Season Three

The ladies of Sugarbakers and their boyfriends take some of the children and grandchildren for a holiday at a cozy beachside condo. Unfortunately, their choice of au pair for the children is a voluptuous Scandinavian who detours the guys' attentions.

Guest cast: Hal Holbrook (Reese Watson), Richard Gilliland (J.D. Shackleford), Douglas Barr (Bill Stillfield), Rika Hofmann (Ursula), Ann Nelson (Mrs. Walker), Kaitlyn Walker (Caroline), Scotty Williams (Ben), Jandi Swanson (Hannah Shackleford), Robert Hy Gorman (Quinton Shively), John Lecky (Bert Shackleford)

After delivering a citizens commentary on the TV news, Julia is asked to run for the office of Supervisor against a sexist pig with ridiculous priorities -- which may make it hard for Julia to bite her outspoken tongue.

Guest cast: Jason Bernard (Wilson Brickett), Peter White (newscaster), Terry Wills (Mrs. Meshmoyer)

Charlene drags the ladies to Graceland for an Elvis Presley nostalgia weekend where Julia learns just how strongly Elvis affected some people's lives.

Guest cast: Pete Wilcox (Del Davis), Richard Michenberg (Jeff Weddington), Newell Alexander (Vern), Rosemary Alexander (Dodie Smith), Tommy Kramer (Ricky Davis)

While Julia is calling the editor of a New York paper that claims that southerners eat dirt, everyone is shocked by the news that Bernice is getting married -- including the groom, who apparently has a bad habit of proposing to women everywhere he goes.

Guest cast: Alice Ghostley (Bernice Clifton), Richard Bull (Everett Anders), Stuart Nisbet (Bert Newkirk)

When Mary Jo's uncle passes away, he leaves her $3000 to spend on something frivolous. Little did he know that she plans to use it to have her breasts enlarged. As Mary Jo tries different size prosthetic braziers, she loses more and more control with each increase -- relishing the power of new, larger breasts.

Guest cast: Robert Donavan (guy #1), Michael Francis Clarke (guy #2), Steven Connor (bartender), Richard Gilliland (J.D. Shackleford, uncredited)

After finding out that Bill never dated anyone besides his late wife, Charlene insists he sew some wild oats before settling into a serious relationship. Meanwhile, the ladies plot to stop the harassment they are receiving from a group of construction workers.

Guest cast: Douglas Barr (Bill Stillfield), Dierk Torsek (hard hat #1), John Shearin (Mr. No Fat Chicks), Robert Fieldsteel (Randy Pennington), Pamela Roylance (Mimi Hollingsworth), Joanne Nail (girl #1), Nedra Volz (mother)

Desperate to get their curtain order finished by deadline, the ladies of Sugarbakers cross a picket line, and find themselves the target of angry striking workers.

Guest cast: Royce D. Applegate (Mr. Emery), Pat Li (Margaret)

Bernice treats the ladies to a survival course in the wilderness, but Julia and Mary Jo aren't quite prepared for the rigors of outdoor living and must call for help -- which comes in the form of Anthony, who must pretend to be a woman.

Guest cast: Alice Ghostley (Bernice Clifton), Denny Dillon (Big Edie), Doris Hess (Mickey Jr.), Sharon Madden (Connie), Meg Wyllie (Dorothy), Maggie Murphy (Corrine), Jeanette Miller (Evelyn)

Everyone is impressed with Anthony when he gets involved in a "big brother" program, but his young protege makes Julia an unwitting accomplice in a convenience store robbery.

Guest cast: Shavar Ross (Tyrone), Stuart Nelson (news announcer), Dara Monahan (guard)

Sugarbakers must honor the wishes of a deceased client and complete the decoration of her house for her heir --- a cat. As Suzanne tries to endear herself to the cat in hopes of becoming its guardian, the ladies try to defend the will and prove that their client was in her right mind --- which becomes increasingly difficult once they actually get inside her house.

Guest cast: William Griffis (Joe Hale)

Julia and Suzanne meet their grown nieces for the first time, neither of them realizing that these girls are exactly like them. Meanwhile, Charlene, Anthony, and Mary Jo take a meeting with one of Julia's old college friends who wants his clubhouse redecorated --- not expecting to find that the clubhouse is in a nudist colony.

Guest cast: Phillip Richard Allen (Tom Ketcherside), Mary Dixie Carter (Jennifer Sugarbaker), Ginna Carter (Camilla Sugarbaker)

Charlene takes a job selling Lady June cleaning supplies for some extra cash, but finds it difficult to escape the cult-like organization. Anthony gets nominated for homecoming queen at his junior college, causing mixed emotions in Suzanne.

