Where did the retarded brother come from? Was he ever mentioned on Designing Women?
Top The character of Suzanne’s retarded brother, Jim Sugarbaker, was created for this series. No mention of him was ever made on Designing Women. Suzanne’s only siblings on Designing Women were Julia and their brother Clayton. 4. When did Suzanne adopt little Desiree? Top Suzanne apparently adopted Desiree independent of any of her husbands. The little girl’s last name is Sugarbaker. She makes references to Desi as a baby, but it has only been 3 1/2 years since she left Sugarbakers and Desiree is six years old, so the term “baby” must be representative of the girl as a toddler. 5. Why all the cast changes involving Malone and Veda? Top The part of Jennifer Malone was created with Julie Hagerty in mind, but she was unavailable at the time production started, so Valerie Mahaffey was brought in to replace her. Mahaffey was listed as a guest appearance for the first four episodes until Julie Hagerty took over the role. But, Hagerty was ill-suited to the part and left after only two episode
