Cynthia chats inspiring role models and memorable characters found in the 4-Female sitcom construct, with Summer Martin of The Unconventional Woman Podcast. Guest Wendy Burns-Ardolino contributes insights into what qualities and traits viewers look for in their role models and how 4 women characters offer fluidity to leading conversations.
11/3/20
In the 3rd of 4 episodes about role models and memorable characters, Cynthia and Summer delve deep into some of the most crafted, defined, distinct women characters to ever grace the dramatic small screen. They follow it up with a list of similarly refined, authentic real women – whose growth and stature have unfolded over the decades.
Dr. Camille Saroyan (Bones)
Chris Cagney and MaryBeth Lacey (Cagney & Lacey)
AnnaLiese Keating (How to Get Away With Murder)
Olivia Pope (Scandal)
Robin Roberts (Good Morning America)
Joy Reid (The Reid Out)
Gayle King
Oprah
Shonda Rhimes
Martha Stewart
10/20/20
Deep chat with Summer Martin of The Unconventional Woman Podcast about role models & memorable characters and what they meant for us, our aunties, mothers and friendships.
We discuss the powerful impressions of Freddie Brooks of A Different World, The Flying Nun's Sister Bertille and Homeland's Carrie Mathison. Temple University student Maryam Muhammad adds her perspective on Cree Summer's Freddie Brooks.
10/6/20
Deep chat with Summer Martin of The Unconventional Woman Podcast about inspiring role models & memorable TV characters and what they meant for us, our aunties, mothers and friendships.
We discuss the impact of Freddie Brooks of A Different World, Mary Richards of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Cosby Show's Clair Huxtable and others on us and generations older and younger. Temple University student Maryam Muhammad adds her perspective on Cree Summer's Freddie Brooks.
9/22/20
In taking a look at Jeanine Furino's book All the Single Girls, the lead character single woman caregiver has evolved over 60 years. This episode looks at its historical context of 50s and 60s society as well as 1981's Gimme A Break!, which re-introduced us to a mammy character. Dr. Jennifer Fuller of Miami University of Ohio shares her thoughts.
8/23/18
This is beyond Green Acres! It's time we talk about complex women characters; those called "unlikable" who strive to do good or carry out justice, but take alternative approaches.
Guest Dr. Molly Brost (University of So. Indiana) discusses anti-heroines, top characters, traits & Marvel's Jessica Jones. Also, how streaming and cable have expanded the range of women characters to include action-heroines, anti-heroines and the unlikables.
6/14/18
Author Jeanine Furino shares insight into her term, "Feminerd" and TV's single women characters who best fit the description. We talk about Feminerds that blossom professionally and find love and happiness, like Liz Lemon and Leslie Knope.
Furino goes out on a limb about Liz Lemon's impact on workplace fashion.
5/31/18
Depending on your hours spent on TV, you may remember characters who came across as searching for or wishy-washy about life goals. We follow up with Jeanine Furino, author of All the Single Girls and conclude this very realistic role is more prevalent today.
3/22/18
Interview with Jeanine Furino, author of All the Single Girls, a look at 60 years of television's depiction of unmarried women in women-centric series.
5 years of resources, research.
Themes
2/14/18
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams explores an international understanding of American feminism with Austrian cultural studies student Julia Krassnik. Julia has studied Susan Sontag's 1972 article on stereotypes and applied it to the timing and ensemble cast of Battlestar Galactica, which aired 2004-2009.
Cynthia and Julia discuss the Roslin character's defiance of stereotypes and her interest in power, leading a team through uncertain times and situations.
9/15/17
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams takes a deep look at a series that only ran for a single season, 2005-2006, Commander in Chief. Cynthia recounts how it aired during the Bush administration and is one of the few characters who, as a woman vice president, ascends to presidency. Without revealing spoilers, Cynthia weighs in that the writing and plots offer a quality balance of sinister and good, as the lead character, played by Geena Davis, is a woman (wife, mother and daughter) of power surrounded primarily by men.
