It Was Nearly Canceled During Its First Season
From 1986 to 1993, we watched two sisters — played by Dixie Carter and Delta Burke – at their interior design firm in Atlanta. Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts), Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart), and Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor) joined the team. Everything was looking good for the first half of the first season.
Jean Smart, Alice Ghostley, Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts, Meshach Taylor. Photo by Fotos International/Getty Images
But then the sitcom’s time slot was moved to Thursday nights, which led to a sharp ratings drop from 16 to 65. Designing Women went on hiatus and was nearly canceled. Executive producer Harry Thomason got the VQT (Viewers for Quality Television) to launch a campaign urging CBS to keep the show by writing letters. It worked, and the show was put in syndication until 2006.