cried.
Speaker B: I do a lot of yard work, which maybe might make you go outside.
Speaker A: That's smart.
Speaker B: Oh, my last week.
Speaker B: How did you stay inside last weekend?
Speaker A: I didn't, actually.
Speaker A: That's probably a good segue to say that.
Speaker A: I did go to this thing.
Speaker A: I threw something up on social.
Speaker A: I went to the Mad Hatters.
Speaker A: Hold on, I'd write it down.
Speaker A: Mad Hatter, gin and Tea Party.
Speaker B: Oh, that was last weekend?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Oh, I thought that was a holdover from, like, another time you had done that.
Speaker A: No, we went the final day that it was here in Atlanta.
Speaker A: So for anybody that was in Atlanta, I subtly wanted to show you what you might see there.
Speaker A: I tagged them and stuff.
Speaker A: It was nice.
Speaker A: They replied to us.
Speaker B: Oh, good.
Speaker A: Thanked us for coming.
Speaker A: For those of you who don't know what this thing is, it is an immersive experience where they kind of took the whole tea party thing from Alice in Wonderland and just played on that.
Speaker A: So it's in downtown.
Speaker A: It's like where the peach drop is.
Speaker A: That part of downtown.
Speaker A: And they took this couple of rooms.
Speaker A: They had tables out, lots of flowers all over the place, hanging from the ceiling.
Speaker A: Very like all of those kind of stereotypical things that you would see, like, on a tea table.
Speaker A: And then there was very light snacks.
Speaker A: Very light.
Speaker B: Oh, no.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: I would have put a little bit more effort into the snacks if I was how light?
Speaker B: Like celery sticks or like tea sandwiches.
Speaker A: There were three of us, and they shorted us a cookie.
Speaker A: Like, there was only two cookies for three.
Speaker B: For three people?
Speaker A: Yeah, but it was like the tea fair and their tea sandwiches were really good, but we only got one apiece and, you know, they're a little triangle.
Speaker B: So you're at a table by yourself and then they serve you.
Speaker A: We're all together.
Speaker A: I'm at a big table.
Speaker B: But they serve you individually.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker A: At per party.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So we came in and they're like, how many in your party?
Speaker A: Three.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Here you go.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: And on the way out the door, I really wanted to be like, hey, can we get a third cookie?
Speaker B: Oh, I totally would have.
Speaker A: I wanted to, but at the same time, they weren't that good.
Speaker A: It's fine.
Speaker A: They were like Sandy's.
Speaker B: So what's the draw?
Speaker B: Tell me the good part.
Speaker A: I guess the other part is I know you're going to call me out, obviously.
Speaker A: Well, I don't know.
Speaker A: Obviously I don't drink, and so it's Gin Tea party, right.
Speaker A: So there were three drinks given across the thing.
Speaker A: I had the mocktail version of each one.
Speaker A: I think it's more just this immersive idea where they've decorated something and you feel like you're in the world of Alice in Wonderland.
Speaker B: Cool.
Speaker A: Which I think they did a fairly good job of.
Speaker A: I have been in that event planning world before.
Speaker A: It's very hard.
Speaker A: That's a difficult job.
Speaker A: So I think it was a very difficult task, especially with the flower part for it not to be a billion dollars to put out all those flowers.
Speaker A: So they made it, like, a little darker in the room, I think, so you could see that you weren't on that aisle at Hobby Lobby of flowers that you're like, no, too fake.
Speaker A: Head to the next one.
Speaker A: I think they did a pretty good job.
Speaker A: It was cute.
Speaker A: They took us in through a back door, and they had the little bottles that you oh, that's cute.
Speaker A: Yeah, take me.
Speaker A: And it was a little shot for everybody.
Speaker B: That's cute.
Speaker A: And I think they did a really nice job of not making you feel too out of the loop for doing the mocktail experience.
Speaker B: Oh, that's good.
Speaker B: You don't feel like a weirdo.
Speaker A: Yeah, we got one mocktail over here.
Speaker B: For the non drinker.
Speaker A: She's a real pain in the b***.
Speaker A: Tipsy totaler over here.
Speaker B: What do you call it?
Speaker B: Turle.
Speaker A: Yeah, the tipsy teet.
Speaker A: Well, haven't we all been the tipsy totaler before?
Speaker A: But I think they tried really hard to make it subtle for that.
Speaker B: That's good.
Speaker A: And so I can't speak, they said the drinks were strong, actually.
Speaker B: There you go.
Speaker A: My friends did.
Speaker B: I am now understanding them.
Speaker B: The sell, the buy, the cell, I guess.
Speaker A: I thought they were pretty good.
Speaker A: They actually said one of them, the mocktail version was better than mine.
Speaker A: They did one with the smoke bubble on top of the tea.
Speaker A: I think the bubble is supposed to stay, guys.
Speaker A: And it popped on ours, but it still looked cool.
Speaker B: I hope these people don't listen to this podcast.
Speaker A: I mean, it was still good.
Speaker B: I know her voice is really high.
Speaker A: But it was good.
Speaker A: I think it's like this podcast.
Speaker A: It's easy for me to sit here and talk about the things I would do differently.
Speaker A: All right, I'm not doing it, but it's easy for me to sit here and say, here's the things I would have done differently.
Speaker A: The other thing that I think really just didn't work for me.
Speaker A: And then we'll move on, because this actually isn't the Mad Hatter podcast unless you're into it.
Speaker A: I am going to be something.
Speaker A: The other thing that I would have changed a little bit is there were actors, and sometimes they were bringing people in to do different things or participate.
Speaker A: They had people up dancing.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: You would not have enjoyed this part.
Speaker A: And they carry, like, a very loose plot across the entire experience, like where the queen is coming in over the speakers and all of this nikki has a terrible no, not for me look on her face.
Speaker A: And we were all scared when we realized there was acting involved.
Speaker A: I want to say props to the Mad Hatter.
Speaker A: And there was also another, like, the field Doormouse and another character.
Speaker A: I think they did a good job.
Speaker A: I just don't care for it.
Speaker A: It's like someone who doesn't like a certain thing in their food, but they know the food is quality.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker B: But they're like cilantro, like my mom and cilantro.
Speaker B: I was just thinking, yeah, my mom would be like, I can't do that.
Speaker A: It's very much so like that.
Speaker A: So, for me, I'm like, I do a little bit of it.
Speaker A: I wouldn't even mind the servers being.
Speaker B: Dressed, dressed up in theme.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: I don't need you.
Speaker A: I am there with people I like.
Speaker B: We don't need dinner theater.
Speaker A: I want to participate with the people I'm with.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And I don't want to have to be quiet to listen to you act.
Speaker A: That's my only thing.
Speaker B: I get that.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker B: I will say, because you said, unless you're into it.
Speaker B: And the only thing I'll add to that is I am very into the Mad Hatter Alice in Wonderland thing.
Speaker B: When we were in England, we did a high tea that was Mad Hatter Alice in Wonderland themed.
Speaker B: Again, similar experience.
Speaker B: The food was not that great.
Speaker B: We had done another tea at the National Portrait Gallery that was the food was incredible.
Speaker B: But this Mad Hatter one was at a hotel, sort of like a minimalist nouveau sort of hotel.
Speaker B: The food was really kind of terrible, but they had the china that had just that weird perspective, like a melting clock sort of thing is coming to mind for me.
Speaker B: And it was really well done.
Speaker B: Environmentally.
Speaker B: There was no acting or anything, but the environment.
Speaker B: I think Alice in Wonderland just lends itself well to that sort of remake or whatever.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker A: And then we just all have to remind ourselves not to look too closely.
Speaker B: Don't look too closely.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Don't look too closely at anything.
Speaker A: It's fine.
Speaker A: She's twelve.
Speaker A: It's great.
Speaker A: Wonderful.
Speaker B: We did a Taylor Swift dance party at the Masquerade.
Speaker B: My husband is just convinced this is a massive ploy to make gobs of money.
Speaker B: He's like, Wait, I'm confused.
Speaker B: Is Taylor Swift going to be there performing?
Speaker B: I'm like, no, they're just playing her music.
Speaker B: And he's like, Are you telling me someone's going to walk up and plug in their iPhone or do Bluetooth and play Taylor Swift music and you're all going to pay $18 a person to go do this?
Speaker A: But she's not getting money, is she?
Speaker B: I don't know.
Speaker B: I'm not really sure.
Speaker B: And I'm afraid, speaking of not wanting to look too closely, I don't know.
Speaker B: Don't look too closely.
Speaker B: And don't call me a bad Taylor Swift fan.
Speaker B: It was very fun.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: I wanted to say I want to hear about that experience.
Speaker B: It was very fun.
Speaker B: It was at the Masquerade here in Atlanta.
Speaker B: In underground.
Speaker B: We were both in underground.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker B: You know what?
Speaker B: When you said where the peach drop is, I was like, that feels like exactly where we were.
Speaker B: Yeah, it was super fun.
Speaker B: Me and another and two other friends went and they just played Taylor Swift music all night.
Speaker B: You literally just dance and I do drink, so it was a long night.
Speaker B: Good for you.
Speaker B: But it was so fun.
Speaker B: And we had dinner beforehand at the Southern Gentleman, I think was the name of it, in Buckhead, where all those fancy shops are.
Speaker B: Like, the Spanx headquarters is there now.
Speaker B: So it's like, if you're coming up, peachtree and Lennox is on your left and you keep going over that road.
Speaker B: I'm forgetting where the Container Store used to be.
Speaker B: Bones is there.
Speaker B: Keep going.
Speaker B: It's just on your left after that.
Speaker B: And there's a lot of fancy shopping there.
Speaker B: But the southern part of that area.
Speaker A: Exactly.
Speaker B: It was a nice restaurant.
Speaker B: It was mostly like I wouldn't go there for a main course, but for a bunch of appetizers.
Speaker B: We just shared a bunch of appetizers.
Speaker B: It was delicious.
Speaker A: Y'all you're lucky that I don't want to be making noise on the keyboard because I want to look up you.
Speaker B: Want to look up the menu?
Speaker A: You know I do.
Speaker B: I'll remind you later.
Speaker B: It's pretty good.
Speaker B: Their drinks were really good.
Speaker B: They're like a whiskey based restaurant for the most part, I think, is what they try to push in the bar.
Speaker B: So what we had was good and it was a really fun night.
Speaker A: I'm glad.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Look at us, getting out into the.
Speaker A: World, doing the things and both in Underground, which I feel like doesn't get enough credit.
Speaker A: Underground Atlanta.
Speaker A: It just doesn't this building and I haven't been in this area in years, and I used to live not far from there, but I have not been there in years.
Speaker A: And just like beautiful exposed brick, all these shops are literally underground.
