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ONE SEASON WONDERS: Women of the House

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a series that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at Women of the House!

WOMEN OF THE HOUSE















January 4, 1995 - August 18, 1995
9 episodes
CBS

Starring: Delta Burke, Teri Garr, Patricia Heaton, Valerie Mahaffey
Created by: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Plot: Suzanne Sugarbaker's (Burke) husband, a US representative, had died so Suzanne heads to D.C. to serve the remainder of his term. She assembles a mostly female staff including former reporter turned press secretary Sissy Emerson (Garr) and a conservative administrative assistant, Natty (Heaton). Rounding out the main staff was former housewife turned receptionist Jennifer Malone (Mahaffey). 

Brief Pilot Review:
The double length premiere episode was certainly a vehicle for Delta Burke. It was also certainly trying to be current with the 90s-era politics it was living in. Of course that makes everything feel dated now with a lot of references that have since faded into memory (I'm sure not a lot of people watching today - if there was anyone watching today - would understand a Dan Rather/Connie Chung joke but it was pretty funny and I only know about it from my weekly schedules posts). The emphasis on current events was true of Designing Women too from time to time, but it was much more apparent here with the politics premise. I'm sure the premise of someone completely unprepared to hold office played much differently in 1995 than it would in the post-Trump era.

The pilot included a lengthy scene where Suzanne went on CNN's then popular left/right show Crossfire. It was an appropriate way to introduce viewers who may not have watched Designing Women to the character of Suzanne. We learned a lot about her personality and it also gave a chance for the other women to react to her (by watching on TV) so it was easy to see the dynamics going forward. Delta Burke seemed much more in her element than she did on Delta, which aired shortly after her departure from Women. The rest of the cast was strong too with Teri Garr and Patricia Heaton playing opposites pretty well. Garr's well traveled persona mixed well with Heaton's stuffy stuck-up attitude. Aside from the now dated politics references and the unfortunate use of Jonathan Banks as Suzanne's intellectually challenged brother, it wasn't a bad pilot.

What Went Wrong:
In 1991, it would have been unfathomable that Women of the House would have happened. Delta Burke had a very highly publicized departure from Designing Women. Even without the internet, the story was a tabloid and magazine sensation as Burke feuded with Women producers Linda Bloodsworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason. Designing Women soldiered on for two more seasons while Burke tried her hand at a new sitcom, Delta on ABC, which lasted just one season. Somehow by 1995, fences had been mended and Burke returned to her iconic Suzanne Sugarbaker character in a show produced by the Thomasons. Imagine Roseanne Barr returning to The Conners now after a few years. It's hard to imagine that fence could be mended and that was the case in 1995 with Burke.

The series premiered as the lead-off to a new comedy block on Wednesday nights that also included fellow new comedy Double Rush and two comedies that were proving to only be timeslot hits and not outright hits - Hearts Afire and Love & War, both in their third seasons. Reviews were mixed to negative. TV Guide said Burke "acts and sounds desperate like a hyena with its tail tied in a knot." The initial interest in seeing Burke back as Suzanne didn't really set the bar super high in the ratings. The ratings continued to drop from there with the entire Wednesday lineup yanked after a month. Women of the House resurfaced in one-offs on Mondays and Fridays and then aired its remaining episodes on Lifetime, but the series did not recapture the magic of Designing Women. Neither Burke nor the Thomasons have ever had regular series success since although Bloodsworth-Thomason attributed some of that to CBS' Leslie Moonves in a scathing 2018 article in The Hollywood Reporter.

Tomorrow: A look at Happy Days Season Three (Part 2)
Next Tuesday: A One Season Wonder look at Double Rush!
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