The Beauty Contest (Designing Women episode)
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The Beauty Contest is the 2nd episode of the sitcom Designing Women. Originally airing on October 6, 1986, the episode was the first episode to follow the pilot. In some ways, the episode set the tone for several of the characters that would continue through the series. The episode also contained the first, and perhaps best known, of Julia's monologues.
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[edit] Summary
[edit] Premise
Mary Jo's daughter Claudia is entered into Miss Pre-Teen Atlanta contest, despite Mary Jo's reservations. Charlene sponsors Claudia, and Suzanne, a former beauty queen and Miss Georgia World titleholder, coaches her. Suzanne is feeling a sense of malaise about her approaching 30th birthday, and goes to the pageant.
While Claudia and Mary Jo resolve their differences, Julia happens to overhear Marjorie Leigh Winnick, the current Miss Georgia World, talking to one of her friends and making fun of Suzanne. Suzanne may drive Julia crazy, but Julia's sisterly love and protectiveness triggers a vociferous reaction in her.
[edit] "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia"
JULIA: (closes dressing room door as she enters room) Excuse me, aren't you Marjorie Leigh Winnick, the current Miss Georgia World?
MARJORIE: Why, yes I am.
JULIA: I'm Julia Sugarbaker, Suzanne Sugarbaker's sister. I couldn't help over hearing part of your conversation.
MARJORIE: Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here.
JULIA: Yes, and I gather from your comments there are a couple of other things you don't know, Marjorie.
For example, you probably didn't know that Suzanne was the only contestant in Georgia pageant history to sweep every category except congeniality, and that is not something the women in my family aspire to anyway.
Or that when she walked down the runway in her swimsuit, five contestants quit on the spot. Or that when she emerged from the isolation booth to answer the question, "What would you do to prevent war?" she spoke so eloquently of patriotism, battlefields and diamond tiaras, grown men wept.
(Suzanne is now outside the dressing room door, now ajar slightly.) And you probably didn't know, Marjorie, that Suzanne was not just any Miss Georgia, she was THE Miss Georgia. She didn't twirl just a baton, that baton was ON FIRE. And when she threw that baton into the air, it flew higher, further, faster than any baton has ever flown before, hitting a transformer and showering the darkened arena with sparks! And when it finally did come down, Marjorie, my sister caught that baton, and 12,000 people jumped to their feet for sixteen and one-half minutes of uninterrupted thunderous ovation, as flames illuminated her tear-stained face!
(Julia leans into Marjorie's face; Marjorie is now cowering.) And that, Marjorie --- just so you will know --- and your children will someday know --- is The Night. The Lights. Went Out. In Geor-gia!
MARJORIE: (sheepishly) I'm sorry, I didn't know.
(very pregnant pause)
JULIA: (smirking) Well, now you do.
[edit] Episode background
The monologue delivered by Julia was the first of what a Designing Women fan site has labeled "the Terminator Tirades". [1] Fans responded to the "tirades", as Julia was able to tell people off without losing any of her intelligence or dignity, and they began to appear with some frequency in subsequent episodes. Though they were personal in nature at first, the tirades became increasingly politicized as time went on. Carter, a conservative Republican, disagreed with what much of was written for Julia by Bloodworth-Thomason, a liberal Democrat. Carter is said to have made a deal in later seasons: for every tirade, she would be allowed to sing a song on an episode of the show.
In the show's reunion special, the "Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" speech was specifically mentioned as one of the most popular of Julia's "tirades", and the cast noted that it has become especially popular with gay fans, and can often be recited word for word by fans at video events at gay bars and clubs.