Speaker A: So it's way cooler, which is nice because except for today, it's about to be hot as Hades outside.
Speaker A: So just the whole construct and concept of it's really smart for a place like Atlanta.
Speaker B: I cannot remember.
Speaker B: We went to the Masquerade a couple of years ago after it moved to Underground.
Speaker B: But other than that, I haven't been to Underground in a long time.
Speaker B: My clearest memory of Underground Atlanta was 1996 when we moved here during the Olympics.
Speaker B: We went to Underground and I got nail polish that is charged by the sun and makes it glow.
Speaker A: That is very 96.
Speaker B: And change colors.
Speaker B: I think I had two kinds.
Speaker B: The one, it would change colors, too.
Speaker A: And I loved it so much.
Speaker A: Absolutely.
Speaker B: But I didn't see that store when we went at 09:00 at night because it also didn't start till 09:00 at night.
Speaker A: Yeah, we see.
Speaker A: You needed to be filled by alcohol.
Speaker B: Let me tell you what.
Speaker A: And I told her to drop some pictures and two stories and someone decided not to.
Speaker A: But that's another thing.
Speaker B: It was a long night.
Speaker B: Make it sound like debauchery.
Speaker B: It wasn't.
Speaker B: It was very fun.
Speaker B: And they just announced like, 30 more of these dance parties.
Speaker B: So Taylor, if you're not making money off that, you've made enough money off me.
Speaker B: Other ways taylor fans.
Speaker B: This is a great way to hear her music.
Speaker A: That's what's been going on.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker B: Have you been reading anything?
Speaker A: I have been.
Speaker B: Why do you look at me like that?
Speaker A: Because I was trying to remember what I'm reading.
Speaker A: I'm reading two things very, very slowly.
Speaker A: Unicorn Space let me leave totally dead air.
Speaker A: Because that'll sound good.
Speaker B: I read now I'm good.
Speaker B: Books and pages.
Speaker A: Yeah, because I read lots of books.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: Devil in the White City is the other one.
Speaker B: Oh, okay.
Speaker A: I keep flip flopping back between the two and of course, I get about two pages in a night, whether I need two or not because I start reading and I get that sleepy.
Speaker A: I do.
Speaker A: We're also binging or trying to because it's a whole nother story, but Killing Eve.
Speaker A: That show is so good.
Speaker A: Oh, my God.
Speaker B: I take your word for it.
Speaker A: Yeah, probably.
Speaker B: I just can't add anything else to the list.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: It's dark and funny and it's so many different things.
Speaker A: I didn't realize it was by the woman who also did flea bag.
Speaker A: And she just has a very specific type of humor that really taps into my dark side.
Speaker A: You're just so fluffy and sweet.
Speaker A: I don't think that that's going to work for you.
Speaker A: I think you'll be like, Selena, you're insane.
Speaker B: I was just thinking my dark side is watching Love Is Blind and realizing how dark the world is.
Speaker A: Season two is real different.
Speaker B: Are you watching it?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: You finished it?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: So I don't know where you're at now.
Speaker B: I'm not caught up.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: I'm not caught up.
Speaker B: But I've read all of the like I kind of know all the spoilers.
Speaker B: I have to know what happens to these people while I'm watching it.
Speaker B: It's just too much uncertainty for me.
Speaker B: It stresses me out.
Speaker B: But, my God, there are some real dirt holes on there.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: Wait till you get to the reunion.
Speaker A: There's some real good because I feel like the last reunion, I was kind of ho hum.
Speaker A: But this one, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is a car crash, and I can't look away.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: Like, where even the people who made the show, nicolache and Vanessa yeah.
Speaker A: They get involved.
Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
Speaker A: I'll stop there.
Speaker A: Oh, I don't want to spoil.
Speaker B: So Kyle has heard me watching Love Is Blind a couple of times and he's, like, passively watching it with me.
Speaker B: And he just laughs because I get deeply uncomfortable to the point where I'm covering my face.
Speaker B: I'm like, oh, my God, they just said that.
Speaker B: And my palate cleanser lately has been this woman on TikTok.
Speaker B: Her name is Mrs.
Speaker B: Duchy and she takes these tumblers like cups and decorates them with I think it's resin, like resin epoxy or whatever.
Speaker B: But she makes these, like, marbled tiedyed things.
Speaker B: He's also laughing at me because he comes in every night and I'm watching.
Speaker B: That's my entertainment.
Speaker B: It's just watching her make these cups in real time.
Speaker B: She takes orders on her website, and then she zooms with the person who bought the cup, and they get to custom make the cup, and we get to watch it live.
Speaker A: That's brilliant.
Speaker B: And I found her because for her, right?
Speaker B: I found it because this guy said he was watching it.
Speaker B: It just shows up in his feed.
Speaker B: He was watching it.
Speaker B: And she had decided she was going to stop zooming the clients, and she was going to just take their comments through the chat feature in TikTok, and the audience misled her, and she messed up the cup.
Speaker B: So it was this, like, massive drama for her.
Speaker B: And so she ended up having to go back to the zoom, where she's just with the client one on one, hearing what they're saying instead of taking comments from the peanut gallery.
Speaker B: This is why we can't have nice things.
Speaker B: But that's how I found this woman.
Speaker B: So on the one hand, I'm sad that happened to her.
Speaker B: On the other hand, I'm like, yeah, it did, because I got to hear about her, and now I watch her, like, every night.
Speaker A: Yeah, that sounds soothing.
Speaker B: It's very soothing.
Speaker B: And I've already picked out my colors, and every night I go back and forth on what my she's?
Speaker A: Are you going to get one?
Speaker B: She's back ordered right now, but in two weeks, she's going to restock, and I'm going to see if I can get one.
Speaker A: Can we video?
Speaker A: You videoing with her?
Speaker B: That sounds meta.
Speaker B: Very meta and, like, a lot.
Speaker B: But I'm willing to try.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: I'm willing to try.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: But what are we here for, Selena?
Speaker A: We're not here for this chitchat.
Speaker B: You totally forgot.
Speaker A: I don't remember.
Speaker B: You know what?
Speaker B: Let's just wrap up season two of Designing Women.
Speaker B: Let's wrap up season two.
Speaker B: Maybe we can just dive back in next season and just cover Love is Blind.
Speaker B: Or maybe we can just do Miss Dutchy.
Speaker B: Options are open.
Speaker B: Just kidding.
Speaker B: We'll come back for season three of Designing Women, but today we're going to do a season two finale finale, which is something we started last year, which might seem like overly complicating things for people, but it's a chance for us to do almost like a season in review sort of thing.
Speaker A: A chance, almost a pallet cleanser, palette.
Speaker B: Cleanser, finale finale, if you will.
Speaker B: So we look back at Designing Women in certain aspects of it, but we can also look back at sweet tea and TV and certain aspects of this podcast, which has taken up a significant portion of our lives.
Speaker B: It's worth looking back on.
Speaker A: She means that in a positive way.
Speaker A: It's a lot of my life, my unicorn space, if you will, the light.
Speaker B: Of my life, and also a lot of my life, which is what I heard you say the first time.
Speaker A: A lot of my life.
Speaker A: That's the same, isn't it?
Speaker B: So we got some things we got some things we want to cover today.
Speaker B: We want to do a by the numbers.
Speaker B: I love these things.
Speaker B: I love to look back at things and, like, assign numbers to them.
Speaker B: What we're going to do this time, we're going to average out our ratings for the season episodes.
Speaker B: So we're going to make those ratings work for us.
Speaker A: That's right.
Speaker B: Nikki made me do math.
Speaker A: Go on.
Speaker B: Just dusting off that part of your brain.
Speaker A: So good.
Speaker B: Then.
Speaker B: We're each going to share our top three moments of Designing Women's season two.
Speaker B: Our personal best moments from Sweet Tea and TV's season two.
Speaker A: Okay, I may have misunderstood that assignment, but perfect.
Speaker B: All right.
Speaker B: Figure it out as we go.
Speaker A: We know how that goes.
Speaker B: The third thing we want to do, we're in some of the references.
Speaker B: Let's make the references work for us.
Speaker B: Let's look back at some of the things we had to look into this season.
Speaker A: So, like, they're going to look into us now.
Speaker B: What?
Speaker A: You said, let's make them work for us.
Speaker B: Making them work.
Speaker A: Oh, I thought they were going to work for us.
Speaker A: Like, they were going to look into us as the references.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker B: That's what's going to happen.
Speaker A: Nikki's about to fire me from the podcast.
Speaker A: Nikki's about to do an open call for a host co host.
Speaker B: That's how we're going to end this finale.
Speaker B: Finale.
Speaker A: That would be exciting.
Speaker B: It would be.
Speaker B: Get some audience participation.
Speaker B: So we're going to look at the references a little bit.
Speaker B: And then we've got a special extra sugar.
Speaker B: We're finally going to dig into Linda bloodworth.
Speaker B: Thomason LBT.
Speaker B: I know so much about this woman and yet so little after putting this extra sugar together.
Speaker A: OOH, I'm excited.
Speaker B: I think it's going to be a good one.
Speaker B: So you ready?
Speaker A: I'm ready.
Speaker B: Come on, y'all.
Speaker B: Let's get into it.
Speaker A: Always be recording AVR.
Speaker A: So over the course of the season, we've rated 22 episodes.
Speaker A: 22 episodes of Designing Women.
Speaker B: I have good news.
Speaker A: You didn't.
Speaker B: That aligns with the number of episodes that I looked at my score for.
Speaker B: So we're good?
Speaker A: Perfect.
Speaker B: Good.
Speaker A: All right, now what we're going to do is we're going to go back through to them one by one.
Speaker A: Episode one.
Speaker B: I have a table with each score laid out.
Speaker B: If you would like me to go through my scores one by one, I.
Speaker A: Will tell you that one.
Speaker A: I could not find my rating, and that episode had not aired yet, so I also had no way of finding it.
Speaker A: So I had to guess, but only on one shared folder.
Speaker A: Okay, well, this is anyways.
Speaker B: Nikki.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: What was your average score over the course of the season?
Speaker B: 3.63.
Speaker A: Oh, my God.
Speaker A: It's so funny.
Speaker A: All right, I came in at 3.64.
Speaker B: Really?
Speaker A: That is really close.
Speaker B: Hilarious.
Speaker A: That's really close.
Speaker A: Also, like a solid B plus.
Speaker A: Okay, so here's my real or is.
Speaker B: That a c plus.
Speaker B: If it was a rating of five.
Speaker A: Wouldn'T four be a B?
Speaker A: Oh, crap, I told you I'm here.
Speaker A: The mathematician also is my 3.64 even.
Speaker A: Right?
