Sweet Tea & TV

We’ve reached the part of the season where we’re ready to talk about Salina’s “spirit Golden Girl”; America’s most curmudgeonly storyteller; the resident “roastmaster” with the emotional grace of a wrecking ball: Sophia Petrillo.  Sophia brought us unequivocally blunt honesty, but she also brought us comic relief and a whole lotta heart (buried under the…verbal assaults…” Let’s talk about her char...

We’ve come to the moment where we can finally talk about possibly the one last thing all Americans can agree on: the loveliness that was Betty White.  Betty White grew up with television and she paid her dues. From hours in full make-up on live television, to decades of stiff game show competition, “The Golden Girls” was far from her only contribution to culture and entertainment. The part we don’...

Rose Nylund may not be one to “toot her own Vertugenflürgen, so we’ll do it for her.  Let’s face it: she’s the Golden Girl you want to hug most. She’s the forever optimist, genuinely sincere and sincerely genuine, inclusive, and downright wholesome. Rose is like a walking, breathing plate of warm cookies and hot cocoa.  But don’t get it twisted: she’s also strong, wildly competitive, and not to be...

In this week’s “Extra Sugar”, we’re going beyond the biosketch and learning much more about the real woman behind Dorothy Zbornak: Bea Arthur.  We’re talking about her fearless advocacy, her trailblazing role in Maude — where she tackled issues like women’s rights, aging, and reproductive freedom — and how that legacy paved the way for Dorothy and generations of strong female characters to come. S...

Dorothy Zbornak could level a room with one withering stare — and finish the job with a single sarcastic comment. This week on “Sweet Tea & TV”, we’re diving into the world of The Golden Girls’ resident truth-teller — the tall, tough, totally iconic Dorothy, played by Bea Arthur. We’ll unpack what makes her the glue (and sometimes the eye-roll) of the group, why her brand of honesty hits just...

Rue McClanahan once said, “People always ask me if I’m really like Blanche. And I say, ‘Well, Blanche was just Rue with the volume turned up.’” In this week’s “Extra Sugar”, we’re raising a slice of cheesecake to Rue, learning about her five-decade career, some of the diverse roles she had after Golden Girls, AND how she got that name: Rue. And, as always, thank you for being a friend!

Blanche Devereaux is so many things. She’s the lady of my dreams, your dreams, all of our dreams. But, like, she’s also the branch from Designing Women to Golden Girls. Sometimes we just close our eyes and it’s almost like we’re right back there with our favorite Atlanta siren: Suzanne Sugarbaker. All batting eyelashes and questionable comments. Join us on our new adventure as we hop from characte...

Covering Golden Girls got us thinking about what a feat it was to get four women – let alone those over the age of 50 – in leading roles on TV in the 1980s. We decided it was time for a temperature check: how is Hollywood doing all these years on? What has and hasn’t changed since these iconic women left the screen 30+ years ago? What did Golden Girls get right at the time and where did they miss...

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

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

AGH! Red alert - STTV is back (sort of...) At a minimum, we are reemerging from our T. Swift pre-Reputation era cave long enough to reconvene the STTV Book Club! We were so honored to be invited to a book release event by Mary Dixie Carter, author of Marguerite by the Lake (and daughter of Dixie Carter!)  Her new novel - “An atmospheric, tense novel about the death of a glamorous garden designer,...

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

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

The year, Patreon friends: 2003. The goal: bring back the original cast of "Designing Women". Sprinkle in: LBT, Pam Norris, and allll the husbands for good measure.   We couldn't possibly close out the series without chatting about the Lifetime Reunion: general reactions, favorite moments, and biggest surprises.   Come on, y'all, let's get into it! 

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

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

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

This week’s Extra Sugar is inspired by Mary Jo’s brush with the supernatural after Elvis’s face appears on her shovel in season 7, episode 17. We’re also introduced to Jade Herman, a self-proclaimed expert in the “para-spectacular”, who “markets and promotes everything from Jesus’ face on a toaster to UFOs landing in a wheat field outside of London.” Naturally, Salina then curated a list of five p...

Justice for Mary Jo! That’s what we were yelling at the end of season 7. Mary Jo - and, in fact, Annie Potts - deserved so much more than the “Designing Women” writers gave her this season. Of course, there were some funny parts and a couple social commentaries but, for the most part, we veered into funhouse territory - just minus the fun.  Come on y’all, let’s rip off the Band-aid and get into it...

This week’s Carlene episode opened the door to something we just have to talk about: Southern Suffragists (courtesy of Carlene’s boyfriend, Eric, giving Julia a book on the topic in episode 20).  We’ll talk about the women’s suffragist movement generally, unpack the South’s role and what happened here, and wrap up by looking at some women (and men!) suffragists who helped make it happen.  Come on...

The short version of this episode is: Salina and Nikki are disappointed that the writers/producers/universe short-changed easily one of the high points of the post-shakeup “Designing Women” cast. Poor Carlene is reduced to just a couple storylines and a few pop-in jokes here and there. But, that won’t stop us from giving her her due! Let’s get into our thoughts (and feels) about Carlene’s portraya...

All the way back in season 4, in “Bernice’s Sanity Hearing” (which we called “ Some LIke Dolls, Some Like Revenge ”), Julia said: "I'm saying this is the South, and we're proud of our crazy people. We don't hide them up in the attic. We bring 'em right down to the living room and show 'em off. See, Phyllis, no one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family. They just ask what s...

All aboard! Headed to our next stop on the ST&TV Season 7 Train - BERNICE. The writers for “Designing Women” season 7 were ALL IN on Bernice as the comic relief this season and so were we. (Don’t be surprised if we break all the rules and share dozens of “funniest moments” for Bernice this season!) We’ll hit all the highs and lows for this red-hot mama.  And don’t forget to come back Thursday...

Our Anthony episode– and his rebound trip to Las Vegas – was a perfectly adequate excuse for Salina to talk about the Dixie Mafia. Confused? OK, stay with us. When people think about Vegas, they think about the mafia. But what if we told you there was a Southern mafia? The Dixie Mafia. AKA the Southern mob, AKA the Cornbread Cosa Nostra.  Join us as we shed some light on their origins AND some of...

Next up in our character run-down for season 7, the one, the only: ANTHONY BOUVIER!  As we wrap up our time with Anthony, let’s take a second to appreciate the endless shenanigans the Designing Women have put him through, his quickie, season 7 marriage, his never-ending law school career, and the twist ending that has us all wondering if Bernice’s feelings for him were truly unrequited. We’ll make...