an Emmy Award, she found herself in high demand. Bloodworth was offered staff positions on several television series, but she turned them down. "I just wanted to get my own shows on the air", she said. "I didn't want to die working those long hours for someone else's show. I didn't want to bleed unless it was for my own show." She formed her own production company, produced numerous pilot episodes and then, in 1980, she got the idea for Filthy Rich. "I just set out to write a comedy about Southerners — eccentric Southerners." The hour-long pilot for Filthy Rich was filmed on February 27, 1981 as a candidate for inclusion on CBS's 1981–82 fall schedule. When the fall schedule was announced in May, Filthy Rich wasn't included, but the network optioned it as a potential midseason replacement. "Apparently, the network wasn't sure of its feelings", commented Dixie Carter. "Some executives liked the concept, others despised it." Meanwhile, Delta Burke was offered the role of Katherine Wentworth on Dallas, as well as a recurring role on the TV spin-off of Private Benjamin, but she was forced to turn both parts down because she was under contract for Filthy Rich. Similarly, Carter was asked to replace Tammy Grimes in the Broadway production of 42nd Street, but CBS prevented her from accepting. Instead, cast members were forced to take small roles in films and guest-star on various TV shows while awaiting word on the fate of Filthy Rich. In March 1982, CBS ordered a second pilot episode, this time as a half-hour show. The network stipulated that they wanted the new pilot to be "less bizarre" than the original pilot had been, and though the material was toned down a bit, they still passed on including the show on the fall schedule. In that era, it wasn't unusual for unsold pilots to be broadcast as filler during the summer – replacing low-rated reruns – as a means of recouping the money that was spent to produce them. The original hour-long pilot was split in two and re-edited, then packaged with the second pilot (titled "Town and Garden"), and the now-trio of episodes were billed as a "limited run" series which was broadcast on Monday nights following reruns of M*A*S*H in August 1982. Much to CBS's surprise, the show topped the weekly Nielsen ratings for three consecutive weeks. CBS Entertainment President Donald