Speaker A: I probably should have sent my math to be I like, coming, I'm like eight for those who maybe not don't remember.
Speaker A: Or maybe you were like, you know where I'm going to tune in for the first time.
Speaker A: Season two, finale.
Speaker A: Finale.
Speaker B: There could be those people.
Speaker A: Yeah, we rate it every time.
Speaker A: One out of five.
Speaker B: Right?
Speaker A: So that way you can laugh at my math on what is a B plus or C or, you know what.
Speaker B: If someone feels that strongly about double checking our math, then they're called our Uber fans and we want to hear from them.
Speaker A: Maybe, yeah, I'm trying to decide if I want to hear from that person.
Speaker B: Uber fans or uber haters.
Speaker A: I guess I try to decide.
Speaker A: I don't know.
Speaker A: Either way, I still feel like that's, like, yes, okay, technically season average, but we're at the high end.
Speaker A: Like, we're almost you could put it.
Speaker B: At a four, which would be a B.
Speaker B: Rounding up.
Speaker A: Would be rounding up.
Speaker A: Let's talk about all the math things that we can do with these numbers.
Speaker A: But anyway, so I think that's pretty solid footing.
Speaker A: But what I wanted to know is, do you think what your average came out to be?
Speaker A: Do you think that's on par with how you would have rated the season as a whole?
Speaker B: You know what's really funny is that I guessed my rating before I actually did my math.
Speaker A: Did you guess 3.63?
Speaker B: No, I guessed 3.25.
Speaker B: Okay, so a little bit lower.
Speaker B: Yeah, but it wasn't massively off, for which I don't care that much, except I was like, OOH, I was so close.
Speaker B: Not that bad off.
Speaker B: So I guess I was guessing it would have been lower.
Speaker A: And so since you would have guessed, it would have been lower, why?
Speaker B: So I felt like at times the season really dragged.
Speaker B: Like, I sort of look back on the season and if I was really excited to watch episodes, then I feel like, OOH, this was a good season.
Speaker B: I wasn't overly excited to watch a lot of the episodes this season.
Speaker B: There was, like, a lot of Reese, and not to double down on that, but there was a lot of Reese, and I just really every time he comes on, I get a little angry.
Speaker B: He makes me a little mad.
Speaker B: So there were a few of those episodes, honestly, some of them I've even forgotten, like, heart attacks.
Speaker B: If I had not gone back and looked at the episode titles before this, I totally would have forgotten that episode.
Speaker B: But I did have three perfect scores this season, so how Great Thou Art Stranded and Killing all the right people got perfect scores for me.
Speaker B: So there were some real high moments, too, in the season.
Speaker B: I just felt like for the most part, it wasn't my favorite season.
Speaker B: So that's why when you said B plus, I was like, no, that can't be right, because I would not give this a B plus.
Speaker B: I'm more in the C camp.
Speaker A: That's fair.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker A: So I sort of looked at it as going back and thinking about the first season.
Speaker A: I do think season two was better than really one.
Speaker A: I do.
Speaker A: For one, the cast feels more gelled.
Speaker A: I think.
Speaker A: When I was watching this season several times, I had a passing thought about how it looked like everyone was actually enjoying each other.
Speaker A: I saw real smiles from people.
Speaker A: They were smiling at the idea of this person.
Speaker A: It almost felt like more so than in the moment, I could see them smiling.
Speaker A: Like, God, Delta is funny.
Speaker A: More so than like, God, Suzanne just landed a real whopper or whatever.
Speaker A: So I felt that I saw that.
Speaker A: I also did like the LBT took on serious issues several times throughout the season.
Speaker A: Maybe it's because the show was gaining popularity by then, I'm not sure, but it worked for me.
Speaker A: Not every time, but on the whole, I think she was trying to do more.
Speaker A: And thinking back to the first time, I watched season two all the way through and just watched him bam, bam, bam.
Speaker A: One after the next.
Speaker A: I don't know if you remember this or not, because it's been a while, but I had texted you, and I think we even talked about this here at some point.
Speaker A: I cried several times back to back.
Speaker A: There were, like, little things that just got me.
Speaker A: And especially towards the beginning of the season, I feel like that really waned towards the end of the season, which I think matches up with what you're saying, which is things sort of dragged.
Speaker A: And I think that's true, and I do think that is a lower point for it.
Speaker A: I also think it's a really good argument for not doing 22 episodes of anything.
Speaker B: That's a lot.
Speaker A: You just don't need to do that.
Speaker A: It's just old school thinking.
Speaker A: And I think for us and the way that we watch television now, that's hard.
Speaker A: And then the last thing that I sort of have here is I think, and I really hope that it's only getting better from here, at least until the cast changes.
Speaker A: So that's what we want to see.
Speaker A: And I think that a lot of shows suffer from the sophomore slump, and I do think there was a little of that.
Speaker A: But I don't think it was so terrible that I want to veer away from the show necessarily.
Speaker A: So that's good.
Speaker B: Did I miss this?
Speaker B: Do you think your score like, if you hadn't seen your score, would you have thought your score for the season was higher or lower?
Speaker A: I think I would have thought it was lower.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: I think you're right.
Speaker A: There were a couple that snuck in there where.
Speaker A: We gave it really high scores, I should say.
Speaker A: Snuck in there.
Speaker A: I mean, there were a couple of really good episodes that were very well executed, very well done.
Speaker A: We didn't have a lot of, like, oh, why did they do that?
Speaker A: Moments.
Speaker A: And I think that sort of bumped the overall score up.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker B: Then there's Reese.
Speaker A: There's Nikki's favorite character.
Speaker B: Reese got a lawn service outside here.
Speaker A: Well, we want you to know that we clean our lawns.
Speaker B: Selena doesn't do yard work.
Speaker A: I'm just always out there with the windex.
Speaker A: That's what they do out there, right?
Speaker A: So, hey, I've mowed that lawn.
Speaker B: All right, so we've scored the episodes this season.
Speaker B: Maybe it's time to talk about our top three ish moments of Designing Women season two.
Speaker B: Do you have three?
Speaker A: I have three.
Speaker B: I have three.
Speaker B: So maybe we'll tit for tat.
Speaker A: Oh, no.
Speaker A: Okay, great.
Speaker A: Can I be the Tit?
Speaker B: Yeah, that means you go first.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: And then I tat you.
Speaker A: Wonderful.
Speaker B: Don't you tat your tit?
Speaker A: You better be asking permission before you Tatten people.
Speaker B: I will, of course.
Speaker B: Oh, my God.
Speaker A: It's 2020.
Speaker B: Of course I will.
Speaker A: Okay, well, there's no recovering from that.
Speaker A: So my first one is a combination.
Speaker B: K.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: I'm sorry.
Speaker A: It'll make sense.
Speaker A: It'll make sense.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker A: It's episode three and ten combined, like, the ideas behind them.
Speaker A: And here's why three and ten.
Speaker A: I'll tell you which ones they are.
Speaker A: Okay?
Speaker A: You don't have to figure it out.
Speaker A: So one is the one we renamed lucy and Ethel host a Dinner Party.
Speaker A: This is where Anthony is dating Savannah, and he wants to impress his parents, her parents.
Speaker A: So they formulate this whole big lie about the fact that he comes from money.
Speaker A: Yada, yada, yada.
Speaker A: The second 110, we rename things get Screwy on the Way to St.
Speaker A: Louis.
Speaker A: But that's where Anthony and Suzanne get stranded at that motel on the way to design fashionista, whatever it is in St.
Speaker A: Louis.
Speaker A: Okay, so here's why.
Speaker A: Between the two, it feels like Anthony was finally brought into the fold of Designing Women.
Speaker A: Like, for two seasons.
Speaker A: We're like, are they going to do it?
Speaker A: Are they going to do it?
Speaker A: Are they going to let this man in?
Speaker A: And these felt like it was happening.
Speaker A: Episode three specifically gives us the back story.
Speaker A: The back story to Anthony's unfortunate incarceration, which was a pivotal moment not only for us as the viewer, but also for the world of the show.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And in both episodes, I think the ladies get taken down a peg or two, and we both enjoy that a little bit.
Speaker B: I do enjoy that.
Speaker B: It's true.
Speaker A: So they do themselves a little learning.
Speaker A: And in three, they, and especially Julia, may see that they've been a little prejudiced against Anthony.
Speaker A: And by a little, I mean a lot.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: In episode ten, Suzanne witnesses and to a lesser degree, experiences what Anthony does on a regular basis, and that's being scrutinized and treated differently for the color of his skin.
Speaker A: She's there to ride shotgun for that experience and also get some of that weird whatever about them not being of the same race ethnicity.
Speaker A: And they're also vulnerable with one another in that episode.
Speaker A: Suzanne and Anthony in a way that deepens their relationship and I love that.
Speaker A: So that's my number one.
Speaker A: Is that a fair pass or am I in trouble?
Speaker B: Are you going to call?
Speaker B: That was your tit.
Speaker A: That was my tea.
Speaker B: My tat to.
Speaker B: That is I did not combination mine.
Speaker B: I think this is a look into our psyches and how we're different because mine was just Anthony just in general.
Speaker B: Just to your point, like, bringing Anthony into the show and actually episode ten, Stranded, was the most perfect episode for him this season.
Speaker B: There was a lot that we learned about him watching him and Suzanne's relationship come together.
Speaker B: All the things you said, much more eloquently than I'm saying them.
Speaker B: But just Anthony in general was a bright spot for me this season.
Speaker A: But quicker.
Speaker A: So fast that I couldn't even go to swallow of water.
Speaker A: I should also say that these aren't in any specific order.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: It's not like my number one, my number two, my number three.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker A: That doesn't matter.
Speaker B: Does to you.
Speaker B: If it matters to you, then it matters to me.
Speaker A: That's so sweet.
Speaker A: All right.
Speaker A: Episode four, killing all the right people.
Speaker A: This is where they plan a friend's funeral who is dying with AIDS.
Speaker A: I think this is both one that we scored a five.
Speaker A: It's nearly a perfect execution.
Speaker A: It was groundbreaking for then.
Speaker A: It still holds up even now.
Speaker A: The humanity and love in this one was just off the charts.
Speaker A: We both also love the strong and closely connected b plot where Mary Jo debates contraceptions for teens in the school.
Speaker A: She gave the most beautiful and impassioned speech and I literally cried every time I watched it.
Speaker A: So that's my number two.
Speaker B: It's so funny how aligned we are.
Speaker B: Not like perfectly aligned, but it's similar themes.
Speaker B: So one of mine was Mary Joe Shively becoming Mary Joe.
Speaker B: Not so shyfully.
Speaker A: Oh, look at you.
