Advanced TV Herstory

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Love TV? TV women have brought us great lessons in leadership, achievement and diligence. It’s time their stories are told and in many cases, placed in the proper context of the women’s movement, social change and political trends. Representation of women on TV – whether it’s in the news, programming schedule or sports – is a fraction of the amount of screen time men get. Yet every generation of women is profoundly impacted by what they see. It’s more than the memory of watching it, it’s the confidence that if a girl or woman sees another doing it, she is more likely to believe in herself.

Advanced TV Herstory connects the dots of TV and feminism with American politics and culture. Within each episode, we zero in on the life lessons discovered through research and analysis. Shows from every era and genre, and the women who made them, get their place in the spotlight.

Hosted and produced by Cynthia Bemis Abrams

80s Monied Matriarchs: Ellie Ewing and Angela Channing

Aug 26, 2015

Serial drama genre's appearance in prime time in the 70s: Dallas and Falcon Crest

Audience bait - acclaimed film actresses Barbara Bel Geddes and Jane Wyman (bios)

Comparison of roles - older woman with quiet power vs. older woman with vocal, aggressive agency. Representation of older woman

Debbie Allen (Early Career, Fame TV series)

Aug 19, 2015

Debbie Allen, actress, choreographer, business-owner, director, producer, writer. Growing up in the segregated south. Influenced by her mom

Howard University. Role of Lydia Grant in Fame the Movie, then the TV Series. Fame plots - urban teen, coming-of-age. Emphasis in A Different World

Women of My So Called Life (1994-5)

Aug 12, 2015

Winnie Holzman, lead writer. Paley Center interview with Claire Danes & Bess Armstrong

Claire Danes' Angela is a teenage philosopher & asker of rhetorical questions. While much of the short-lived series' stories revolve around timeless teenage angst, there's an embedded perspective of Holzman, as female...

Battle of the Sexes: King & Riggs 1973

Aug 8, 2015

King emerges as "Mother Freedom"

Reigning women's tennis champ Margaret Court loses to Bobby Riggs on Mother's Day. Competition with no assurances; Akin to the Super Bowl

Resource: Selena Roberts' 2005 A Necessary Spectacle: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs and the Tennis Match that Leveled the...