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Cynthia Bemis Abrams Media
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Advanced TV Herstory
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Feel Good Storytelling

Annie Potts on Heart Channels And Helping Others

We  know her as Meemaw, Mary Jo Shively, Emmie Sims, and the voice of Bo  Peep. But Annie Potts is hooked on helping others—she’s very hands  on—and she’s here to tell us about that part of her life. In doing so, she inspires us with her commitment and challenges us to “turn the car around.”


Annie’s charitable organization, The Heart Channels, provides  direct support quickly and creatively to people at critical crossroads  in their life. Its mission reflects what Annie witnessed growing up—that  wherever there was a need, people opened their hearts and quietly stepped in to help however they could.  

The Heart Channels also mirrors Annie’s belief that we are one human  family, no matter where on the planet we are. By opening our eyes to the  needs of others, we can respond lovingly and immediately—neighbor to  neighbor and heart to heart.


I hope you’ll join us for this very special discussion. And please consider helping out. All donations to The Heart Channels—100%—are tax  deductible and go directly to people in need.


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Comfort TV: Finding Joy with Karly Beaumont

Like many, I've been looking to make sense of the world in November 2024. Social media connection and podcaster, Karly Beaumont, was active with many thoughtful messages. Creator of Talking Shondaland and contributor to TV Movie Mistress, Karly and I talk in this episode  about the comforting power of television and how people process fear. 


As a Dominican native and  lifelong creative, Karly shares her journey as a podcaster and media  critic, offering insights into how shows like Bluey, You're the Worst, and UnREAL are her emotional touchstones during challenging times. Cynthia and  Karly probe ways to navigate this time of uncertainty, including  listening to understand and recognizing signs of fear.  Damian Ali of TalkTeaV contributes a timely message about inclusion and storytelling in today’s TV landscape.  

With no answers to guide the country, we did conclude these points:

  • Listening to understand, not just to reply.
  • Representation and inclusion in media is more important now than ever.
  • TV definitely offers healing during times of crisis.

listen

Women Who Raise Us - A Tribute From Victoria Rowell

In the 2024 Mother’s Day episode,I explore the profound impact of women who  shape our lives, with inspiration from Victoria Rowell’s compelling  memoir, The Women Who Raised Me. Rowell, a two-time Emmy  nominee and 11-time NAACP Image Award winner, shares her incredible  journey through the foster care system and the women who nurtured her  into a successful actor, dancer, and advocate. From her iconic roles on The Young and the Restless and Diagnosis: Murder to her advocacy for foster children and mental health, Victoria  Rowell’s story is a testament to resilience and the power of community.
 

Celebrate  the women who help us find our voices, whether they’re mothers,  mentors, or friends. This episode offers heartfelt reflections and  resources to honor National Foster Care Month.

listen

Talking Sci-Fi with a Scientist: Dr. Sherry Ginn

On location at the Pop Culture Association (PCA) National Conference in  Chicago, I spoke with Sherry Ginn, PhD, the current PCA president. Dr.  Ginn is an impressive pop culture and science fiction scholar. I’m  grateful that we found time to talk about our mutual  interests in television and its impact of women in society. 


Our discussion includes the evolution of science fiction in popular culture, the legacy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the problem with Dollhouse,  female representation and role models, feminism, diversity, inclusion,  norm breaking, and the special challenges created by male writers and  showrunners in science fiction.   


As a tireless editor and author, Dr. Ginn combines her love of sci-fi  with her expertise in neuroscience research and psychology. Her written  work presents thoughtful analyses on a range of previously  under-explored topics such as women in science fiction television and  sex in science fiction. Dr. Ginn has written or edited works featuring Doctor Who, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Farscape, Fringe, and Dollhouse, among others.

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MTM & Storytelling

Pioneer Women Writers of TV with Annie Berke, PhD

Advanced TV Herstory’s commitment to connecting the dots of TV & feminism and American politics & culture continues with an examination of the pioneering women writers during the early days of TV.


My guest, Annie Berke, PhD, is the author of Their Own Best Creations: Women Writers in Postwar Television, part of the Feminist Media Histories book series by the University of California Press. 


With a focus on 1949-1963, Dr. Berke’s foundational work appeals to scholars and students as well as others with an interest in gender roles, women in the workplace, and the cultural influence of women in media. 


Along with a review of under-studied and influential women writers profiled in the book, our discussion leads to some interesting places, including the emergence of second-wave feminism and how postwar and current-day writers share many of the same struggles.


I know you’ll enjoy this fun and fast-paced episode. Thank you for listening!


10/10/23

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WGA, MTM & Hollywood Stories with Victoria Riskin

Cynthia Bemis Abrams welcomes Victoria Riskin, a second-generation filmmaker with a rich Hollywood legacy. Victoria's parents—Robert Riskin, a prolific, Oscar-winning screenwriter, and Fay Wray, best known for her role in the original King Kong—were instrumental in shaping the classic years of the motion picture industry.


And Victoria has crafted an impressive career all her own. She is a producer, writer, digital magazine publisher, PhD in psychology, and past president of the Writers Guild of America (WGA). She shares her experiences as WGA president and explains how power has shifted over time to the imbalance that has writers and actors on strike now in 2023.


We also learn how Victoria’s father tried leveraging his success with the studios to improve conditions for writers in the 1930s, but ultimately joined the Screen Writers Guild (SWG) as an early, active member. And, on the lighter side, you won’t want to miss Victoria’s stories from her trip to China with Norman Lear, Mary Tyler Moore, Larry Gelbart, and Carl Reiner.


Victoria knows Hollywood from deep inside. No doubt you’ll enjoy the interesting history and fun stories she shares with us. 


