80s TV Ladies

By: 134 West | Susan Lambert Hatem & Sharon Johnson
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  • Summary

  • 3-time Podcast Awards Winner. Webby nominated for Best Indie Podcast.
    80s TV Ladies is dedicated to the beloved female-driven shows of the 1980s! Do you love 80s pop culture, television and fabulous women? On our show, you’ll hear a breakdown of how these shows got made, how they were influenced by the times and, in turn, how they influenced pop-culture trends to follow. We love discussing the “two-steps forward, one-step-back” lens of media-driven feminism.

    Join hosts Susan Lambert Hatem and Sharon Johnson as they talk about the fabulous ladies of television: Cagney & Lacey, Designing Women, A Different World, The Golden Girls and more.

    With special guests, TV creators and stars! Do these shows we hold so dear hold up? Let's find out.

    Season 1: We examine three “detective duo shows” this season, with multiple episodes and awesome guests for each TV show we cover.
    Scarecrow and Mrs. King
    Remington Steele
    Cagney & Lacey

    Season 2: Multiple episodes per TV show exploring representation and behind-the-scenes insight in science fiction, drama and sitcoms!
    Queer representation in 70s and 80s
    9 to 5 television show
    It's a Living
    Designing Women
    Ladies of the 80s: A Divas Christmas
    Star Trek Ladies
    Moonlighting

    Special guests: Eugenie Ross-Leming, Martha Smith, Robin Bernheim, Stephanie Zimbalist, Evan Ball, Debbie Evans, Barney Rosenzweig, Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, Karen Arthur, Cynthis Beemis Abrams, Matt Baume, Jane Epsensen, Drew Greenberg, Paul Kreppel, Bryan Edward Hill, Maggie Friedman, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Stan Zimmerman, Mary Lou Belli, Nana Visitor, Glenn Gordon Caron, Shery Main and more!

    We publish every other Wednesday.
    Tell us: Who should we interview and what's your favorite 80s Ladies television show? https://www.80stvladies.com
    Susan Lambert and 134 West
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Episodes
  • Casting Thirtysomething & Creating Stars | Marcia Ross, Part 1

    Casting Thirtysomething & Creating Stars | Marcia Ross, Part 1
    Oct 2 2024
    “An actor is either compelling -- or they are NOT compelling. Doesn’t matter if they’re green. You want to watch them. That’s what makes them a star. How do I know? I just feel it.” -- Marcia Ross, Casting Director
    How did “Clueless” and “Princess Diaries” and “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” find their leads? Casting Director Marcia Ross has been instrumental in putting together amazing ensembles for classic films and TV shows since 1983.

    Susan and Sharon sit down this week with Ms. Ross to go behind the scenes and discover exactly how today’s “unknown” turns into tomorrow’s “big discovery” -- and who makes it happen. Among the young actors Marcia is credited with discovering: Anne Hathaway, Heath Ledger, Paul Rudd, Rachel McAdams, Jennifer Garner and Amy Poehler.

    THE CONVERSATION
    • Channing Tatum’s first audition! He didn’t get the part. But the next time Marcia saw him, it worked out better: Step Up.
    • Casting Andre Braugher -- and how a single note changed the audition from flat, to making a roomful of people cry.
    • 10 Things I Hate About You -- Gabrielle Union was the only person who auditioned for her role.
    • HEATH LEDGER GETS A SECOND CHANCE: The first time around he just didn’t have it. Marcia gave him one more chance: “Be prepared!” It made all the difference.
    • DARE TO PIVOT: How she made the transition to producing documentaries: meeting Terrance McNally -- and then filming him…
    • THE SCIENCE OF THE ENSEMBLE: thirtysomething -- it started with Ken Olin. But it when Mel Harris came in, it was all about chemistry…
    So, join Susan and Sharon -- and Marcia -- as they talk Chita Rivera, Cujo, Angela Lansbury, same-sex marriage, Paul Rudd, Nathan Lane, human rights in Iran -- and finally getting a casting director academy award category!!

    And stay tuned for PART 2. Casting in the 80s, Jeff Bridges and more!

    AUDIO-OGRAPHY
    Find out more about Marcia Ross and Jeff Kaufman’s documentary film work at https://www.floatingworldpictures.com/about-us

    Need some 80s TV Ladies merch?!? Check out our GRAND OPENING SALE.

    CONNECT
    Visit 80sTVLadies.com for transcripts and more.
    Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
    Check out Instagram/80sTVLadies.
    Support us and get ad-free episodes on PATREON.
    Find more cool podcasts at our host sight, Weirding Way Media.

    BREAKING NEWS
    We just won Best TV & Film podcast at the People’s Choice Podcast Awards!
    Thank you to all who voted and to all our listeners and guests.

