BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Wordiezett So much average

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Syl For some strange reason, I always remembered this show. Maybe it was the outrageousness of it all or the fact that parodied Dallas. Anyway, I loved Dixie Carter, Ann Wedgeworth, Nedra Volz, and Delta Burke here more than I liked Dixie and Delta on Designing Women. I love parodies and this show should have been huge but again the demographics probably did not meet with network requirements like they did with Mama's Family and other shows that never made the cut. After all, they wanted a younger, hipper audiences. Now who is getting the last laugh since Blue Collar Comedy is back and in demand more than ever. That was the appeal of Filthy Rich was all the outrageousness about money and social classes. Too bad there were only fifteen episodes, we could have had more.

richard.fuller1 I was thinking about this today.As others have noted, you had to hear Dixie Carter's deliveries to believe them.I for one felt that Designing Women really wasted what Carter could do. Making Dixie Carter and Delta Burke sisters (of all things!) was one of the worst castings I had ever seen.I believe the show began with Big Daddy (Slim Pickens. I must have stopped watching the show when Forrest Tucker took over, and i have no idea how he was portrayed) had died and the family had gathered to watch his videotape will. This was when he revealed the illegitimate son and the son's wife.They were all funny, including the cardboard son, Charles Frank, as Stanley.Stanley: "Well, Marshall, it seems like your plan has been foiled." Marshall: "I don't like the tone of your voice, Stanley." Stanley repeats himself, imitating a duck this time.Delta would throw herself at the young handsome son, and again, as someone else noted, while he would be bathing in a bubble bath and wearing his cowboy hat.I was recalling one bit with Dixie Carter, as Carlotta. She had been taking a shower and had realized she left the bottle of shampoo she just bought down in the car in the garage, so she ran naked to get it, since no one else was home. She was telling this story to Marshall as she entered the bedroom wrapped in some tarp.As she stood in the garage, the door went up or something, and her hand got caught and the garage door raised up.Marshall: "Did the door open all the way?" Carlotta: "Eleven times, Marshall." Marshall: "Did anyone see you?" Carlotta: "The mailman." Marhsall: "Did he say anything?" Carlotta: "HE SAID HAVE A NICE DAY!!!" This was the opening joke of this episode, but I do recall nothing else was funny in the episode.Filthy Rich had come about as a mid-season replacement or shown over the summer, instead of another show called "Mamma Malone" (pronounced Mah-low-nee, she was Italian).Mamma Malone was shelved and eventually did air later on. It was a shame Malone had been trounced so badly by Filthy Rich's arrival, because truthfully, Mamma Malone wasn't that bad either.Lila Kaye, an English actress, had played the character.Two very good shows that left much too soon. Ah well.

drwhobob-2 Unfortunately, the storylines from the third episode forward didn't keep up the standards. First, they replaced Slim Pickens as the late "Big Guy" Beck with Forrest Tucker. Although a great actor, Forrest just didn't come off as funny as Slim did. (Unfortunately, I believe they had no choice, as that was about the time Slim passed away.) The banter between Delta Burke and Dixie Carter was incredible, and the addition of Nedra Volz as "Big Guy's" ex, whose elevator didn't go to the top, whose porch-light was on, but nobody was home, helped as well. If only the story-lines kept up the standards set by the first two, maybe the series would have lasted.Even with that being said, this series should be released, as the first two episodes make the whole series worth having. (I was beside myself when Dixie Carter told Delta Burke to "shove her Mary Ann Mobley act into a hatbox and hit the road.")

TelevisionJunkie You would think that since this show laid the groundwork for "Designing Women," and was a scathing spoof of '80s prime-time dramas, some network would pull it out of the vaults. It was, however, very different in tone and style than its successor...The Becks were a cut-throat, rich, Southern family who recently lost their patriarch, Big Guy. As a stipulation of Big Guy's "video" will, in order to acquire his wealth, the family had to live together at the family mansion and "cohabitate in love, peace and harmony" with one another -- and with Big Guy's recently revealed illegitimate son, trashy RV salesman Wild Bill Westchester ("and his lovely and whimsical wife, Bootsy"). This did not bode well with Big Guy's whiny son, Marshall, Marshall's domineering wife, Carlotta, or Big Guy's second (trophy) wife, gold-digger Kathleen. Although Marshall and Carlotta didn't particularly like Kathleen, "nothing brings enemies together like greed." Mother B was Big Guy's first wife (mother to Marshall and Stanley), a loopy nursing-home-runaway. Stanley was Big Guy's other son (and the object of Kathleen's affection), the only normal one in the family, who had invested his money wisely and didn't need any of Big Guy's anyway. The result was comedic gold. Dixie Carter, Delta Burke and Michael Lombard were hilarious as they devoured the scenery while conspiring to get Big Guy's cash. Nedra Volz was hysterical as the senile mother who spouted off whatever came to her mind ("Anyhow, I'm senile, half my teeth are gone - I don't care if you date goats!"). Ann Wedgeworth was brilliantly cast as the insipidly stupid country hick who thought she was smart (after all she had read the encyclopedia from A-Y!). Jerry Hardin was great as Wild Bill, a smooth talking southern dork. Charles Frank as the down-to-earth ladies man (who was often seen in a bubble-bath sporting a cowboy hat) was fantastic. And Slim Pickens was delightful as goofy Big Guy (though Forrest Tucker, who took over the role when Pickens was too ill to continue, was a little too sedate in the part). The writing was clever (though sometimes dated today) and the cast had an incredible chemistry.So what happened? CBS happened. It debuted as the #1 show, but CBS quickly bumped it around the schedule before dropping it altogether. What should have been a long-running hit was quickly reduced to a 15-episode memory. In one way, that's perhaps a good thing or "Designing Women" wouldn't have come to be. In another way, it's a horrible shame, since this was truly a great show. With the success of DW, it's surprising that Columbia has just left it sitting in the vaults -- more than a curio, it's a gem in a sea of rocks (since many '80s sitcoms were the latter) and tapes are extremely difficult to come by, even from TV collectors...