• Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 29, 1986
Season #: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 6
  2. Negative: 1 out of 6
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Critic Reviews

  1. San Diego Union-Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert P. Laurence
    Feb 5, 2014
    90
    It will inevitably be compared with "The Golden Girls," NBC's hit from last year about four older women sharing a house in Miami...But this entry from CBS is considerably different and, for my money, funnier and better...It is the best new show CBS is offering this season. [28 Sept 1986, p.TV-6]
  2. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Steve Sonsky
    Feb 5, 2014
    90
    May be the most outrageous new comedy since "All in the Family," in terms of what it's willing to try and say. It's going to make some people laugh. It's going to offend some people...For my money, it's the best and brightest new sitcom of the year -- sharp and tart in its writing, sharp and tart in its execution by four splendid actresses. They, and it, have got spirit and style and sass. [29 Sept 1986, p.C1]
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    Feb 5, 2014
    50
    Funny, yes. Wildly funny, no...As an addition to pop literature about women in groups, Designing Women appears more derivative than innovative, but being derivative hardly ever hurts in prime-time television. [29 Sept 1986, p.C3]
  4. Reviewed by: John J. O'Connor
    Feb 5, 2014
    50
    Ms. Bloodworth-Thomason is no Susan Harris, whose crackling humor keeps "The Golden Girls" popping steadily from week to week. On the other hand, Designing Women has a first-rate cast.
  5. Reviewed by: Howard Rosenberg
    Feb 5, 2014
    40
    The premiere of Designing Women...provides fewer answers than indications. And the indications are that even good performers in an appealing setting won't make Designing Woman funny without better-designed scripts. Snappy, yes. Laughs, no.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Clifford Terry
    Feb 5, 2014
    30
    Routed as the most promising new series on the woeful CBS fall schedule, Designing Women disappoints. Already tiresomely pegged as a younger version of "The Golden Girls," it seems more like "The Carping Capitalists." [29 Sept 1986, p.7C]