    VOTE
    Registration deadlines are coming up! Register or Check your US Election Registration at Vote.org

    Happy 100th Birthday to President Jimmy Carter! Get Susan’s new play about Carter's White House in 1979: Confidence (and the Speech) at Broadway Licensing.
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    58 mins
  • When Women Invented Television | NY Times Bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

    When Women Invented Television | NY Times Bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
    Sep 18 2024
    Welcome to Season 3!Sharon and Susan kick off a new season with Jennifer Keishan Armstrong, the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything, When Women Invented Television, Sex and the City and Us, and Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. Jennifer writes about entertainment and pop culture for the New York Times Book Review, Fast Company, Vulture, BBC Culture, and Entertainment Weekly. Her latest book So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We're Still So Obsessed with It) was published this year.In this fascinating interview, Jennifer takes us behind the scenes with four different women who, in their own ways, invented television: Irma Phillips, Hazel Scott, Gertrude Berg -- and Betty White. Each of them faced sexism -- and racism -- but triumphed during a time when opportunities for women in television were limited -- but strangely also more open than you may think….THE CONVERSATIONHow The Mary Tyler Moore Show gave a voice to women everywhere when they gave a voice to a host of female TV writers.The Oprah of the 1950’s was… Gertrude Berg?The Beyoncé of the 1940s was... reknowned Black jazz pianist, Hazel Scott.Find out how Scott became the first Black person to host a national primetime television show -- in 1950.The character of Suanne Nivens that Betty White played on The Mary Tyler Moore Show was based on a woman who did a LIVE Homemaking Show played by… Betty White!Irma Phillips was asked to make something that would appeal to women -- so she invented the Soap Opera.Phillips created As The World Turns -- AND the longest running show of all time, The Guiding Light.Gertrude Berg’s ground-breaking sitcom about a Jewish family -- The Goldbergs -- was so successful that it was considered to be the lead-in for a new, untested show that might need some help -- I Love Lucy.Why was 1955 the death knell of women working in television -- both in front of AND behind the camera?According to network executives in 1969, what were the THREE THINGS Americans didn’t want to see on television?How The Mary Tyler Moore Show made Ed Asner a feminist.So join Susan and Sharon -- and Jennifer -- as they talk “fat farms”, Mean Girls, the Black List, Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Shonda Rhimes, Father Knows Best -- and “On Wednesdays we wear pink”!AUDIO-OGRAPHYFind Jennifer Keishan Armstrong at her website, jenniferkarmstrong.com.Buy The Women Who Invented Television (and all Jennifer’s books) at Bookshop.org.Find Jennifer on Instagram.Find Women Who Invented Television at YouTube:Watch The Betty White Show (1954)Watch Betty White in her sitcom, Life with Elizabeth.Learn more about Hazel Scott.The Goldbergs with Gertrude Berg, Episode: “A Sad Day”Check out an Irma Phillips episode of The Guiding Light (1952). CONNECTVisit 80sTVLadies.com for transcripts.Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.Support us and get ad-free episodes on PATREON. VOTEWe're NOMINATED for Best Film & TV Podcast.Please VOTE for 80s TV Ladies at Women in Podcasting Awards.REMEMBER: Register or Check your US Election Registration at Vote.orgThis year is the 45th anniversary of President Carter's Crisis of Confidence speech. Get Susan’s new play about it: Confidence (and the Speech) at Broadway Licensing.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • SNEAK PEEK: Susan and Sharon Spill Secrets for Season 3

    SNEAK PEEK: Susan and Sharon Spill Secrets for Season 3
    Sep 4 2024
    In this special bonus episode, Susan, Sharon and Melissa spill a few secrets about our upcoming season and fun guests coming soon to 80s TV Ladies. Can you guess what female-driven television shows from the 1980s we’ll be covering in our upcoming season?

    THE CONVERSATION
    • Do we know what we did this summer? How was your summer?
    • What is that feeling in the air? Is it hope?!! Are you ready to Vote?
    • Does Melissa even want to talk about her summer?
    • Okay, for real: what shows are we gonna cover in Season THREE?!
    • Can you guess the shows?
      • The Vickie Lawrence-starring, Carol Burnett Show spin-off sitcom, Mama’s Family.
      • You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have… The Facts of Life.
      • Yes! And finally yes: The Golden Girls!
    • What are the recurring themes we are discovering through Season 1 and 2 interviews?
    • Yes, there will be more special series guests this season: More Director Ladies, Star Trek Ladies, Stunt Ladies and more surprises!
    So join us as we spill Season Three secrets about what guests we will for sure be talking to: like Mama’s Family’s Dorothy Lyman and Eric Brown, women in television expert and pop-culture author, Jennifer Keishan Armstrong. And can you guess who will be our very special guest from The Golden Girls?

    AUDIO-OGRAPHY
    Read about our first guest for Season 3: Jennifer Keishan Armstrong at jenniferkarmstrong.com
    Get info on Jennifer’s books and prep for episode 301:
    • Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic at Jennifer's website.
    • When Women Invented Television by Jennifer Keishan Armstrong at Bookshop. At Barnes & Noble. At Amazon.
    CONNECT
    Visit 80sTVLadies.com for transcripts.
    Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
    Support us and get ad-free episodes on PATREON.

    VOTE
    We're NOMINATED for Best Entertainment Podcast. Please VOTE for 80s TV Ladies in the Entertainment category at Women in Podcasting Awards.

    REMEMBER: Register or Check your US Election Registration at Vote.org
    This year is the 45th anniversary of President Carter's Crisis of Confidence speech. Get Susan’s new play about it: Confidence (and the Speech) at Broadway Licensing.
    Show more Show less
    39 mins
Art Social Sciences
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