Sweet Tea & TV: Recent Episodes
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A podcast by two Southerners exploring and celebrating the better parts of Southern culture on TV and in entertainment. Seasons 1 and 2 - Designing Women.
That’s right - 24 hours of recording later, and we STILL have more to say about season 2. So, whatcha say, finale-finale? We'll do a behind-the-numbers; revisit some of our favorite moments of the season; a revisit references we've dug into along the way.
Stick around for “Extra Sugar”, where we learn about the woman, the myth, the legend: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.
What do you get when you mix four men with four women and a whole lotta hot buttered rum? About 15 minutes of jabs, digs, and insults, followed by two solid minutes of awkward slow dancing. That’s right, y’all, season two wraps with a few reminders: men are from Mars, women are from Venus, and Anthony can’t ever be in the finale.
Stay tuned for an “Extra Sugar” where we talk about some of our favorite things to do in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Ugh, Ted returns, and this time he’s got Mary Jo all confused with infuriating compliments about her old soul, young bum, and unrivaled Beef Wellington (and we’re pretty sure that last one isn’t a euphemism). Meanwhile, Quint is acting up again, and only Anthony can help…not Ted. Let that sink in. OH! And, Quint’s Garfield lunch box gives us the perfect excuse for this week’s “Extra Sugar” on 80s and 90s cartoons. Eeeeeeek!
LBT took a big swing at sexism in the church with this one, and in an exciting turn, she uses Bernice to hit it out of the park. That’s right, one of our faves, is a biblical savant and low key feminist who destroys Charlene’s minister’s antiquated argument against women in ministry. Meanwhile, Julia sings “for all us girls, everywhere” – giving us 2016 Hillary vibes all. over. again.
Stick around for this week’s “Extra Sugar” where we explore the genesis of this episode: women at the pulpit.
What happens when you cross a pet pig, beauty titles, and a few pesky divorces with an exclusive, Old South country club? Well, you might not get invited to join. Poor Suzanne has her eyes set on an elite membership, but her big-mouthed sister (...and impending financial ruin…and a few other things…) may be standing in her way. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing?
After the show, let’s have a little “Extra Sugar” - where we’ll spill the tea on country clubs. We’ll talk a bit about the history and breakdown some of the “-ism” claims Julia makes against Beaumont.
You know it’s a wild ride when we start by selling edible undies and end by winning big in Atlantic City, well, not us, but Suzanne and her PICs, Charlene (AKA the Roomie) and Anthony (AKA the Gambling Advisor).
That’s right, when times get desperate, Suzanne does what any of us would do: takes her last bit of money, puts it all on black, and lets it ride. (That’s a thing, right?) Meanwhile, we have questions: what do nightly cake and pie parties entail? Who’s doing this…and can we come?
Stick around for this week’s “Extra Sugar” where we talk about great comebacks, inspired by Charlene’s FedEx story.
It’s wedding bells for Suzanne, who is marrying the oldest, meanest (and wealthiest) man in Atlanta after learning her accountant ran off with all her money. That’s OK, Julia’s gonna solve everything with a flirting technique that will haunt us ‘til our dying day.
Crack open something good for this week’s “Extra Sugar” where we’re talking about the history of canned cocktails.
It’s a tale as old as time. Boy asks girl to the dance. Boy’s father says no. Girl’s mom protests. Boy’s father asks the girl's mom on a date. You got all that? Yeah, we needed to watch this one a few times, too, but don’t worry! When the plot thickens, we’re here to break it. All. The. Way. Down.
Stick around for “Extra Sugar” where we unpack “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”, including the barriers it broke down–and the ones it didn’t.
On this week’s "Designing Women", we learn about an extra branch on the Sugarbaker family tree - and he’s named Clayton. That’s right, Clayton Sugarbaker joins us from his latest stay at the “Macadamia Ranch”. Julia wants to put him on display, while Suzanne hopes maybe they don’t have to tell anyone about his mental health issues. Who would have ever guessed they would disagree on something??? But, worry not, together, they help him discover his dream by the end of the half-hour.
