Meshach Taylor has died

[BetterForgotten]

RIP.

The heavy-handedness and often hokey writing on Designing Women always annoyed me, but I thought he was a real trouper taking on that role and making a lot out of essentially nothing on that show.

[Becki]

Designing Women is my favorite sitcom of all time and Meshach was a huge part of the reason why. I had no idea he was even ill. My husband and I were just talking about him yesterday and now I come online to see he's passed away. RIP. He will surely be missed.

[DaytimeFan]

Incredibly sad. He seemed an absolutely lovely gentleman who was supportive of his leading ladies.

Delta Burke will be just devastated, they were very close and remained so.

[applcin]

Just saw that he was married to Bianca Ferguson. She was Claudia on GH years ago.

[DRW50]

Her longtime GH co-star (the guy who played Bryan) passed away a few years ago.

I agree with BF about Designing Women (and I don't think the show has aged that well, although the cast really does salvage so much), but it does have a lot of moments, happy and sad, that stay with me.

I'm so glad my favorite episode is online. This is the "Anthony dreams of Julia" one, along with zany slapstick from Mary Jo and Charlene at the buffet.

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[BetterForgotten]

I hate to go off topic, but it's funny that Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason were so jealous that CBS poured all their support, advertising, and Emmy support behind Murphy Brown, which was even more heavy handed and hokey than DW (and has aged far worse). I remember reading an article in the early 90's where Linda complained about the show being snubbed by the Emmy's and how she made it possible for Murphy Brown to be on the air.

I often wondered how she felt about Susan Harris and The Golden Girls, which always got more attention and awards than DW, and defined the all-female sitcom ensemble of that era.

[ReddFoxx]

He was so good in Designing Women, his chemistry with Dixie Carter and Delta Burke was unbelievably good, especially with Delta. There was this one scene in one of the later seasons where he delivered this monologue about being a black man and having to worry about being profiled.

Anthony was written to be a white man, but Taylor got the role and turned what was supposed to be a guest stint into a full time gig. Very talented actor.

[DRW50]

I think I remember that episode. I know the last few years of stories Anthony had were shaky (the whole marriage with Sheryl Lee Ralph), but I guess at least they were trying to write more for him, expand his role.

Wasn't he very different (Anthony) in his first appearance? I can't remember.

I remember the episode where he gave some type of speech to help prisoners.

Thinking back on that era of sitcoms, I prefer them to what we have today, but I can't say the writing on any of them bowled me over, then or now. A lot of Golden Girls episodes beyond the first two or three seasons I have a tough time watching. Designing Women, I had more of a love/hate relationship with, from the early episodes to the last.

[BetterForgotten]

The cast changes get a lot of flack, but I thought the show was already out of steam by the time Delta Burke and Jean Smart left.

I can't believe they thought Julia Duffy would fit this show, but I didn't mind Jan Hooks, and didn't have much of an opinion on Judith Ivey, but the show was so far gone by that point, so my standards were low.

[MissLlanviewPA]

I remember when Dixie Carter died in 2010, there was this absolutely devastating picture of Delta at her funeral, clearly beside herself with grief, with Annie Potts and her husband, Gerald MacRaney, supporting her from either side.

RIP, Meshach.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

I didn't watch DW much. But, when I did. I loved Meshach's character. He was hilarious and definitely made the show for me. So sad. He really wasn't that old either. So many losses in the sitcom world this year. First James Avery, then Ann B. Davis and now Meshach.

[ReddFoxx]

Anthony was a different in his first appearance, since it was only supposed to be a guest appearance. Designing Women tends to be hit or miss for me, it's almost more watchable in clips than entire episodes, there are some good one liners from all of the characters.

[All My Shadows]

I still enjoy DW very much when I watch it today. There's a certain style and atmosphere of its time that I think it just embodies well. I tend to have an affinity for things that are considered dated, though. Maybe it's an authenticity thing idk

I do remember the ep where Anthony gave the racial profiling monologue. I want to say it was in the episode where they all spent the night at Charlene's new apartment in the hood.

[ChitHappens]

RIP, MT!

DW was a wonderful show, and Taylor/Burke's onscreen relationship was one of the winning factors!

[Eric83]

Does this show re run anywhere today? I remember watching them all the time on Weekday afternoons on Lifetime.