Ep 3. E.P. Phone Home

Designing Women is an American sitcom that aired from 1986 to 1993. The show revolves around the lives of four women and their interior designing business, Sugarbaker and Associates, in Atlanta, Georgia. The third season of the show consists of 22 episodes and was aired in 1988-89.

In season 3 episode 3, titled E.P. Phone Home, the four women find themselves in a sticky situation as they try to accommodate a new client who wants their help in redesigning his home. The catch? The client, E.P. Harwood, is an eccentric and overly paranoid billionaire who is convinced that aliens are trying to invade his home.

The episode begins with Julia Sugarbaker, the head of Sugarbaker and Associates, receiving a call from E.P. Harwood. E.P. is convinced that aliens have been trying to invade his home and he wants the Sugarbaker team to come and redesign his house so that it's "alien-proof". Though hesitant at first, Julia agrees to take on the job after finding out that E.P. is willing to pay them a huge sum of money for their services.

At the client's mansion, the women find that E.P.'s paranoia about aliens is not unfounded. Everywhere they look, there are bizarre contraptions that E.P. has set up to detect any signs of alien activity. The Sugarbaker team is then given a tour of the mansion and are shocked by the strange and unusual rooms that E.P. has designed himself. Among them are a room that looks like a spaceship and another that is a replica of Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.

Despite E.P.'s odd requests, the women get to work on redesigning the mansion. Suzanne Sugarbaker, the glamorous and vain designer, is not happy with the job and is bored by the lack of glamour in the mansion. But as they proceed with their work, they find that E.P.'s paranoia and claims about aliens may not be as unfounded as they initially believed. The women start having unusual experiences as they try to navigate through the mansion, leading them to wonder if there really is something out there.

Meanwhile, Charlene Stillfield, the kind-hearted designer, gets herself involved with E.P's quest to find evidence of aliens. She gets E.P. to give her a tour of the various paranormal activities in the house and ends up getting locked inside the spaceship room. She later confesses to the women that she believes in the possibility of alien life and is ridiculed by Suzanne, who says that it's impossible for aliens to exist.

As the episode continues, tensions rise as strange occurrences happen around the mansion. The women start experiencing strange smells and noises, and even come across a book that claims to have factual information on aliens. While they don't actually encounter any extraterrestrial life, they do manage to complete the redesign of the mansion. And as they're about to leave, E.P. makes a shocking discovery about his security system that makes him realize that the women may have been telling the truth about aliens all along.

Overall, Designing Women season 3 episode 3, E.P. Phone Home, is a lighthearted yet intense episode that explores themes of paranoia and belief. It is a fun ride that takes the viewer on a journey as the women try to solve E.P.'s unusual requests while also dealing with their own beliefs and fears.