About halfway through the episode, Salina brings us a “Salina’s Sidebar” on guest star, Lewis Grizzard. And, because he was a UGA alum, Nikki uses that as a springboard to FINALLY get a whole “Extra Sugar” all about UGA - this one about noteworthy UGA alums.
Grab your mandatory fluffy robe, tissue, and a pint (or two) of Häagen-Dazs: it’s a breakup episode. And when Charlene cries, we cry. But we have questions like: do people still watch “Home Shopping” in the Amazon age? Do you really not “care about your appearance” if you have a full face of makeup on? Will Charlene ever “get hip” to the MTV generation?
Stick around for this week’s "Extra Sugar" to explore the highs and lows of Hollywood’s favorite romantic trope: kissing in the rain.
We meet the man, the myth, the terrifying legend: T. Tommy Reed. That’s right, Anthony’s infamous cellmate tracks him down to make him an offer he [probably] can’t refuse. Meanwhile, we’re still hotly debating what’s worse: Anthony’s plight or Mary Jo’s staycation with JD and their combined five children.
Stick around for this week’s "Extra Sugar" where we talk about our favorite staycation spots here in Georgia (and...like...close to Georgia).
When good intentions meet bad intentions, we get multiple Santas, a robbery, and an injured elf. Can the gals + Anthony salvage the Christmas spirit?! Uh, duh, it’s the 80s. Dollars to donuts: we’re all singing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” before it’s all done.
Stick around for this week’s "Extra Sugar" where we talk about Southern Christmas traditions AND our standout Christmas memories.
Mary Jo, Suzanne, Charlene, and Julia reluctantly find themselves on a date with Howard, a walking nosebleed they met on the singles cruise. At his 15-year high school reunion. Where he’s telling people he slept with all of them. Will they (will we?) make it through his revenge fantasy?
Stick around for this week’s "Extra Sugar", where we discuss TV, books, and food we’re enjoying right now.
It’s Design Expo ‘87, baby, and you know what that means: Charlene, Mary Jo and Julia come down with the plague, while a terrible snow storm forces Anthony and Suzanne to cuddle up in a Tennessee motel room. But the most unexpected reveal? Definitely Charlene’s domestic meat allergy that one year in high school.
Stick around for this week’s "Extra Sugar" where we dig into the history of interracial marriage.
Charlene’s psychic didn’t see Colonel Bill Stillfield coming. That’s OK, we didn’t see this 1940s “fever dream” musical coming, so… hope you’re up to date on your WWII-era history and references! (A quick primer: America, good. HItler, bad. Rations were a thing.) And we’ll dig into one big, little reference, the Hollywood Canteen, in "Salina’s Sidebar."
Stick around for this week’s "Extra Sugar" where we take a closer look at the role and experiences of African Americans in WWII.
What’s worse than a single’s cruise? Four women bunking together in something roughly the size of a large walk-in closet? Maybe. Dinner seating with strangers? Warmer. Rebuffing the advances of someone whose shirt is unbuttoned uncomfortably low? Yep, that’s the one.
Suzanne and Mary Jo go head-to-head to see who can land the best looking man, and we meet Claude, who is a darn delight -- and the subject of this week’s Salina’s Sidebar.
This week’s Extra Sugar is all about our personal highs and lows on the high seas. (See what we did there?)
On this week’s “Designing Women” episode, we get a BIG health scare (not as big as season 1, episode 12/13, but a big one nonetheless.) Julia explores her true feelings for Reese, while fending off the romantic advances of one of his lifelong “frenemies.” And, one of our characters has an expected spurt of superhero, while another has to read an...uncomfortable...letter at a former client’s...funeral? Yeah...this one was a wild ride.
For a little “Extra Sugar”, let's play another round of “Grits Blitz”, Southern trivia-style!
