Jan 23, 2016
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams chats with Wendy Burns-Ardolino, PhD and author of "TV Female Foursomes and Their Fans" about an important episode from "Designing Women." The plot for "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" was a result of months of tabloid headlines asserting that showrunner Linda Bloodworth-Thomason was not getting along with star Delta Burke. Rumors circulated that Burke's weight gain had become an issue and that she was becoming increasingly "difficult to work with." Cynthia and Wendy discuss how the 1989 episode was ahead of its time for calling out fatshaming.—Cynthia Bemis Abrams
Resources: Delta Burke's 1998 Delta Style: Eve wasn't a size 6 and neither am I
Wendy Burns-Ardolino's (2015) TV Female Foursomes and Their Fans: Featuring the Golden Girls, Designing Women, Living Single, Sex and the City, Girlfriends, Cashmere Mafia and Hot in Cleveland