Speaker B: So looking back at the episode, so in episode two with Ted and Tammy, where she confronts a lot of emotional things, she's dealing with watching her husband move into another relationship with Tammy or move through a relationship and she deals with these really tough emotions with her kids.
Speaker B: And I think at times.
Speaker A: You just.
Speaker B: See that soft Mary Joe that meek Mary Joe that we saw early in season one and then come back at the end of the season in Ted Bear where she becomes fully into herself and says, I'm too good for you.
Speaker B: And has that sort of almost the same character development she had in season one, but even more almost like exponential in this season.
Speaker B: You just brought up something I had forgotten about, which was her the debate that she had early in the season.
Speaker B: That was episode you said five.
Speaker B: That was really early in the season.
Speaker A: I didn't need to cut you off for that, but I did episode four.
Speaker B: But yeah, she just continues to grow.
Speaker B: And she's always been this funny person who shares her opinion with the other women.
Speaker B: But when she gets into these relationships, like with men and giving a speech to the PTA, she's so nervous.
Speaker B: But then she does it, and she does it so beautifully.
Speaker B: And I just love watching her grow.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker A: She also gave that thing at the funeral, too, where she did the eulogy and the lady passes out in the back.
Speaker B: It just forgot about that.
Speaker A: They, like putting her in these awkward because she's kind of awkward, which I love.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Because that feels so real and human and I'm awkward as h***.
Speaker B: Aren't we all?
Speaker B: We're all a little awkward at this point in life.
Speaker A: I mean, last two years, we're just.
Speaker B: Let her go back out live.
Speaker B: I don't know.
Speaker B: Hello?
Speaker B: What's?
Speaker B: Out here?
Speaker A: I'm just a creature.
Speaker B: I can't make eye contact.
Speaker B: Just a creature.
Speaker B: I'm going to start saying, whenever I get nervous, I'm just a creature.
Speaker A: Lay over me.
Speaker B: That was my second one.
Speaker B: My tat.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: My two tat tattoo.
Speaker A: Okay, well, my third tip, which makes me Total Recall.
Speaker A: Sorry, lobster.
Speaker A: I didn't even know if that joke would land.
Speaker A: Honestly.
Speaker A: I'm like, will a Total Recall joke work in 2022?
Speaker B: It works.
Speaker A: I don't know if it made it into the remake.
Speaker A: I didn't watch it.
Speaker A: Could barely get through the first one.
Speaker B: That's alien lady.
Speaker B: What would you like to tell me?
Speaker A: Third top moment is episode 20, which we renamed A Smidgen of Religion.
Speaker A: This is the one where Charlene is having some struggles with whether or not she wants to stay with her church.
Speaker A: I mean, if that doesn't sound like a sitcom, I don't know what does.
Speaker A: But the reason I picked that one is because I love Bernice going toe to toe with Charlene's minister over women being leaders in the church.
Speaker A: For me, that was perfection.
Speaker A: Like Aaron Sorkin perfection.
Speaker A: And the closest I can think of is, this must be what sports fans feel like when their team scores a goal, because I was just shy of standing up and cheering.
Speaker A: And actually, I may have and that's my number three.
Speaker B: That's nice.
Speaker A: My total recall, if you will.
Speaker B: So we're still on the same page because my number three or my third one or my one out of order, that's number three, because we're in no particular order, is also episode specific.
Speaker B: And it's episode eight, the Cruising episode.
Speaker A: Oh, okay.
Speaker B: When I think back on this season, that was such a breath of fresh air.
Speaker B: It was such a silly, nonsensical episode.
Speaker B: Really added not much to the series.
Speaker B: Really added not much to any one of the characters except it was just a darn fun episode.
Speaker B: You had that Selena sidebar about the Charles pierce.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker B: That was amazing.
Speaker B: That character, that person, that personality carried so much of the episode.
Speaker B: And it was just when I think back on the season, that one keeps popping up at the top of my brain.
Speaker B: So I just think about that one all the time.
Speaker B: And as I'm watching, we're pre watching season three now.
Speaker B: I keep waiting for my cruising episode because that was just so light hearted and fun and that's where I am in life.
Speaker A: Well, I hope you get it.
Speaker A: Thanks.
Speaker A: And then we were supposed to get an upgrade to Mary Joe's Kimono.
Speaker A: I'm sorry if I sounded by her wardrobe.
Speaker A: I couldn't even get it right.
Speaker A: Let me start that over again.
Speaker A: I want you to be able to catch that for when you're editing.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: So our next piece, I think you understood the assignment better than you thought you did.
Speaker B: Selena.
Speaker B: Perfect.
Speaker B: So this next piece in my mind is what we took away from season two of the Sweet tea and TV podcast individually, but not necessarily just about ourselves.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker B: Does that make sense?
Speaker B: Does that track with what you've got?
Speaker A: I think so.
Speaker A: It's more like the way I felt about things.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: Do you want me to go first or do you want to you want.
Speaker A: To no, I think I'd like to be wrong and go ahead and just put my wrong, do it out there.
Speaker B: And then you can criticize.
Speaker B: Okay, perfect.
Speaker B: I like that.
Speaker B: I enjoy sitting in a position of judgment.
Speaker B: Okay, carry on.
Speaker B: Let's impress me.
Speaker A: Let's go to our corners.
Speaker A: So my number one is actually extra sugars.
Speaker B: So we're going to sit and tat again.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker A: Well, these just continue to be a high for me.
Speaker A: I've enjoyed all of yours, but my very favorite was your deep dive into country clubs.
Speaker A: Thank you.
Speaker A: If folks want to go back, that's episode 19.
Speaker A: No, I have no idea what we called that, but it's episode 19, season two.
Speaker A: And then I have to tell you, canned cocktails, episode 17.
Speaker A: Really close second.
Speaker A: I'm going to just put my cards on the table.
Speaker A: Nikki, when you told me that you wanted to do one on canned cocktails, I went, okay, whatever.
Speaker A: I was like, all right, what the heck is she going to do?
Speaker A: And then you came in here with all these facts.
Speaker A: I have thought about that thing about how what was it?
Speaker A: Something about aluminum cans 80% being still used.
Speaker B: Still in use.
Speaker A: I think about that like once a week.
Speaker A: I like, see a can and I'm like, amazing.
Speaker B: What's your life story?
Speaker B: Tell me.
Speaker A: So there's that.
Speaker B: Well, that's really nice.
Speaker B: I wish I had written down some very specific examples because one of my third point was extra sugars, like you said.
Speaker B: We dug in some really?
Speaker B: Oh, carry on.
Speaker B: Give me some more.
Speaker B: Give me some more that I can say yes, same.
Speaker A: I want to overdo it.
Speaker B: Go ahead.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker A: So I had two favorites to research.
Speaker B: Okay, I'm just going to say same.
Speaker A: First was the history of interracial marriage.
Speaker A: That's episode ten.
Speaker B: Yes, that was a good one if.
Speaker A: You want to go back and listen to that one.
Speaker A: And then also my other favorite one to research was Women in Ministry episode 20.
Speaker A: But my favorite to put together was the one on 80s cartoons because we ate a million cereals and Nicki Maze that next morning, casey and I really ate cereal in bed and watched 80s cartoons.
Speaker B: Did you really?
Speaker A: Could barely get through them.
Speaker B: They're terrible.
Speaker B: They're not good.
Speaker A: We got through a full episode of Ducktails I'll never be the same again.
Speaker A: And gummy bears.
Speaker A: We cut off halfway.
Speaker A: I was like, I got to cut it.
Speaker B: I got to cut it.
Speaker B: Now we can watch Ducktails.
Speaker B: I like, Ducktails and Rescue Rangers.
Speaker B: Holds up pretty good.
Speaker A: I almost got through a full season of that, I think as soon as we got Disney Plus.
Speaker A: It was like my first stop.
Speaker A: I was like, I need to check this out.
Speaker A: But that was all of mine for number one.
Speaker A: My eight parts for number one.
Speaker B: Well, my number one is the same as yours.
Speaker B: It's extra sugars, but I'm going to jump in and put us out of order because I like to watch you think on your feet because you just brought up the 80s.
Speaker B: She's looking at me with death daggers in her eyes.
Speaker B: You just brought up the 80s cartoon.
Speaker B: Which brings me to another one of my different points, which was all the themes this year or all the season.
Speaker B: I feel like listeners can't see them super well.
Speaker B: You're taking pictures and sharing them on social media.
Speaker B: But unless you're here, you don't understand.
Speaker A: This doesn't capture the magic.
Speaker B: It doesn't.
Speaker B: But the Saturday morning cartoons was above and beyond.
Speaker B: I mean, I'm not kidding.
Speaker B: When there were five different cereals here and I got to eat every single one, the Christmas morning one was really good, too.
Speaker B: Selena's just outdone herself this season on the themes.
Speaker A: I like food.
Speaker A: I need to eat and I like to keep us going.
Speaker A: I try to get her boozy every episode.
Speaker A: She won't let me.
Speaker A: I'm always like, we got the bourbon downstairs.
Speaker B: She does.
Speaker B: What's that about?
Speaker B: She tried to get me to pour bourbon in my cereal process with me till just now.
Speaker A: Try something different or something the same.
Speaker A: Hey, look, I don't know what your mornings look like.
Speaker B: Not like that.
Speaker A: Who am I to judge?
Speaker B: It's true.
Speaker A: Who am I to judge?
Speaker A: Am I to ting two?
Speaker A: I don't know.
Speaker B: It just happened.
Speaker B: You're on your next one.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: And I only have one left.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker A: So this is what I would call the little big things.
Speaker A: Niki brings me a coffee every time she comes to the house to record it's.
Speaker A: Never expected but always appreciated.
Speaker A: So that's for me to you.
Speaker A: And most importantly, I just want everyone I don't want anyone who listens to know how thoughtful you are.
Speaker B: Me.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: The surprise cookie delivery is another awesome example.
Speaker A: It was also very yummy for those who cookies that was on the Cruising episode, maybe.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: Made the cocktails.
Speaker B: Oh, that was a good day.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: So, like, we're recording, the doorbell rings.
Speaker B: Throws off the whole recording, then we have to eat cookies.
Speaker B: It was terrible.
Speaker A: Should we plug crumble?
Speaker A: They are paying us.
Speaker B: They're not paying us.
Speaker B: I am paying them an enormous amount of money because I order cookies like every week now.
Speaker B: And it's not cheap, but they're delicious.
Speaker A: Yeah, well, tell them.
Speaker A: Go ahead and tell them the good flavor, your favorite flavor.
Speaker A: Let's not go into all of them.
Speaker B: Because you can if you want to get deep breath.
Speaker A: Well, you usually get onto me for that, but take us through all of them.
Speaker B: I like it.