Ah, another one of Suzanne’s exes. This time it’s Dash Goff, the writer, and he’s sad, but he perks himself by individually meeting with each cast member. By the end, we all learn a few things: 1) Suzanne was a terrible spouse (?), 2) reading is important, and 3) Dash sure knows how to write some uncomfortable stuff about Southern women. Stick around for this week’s ‘Extra Sugar’ to discuss Dash IRL, Gerald McRaney and his marriage to the one, the only: Ms. Delta Burke.
Phew! We did it! We squeezed in for a last-minute virtual viewing of the recent Designing Women play. That’s right - we said play! Set in 2020, as one would expect, LBT’s thoughts on politics, religion, and public health were on full display and we had…thoughts.
A holiday gift from us to you! We had originally planned to take the next couple of weeks off for the holidays. But, then we watched the recent Designing Women play and ended up with a special sweet treat for the podcast. We’ll start this week with a sneak peek of our reactions and we’ll be back next week with what we’re calling “The Full Sweet Tea & TV Treatment.”
Our "Designing Women" and poor Anthony have a knack for finding the most eccentric clients. This time it comes in the form of Mr. Tyson, who enjoys painting stick figure portraits and giving away anything that happens to be in his pocket at the time. Did we mention he falls in love easily? Meanwhile, Bernice shows up looking for help--and boy is that a mouthful.
Stick around for this week’s ‘"Extra Sugar" where we’ll talk about Alice Ghostley, who played Bernice.
Grab some tissue, no, like the whole box ‘cause this one is a gut puncher. Designing Women takes on the AIDS crisis, homophobia, and contraception in schools all in one episode.
Stick around for this week’s ‘Extra Sugar’ where we discuss the real events that inspired this one...right down to the episode title, as well as Designing Women’s place in LGBTQ TV history.
Hooray for an Anthony Bouvier episode! This time, he finds himself a lady friend and cooks up a scheme to have her and her parents over for dinner, while making them think he’s wealthy and successful, as one does. Unfortunately, his lady friend’s daddy isn’t super into the whole thing and he cooks up a little scheme of his own to get rid of Anthony. (Hint: This scheme is adorable and cries a lot. And wins over Anthony’s ever-lovin’ heart.) Oh, did we mention we finally got his origin story?
And hang tight for ‘Extra Sugar’ where we dig into a teeny reference to Tuxedo Road here in Atlanta.
Mary Jo is having a rough go: she finds out Ted is getting remarried, while simultaneously luring their kids away with his extravagant lifestyle and gifts. Suzanne teaches us a lesson about frenemies (sort of), Charlene almost gets the hang of metaphors, and Anthony reaches gold-level status.
Hang around for this week’s scrumptious "Extra Sugar", where we’re talking Turkey Day, but with a Southern twist. It’s Nikki’s Nibbles y’all!
It’s season 2, y’all! Our “Designing Women” gals find themselves sprucing up an old gas station for an unexpected client, who Julia goes off on and Charlene (de?) pantses to see if he is her future husband. And if we’ve learned anything: be sure to have a licensed professional check out any funky moles. Stick around for this week’s Extra Sugar where we talk all things 1987.
As we recorded season 1 of "Sweet Tea & TV", some alarming gaps in Nikki’s movie history came to light. What were two podcasters to do?? Watch the darn thing and talk about it. What first reactions did someone in 2021 have about a 1990 rom-com where a sex worker finds fairy tale romance with a handsome corporate raider? You know we’re not going to say! But we will tell you we broke down some fun trivia and the movie’s enduring legacy. And don’t worry, we connected the movie to the South and "Designing Women." All is well.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sure, we’ve wrapped our review of "Designing Women"'s first season (and incidentally the first season of the podcast), but we need ONE more episode to process it all. So we did what we do best: we ate the snacks, drank the drinks, and chatted the chats(?).
Stick around for ‘Extra Sugar’ where we talk about the less-than-stellar critical reception from, well, pretty much only male critics. Because, if they’ve taught us anything, do we really need multiple female-led casts?
