HILARIOUS AND ENDEARING BY DESIGN FOUR ACTRESSES OF SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS SITCOM TO REUNITE.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

When the various lists of the funniest television characters in history are compiled, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason wonders why none of the indelible characters from her classic series ``Designing Women'' ever make the cut.

There's the outspoken feminist Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter), sweet country girl Charlene Frazier-Stillfield (Jean Smart), feisty single mom Mary Jo Shivley (Annie Potts) and self-absorbed beauty queen Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke).

On this CBS sitcom, which ran from 1986-93, these four deliciously distinct Southern women worked at a design firm run out of Julia's Atlanta home, along with reformed ex-con Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor), and endured the frequent visits of loopy but lovable Bernice Clifton (Alice Ghostley).

The four actresses who inhabited the four lead characters will have a rare reunion Wednesday night at the Museum of Television and Radio where they will join with Thomason to celebrate a show that was added to the Nick at Nite lineup Oct. 2 after more than a decade on the Lifetime channel.

``I had no idea it would have this kind of staying power,'' Bloodworth-Thomason says. ``All of the women just jump off the screen at you. There's nobody like Annie, Dixie, Delta and Jean. Each one of those women could have starred in their own show, but they didn't detract from the other. Each got featured on the show in a memorable way.''

Adds Carter: ``We are all kind of dazzled by the fact that we happened to be there, at that place in time, to do that show. It was love at first sight and we all thought very highly of each other's abilities.''

Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the show revolved around the workplace as well as the personal lives of its characters. It also tackled such social issues as AIDS, hunger, single parenting, gun control, aging, weight discrimination, racism, domestic violence and equal rights.

But it was all presented with humor and humanity. Julia was most often the social conscience of the group as well as the voice of reason, as the other characters sometimes got themselves into a bit of trouble.

``Julia's acerbic nature softened as time went on, but she never lost her edge,'' Carter says. ``The perception of Julia is that she got to be a woman of warmth and humanity as well as a woman of wit who would take no prisoners.''

The character who experienced the most obvious metamorphosis was Burke's much-married Suzanne Sugarbaker. The actress, a beauty queen in real life, was funnier with each passing season, and her increasingly hilarious performances coincided with a well-publicized weight gain. Burke's weight was eventually addressed in the season four episode ``They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?'' which was written by Bloodworth-Thomason and earned Burke an Emmy nomination.

The women, while strong and outspoken, also had robust love lives, with Carter getting to act opposite real-life husband Hal Holbrook, and Burke meeting her future husband, Gerald McRaney, when he guested as her ex-husband, writer Dash Goth.

Smart met husband Richard Gilliland when he was cast on the show as Mary-Jo's boyfriend J.T. Shackleford. On the show, Smart's character married and had a baby with an Air Force pilot played by Doug Barr.

``Even though they were liberal, (they) all loved and adored men and were loyal to the men they were with,'' says Bloodworth-Thomason, who is currently working on the HBO pilot ``12 Miles of Bad Road.''

Burke and Smart left the show after the end of the fifth season, with Carter and Potts staying on for two more less-memorable years joined by Jan Hooks both years as well as Julia Duffy and Judith Ivey for one season apiece.

Bloodworth-Thomason says she has written and secured financial backing for a ``Designing Women'' Broadway play featuring Julia, Suzanne, Mary-Jo and Charlene as they would be today. All would still be working at the design firm and have a thing or two to say about what is going on in the world.

``Those four women are made for Broadway. You just want to see them, high heels clicking and mouths moving,'' she says. ``We never got to close the show, we never got to say good-bye to ourselves or the public. They would talk about how society views women today and that sort of vapid, superficial world we live in now where everybody has to weigh 90 pounds. I think Julia would take issue with that.''

There will also be a long-awaited DVD collection of ``Designing Women'' which has been held up for many years because of the complicated nature of negotiating music clearance rights.

Says Bloodworth-Thomason: ``We had more music than any sitcom in history.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

[e-mail]

DESIGNING WOMEN: A REUNION

Where: Museum of Television and Radio, 465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills.

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Tickets: $25 ($15 for members). [phone]. wwwmtr.org.

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Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Designing Women,'' featuring four women who work at a design firm (played by Annie Potts, left, Dixie Carter, Delta Burke and Jean Smart), tackled social issues ranging from AIDS to weight discrimination. The actresses reunite Wednesday in Beverly Hills.

(2 -- color) Linda Bloodworth-Thomason created ``Designing Women.''