Speaker B: Well, I was telling Selena it's too bad this week's recording doesn't.
Speaker B: So Crumble releases a new menu every week.
Speaker B: They have holdovers.
Speaker B: So, like, they do a chocolate chip cookie every week, but they have a new menu every week with different kinds.
Speaker B: This week's is almost entirely cereal flavored.
Speaker B: And so there was a Fruity Pebbles, like, sugar cookie, almost like a funfetti is how I would describe it that was in this week's batch.
Speaker B: And also a Cinnamon Toast crunch.
Speaker B: Oh, that one was good, too.
Speaker B: That's not the one I was thinking of.
Speaker B: I was thinking of the marshmallow cornflake, which tastes like a Rice Krispy treat.
Speaker B: And it's so good.
Speaker B: Get be too.
Speaker B: Crumble.
Speaker B: If you follow them on Instagram, they are announcing openings like all the time.
Speaker B: There's probably one near you.
Speaker B: It's worth ordering them.
Speaker B: They're really good and they're really enormous.
Speaker A: The chocolate chip cookie, I know it's simple, and I do like to keep it simple when it comes to desserts because you know what you're getting.
Speaker A: And there's never anything wrong with the chocolate chip cookie.
Speaker A: But that wouldn't always be my top choice.
Speaker A: But gosh, it's good.
Speaker B: It's so funny you say that.
Speaker B: My friend texted me this week and said that was her favorite one out of the batch.
Speaker B: She's like, I know it's the most simple, straightforward one, but it's so good.
Speaker B: We got one.
Speaker B: It wasn't my favorite.
Speaker A: Oh, really?
Speaker A: Well, there goes our Crumble sponsorship.
Speaker B: I mean, it's good.
Speaker B: I didn't say it was a bad cookie.
Speaker B: Of the six that I ordered, it wasn't my favorite because Fruity Pebbles and Cornflake and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch one, those were all my favorites.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: I wish I could remember the one we got.
Speaker A: It was something like cornbread and honey or something like that.
Speaker B: I remember that one.
Speaker B: I didn't get that one.
Speaker B: Was it good?
Speaker B: Boy, I love sweet cornbread.
Speaker A: Oh, man, that was a tasty treat.
Speaker A: Okay, so thank you for joining our Crumble podcast.
Speaker A: Sorry about that.
Speaker A: You know, we have to stop and talk about Cookie.
Speaker A: Just got to do it.
Speaker A: But so I just wanted to say thank you.
Speaker A: And I think it really kind of does connect to yours because there's these things, I think that both of us do that nobody ever really gets to see because it's a podcast and a listening experience.
Speaker A: But also all that happens, the show is like wedged in between all of those other things.
Speaker A: And for me, I've loved the opportunity to keep up my own thoughtful muscles.
Speaker A: And I just want you to know that I have loved these recording days, even when we're stressed out leading up to them because it's felt like and things are getting more normal now.
Speaker A: But we've been doing this for a long time and it has felt like a piece of normalcy in the midst of everything else that we can't control.
Speaker A: And by God, we control every single little slice of this podcast.
Speaker A: And I couldn't love anything more.
Speaker A: Number two.
Speaker B: That's lovely.
Speaker B: Well, thank you.
Speaker B: Selena, do we need a moment to say you're the best podcast co host I could imagine?
Speaker A: Sure, keep going.
Speaker B: My last one is in that same vein of thankfulness, but it's fan mail.
Speaker B: We've heard from a few people who are listening.
Speaker B: I'm calling it fan mail because that makes me feel special, but it's listeners reaching out to us to tell us that they really are enjoying taking this journey with us and going through some of these things with us.
Speaker B: And this is totally a hobby.
Speaker B: This is totally a passion project.
Speaker B: We're doing it because we want to have fun and because we want to share information on some of these Southernisms things that we're learning about as we go through this old show.
Speaker B: I mean, at this point it's old and there's a lot of stuff we're learning about that even as children of the 80s we don't know anything about.
Speaker B: So we're learning these things.
Speaker B: And so it's just cool that people, one are going along with us.
Speaker B: And every time I see new downloads in our metrics, I'm like, oh my God, someone somewhere is listening.
Speaker B: I can't remember which country it was, but someone had downloaded us in some other country and I was like, oh.
Speaker A: My God, it wasn't Ireland, was it?
Speaker B: Well, I was going to say Ireland and then I know that's a friend of the podcast.
Speaker B: It was another country.
Speaker A: Okay, cool.
Speaker B: Yeah, we have multiple countries.
Speaker A: Wonderful.
Speaker B: But every time I see a new download, it's encouraging because this is something that takes up time, it takes energy, it's fun, for sure, but as freewheeling as crazy as this sounds, it is actually strategic and takes a lot of effort and brain power.
Speaker B: So for someone to appreciate it and to actually have gotten something from it, it's very cool.
Speaker A: I totally agree.
Speaker A: And it does sort of provide, like, these little bursts of energy right when we needed them.
Speaker A: It's also got me thinking about the flip side, which is there's so much content out there that I enjoy, love, and I never say a word.
Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A: And so it's got me thinking about just like, do I need to reevaluate that part of myself?
Speaker A: And I think I've never really thought about it's just again, it's like flexing another muscle.
Speaker B: Thoughtfulness.
Speaker B: Yeah, it truly is thoughtful.
Speaker A: I think for me, some of it's like low self esteem.
Speaker A: I'm like, they'll never get back with me, but we've gotten back with every single person who's reached out to us.
Speaker A: Just a reminder to you never know how you might brighten someone's day.
Speaker B: I think that's true.
Speaker B: And I think you assume that they're getting so many messages, and I don't mean us, but I mean, I'm thinking some of those other podcasts, like the big podcast, and you're like, they must hear from so many people.
Speaker B: Like you said, they'll never get back to me.
Speaker B: But really, it is like you said every time we've gotten a message this season that is super personal and super like, this is what the show means to me, or, this is what I've taken away from the show, or, this is why I like it.
Speaker B: It is such a burst of energy.
Speaker B: There was one day I opened my one night, I opened my computer, I was exhausted.
Speaker B: I was getting ready to start planning for our next recording, and I was just so tired, and I was so not demoralized, but just like, I got to do it.
Speaker B: And then I got a message, and I was like, oh, my gosh.
Speaker B: Somebody's like you know what?
Speaker B: I'm ready to go.
Speaker B: Let's do this.
Speaker B: Let's do something fun and exciting.
Speaker B: So that's really fun for me.
Speaker B: That was my number three.
Speaker A: I love that.
Speaker A: Okay, my number three is this is, again, more on the feeling range.
Speaker A: It's when we hit that final episode on a full recording day and we're just delirious.
Speaker A: This happens regularly.
Speaker B: It's actually not this episode, but I'm feeling like it's this.
Speaker A: Yeah, I wouldn't call it amania, but it's like, right next door to it.
Speaker A: And every time I'm, like, a little scared, I'm like, what is this going to sound like?
Speaker A: And then I hear it, and it just sounds like we're having a good time.
Speaker A: And I think we are.
Speaker A: We're tired.
Speaker A: Very tired.
Speaker B: Probably hungry.
Speaker B: Usually a little hungry.
Speaker A: Or full.
Speaker A: Or full.
Speaker A: I've only ever been two things when we're recording.
Speaker A: I'm either starving, like I am now, but I feel so thin, or, you know, I love that.
Speaker A: Or we've eaten so much food that I'm, like, asleep on the laptop.
Speaker B: Yeah, that's true.
Speaker B: That cereal one almost put you under.
Speaker A: You did.
Speaker B: That was rough.
Speaker A: I mean, the whole weekend was rough.
Speaker A: A real binge for me.
Speaker A: What is the theme music again.
Speaker B: For.
Speaker A: I'm going to play it.
Speaker B: You're going to see it.
Speaker B: All right.
Speaker B: So we've covered high points of the season.
Speaker B: We've covered our ratings.
Speaker B: We covered our personal memories of the season.
Speaker B: What we haven't covered is how we sort of end every episode before we get to extra sugar.
Speaker B: Looking at the references.
Speaker B: So LBT.
Speaker B: Is clearly well read.
Speaker B: She's clearly way into culture.
Speaker B: And there are a lot of references that can either fly by you or hit you right in the face in every episode.
Speaker B: So we usually try to pick up on combination of either 80s, southern, unknown.
Speaker B: 80s is a separate category.
Speaker B: And then references we had to look up or we need to talk about.
Speaker B: And then we have our southern references.
Speaker B: So if it's explicitly southern or we feel like it's got a southern tie, we like to talk about those.
Speaker B: So for this segment, what if we take maybe our top three of all the other categories and talk about those and then our top three southern references and talk about those?
Speaker A: I don't want to do that.
Speaker B: Oh, perfect.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker B: Well, this is going to get awkward then.
Speaker A: This has been this week's edition of references.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: I can jump in if you want me to.
Speaker A: Sure.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So my first one going back through that actually hit me was from the very first episode, and it was the reference to the 4 million by oh, Henry.
Speaker A: I think we both wound up looking into the origins on this one, which was new york city's the 400.
Speaker A: This is a list of acceptable society during the gilded age, ironically named by a southerner.
Speaker A: This is McAllister, who was born in savannah, Georgia.
Speaker A: He's the one who decided who those 400 people were.
Speaker A: So the funny thing that I have to say is there's a show on HBO that just premiered not long ago called the gilded age.
Speaker A: He's on the show.
Speaker B: Is that right?
Speaker A: Played by nathan lane.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Wonderful.
Speaker B: I get that.
Speaker A: So I was so excited because I knew who it was.
Speaker A: I was all primed and ready.
Speaker A: I was like, I know everything there is to know about the gilded age.
Speaker A: Thank you.
Speaker A: Designing women, you strike again.
Speaker A: So that's my number one.
Speaker B: I really like all the day in the life kind of throwbacks along those.
Speaker B: So it's an old show.
Speaker B: We just said this.
Speaker B: It's an old show.
Speaker B: But there are just things they say in passing that are just so like normal life, like looking for movies in the paper, like in episode 13.
Speaker B: And maybe in another episode, they just mentioned looking for movies in the paper.
Speaker B: I think if you are not a child of the earlier, that probably is a lost reference on you.
Speaker B: In episode two, anthony had his credit card cut up, and even I was wondering, is that still a thing that gets done?
Speaker B: Sure, but it was like a common thing, I guess, in the 80s, getting a phone call at dinner that you have to take at the bar.
Speaker B: That was in episode 21.
Speaker B: Ted Bear when they're at the restaurant, I think that was a really common thing.
Speaker B: But, like, if you're watching the episode now, watching all these episodes now, you're like, what is that about?
Speaker B: But that's just normal life back in the time capsule.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: I love that so much.