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who tuned into our first season! We’ve appreciated the interest, the comments, and even the corrections. :)
This week's episode comes with a trigger warning: it's all about sexual harassment and assault. If that’s triggering for you, press “pause” and come back to us next week.
If you stick around, we'll talk about this week’s Designing Women episode, which was the season 1 finale, Bachelor Suite. Mary Jo is confronted with a difficult (and dangerous) client, but tries to stick it out for the Benjamins. But, JD - and the rest of the ladies - aren’t too happy about it. This rather ho-hum finale escalated super-quickly with an over-the-head-vase-break and a tersely-worded business card. In “Extra Sugar”, we talk a little bit about sexual harassment, Me Too, and everything in between.
This week, Designing Women fiiiiiiinally introduces us to the source of one of Suzanne’s monthly alimony checks, a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves! And he’s got a little {steamy} light reading for his ex-wife. And after the show, we’ll take you out to the ball game in “Extra Sugar”, where we learn a bit more about Atlanta’s hometown baseball heroes, the Braves. (You bring the Cracker Jack!)
Money may not buy happiness, but it will buy you a tennis bracelet, Rolex, convertible Mustang, and a horse. The "Designing Women" find themselves literally caught in the crossfire of their new clients, The Tates, who are just as crazy as they are rich. Will our lady loves + Anthony make it out alive?? Hang around for this week’s "Extra Sugar", where we talk about Bill “Bojangles” Robinson after a subtle reference drop from Anthony.
Uh-oh...on this week's "Designing Women", we find out two things: 1.) Mary Jo has a complicated relationship with her dad, and 2.) he has the hots for Charlene. Stick around for this week’s ‘Extra Sugar’ to see how Salina handles a rapid fire game all about sororities -- and Nikki shares some memories along the way.
Let's have a cleansing cry together, shall we?? In this week's "Designing Women", two big things happen: Suzanne falls in love with the little girl she temporarily adopts, and then we try and scrape ourselves off the floor...but we’re sobbing too hard. But, hey! We stopped crying long enough to talk about the weird history of one of the most popular toys from the 1980s in this week’s ‘Extra Sugar’.
On the 17th episode of "Designing Women", Charlene trusts the wrong person again -- this time a hot shot Nashville producer promising to make her the next country music star. Anthony gets caught up in a love triangle gone wrong -- and we all meet Charlene’s next of kin...all 27 of them. Don’t miss out on this week’s ‘Extra Sugar’ where Nikki teaches all of us a little something about country music.
On this week's "Designing Women," Reese returns, and this time he and Julia are in a full-out war over a new, very attractive lawyer at his firm (though we hear she has big feet). So naturally, they do what any two mature adults would do -- break up in the most dramatic fashion possible and then rub each other’s noses in it. Perhaps the most interesting thing: Anthony is deftly skilled at folding napkins in a tulip pattern. Stick around for this week’s ‘Extra Sugar’ where we take a closer look at Southern etiquette.
As it turns out, Charlene’s not doing too good on her New Year’s resolution. That’s right, she trusted the wrong person again and this time it’s turned the tables: now, the Designing Women have found themselves behind bars and Anthony is their legal representation. Like Salina always says, what could go wrong? Stick around for some “Extra Sugar” where Salina takes a closer look at a well known political figure referenced in the episode (or are they??)
Now, stop me if you’ve heard this one before: three interior designers and an office manager walk into a brothel…
This week, the Designing Women are thrown for a loop when an old friend of Charlene’s rolls into town with a big budget and a big secret. (And it’s not that she’s a carpenter.)
If that’s not enough for ya, stick around for a little “Extra Sugar”, where Salina highlights a true, national treasure, Ms. Jean Smart.
This week, we're covering episodes 12 and 13, which debuted on the same night as a two-parter in 1987, in Designing Women's grand re-entry to network TV after it was unceremoniously put on hiatus. Stick around for our ‘Extra Sugar’ where we break down the answers to everything Charlene was “wonderin about”. But before all that, we’ve got big problems to solve: the “slacks king of the South '' is threatening to break every bone in Anthony’s body, Mary Jo and JD can’t seem to shake their exes, and Charlene has a health scare. Spoiler alert: it all works out in the end because it’s the 80s, and you know what? We’re OK with that.
