NEW YEAR'S DAZE

Designing Women
Season 1 (1987)

To paraphrase Julia Sugarbaker in this episode, there are few tasks in life more unpleasant than taking down the Christmas tree.  Being the Christmas fanatic that I am, January is always a tough month for me.  Not only has the Big Event come and gone, but you actually have to physically disassemble the holiday, taking down the tree and putting away the decorations, knowing it will be a full year before you can do it all over again.  Plus you’ve got dreary weather, added poundage, and a fair stretch of time until the next major holiday.  It would be easy to fully wallow in the winter gloom, but luckily we’ve got this stellar New Year’s episode of Designing Women to help liven up January.

The episode begins with the ladies of Sugarbaker & Associates gathering to celebrate New Year’s Eve.  Anthony shows up, delivering the eggnog and pâté from a gourmet shop that Julia ordered. I always thought the idea of ordering designer eggnog from a gourmet shop is somehow so Julia and so 80s and so perfect.  

Sparkly gold top hat & giant pink feather headpiece = Approved.

Anthony stays behind with Julia after her boyfriend calls and cancels (I was never much of a Reese fan).  The rest of the women and their dates go to some restaurant to ring in the new year, but after watching Suzanne’s geriatric sugar daddy snooze at the table they head back to Julia’s just in time to usher in the new year.  The festivities are interrupted by a news report stating that Charlene’s no-show mystery date, Shadow, just broke out of prison and is on the lam (he had been pen pals with Charlene, saying he would be “getting out” for New Year’s).

Originally I was going to write that “New Year’s Daze” has one of the series’ goofier plots, but thinking back on how many times Anthony ended up in drag for various ridiculous reasons this actually doesn’t rate all that high on the goof-o-meter (must add goof-o-meter to sidebar of blog).

The nervous group speaks with a special agent who shows up and then they remain trapped at Julia’s house, waiting for Shadow to show up.  On New Year’s Day they receive word that Shadow has been apprehended, so the men head out to pick up pizza while the women sit around and read their New Year’s resolutions aloud.  This is the episode’s funniest scene, as Suzanne shares her shallow resolutions, much to Julia’s consternation. Shadow suddenly shows up, only to reveal that he’s actually an undercover government agent.  After sharing a quick romantic moment with Charlene and restoring her faith in the goodness of all people he takes off and the women of Sugarbaker’s toast to 1987.

Julia gives Charlene deserved side-eye for being way too perky while defrocking the tree

Despite the stupid Shadow stuff this is a terrific, funny episode.  I love that it takes place both on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and has scenes of Julia and Charlene un-decorating the Christmas tree, one of life’s little realities that doesn’t often get portrayed on screen.  Holidays tend to just appear and suddenly be gone the next week on sitcoms, with no transitions.  I also like that this episode captures both Christmas and New Year’s in one, with lots of party hats and noisemakers but also Christmas decorations and eggnog.  

New Year’s Quotient: 5

See It, Skip It, Own It?
This is the perfect episode to help ease the post-Christmas blues and help usher in the new year—year after year after year!  Own it!