Speaker A: Yeah, it's a good one.
Speaker A: That's good.
Speaker A: Episode Eleven this is Howard the Dud.
Speaker A: It was actually Howard the date.
Speaker A: This is where they go to the high school reunion is a little like group looks like group sex date.
Speaker A: That's fine.
Speaker A: My second top favorite reference is actually from Extra Sugar on that one.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So it's a little bit of a twist on the actual idea here, but we talked about the things that we were enjoying.
Speaker A: Way back in December, I was watching the third installment of American Crime Story Impeachment about Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky that included some interesting Designing Women Easter eggs.
Speaker A: And that was just a lot of fun.
Speaker A: One, designing Women specifically gets named in the show because this is Paula Jones and her husband.
Speaker A: They're, like, going through the lawsuit process, and in addition to wanting an apology from Clinton, they want a walk on role for her husband to design women.
Speaker A: So I thought that was kind of funny.
Speaker A: And then I read some articles about the show at that time and wound up learning that Harry Thomason testified before a grand jury as part of Kenneth Starr's investigation.
Speaker A: He also wrote one of Bill Clinton's really famous speeches around that time.
Speaker A: I'm almost certain that's true.
Speaker A: I didn't write that one down.
Speaker A: And then in 2001, Paula Jones was married in the historic Little Rock home that is supposed to be the sugar bakers, which still blows my mind.
Speaker B: So weird.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: So that was my second favorite one.
Speaker B: Because we live in a simulation and everything comes together today's.
Speaker B: Extra Sugar at the end of this episode is going to be about Linda Bloodworth Thomason, and we're going to talk a little bit about their affiliation with the Clintons.
Speaker B: We won't go as far as that, but we'll talk a little bit about how close they were.
Speaker B: Oh, okay.
Speaker B: Awesome.
Speaker B: So my second one was episode 14.
Speaker B: There was a reference of a Japanese soldier coming out of the woods after World War II.
Speaker B: That was just a wild story to me, and it was basically that this man did come out of the woods about 30 years, 19, 74, 30 years after the Japanese surrendered to the Allied forces.
Speaker B: And he had no idea that had happened.
Speaker B: That is a wild story to me.
Speaker A: It is.
Speaker B: And my mind was blown.
Speaker B: I've never in all of my history classes ever heard that story.
Speaker B: And it's just crazy that in watching a totally silly show that came up.
Speaker A: Bubba Dwayne, it's over.
Speaker A: I can't remember what she said, but she's so.
Speaker A: Cute.
Speaker A: Yeah, that's delivers that line.
Speaker A: I really enjoyed walking through that reference and I was so glad that you looked that up.
Speaker A: I just want to say, too, that I think you and I, it's not intentional, it's absolutely accidental, but a lot of times we wind up looking into opposite things and really helps round out the episode.
Speaker B: We can cover it all, don't worry.
Speaker A: And we're going to cover it twice now.
Speaker A: My third favorite, two fingers.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Episode 19.
Speaker A: We renamed this one no Pigs Allowed.
Speaker A: This is the country club episode.
Speaker A: We get a string of Kennedy references from Anthony that were really fun to look into.
Speaker A: First of all, it was just an awesome line by Anthony, his delivery, when he's reacting to a snide comment by one of those schmeckles from the country club.
Speaker A: And so he goes into all of these things about the Kennedy.
Speaker A: So I spent some time looking back into JFK, his daughter Caroline's 1986 wedding, and then also at Jackie's second husband, Aristotle of Nassas, and his infamous private island Scorpios, which, by the way, if you all don't remember, as of 2022, I think 2022, you can stay there as long as you have scorpios money.
Speaker B: So that was my other one.
Speaker B: So my last one was episode 20, the King James Bible.
Speaker B: So that was a real deep dive for me.
Speaker B: And the very, very short version is it's wild to me how that came to be, how the King commissioned this Bible, essentially for all these reasons he said out loud and then reasons he didn't say out loud, but self serving, I think is one way that you might describe it.
Speaker B: And it's still so influential in religion today.
Speaker B: It is still probably the most popular.
Speaker B: I don't have the number in front of me, but it's probably the most popular translation or at least the most well known, and it's still super influential and it came about many, many moons ago.
Speaker A: Yeah, well, I mean or the fact that just the ability for people to finally know what was being wink wink told to them versus maybe what was actually there in text.
Speaker A: I mean, we could unravel that story even years later.
Speaker A: But this idea that they're finally being able to see things, I mean, I'm sure there's a good throughline there from all of that happening to all of the revolutions kicking off enlightenment period.
Speaker A: All of these things that essentially change the course of history.
Speaker B: So read about it and listen to episode 20.
Speaker B: We talk about it.
Speaker B: Southern references.
Speaker A: Yeah, let's talk about them.
Speaker A: These are the most important.
Speaker A: It's why we're here.
Speaker B: That's why we're here.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Even if you only hear one accent.
Speaker B: Wow.
Speaker A: Are you kidding?
Speaker A: Sometimes I hear my accent back and there's like, certain words and I'm like, oh, God.
Speaker A: Anyways, over the course of the season, between the two of us, I did more math.
Speaker A: Oh, no, it could be right.
Speaker A: Could be wrong.
Speaker A: It doesn't matter.
Speaker A: I counted all of mine up, all of my southern references.
Speaker B: Oh, wow.
Speaker A: I also did you a favor and did not ask you to count your thank you.
Speaker A: Also, actually, I think we usually catch different southern references, so I just estimated yours.
Speaker A: I just put it into a quick algorithm.
Speaker A: I pulled out my spreadsheet, and I estimate that we together caught about 100 southern references.
Speaker A: And this is a slight uptick from episode one.
Speaker B: From season one.
Speaker A: Thank you.
Speaker A: From season one.
Speaker A: I think we were somewhere in the 90s range.
Speaker B: Okay, my best memory.
Speaker A: So tell me, what was a top favorite southern reference for you?
Speaker B: One of my favorite things in the world is what's the word for it?
Speaker B: Like super hidden huge Easter egg that you really have to be looking for it.
Speaker B: I'll just give you my example, and then you'll know what I'm talking about.
Speaker B: The Chief Naka Homa sign in the background in Claudia's bedroom in episode two.
Speaker B: So not a big part of the set.
Speaker B: It is this tiny little thing, but we covered in season one.
Speaker B: We talked about the Atlanta Braves, which is our hometown baseball team, how Chief Naka Homa was their mascot for years and years and years until we decided, yes, that's probably inappropriate.
Speaker B: So we stopped doing it.
Speaker B: But by the time Designing Women was around, it was still a thing.
Speaker B: And so in the very background, you can make out chief Naka Homa's face.
Speaker B: And I was so proud of myself for noticing it.
Speaker B: It made me feel like a true atlantean.
Speaker A: It was really yeah.
Speaker A: I showed Casey, like, trying to get him to find it, and he was like, I see nothing perfect.
Speaker A: That's how good your eye is.
Speaker A: Nikki has better eyes than all of us.
Speaker A: My magic eyes, it's just so magical.
Speaker A: Okay, my first one is episode eleven, howard the dud.
Speaker A: The entire cold open is squarely focused on Southerners.
Speaker A: So it starts with Charlene upset over the article that we could not find about southern presidential candidates that had some disparaging remarks.
Speaker A: Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A: People born and educated here, we're dumb, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker A: And then Mary Joe talks about the assumption that you're dumb if you have southern accent.
Speaker A: Like, literally the genesis of this show.
Speaker A: We also get a reference to Dukes of Hazard, which is a southern show.
Speaker A: Then there's a conversation about what makes someone a hick.
Speaker A: That's a callback to one of our very first extra sugars in season one.
Speaker A: And then the whole thing is capped off with a delicious message from Julia to the editor of the magazine.
Speaker A: And so oftentimes, we're grasping at straws.
Speaker A: Yeah, I'm like, they said a word, and I'm sure that's Southern sounding right.
Speaker A: And, I mean, you're always looking at me like, good job, Selena.
Speaker A: Excellent.
Speaker A: Moving on.
Speaker A: And this one, there was just no getting around it.
Speaker A: It's a true southern reference that goes on for, like, three minutes.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker B: So speaking of grasping at straws, my next one is sort of a grasping at straws one, but it was also one of my favorites.
Speaker B: Wonderful outhouses from season one.
Speaker B: Okay, so we talked a little bit about how they're not exclusively Southern at all.
Speaker B: I mean, they've been around for centuries and started probably in Europe.
Speaker A: But it's.
Speaker B: Just become associated with the south for all those reasons.
Speaker B: Hicks and whatnot.
Speaker B: Apparently we can't even have bathrooms inside.
Speaker B: But my favorite part was that at Stone Mountain, there's an opulent 19th century antebellum example of a three holer.
Speaker A: Just when I thought I would never hear three holer again.
Speaker B: That one has really stuck with me all season.
Speaker B: Yeah, really enjoy that one.
Speaker A: I'm going to try and recover and go on to my next one, which.
Speaker B: Is no need to recover after a three hole.
Speaker A: It's going to take some recovery.
Speaker A: Okay, that's getting cut.
Speaker B: Just convenient.
Speaker A: Episode 15 Honk, If You Knew the Sugar Bakers Had a Brother is an episode dedicated to a very famous Southerner and fellow Georgian and at alien Lewis Grizzard, where LBT weaves in elements of his real life into designing women, canon his Bubba and Earl stories, which are a part of his humorous routine, since he's not technically a stand up comedian.
Speaker A: And then also his favorite college football team, Nikki Dogs.
Speaker B: Go Dogs.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker A: And even some discussion about the Southern eccentric.
Speaker A: So we get all of those things over the course of an entire episode.
Speaker A: It is like the living embodiment of a Southern Easter egg.
Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker A: And what's your next one?
Speaker B: My last one is going to be Tuxedo Road.
Speaker B: It was in episode three.
Speaker B: I love this one again, because if you're not from Atlanta, that might not necessarily sound like an Atlanta reference, but it 100% is.
Speaker B: And it led to a really fun extra sugar for me, researching the uber wealthy Atlanteans who live in that Tuxedo Road area and how just the history of that area, how it came to be, the people who started owning land and how they've sold it off over the years.
Speaker B: It was just fascinating to me, and I just loved having that one tiny little nugget that led me to an entire extra sugar.
Speaker A: That's all we need.
Speaker B: That's all I need.
Speaker B: Just give me a nugget.
Speaker A: Give me a nugget.
Speaker A: Give me a chicken nugget.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker A: All right.
Speaker A: My final one is episode 20, a Smidgen of Religion.
Speaker A: I'm not sure, but I think I like that episode.
Speaker A: It was fascinating to learn more about Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong.