9/12/23

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A Look at TV Sitcom Very Special Episodes Featuring Author/Historian Lee Gambin - Part 1

I am very excited to share the first of a two-part conversation with author and TV/film historian, Lee Gambin. His double-volume work, "Tonight, On a Very Special Episode: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious," provides a launch pad for our thoughtful and fast-paced discussion of the issues and activists behind TV’s “very special episodes,” which date back 50 years or more.


These TV events—featuring familiar, beloved characters—mixed serious topics with comedy so effectively that, in many cases, activists were born, movements were started, legislation was passed, and minds were changed.


Legendary showrunners like Norman Lear and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason used the sitcom format to normalize awareness and discussion of race relations, women’s issues, representation, discrimination, divorce, alcoholism and drug addiction, sexual assault, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ rights.


Fronting these issues shaped our culture in ways that should not be lost to history. Join us for a discussion of the iconic episodes and the legends who made them happen, as well as how they continue to impact us today.


4/6/23

Listen

A Look at TV Sitcom Very Special Episodes Featuring Author/Historian Lee Gambin - Part 2

I am very excited to share the second of a two-part conversation with author and TV/film historian, Lee Gambin. His double-volume work, "Tonight, On a Very Special Episode: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious," provides a launch pad for our thoughtful and fast-paced discussion of the issues and activists behind TV’s “very special episodes,” which date back 50 years or more.


These TV events—featuring familiar, beloved characters—mixed serious topics with comedy so effectively that, in many cases, activists were born, movements were started, legislation was passed, and minds were changed.


Legendary showrunners like Norman Lear and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason used the sitcom format to normalize awareness and discussion of race relations, women’s issues, representation, discrimination, divorce, alcoholism and drug addiction, sexual assault, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ rights.


Fronting these issues shaped our culture in ways that should not be lost to history. Join us for a discussion of the iconic episodes and the legends who made them happen, as well as how they continue to impact us today.


4/17/23

Listen

Can ChatGPT Find the Essential Story in Oprah’s “The Women of Brewster Place”?

In 1989, Oprah Winfrey produced and starred in the two-part TV miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place, which was based on Gloria Naylor’s award-winning debut novel. The book, and the movie, explore a variety of personal issues and social themes faced by seven African American women who live in an urban housing project.


When, just for fun, we asked the new artificial intelligence software, ChatGPT, to connect Oprah’s cultural influence with themes from the book/movie, the AI chatbot got it… sort of right. Sort of. It dispassionately summarized many of the challenges faced by the women in the story. And it mentioned Oprah’s commitment to highlighting personal and social issues. But ChatGPT failed to find the essential storyline.


And it’s no wonder. The online content about The Women of Brewster Place neglects the underlying racism that’s at work when urban planners and policymakers target the destruction of specific neighborhoods in the name of progress. As long as history is “written by the victors,” the online trough that feeds artificial intelligence will prevent AI, and the people who rely on it, from making the most crucial connections of all.


3/22/23

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Mrs. America & 3-Dimensional Storytelling

Writing, storytelling and 3-dimensional characters are some of the many topics author/TV producer April Smith and Cynthia discuss.  April shares behind-the-scenes insight into writing & researching Mrs. America. We also go back 40 years to discuss #MeToo and a timeless Lou Grant episode. 


5/3/20

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Talking Adaptations with Abbe Wright

 

Some of the freshest works on TV today are the result of screen adaptations of best selling novels. Abbe Wright of Penguin Random House, who is also podcast host of The Adaptables and Read it Forward, discusses this current trend of adaptations from the publishing and storytelling perspectives.


Since the early days of TV, adaptations of stage and literature have delivered incomparable works to primetime viewers. We discuss the 1977 miniseries Roots, based on the book of the same name. Current works like Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People, and Big Little  Lies (all written and backed by women) are achieving great success with a new approach to storytelling.  


4/11/20

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Telling Stories of Women Across Media: An Interview with Sarah Moshman

From Dancing with the Stars to her latest documentary, Nevertheless, Producer, director in both TV & film Sarah Moshman tells stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Join us as we discuss funding, Netflix, representation, worldwide impact, privilege & unity. Learn more about Moshman & her work.  


8/9/18

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TV Writer April Smith on Lou Grant, Cagney & Lacey and storytelling

 

Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams welcomed April Smith to Advanced TV Herstory, to discuss writing quality plots from a woman's point of view, side by side with men in the writers' room. Novelist April Smith got her start telling stories on TV for award winning shows like Lou Grant, Cagney & Lacey and Chicago Hope. She highlights her career that began writing short stories in Boston, but found her way to Los Angeles through help from friends. Series featuring April Smith's work include James at 15/16, Lou Grant Cagney & Lacey (writer & producer) and Chicago Hope.


Smith's fiction work (mysteries, thrillers and historical fiction) includes the FBI Special Agent Ana Grey series.

7/19/17

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Women of MTM (1970-77) Pt 1

Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams welcomes author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong to discuss the women behind the scenes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Jennifer tells of her experience having the creative women agree to be interviewed for her book, and together, they recall the Rhoda look and the infamous Chuckles the Clown funeral. 


11/12/15

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Women of MTM Pt 2 (Words, Casting, Fashion)

Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams continues her conversation with author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong about her book "Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show A Classic." They discuss the contributions and stories of writers Susan Silver, Jenna McMahon, Gail Parent, Marilyn Suzanne Miller, Monica McGowan Johnson, Gloria Banta and Pat Nardo. Jennifer shares insights into the Mary-Rho banter, Mary and Rhoda's "looks," the spin off series "Rhoda" and the impact of having a woman cast the show. 


11/18/15

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Women Writers of MTM Pt 3 (Treva Silverman)

Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams is joined by author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong to talk about what she learned researching her book "Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic." Jennifer shares insights into the key role of Treva Silverman who helped develop all the characters. 


11/23/15

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