Sweet Tea & TV

Ohhhh boy! The time has come - we are ready to go all-in on the deepest of dives on Ms. Dolly Parton. She got some major face-time in the most recent Designing Women episode we covered (season 4, episode 13, which we called Babies, Cars, and…DOLLY PARTON!), so we figured it was time for a Dolly Deep-Dive. 

Buckle up, this one will be a long one. We’ll cover Dolly’s life and nearly-60-year career, talk a bit more in-depth about a couple of themes that continued to pop up in all our research, and, finally, we’ve got a special Grits Blitz to play! Told you - this is a jam-packed segment. 

Is Steel Magnolias a touchstone of our friendship? YES! Can we identify movie trivia you’ve never heard before? Probably not, but if you love this movie as much as we do: we promise it’ll be a good time. 

Join us as we dive into thoughts on our most recent rewatch, favorite parts, memories, and some fun behind-the-scenes stuff. And, of course, there’s some Designing Women overlap! Why, at the end, you won’t know whether to scratch your butt or wind your watch.

Just remember: you know we love you more than our luggage!

Whoa buddy. This is almost more than our little Southern hearts can handle. The tears, they are a’ flowin’. We’re switching decades. Charlene is having a gosh darn baby. Dolly Parton shows up. They’re talking about Steel Magnolias. We meet the sweetest woman who ever lived. Did we mention it’s a two-parter?!

Patreons can come back later this week for a potpourri-style Extra Sugar because we just don’t have time to cover it all! If you want to join the club, check out our Patreon page!

Ted strikes again. He’s behind on child support, so Mary Jo finds herself slinging burgers and fries. And before the episode is over - all of Sugarbakers is doing the same. Except for Charlene – who is having a baby IRL. Suzanne is absent. (shrug emoji)

Salina takes on “Nibbles” to talk about the art of fast food. Come back later in this week for a very special “Extra Sugar” where Nikki deep dives on the fabulous, Ms. Annie Potts.

“They Shoot Fat Women, Don’t They” was a seminal moment in Designing Women’s history and simultaneously a denouement to the media and public’s relentless obsession with Delta Burke’s weight. 

In this week’s “Extra Sugar”, we’ll talk about what was happening behind-the-scenes, and then we’ll pivot to talk about concepts like fat shaming and body shaming. Why do they matter? And what can we do to take care of ourselves and each other?

Suzanne gets bullied at her high school reunion for gaining weight, while Anthony, Julia, and Mary Jo go on a two-day fast to raise awareness about world hunger. We miss Charlene. (tear emoji)

So where are we on world hunger in the 21st century? We’ll sidebar on it. Then come back Thursday for an “Extra Sugar” dedicated to Suzanne’s plot line including how this episode came about in the first place.

This week’s episode reminds us that the media loves a few things: 1) to publish scary stories that scare the bejeesus out of women and 2) sell them something to remedy whatever they scared them with in the first place. Also, have y’all looked at dating advice over the years? Weird stuff, friends. Weird. Stuff. We’ll talk about it. 

You may also want to listen to these unintentional companion episodes:

• S1E5, “1986 Called and It Wants Its Jokes Back” where we discussed the now infamous Newsweek article during the “Extra Sugar” 

Suzanne and Mary Jo are the team up we didn’t know we needed. They’re on the prowl to find Mary Jo a man – and armed with the newest, hottest dating how-to book – nothing’s gonna stop ‘em now. Nikki also sidebars on funny notes left on cars.

Come back Thursday for an “Extra Sugar” taking a closer look at trendy dating guides.

Oh lawd, Suzanne and Julia stayed in a capsule hotel and now Salina may never emerge from looking at every unique place to stay on the planet. Why? Because the Internet is a dark hole from which we can never escape, but also because there are just sooooo many fascinating places to go! Tune in for this chat about staying everywhere from a replica of Dorothy’s house in North Carolina to your own library shelf in Tokyo. We’ll wrap up with some travel tips and stories.

Some of us go to the dealership down the road for a new car; not Suzanne! She heads to the manufacturer’s home country! And takes Julia along for the ride. We’re in for a “trip” as the duo heads to Japan. And we finally get a Mary Jo/Anthony madcap adventure in the form of some overpriced phone calls (AKA an 80s reference we need to talk about!) Somewhere along the way, we’ll also “Salina’s Sidebar” about snow days. Ah, memories.

And come back later this week for “Extra Sugar,” where Salina is going to honor the cool-looking hotel the ladies find in Japan by taking us on an audio tour through some unique stays around the world.