Speaker A: These were two Southern Baptist missionaries, and I particularly learned I enjoyed learning about Lottie Moon because, one, she had some really interesting ties right here near us in Georgia.
Speaker A: She did some teaching around here.
Speaker A: Maybe she opened a school somewhere as well.
Speaker A: And then she also turned out to be a low key, not so low key feminist, which you know I love and I know you love, too.
Speaker A: And she was very vocal about women being equal to men and at a time when that was considered unseemly, that's cool.
Speaker B: So what do you say, season three?
Speaker A: I say it.
Speaker A: You say it.
Speaker B: Let's say it together.
Speaker A: We all season three.
Speaker B: So we're going to take a couple of weeks off, but we'll be back with a special episode.
Speaker B: How will Selena react to Howard the duck?
Speaker B: So again, going back to Howard the date, what episode did you say that was?
Speaker B: 13.
Speaker A: Oh, boy.
Speaker A: Hold on.
Speaker B: No.
Speaker B: We call it Howard the Dud.
Speaker A: Eleven.
Speaker B: There we go.
Speaker B: Eleven.
Speaker B: So we called it Howard the Dud.
Speaker B: It was a play on a 1980s movie called Howard the Duck, which Selena admitted she had never seen.
Speaker B: She can't say that anymore.
Speaker A: I cannot say that anymore.
Speaker B: Will she love it?
Speaker B: Will she hate it?
Speaker B: I'm looking at her face right now trying to figure it out.
Speaker B: I don't know.
Speaker B: You'll have to come back and find out with me.
Speaker B: But thank you, seriously, to everyone for listening to season two.
Speaker B: Thank you for your questions, for your interest, for your kind words.
Speaker B: We mentioned this earlier.
Speaker B: Just thank you.
Speaker B: You want to say thank you?
Speaker A: Thank you.
Speaker B: So come back.
Speaker B: We got a special episode in a couple of weeks.
Speaker B: In the meantime, follow along with us and engage.
Speaker B: We are on Instagram and Facebook at sweet TNTV.
Speaker B: Email sweettvpod@gmail.com.
Speaker B: Our website is www.sweettv.com.
Speaker B: And remember, if you're enjoying the show, please leave us a rating and or a review wherever you're listening to us.
Speaker A: Yes, please.
Speaker B: Oh, and one more thing.
Speaker B: One more vlog stick around for extra sugar this week.
Speaker B: I've already mentioned it a couple of times.
Speaker B: We're going to talk about Linda Bledworth Thomas in It's worth the listen.
Speaker B: So what do you say, Selena?
Speaker B: One more time for good measure?
Speaker A: One more time.
Speaker A: We'll see you around the bin.
Speaker A: By.
Speaker B: Welcome to this week's edition of Extra Sugar and the last extra sugar of season two.
Speaker B: That took me a second.
Speaker B: What are we doing?
Speaker B: So we've established our math skills aren't great, but I think if I did my math right so far, we've watched and broken down some 46 episodes of Designing Women.
Speaker A: Wow.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker B: Which would mean we've had 46 some OD.
Speaker B: Extra sugars, right?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker B: Holding up everything, tracking?
Speaker B: I think so.
Speaker B: Along the way, we've talked on and off about Linda Bloodworth Thomason, who is the creator and oftentimes sole writer, but we've never actually gone deep.
Speaker B: Extra sugar deep.
Speaker A: Oh.
Speaker A: So many ways to take that.
Speaker B: Keep going.
Speaker B: In season two, she made history, becoming the first American writer in television history to write 35 consecutive episodes of a series with Designing Women, something we may or may not have mentioned before.
Speaker A: Who knows?
Speaker A: But we do know she's tired.
Speaker B: She must be exhausted.
Speaker B: And we'll talk a little bit more about that in just a second.
Speaker B: But this feels like the perfect time to learn some more, right?
Speaker B: To finally dig deep and learn about her.
Speaker B: So settle in.
Speaker B: Selena, I got a segment here I'm calling LBT.
Speaker B: A true BLT.
Speaker B: You know, a blatant legend of TV.
Speaker A: That whole thing a Blatant legend of TV.
Speaker B: Okay, so I'm going to break this segment into three chapters.
Speaker B: We're going to do pre designing women.
Speaker B: We're going to do the Designing Women era.
Speaker B: And we'll do post designing women.
Speaker B: Sound good?
Speaker A: Perfect.
Speaker B: If you have questions along the way, you're welcome to ask.
Speaker B: I may or may not have answers.
Speaker A: Also perfect.
Speaker B: The reason I may or may not have answers is because as I was putting this segment together, I realized I might even characterize LBT.
Speaker B: A true BLT as maybe a little bit reclusive.
Speaker B: There's really not that much out there about her.
Speaker B: So there was a lot more.
Speaker B: During the height of the Designing Women days, I found lots of art.
Speaker B: It was kind of hard to find articles that old, but I found them.
Speaker B: And I found quotes from her.
Speaker B: But there's really not been that much in recent years.
Speaker B: So I think I found enough to punctuate this segment with quotes from her.
Speaker B: We'd obviously love to interview her ourselves any day.
Speaker B: Any day, anytime.
Speaker B: Come on.
Speaker B: We got a whole segment about you.
Speaker B: How much better could it get?
Speaker B: LBT.
Speaker B: But until that glorious day comes, we're going to settle for these quotes I found.
Speaker B: But I wanted as much as possible to hear things through her voice instead of relying on what someone else is reporting about her.
Speaker B: Sure.
Speaker B: So I'm going to call out some quotes from her.
Speaker B: So with that groundwork laid, let's start pre Designing Women.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker B: Starting at the very beginning.
Speaker B: It was 1947, the year Linda Joyce Bloodworth was born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
Speaker B: Her parents were Ralph and Claudia bloodworth.
Speaker B: So I read a few interesting things about her childhood which I think give us a peek into some of the things we see in the Designing Women's script.
Speaker A: Okay.
Speaker B: Thing one.
Speaker B: An La.
Speaker B: Times profile of her from 1992 said as a once, quote, prissy tomboy, she has come to believe that the contradictions in her psyche should be credited to her parents who were truly loving but functioned as wildly opposing information sources.
Speaker B: If it was from her mother, Claudia, that she inherited her reflexive graciousness, she firmly believes that without her father Ralph, a brilliant liberal litigator, that she'd, quote, just be helpless.
Speaker B: Probably married to some guy sitting on a pillow and eating bon bonds.
Speaker B: My dad would teach me things like, no one's better than anyone else.
Speaker B: Then my mother would overhear us and say, well, I'm certainly better than a lot of people I know.
Speaker B: And my dad would just throw up his arms.
Speaker B: That's almost a word for word exchange of something we heard this season in episode 16.
Speaker B: There's some black people coming to dinner I think it was Suzanne and Julia.
Speaker B: Just give you a sense for how her upbringing really influenced the show.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Wow.
Speaker B: That same piece also had this quote from her.
Speaker B: The advantage we Southerners have is free theater every night at dinner.
Speaker B: Nobody takes turns talking.
Speaker B: The person who gets to talk is the one who is standing on the ottoman.
Speaker B: It wasn't Christmas in my family until my dad had made Aunt Lou cry for voting for Richard Nixon.
Speaker B: That's the kind of drama I'm talking about.
Speaker B: She said that in saying that, she pulled inspiration for the Designing Women characters from her father's friends.
Speaker B: She watched debate back and forth as a kid.
Speaker B: Interesting.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker B: The last childhood anecdote I wanted to share was from an article I read about her documentary Bridegroom, which I think you mentioned.
Speaker B: Was it killing all the right people this season?
Speaker A: I've mentioned it somewhere around there.
Speaker B: So Linda Bloodworth Thomason's father, was a lawyer who refused to allow the family to join the country club because Jews could not belong.
Speaker B: Her grandfather was also a lawyer and was shot by the Ku Klux Klan for his civil rights activities.
Speaker B: Her three uncles were also attorneys, including one who was a judge advocate at Nuremberg.
Speaker B: She says their voices have inspired her work and that quote, the great gift of my life was to be raised around these improbable men and their fierce ideas about mercy, justice, southern populism, racial equity, and religious tolerance.
Speaker B: That's a lot, right?
Speaker A: I know.
Speaker A: I'm like, I need five minutes.
Speaker B: If you were listening closely at the beginning, I'll call out one thing.
Speaker B: There was a little reference to country clubs and how her father wouldn't let the family join one since they wouldn't allow people who were Jewish to join.
Speaker B: That relates back to our extra sugar on country clubs in episode 19.
Speaker B: So definitely more real life inspiration there.
Speaker B: So Linda went on to graduate from Poplar Bluff High School, which I think we talked about at some point.
Speaker B: Tracks with Charlene all this time later with Charlene's character.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker B: Probably in that episode about Monet.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker A: I think season one, the Pink A**** no, what were they called?
Speaker A: What, the donkeys?
Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I said.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Are they the pink donkeys?
Speaker A: Is that it?
Speaker A: Why does that sound so dirty?
Speaker B: I don't know.
Speaker B: And you just keep leaning into it.
Speaker B: Maybe we should search that one.
Speaker B: But she got a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.
Speaker B: After college, she moved to La.
Speaker B: Yeah, that's what happened to me.
Speaker B: I was like, what?
Speaker B: You go from Missouri to La.
Speaker B: Where does that swerve happen?
Speaker B: While the la Times piece I mentioned earlier said she had every intention of becoming a lawyer after she graduated from the University of Missouri with an English degree, but instead she meandered off to La.
Speaker B: She said, quote, some friends from college said they were coming out here and I said, Gee, I'll come to that's.
Speaker B: How the foibles of youth can hoist you onto fame and fortune if you're lucky.
Speaker A: That's what she said.
Speaker B: That's what she said.
Speaker A: That's what she said.
Speaker B: So when she got to La.
Speaker B: She taught English at Jordan High School in the suburb of Watts.
Speaker B: After teaching, she worked for the Wall Street Journal in advertising, then became a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
Speaker B: During that time, she freelanced writing for television.
Speaker B: She worked on Mash, Roda and the original pilot for One Day at a Time.
Speaker B: Around this time, she met Mary Kay Place and they began collaborating on scripts together.
Speaker B: I had to look up Mary Kay Place because I heard her name mentioned a few times in this era of LBT's life, and the name is so familiar to me.
Speaker B: For any Captain Ron fans out there, have you ever seen that movie, the one with Kurt Russell and Martin Short?
Speaker A: I mean, I know what it is.
Speaker A: I never saw it.
Speaker B: We got another such a funny movie.
Speaker B: It is a real I'd probably put that in cult classic level, but it's one of mine and my husband's favorite movies.
