Former designing women Annie Potts (left) and Delta Burke reunited on the set of "Any Day Now"

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Tuesday, December 08, 1998 2:03:33 PM EST

From Correspondent Sherri Sylvester

(CNN) -- With any show exploring the issues of race in the South, family tensions are likely to rise to the forefront at some point. So it was only a matter of time before Annie Potts would have a sister written into her script for "Any Day Now."

The catch: The producers for the Lifetime drama were looking for a blonde actress to play the light-haired Annie Potts' sister, but none seemed quite right.

"And finally, like the day before (the episode was to be shot), we had nobody," said Potts. "And I said, well, Delta's dark but boy could she play the bejeezus out of this."

She was referring to Delta Burke, who spent five years with Potts on the Southern-set TV sitcom "Designing Women." Burke has been pursuing a second career with the launch of her own clothing line, but the chance to see Potts convinced her to make a rare TV appearance.

Potts and Burke on "Designing Women"

So, Burke will be playing Potts' older sister, Theresa, now a real estate agent, on Tuesday night's episode of "Any Day Now."

"She was waiting for me in makeup," Burke says. "It was just wonderful to see her again, and reminisce, yak and catch up on our lives and everything."

Despite their years together on the earlier series, the two women had lost touch. "We haven't seen each other much," Potts said. "(Burke) moved out of town three years ago so she kind of dropped off the map a bit, and I've been working so much and had two more kids, so I don't do much at all but kids and work, work and kids."

Burke lives in New Orleans now, and is the designing woman behind a line of plus-size clothing. She first got the idea in Hollywood, when her own extra weight compelled her to design her own gowns for award shows.

"I used to get a lot of mail from ladies wanting to know if I ever sold any of my clothes and where did I get them," she says. "This is my late-life career, mid-life career. I've become a catalog model, which is really weird, really weird stuff," she says, showing off one of her catalog poses.

Appearing on "Any Day Now" with Potts is the beginning of a balance Burke would like to have between acting and enterprise.

"All those funny drawings that I used to do on my script on 'Designing Women,' that Annie used to tease me about ... they are actually printing them now on clothing and fabric, and Macy's gave me this big huge window on Broadway. It's my big drawing; it's a hoot!" she proclaims.