We rang in 1987 with all of our fave ‘design ladies’...and a few gentlemen. New Year’s Eve was pretty much a bust until it turns out Charlene’s mysterious date is the prison escapee all of Atlanta is trying to find. Our Googles are tired from all the references we had to look up - and ‘Extra Sugar’ is all about New Year’s traditions...or lack there of.
What does it take for Designing Women to acknowledge Suzanne’s relationship with Mary Jo’s ex-husband? One voodoo curse, a grown up slumber party, and approximately nine rum balls. Plus, stick around for "Extra Sugar", where we reminisce about our favorite sleepover memories; and Salina breaks up some Voodoo stereotypes.
Charlene finds herself in love with two men. Suzanne DOES NOT have PMS. And Julia doesn’t want to hear pet names or about who or what gets people all "hot and bothered." Meanwhile Mary Jo sucks down one too many Mai Tais, and inquiring minds need to know: why would one want a voice- activated brassiere? And stick around for another installment of Grits Blitz in this week's Extra Sugar.
In this episode, Julia and her boyfriend - played by real-life husband, Hal Holbrook, take us on the 22-minute “will they, won’t they” roller coaster ride that no one - even them - wanted. We share our feelings about the onscreen pair and get a glimpse at the couple’s off-screen romance and marriage.
Thanksgiving is gonna get awkward. We meet Julia and Suzanne’s mother, Perky, who comes into town along with her eccentric friend, Bernice. Julia and Mary Jo take a stroll through the bank’s drive thru, Anthony gets accused of murder, and we learn the dangers of a post-Thanksgiving sofa snooze. And stick around for Nikki’s Nibbles during this week’s Extra Sugar segment where Nikki fills us in on the history of pie. The kicker: Salina blind taste tests two pies -- can she figure out which is homemade and which is store-bought?
We find out how you can work a job on a “trial basis,” we meet ANTHONY!!! In fact, Salina’s Sidebar explores Meshach Taylor’s recollection of his character and what the show meant to him.) Oh! And a house burns down. As usual, hang around till the bitter end for some extra sugar - a fun game about a well-known character actor.
Let's get into the “madcap mayhem” that ensues after Suzanne sets Charlene up on a blind date, which doesn’t go quite the way Mary Jo wants it to. And a familiar face reappears. Stick around to the end for a little extra sugar where Salina takes us deep into the real-life Newsweek article the women discuss as the episode opens.
Julia has a son (and he’s a very familiar face for many of us!) And he has a lady friend who does NOT impress Julia. A mother-son dynamic + a significant age gap + two very strong women —> as Salina always says, “WHAT could go wrong?” Turns out, a lot.
The episode that reminded us sitcoms are not like fine wines - the jokes don't always age well. But, we had some fun and maybe learned that Salina plays the oboe...?
Buckle up, folks, we’re picking all the nits of this epic Designing Women episode, which dives into Suzanne’s identity as beauty pageant contestant. This episode is chock full: a homemade jingle, an epic Julia takedown, and a sidebar into the history of beauty pageants. NOT TO MENTION, a little extra sugar - where we revisit some “unfinished business” from episode 1.
In 1986, four brazen women shared Southern culture with the nation, through quick wit and real-life issues. 30 years later, two Southern women are revisiting the series to see what they got right, what they got wrong, and how the show holds in 2021. Let's explore episode 1 - the pilot.
Hey y'all! Are we Southern enough to explore the better parts of Southern culture on TV and in entertainment? Join us for this prologue to learn more about us and our podcast - Sweet Tea & TV - before we dive into Designing Women, episode 1.
In this episode, we're testing Salina's Southern movie knowledge in a game we like to call, Grits Blitz. Can she guess these twisted up Southern classics?