Guest cast: Kate McNeil (Libby Coker), Dale Raoul (June Randolph), Daryle Ann Lindley (woman #1), Kathryne Lust (woman #2), Lee Magnuson (man)

Having relied on her beauty her whole life, Suzanne is not prepared to handle the advances of their blind client, who --- much to everyone's amazement --- is enamored with her inner beauty.

Guest cast: Tom Sullivan (Danny Hedgecock)

Charlene's little brother and his sweetheart come to Atlanta to elope, but being from opposing families, they bring an Arkansas family feud into Sugarbakers. Anthony reluctantly agrees to be Bernice's partner in a dance contest at her retirement home.

Guest cast: Alice Ghostley (Bernice Clifton), Gregory Wurster (Odell Frazier), Sandy Kenyon (Norvelle "Bud" Frazier), Ken Letner (Earl Sloan), S. Marc Jordan (Rabbi), Leanne Griffin (Sissy Sloan)

There is a full moon over Atlanta; Julia gets her dress stuck in her pantyhose during a fashion show -- mooning twelve hundred people, Suzanne buys a semi-automatic rifle to protect her pig after some threatening phone calls, and Mary Jo drags Julia and Charlene to Look-out Point with a huge frog light to find her daughter before she has sex.

Guest cast: Priscilla Weems (Claudia Shively), Mel Johnson Jr. (sergeant), Paul Lawrence (policeman), Patrick Day (Ben), Suzanne LaRusch (prostitute)

Mary Jo lets J.D. move in for a week while his new condo is in escrow, but she isn't prepared to deal with the possibility of J.D. staying after he loses his job.

Guest cast: Richard Gilliland (J.D. Shackleford), Gloria Cromwell (Tova)

After J.D. takes a job in Cincinnati, Mary Jo starts dating a younger guy -- dragging Julia to a keg party. Meanwhile, a newly engaged Charlene tries to endure meeting Bill's very proper mother and aunt.

Guest cast: Douglas Barr (Colonel Bill Stillfield), Benay Venuta (Ellen Stillfield), Anne Haney (Phoebe), William Bell Sullivan (Ken Rayburn)

The wedding plans are going off without a hitch -- that is until Charlene and Bill get handcuffed to an exotic dancer at Bill's bachelor party, and the only key is in a moving van headed out of state. So while the state police try to track down the moving van, Charlene has to deal with the possibility of walking down the isle with Bill and Little Latin Loupie -- and all with "big hair" after Suzanne gets her hands on it.

Guest cast: Douglas Barr (Bill Stillfield), Alice Ghostley (Bernice Clifton), Hal Holbrook (Reese Watson), Barry Corbin (Norvelle "Bud" Frazier), Ronnie Claire Edwards (Ione Frazier), Anne Haney (Phoebe), Bobbie Ferguson (Monette Marlin), Benay Venuta (Ellen Stillfield), Phyllis Cowan (Darlene Frazier), Fabian Udenio (Little Latin Loupie), Howard Bloodworth (Uncle Howard), Steven G. Gagnow (moonwalker), Ken Hughes (welder), Justin Burnette (Harold Thomas Frazier), Priscilla Weems (Claudia Shively), Gregory Wurster (Odell Frazier), Deborah Benson (Harlene Frazier), Leanne Griffin (Sissy Frazier)

The ladies agree to be involved in a pictorial essay on the women of Atlanta, but are soon suspicious when the photographer requests poses that are purely sexual, including putting a strand of pearls in Julia's mouth and asking her to "ever-so-slightly suck on them" --- a big mistake.

Guest cast: Ian Patrick Williams (DeWitt Chiles), Wendie Jo Sperber (Estelle Rinehart)

After Mary Jo is mugged, the ladies take a self defense class to learn to protect themselves, but Mary Jo can't bring herself to stand and fight.

Guest cast: Millicent Collingsworth (Gail Forrester), Buddy Farmer (D.P. LeBoof), Albert Potash (Rob)

Suzanne finds the accountant who absconded with her life savings working as a bellman and bad lounge act for an Atlanta hotel. After trying to have him arrested, he convinces her that he spent all of the money buying her a circus --- which is coming to town and needs lodging.

Guest cast: Danny Thomason (Reggie Mac Dawson), Macon McCalman (Paul Webster), Jon Huffman (policeman), Irene Gilbert (waitress), Suzanne LaRusch (trapeze artist), Daniel Frisherman (little person)

When a newsstand near Sugarbakers displays a magazine poster with a woman in a dog collar, Julia responds by driving her car straight into the newsstand. The publisher of the magazine files a lawsuit against her, and it's up to Suzanne and Charlene to get Julia off the hook.

Guest cast: Rosalind Ingledew (Terry Wilder), Ed Levey (newsstand guy)

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Refining 'Designing' Entertainment Weekly October 6, 1991 Folks at Sugarbaker's give a warm Southern welcome to 2 new stars and find themselves sitting prettier than ever in the Nielsons. More Classic Articles