Sony’s got Georgia on its mind. TVLine has learned exclusively that the studio is developing a reboot of the classic ’90s sitcom Designing Women, with the series’ original creator, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, shepherding the update. The project is expected to be taken out to the marketplace soon.
The news comes roughly one month before CBS is set to launch a revival of Designing Women‘s former time slot companion, Murphy Brown.
Designing Women debuted on September 29, 1986 and ran for seven seasons, before concluding on May 24, 1993. It centered on the lives of four women (played by Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts and Jean Smart) who worked at Sugarbaker & Associates, a design firm in Atlanta Georgia. Meshach Taylor co-starred as eccentric assistant Anthony Bouvier. It’s not clear if any original cast members would appear in the new incarnation (Carter and Taylor died in 2010 and 2014, respectively).
Well publicized tensions between Burke and Bloodworth-Thomason led to the former’s exit at the end of Season 5. Smart departed alongside Burke and the pair were replaced in Season 6 by Newhart‘s Julia Duffy and Saturday Night Live‘s Jan Hooks. In its seventh and final season, Tony winner Judith Ivey replaced Duffy.
A Sony rep has yet to respond to TVLine’s request for comment.