Speaker B: Anyway.
Speaker B: Mary Kay Place plays Catherine Martin short's wife in the film.
Speaker B: I had no idea.
Speaker B: Again, all roads lead to LBT.
Speaker A: Interesting.
Speaker B: So anyway, she and Mary Kay worked on an episode of Mash, which was nominated for an Emmy.
Speaker B: So for that work she received a lot of acclaim and a lot of job offers, but she turned a lot of them down.
Speaker B: Most of them.
Speaker B: Probably all of them.
Speaker B: In fact, she said, quote, I wanted to get my own shows on the air.
Speaker B: I didn't want to die working these long hours for someone else's show.
Speaker B: I didn't want to bleed unless it was for my own show.
Speaker B: Man, most notably for designing Women fans.
Speaker B: This was also the era of Filthy Rich, which starred Delta Burke and Dixie Carter.
Speaker B: I didn't write it down, but I think it was only on the air for a season, maybe two.
Speaker B: But that's where she met these two actors and sort of brought them onto.
Speaker A: Designing Women because also played sisters on that show.
Speaker B: There you go.
Speaker B: On a personal note, it was also during this time that she met and married Harry and formed their production company, Mozark.
Speaker B: They met in 78, they married in 83, and they founded Mozart that same year.
Speaker B: Which brings us to the Designing Women era.
Speaker B: So obviously, as we're going through the show, we're covering this era in pretty painstaking detail.
Speaker B: So I'm not going to spend like a ton of time here, but there were a few things happening in the late eighty s and early 90s that I think are pretty big mile posts in her life, so I wanted to talk about them.
Speaker B: So, first up, I'll say that it was toward the end of this time that she and Harry inked a $50 million, $50 million multi series development deal with CBS.
Speaker B: This led them to creating Evening Shade, which aired from 1990 to 1994.
Speaker B: I honestly can't remember if we've talked about this here.
Speaker B: Do you remember?
Speaker A: I don't think we've talked specifically about Evening Shade.
Speaker A: Is that what you mean?
Speaker A: Or the $50 million cost.
Speaker B: Evening, shade.
Speaker A: Okay, yeah, I don't think so.
Speaker A: But Reese is on it.
Speaker B: Yes, I think that's right.
Speaker B: So is Burt Reynolds, which is the part burt Reynolds was on a TV show.
Speaker A: So you never saw Evening Shade?
Speaker A: Well, I was only five year old around watching Evening Shade, probably.
Speaker B: So this is fascinating to me.
Speaker B: It was a pretty significant hit for Mozart.
Speaker B: So, again, 1990 to 1994.
Speaker B: So it's unclear, actually, as to whether CBS truly canceled the show or whether Bert walked away from the show.
Speaker B: He was having some significant marital issues with his wife, Lonnie Anderson.
Speaker B: So I think it's fascinating to me that this show was apparently such a big hit that CBS may not have even canceled it.
Speaker B: Like, it may have been an unintentional show ending.
Speaker B: So as Designing Women was airing, she was simultaneously working on this show.
Speaker B: And then Hearts of Fire is a John Ritter vehicle that came out during this time period.
Speaker B: It aired from 92 to 95.
Speaker B: So that la.
Speaker B: Times article describes her in pretty striking detail during this time.
Speaker B: A couple of things that stuck out to me.
Speaker B: She truly was working incredibly hard.
Speaker B: She had all these shows going on.
Speaker B: She was writing and rewriting multiple scenes with all these different characters all at one time.
Speaker B: And so that La times article, which I'll link in the show notes, talks about how she would go from meeting to meeting, from set to set, and she's just changing these scripts on the fly.
Speaker A: I can't imagine.
Speaker B: Wild, right?
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: It also sounds like she struggled with the same things that other women in power have struggled with throughout time.
Speaker B: So in the context of the Delta Burke fiasco, which is another big thing that happens during this show, designing Women, that we have not talked about in detail, but will at some point, she said, quote, I know that.
Speaker B: As a woman who has power that if I even ask for a larger filing cabinet that could be interpreted as over the top.
Speaker B: A woman has to be very careful about how she assimilates in this business.
Speaker B: So in our main episode, I talked about how I would mention the Clinton relationship, and I'm going to talk about that here.
Speaker B: It would be weird to talk about this era, like late 80s, early ninety s, and not mention the Thomason's relationship with the Clintons at this point in time.
Speaker B: So those like, again, late 80s, early 90s, they'd been friends with the Clintons for about a decade, maybe over a decade.
Speaker B: So they share Arkansas roots through Harry.
Speaker B: They met while Bill was the governor of Arkansas in 92.
Speaker B: Linda was responsible for a documentary about Bill called The Man from Hope, which was to be played at the Democratic National Convention when he announced his candidacy for president.
Speaker B: Apparently, he got some heat for picking her for the job, but he bristled and said, Linda's going to make my film.
Speaker B: She knows me.
Speaker B: She knows what to do.
Speaker B: Everyone just needs to leave her alone.
Speaker B: So she did it.
Speaker B: They screened the film at the convention as planned, and it was massively embraced.
Speaker B: Later, when the race with George H.
Speaker B: W.
Speaker B: Bush got too close for Bill's comfort, clinton secured airtime on the four major network channels to air the documentary the night before the election.
Speaker B: According to an article I read, this was pre cable, so if you were watching TV that night, chances were you were watching that documentary.
Speaker B: On inauguration night, the Thomason stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Speaker B: For what it's worth, Linda said in a Hollywood Reporter article that a PBS reporter follow that with me.
Speaker B: So Linda says a PBS reporter told her they went on to stay at the White House a total of 101 times.
Speaker B: That's a lot of times.
Speaker A: That's a lot.
Speaker B: And there's like a whole drama with the Lincoln Bedroom that I won't go into here.
Speaker B: But I just thought that was an interesting fact.
Speaker B: And not a thing with the Thomasons in the Lincoln Bedroom, but that's like, the Lincoln Bedroom and the Clintons is like, a big thing.
Speaker B: So she began filming that night they on inauguration night, she began filming the next documentary about Clinton and went on to make three more, including Hillary, which was aired with her withdrawal from the 2008 election.
Speaker B: So you could say they're close, and they were definitely close during this time.
Speaker B: I found this quote from a 92 AP article that I'm just going to leave right here.
Speaker B: At the end of this era, when the Thomasons were about to be ousted as producers of Designing Women, after a much publicized flap with former star Delta Burke, bill Clinton spoke to a Sony Pictures executive on their behalf.
Speaker B: The Thomason stayed and Burke left instead.
Speaker B: Okay, there you go.
Speaker B: So post Designing Women era, by the late 90s, LBT's once blisteringly hot career cooled off significantly.
Speaker B: After Designing Women, Hearts of Fire and Evening Shade went off, she tried again with the Delta Burke spinoff, women of the House, but it was really short lived.
Speaker B: After she lost her CBS contract, she moved over to ABC to work on Emerald, which I think you mentioned at some point this season because my mind was blown.
Speaker B: It was a live action show with celebrity chef Emerald Lagasse.
Speaker B: It's just such a crazy early 2000s concept, right?
Speaker A: Yeah, it's such a thing of only that mole.
Speaker B: Again, a time capsule.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: The show got ten episodes produced between 2000 and 2001, but it was poorly received.
Speaker B: An airing was affected by 911.
Speaker B: So ultimately, only seven episodes of that show aired.
Speaker B: After that, things were a little quiet.
Speaker B: She wrote a book.
Speaker B: She directed some more documentaries, including Bridegroom, and she worked in theater.
Speaker B: She wrote a book to a revised First Wives Club musical.
Speaker B: And then of course, she did the Designing Women.
Speaker B: You're interested now?
Speaker A: I love first Wives Club.
Speaker B: I do love the First Wives Club.
Speaker B: Then of course, she did the Designing Women play, which we covered in some special episodes this season.
Speaker B: But a 2018 Hollywood Reporter column she wrote gives her insights into why she lost some steam just before Emerald.
Speaker B: According to that column, which is titled Designing Women creator goes public with Les Moonvez War.
Speaker B: Not all harassment is sexual.
Speaker B: When Les Moonves got involved and I Googled the pronunciation of his name and that's how I heard it a few times.
Speaker B: So if I'mispronouncing that I'm sorry, but that's how I heard it.
Speaker A: I think you're doing great.
Speaker B: Thank you.
Speaker B: When he got involved at the executive level at CBS in the mid 90s, he sidelined her, to put it mildly.
Speaker B: The piece goes on to chronicle her experience working at CBS during that time period, detailing a number of concerning encounters she had with him and things she heard about him and other people.
Speaker B: This piece was written following Ronan Farrow's bombshell New Yorker article saying that six women accused Munves of harassment and intimidation.
Speaker B: He was subsequently relieved of duty at CBS, and Linda got the last word.
Speaker B: She ended her column saying and as for you, Mr.
Speaker B: Munves, in spite of the fact that I was raised to be a proper Southern female, and with your acknowledgment that I have never in my life spoken a single crossword to you despite the way you treated me, may I simply say, channeling my finest.
Speaker B: Julia Sugar Baker delivery.
Speaker B: Go yourself.
Speaker B: And you know what?
Speaker B: I'm not sure there's a better way to go out than a well timed fu.
Speaker B: Do you agree?
Speaker A: I do.
Speaker B: So I'll wrap up quickly by saying I was floored to read about her work ethic during the early ninety s.
Speaker B: I honestly cannot imagine bouncing set to set, actor to actor, revising lines, setting up plot points.
Speaker B: I am embarrassed to admit how long and I have admitted to Selena offair how long it took me to put this one extra sugar together.
Speaker B: It's a lot.
Speaker B: And she was doing this daily for years.
Speaker B: I think it's incredible how she did it all.
Speaker B: I also loved reading about how those closest to her talk about her and how they perceive her.
Speaker B: That's in some of the articles I'll link in the show Notes, she experienced some major tragedy in her life.
Speaker B: And right around the time of Designing Women, which we've talked about, but her friends just over and over again say how she pushes through.
Speaker B: She sees the bright spots in life, which I just love.
Speaker B: I think there's value in feeling your feelings, but also remembering that if you've survived, you're still here.
Speaker B: And life goes on, and you need to keep moving forward.
Speaker B: So I just love that about her.
Speaker B: I loved learning a little bit more about her.
Speaker B: So I hope this has been a fitting tribute to her.
Speaker A: I love it.
Speaker B: So thank listeners for sticking around for this final season two sweet tea and TV edition of Extra Sugar.
Speaker A: Excuse me.
Speaker B: Were you here?
Speaker A: I was only asking because when you were trying to record me without my consent and I sounded far away, I just wanted to make sure that you felt comfortable with that.