11/5/16
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams goes back-to-school to profile television's women high school teacher characters. It's a harder list to conjure up than one might think. The highlight reel goes back to the 1950s for characters that represented one of a few "respectable" careers available to women. Cynthia provides extra attention to extraordinary performances, positive messaging and quirky style and a special tip of the hat to the clever and progressive Room 222.
8/27/16
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams explores the 15th (final) season of NBC's ER and the accomplished Angela Bassett's presence as a lead character of the ensemble cast. The drama begins with exposition of department staff turnover and Cynthia details the workplace culture and tone set by Bassett's character, Dr. Cate Banfield. Over the course of the 9 month plot, Cynthia explores the well-crafted backstory that guides the complex and intense Banfield character.
5/13/16
TV Herstory was made for a number of reasons in 1992, when CBS' Murphy Brown proceeded with an unplanned pregnancy. Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams explores the controversy around the months-long plot line. Cynthia provides the seminal moments that include the celebrated, late actor Colleen Dewhurst as Murphy's mother Avery Brown, then-Vice President Dan Quayle's comments about Murphy's story arc and perception of fatherhood and the poignant performance by Candice Bergen AND her hair.
5/8/16
ER - award winning and new concept medical show Sometimes, it just has to be done. Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams revisits ER to determine how well it's held up after its original run., Cynthia was a big fan of the writing and all-star cast and initially had a positive impression of the representation of women in medical profession. Cynthia profiles the characters of Carol Hathaway and Susan Lewis from the series' early years and is disappointed to find some missed opportunities for a more progressive approach to representation and storytelling.
4/22/16
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams welcomes Wendy Burns-Ardolino, PhD and professor at Grand Valley State University (MI) to discuss her study of the four-female character construct found in television sitcoms. Burns-Ardolino's research and interest led to her authoring her 2015 book TV Female Foursomes and Their Fans. Cynthia and Wendy walk through a number of sitcoms presented in the book, including The Golden Girls and Living Single. Wendy details the many different ways Yvette Lee Bowser, Living Single's seasoned showrunner, made the series bolder and more novel than its competition.
1/13/16
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams takes a long look at her favor 4- woman ensemble drama. Sisters has been so relegated to obscurity that only 2 seasons on DVD, though some episodes can be found on YouTube. Cynthia remains loyal to the Emmy Award winning show (for cast and crew categories). Further, Cynthia explores the post-Sisters careers of Swoosie Kurtz, Patricia Kalember, Sela Ward and Julianne Phillips.
Plots included interracial and inter-faith marriage, three plane crashes, menopause, foster parenting the son of a deceased patient, surviving a coma - list nearly never ends. Akin to daytime serials, Sisters is a rare escapist drama that focused on women.
10/21/15
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams provides the long overdue look at the primary women characters of Emmy award-winning series Hill Street Blues. Characters Lucy Bates (uniformed police officer) played by Betty Thomas and Joyce Davenport (confident public defender) provided moral and ethical voice in arcs and story lines that were otherwise the precursor to police procedural dramas. Cynthia notes the two women characters were rarely in same scene and never garnered many lines or airtime each week, yet influenced women to pursue careers in law enforcement and the law.
9/11/15
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams celebrates the classic coming-of-age drama My So-Called Life and its primary writer, Winnie Holzman. It's a drama that revolves around mothers and daughters. While much of the short-lived series' stories revolve around timeless teenage angst, there's an embedded perspective of Holzman, as female storyteller. Cynthia explores the mother-daughter relationships of the mid-90s, early days of the internet's arrival into households, but before social media and phones changed family life.
8/12/15
Host Cynthia Bemis Abrams takes a hard, feminist look at the Aaron Sorkin sitcom, Sports Night. While time capsule show during cable news' heyday and the early days of the an accessible internet, Cynthia examines the primary women characters of Dana and Natalie. Dana, played by Felicity Huffman, is a strong woman leader. Robert Guillaume, playing Isaac, the only main character of color, provides mentoring leadership and lessons in journalistic integrity to Dana. In turn, Dana fills a similar role for Natalie. Cynthia reviews some of the serious issues covered in comedy that give the series "classic" status.
7/6/15
