Advanced TV Herstory

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

Revisiting Diana Ross' Central Park Concert with Shayla Lawson (Pt. 2)

Oct 22, 2021

This is the second of 2 episodes featuring a deep discussion with poet, author, and professor Shayla Lawson about 1983's Showtime worldwide stream of Diana Ross' concert in a summer deluge.

Lawson delivers a candid description of the herstoric concert's impact and what Diana Ross and her authenticity mean to women...

Revisiting Diana Ross' Central Park Concert with Shayla Lawson (Pt. 1)

Oct 17, 2021

This is the first of 2 episodes featuring a deep discussion with poet, author, and professor Shayla Lawson about 1983's Showtime worldwide stream of Diana Ross' concert in a summer deluge.

Lawson delivers a candid description of the herstoric concert's impact and what Diana Ross and her authenticity mean to women...

I Still Believe Anita Hill (refresh of '16 ep)

Sep 21, 2019

Refreshing the writing and timeline of a 2016 episode, Advanced TV Herstory examines the most basic elements of an event that changed the lives of American women.

It captivated millions of viewers and was talked about by millions more. Before #MeToo, Weinstein, Kavanaugh and Cosby, Anita Hill's testimony before the...

Women of "Grandma Got Runover"

Nov 29, 2018

No-spoil review of a rare holiday classic in which two women feature prominently in the plot! Based on Elmo Shroppshire's song of the same name from the mid-90s, the made-for-TV movie's plot and quirkiness may just earn it cult status.

Designing Women's Earnest NYE

Dec 28, 2017

American TV storytelling sometimes struggles with a good New Years plot.

Or it did until Linda Bloodworth-Thomason fired up her typewriter in 1989 to deliver the January 1, 1990 episode of Designing Women entitled “The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire 20th Century.”

It is pure art, as performed by the four...