. ▁ ▁Epis odes ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁reception ▁An ita ▁G ates ▁of ▁the ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁said ▁the ▁series ▁" has ▁an ▁appe aling ▁cast ▁and ▁doesn ' t ▁ins ult ▁view ers ' ▁intelligence ▁most ▁of ▁the ▁time . ▁But ▁the ▁main ▁characters ▁- ▁who ▁are ▁ 1 0 0 ▁percent ▁good ▁and ▁face ▁off ▁against ▁people ▁who ▁are ▁ 1 0 0 ▁percent ▁bad ▁- ▁always ▁seem ▁to ▁be ▁making ▁self - r igh te ous ▁speech es ▁. ▁. ▁. ▁There ' s ▁nothing ▁wrong ▁with ▁insp iring ▁little ▁speech es ▁that ▁make ▁aud ien ces ▁cheer . ▁It ▁was ▁always ▁a ▁pleasure ▁to ▁see ▁D ix ie ▁Carter ▁get ▁carried ▁away ▁with ▁one ▁of ▁hers ▁on ▁Design ing ▁Women . ▁But ▁the ▁speech es ▁have ▁to ▁say ▁something ▁in ▁a ▁fresh ▁way , ▁and ▁even ▁M s . ▁Carter ' s ▁or ations ▁got ▁old ▁once ▁the ▁show ' s ▁writers ▁became ▁so ▁self - cons cious ▁about ▁them . ▁ ▁Kate ▁Br ash er ▁is ▁trying ▁too ▁hard ▁. ▁. ▁. ▁to ▁be ▁qu ir ky ▁. ▁. ▁. ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁no isy ▁ER - ish ▁atmosphere ▁of ▁h ust le , ▁b ust le , ▁cha os ▁and ▁crisis , ▁. ▁. ▁. ▁[ and ] ▁to ▁be ▁simultaneously ▁u pl ifting ▁and ▁c yn ical ." ▁ ▁References ▁ ▁External ▁links ▁▁▁▁▁ ▁Category : C BS ▁original ▁programming ▁Category : 2 0 0 0 s ▁American ▁drama ▁television ▁series ▁Category : 2 0 0