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  • America in Primetime Independent Woman (Season 1, Episode 1)
  • TV-PG
    TV Episode | 54 min | Documentary

America in Primetime

Independent Woman (Season 1, Episode 1)
TV-PG
TV Episode | 54 min | Documentary

In the early days of television, American prime time provided an idealized and stereotypical view of the American woman, who was more often than not portrayed as being subservient to the man, basically as housewife and mother in service to...See moreIn the early days of television, American prime time provided an idealized and stereotypical view of the American woman, who was more often than not portrayed as being subservient to the man, basically as housewife and mother in service to the family. In real life, most American women could could not measure up to this idealized view. From 1950 to 1970, three lead characters are seen as groundbreaking away from this stereotype (despite two being wife and mother): Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy, Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Richards in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, who were each independent for different reasons, much of those reasons specific to the era. Other characterizations of independent women that followed owed much to these three, and were reflective of the times. They include Roseanne Connor in Roseanne, and the title character in Murphy Brown. The lack of advertising on cable opened up the role of the independent woman even more, with Sex and the City being one of the earliest successes. Current examples of American prime time shows that feature independent women include Desperate Housewives, Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, Nurse Jackie and The Good Wife. Similarities between the women portrayed in these shows are that they are far from perfect but they are true to most parts of their selves. Written by Huggo See less
Read more: Plot summary
Director
Composer
Cinematographer
Editors
Scott Chestnut (edited by) | Jon Vesey (edited by)
Status
Edit Released
Updated Oct 30, 2011

Release date
Oct 30, 2011 (United States)

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Cast

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41 cast members
Name Known for
Julianna Margulies
Self / Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife Self / Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife   See fewer
Robert King
Self - Co-Creator, The Good Wife Self - Co-Creator, The Good Wife   See fewer
Michelle King
Self - Co-Creator, The Good Wife Self - Co-Creator, The Good Wife   See fewer
Archie Panjabi
Self / Kalinda Sharma, The Good Wife Self / Kalinda Sharma, The Good Wife   See fewer
Roseanne Barr
Self - Executive Producer, Roseanne (as Roseanne) Self - Executive Producer, Roseanne (as Roseanne)   See fewer
Diane English
Self - Creator, Murphy Brown Self - Creator, Murphy Brown   See fewer
Liz Brixius
Self - Co-Creator, Nurse Jackie Self - Co-Creator, Nurse Jackie   See fewer
Jenji Kohan
Self - Creator, Weeds Self - Creator, Weeds   See fewer
Patricia Heaton
Self / Debra Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond Self / Debra Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond   See fewer
Steven Levitan
Self - Co-Creator, Modern Family Self - Co-Creator, Modern Family   See fewer
Will Scheffer
Self - Co-Creator, Big Love Self - Co-Creator, Big Love   See fewer
Linda Wallem
Self - Co-Creator, Nurse Jackie Self - Co-Creator, Nurse Jackie   See fewer
Danny DeVito
Self / Louie DePalma, Taxi Self / Louie DePalma, Taxi   See fewer
Ron Howard
Self / Opie, The Andy Griffith Show Self / Opie, The Andy Griffith Show   See fewer
Dick Van Dyke
Self / Rob Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show Self / Rob Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show   See fewer
Carl Reiner
Self - Creator, The Dick Van Dyke Show Self - Creator, The Dick Van Dyke Show   See fewer
Mary Tyler Moore
Self / Laura Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show Self / Laura Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show   See fewer
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Self / Elaine Benes, Seinfeld Self / Elaine Benes, Seinfeld   See fewer
James L. Brooks
Self - Co-Creator, The Mary Tyler Moore Show Self - Co-Creator, The Mary Tyler Moore Show   See fewer
Shonda Rhimes
Self - Creator, Grey's Anatomy Self - Creator, Grey's Anatomy   See fewer
Candice Bergen
Self / Murphy Brown Self / Murphy Brown   See fewer
Marcy Carsey
Self - Executive Producer, Roseanne Self - Executive Producer, Roseanne   See fewer
Diablo Cody
Self - Creator, United States of Tara Self - Creator, United States of Tara   See fewer
Tom Werner
Self - Executive Producer, Roseanne Self - Executive Producer, Roseanne   See fewer
Laurie Metcalf
Self / Jackie Harris Self / Jackie Harris   See fewer
Judd Apatow
Self - Executive Producer, Freaks and Geeks Self - Executive Producer, Freaks and Geeks   See fewer
Kevin Reilly
Self - President, Fox Entertainment Self - President, Fox Entertainment   See fewer
David Chase
Self - Creator, The Sopranos Self - Creator, The Sopranos   See fewer
Mike Royce
Self - Co-Creator, Men of a Certain Age Self - Co-Creator, Men of a Certain Age   See fewer
Stephen McPherson
Self - Former President, ABC Entertainment Self - Former President, ABC Entertainment   See fewer
Sue Naegle
Self - President, HBO Entertainment Self - President, HBO Entertainment   See fewer
Darren Star
Self - Creator, Sex and the City Self - Creator, Sex and the City   See fewer
Sarah Jessica Parker
Self / Carrie Bradshaw Self / Carrie Bradshaw   See fewer
Elisabeth Moss
Self / Peggy Olson, Mad Men Self / Peggy Olson, Mad Men   See fewer
Marc Cherry
Self - Creator, Desperate Housewives Self - Creator, Desperate Housewives   See fewer
Eva Longoria
Self / Gabrielle Solis, Desperate Housewives Self / Gabrielle Solis, Desperate Housewives   See fewer
Felicity Huffman
Self / Lynette Scavo Self / Lynette Scavo   See fewer
Sandra Oh
Self / Dr. Cristina Yang Self / Dr. Cristina Yang   See fewer
Mary-Louise Parker
Self / Nancy Botwin, Weeds Self / Nancy Botwin, Weeds   See fewer
Edie Falco
Self / Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie Self / Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie   See fewer
Alan Yentob
Self - Presenter (UK version) Self - Presenter (UK version)   See fewer
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