A night with the "Designing Women" Part One

You put Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Dixie Carter and Annie Potts together in a room and you are going to have magic. That's what happened Wednesday night at the Museum of Television and Radio when these four amazing actresses reunited for only the second time since "Designing Women" left the air. They inhabited four classic sitcom characters on that show but when watching them interact as themselves, it is just as interesting...and FUNNY!
They joined the show's brilliant creator and head writer Linda Bloodworth Thomason for the event which had a standing room only audience filled with serious "Designing Women" afficionados. It was nice to not be the only person in the room to be mouthing the words of dialogue as the show's classic pilot episode was screened prior to a panel discussion.

I gotta say, for a rabid "Designing Women" fan like me, this was a night I will never forget. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, with whom I'd had a terrific interview with last week, greeted me before the show with a great big hug and introduced me to Jean Smart. Then I chatted up Annie Potts before heading into the packed theater for the program. Hmmm. Where to sit? I don't know how this happened, but next thing I know, a staff member is guiding me down to the second row. Then next thing I know, the cast is escorted in and I am directly behind Linda and Delta! Annie, Jean then Dixie filled out the row. So, not only am I stoked to be sitting so near them, I get to watch THEM as they watch the pilot episode together. They would whisper to each other, give each other a look at a particularly funny moment, Jean was cackling hard during some spots and Dixie was just in a constant state of laughter.
In the pilot, her character got the most laughs so this was a real showcase for the actress. One of my favorite lines of Dixie's is when obnoxious Ray Don Simpson ("I want to thank you...RAY DON...") tries to join the women for lunch at a sushi restaurant saying they look like they could use a little male company. Dixie puts down her chop sticks, looks at him and says: "Trust me when I say that you have completely misjudged this situation."

Anyway, there were some terrific lines during the panel portion and I'll have to share those with you later today in a separate post. But what was also cool was that when I took the microphone to ask a question, Linda introduced me to the audience! Holy cow! Love her! Harry Thomason slipped into the theater after the program was underway. After it was over, he turned around and introduced himself to me.
What a heady night.
I'll finish this later, gotta get on the freeway and head to the office.