A new mini-series combines two of my favorite things, popular television and PBS documentaries. America in Primetime (Sundays at 8pm on PBS) examines the history of primetime television through the lens of the following classic archetypes: Independent Woman, Man of the House, Misfit and Crusader. The first installment was on the Independent Woman. It began by looking closely at the different types of independent women on the Good Wife, showing that the independent woman is not necessarily a good girl or a bad girl but rather someone who pursues what she wants without feeling the need to completely conform herself to society’s expectations. The series looks back at independent women through the history of television from I Love Lucy to Murphy Brown to Roseanne to Sex and the City to Grey’s Anatomy and too many others to mention. In each era of television women were working against different stereotypes of what a woman should be and what would be acceptable to show on television.
The documentary uses a mix of archival footage of shows, advertisements, and current interviews with actors and show creators to show how the archetypes, and television in general, have changed over time. While an hour isn’t quite enough time to get to all the shows that you love (and may even focus on some shows you don’t care for), it’s a fun hour and will remind you of shows you have loved and tell you more about the thought process behind the creative minds in television. I am looking forward to seeing the exploration of the man of the house tonight.
Read additional reviews from NPR and The Onion. Find out when the series is playing in your area.
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