Women of the House

After Congresswoman Seizmore of the Ethics Committee attacks her character and launches an investigation of her personal activities, Suzanne inadvertently blurts out that she has a diary, which Seizmore has subpoenaed. But Suzanne is unwilling to part with her diary because it has her weight written in it for each day, so she tries to get her best friend who has come for a visit, Anthony Bouvier, to dispose of it for her. Realizing that Suzanne will never grow up, Anthony finally agrees to take a Carnival Cruise and throw the diary overboard, not realizing that Kathie Lee Gifford was shooting a commercial. The diary hits Regis Philbin on the head and he announces Suzanne's weight on national television the next morning on their mutual talk show, Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.

Suzanne and Sissy try out a new indestructible pantyhose line. Natty comes down with the flu on the same weekend that she's supposed to spend in the conjugal cottage with her imprisoned lover, Congressman Ed Sharkey. So that he won't lose the privilege of using the cottage, Natty sends Sissy to spend the weekend with Ed. Conflicts soon arise when Sissy finds that she is very attracted to Ed, so she calls Suzanne in to take her place. After Ed spends the evening ignoring her, Suzanne decides that she's more attractive than Sissy and Natty combined, and she deserves the ""chance to slap"" his face--so she gives him a sample of what he's missing out on--and ends up inadvertantly burning the Conjugal Cottage to the ground.

Suzanne's ex-husband, Dash, comes to town after writing a tell-all about their marriage. He soon charms all of Suzanne's staff -- especially Malone.

Suzanne and staff begin their participation in a hearing on the dangers of violence towards women on television. Suzanne bemoans the fact that everyone in Washington spends their time talking about absolutely nothing; and she urges the President to get a pet dog to boost his appearance. Sissy and Malone sit next to Senator Jessie Helms during lunch, giving Sissy an idea to pull a prank on Natty: she claims to have spit in Senator Helms' soup. When he is later rushed to the hospital for stomach pains, Natty calls the FBI and reports Sissy for poisoning him.

When Sissy is thrown out of her apartment for not paying the rent (and a mattress fire), she moves in with Suzanne. Suzanne jumps at the opportunity to co-write an article with Sissy to boost her image, about the ""interracial bond"" that she and her housekeeper, Sapphire, share. Sissy seems to be in Heaven staying with the caring Sugarbaker clan, who make her stay feel more like home than anywhere she had ever been. But when Ann Gilroy, Sissy's old rival, comes to town, Suzanne tries to make her look good by insisting that the house belongs to Sissy. Though Suzanne was supposed to learn a lesson about writing, Sissy is the one who learns a lesson--about friendship.

After her botched appearance on Crossfire, Suzanne is ridiculed by the press, who say that it's hard to tell if the ""flamboyant, zoftig Miss Sugarbaker"" is ""playing Miss Kitty or Miss Ellie from The Beverly Hillbillies."" They also accuse Suzanne of selling her brother's spoon-rests in the White House for a profit, which they refer to as ""Knick-KnackGate."" Natty attacks Suzanne because she publicly ""diminished all women as sexual commodities, slandered homosexuals, insulted blacks, and bragged about being rich. . ."" Suzanne turns in her resignation, but her decision is altered after a heartfelt talk with her daughter and brother who also want to return home. So she goes and speaks on the House Floor, and points out that even though she's different, that's what being an American is all about, resulting in several references to Jimmy Stewart's movie ""Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"". After over-using her time, as she's drug from the podium, she looks out into the crowd and sees Jimmy Stewart