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April 13, 2012 1:23 PM
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Laverne & Shirley (CBS, 1976-1983)
A spin-off of "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley" starred Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as its titular women, roommates who worked at a fictitious Milwaukee brewery. Set in the 1960s, it's considerably more goofy (and less influential) than the aforementioned shows, but stands as an forerunning example of the single-gal-in-the-city sitcom nonetheless. Laverne and Shirley supported themselves financially, and relied on each other emotionally largely over any male characters (the series' primary male characters, Lenny & Squiggy, were more sidekicks than anything else). For two seasons in a row, it was also the highest rated series on television.
Murphy Brown (CBS, 1988-1998)
A full decade after "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" went off the air, it found its truest successor in "Murphy Brown." Candice Bergen starred as the title character (and won a whopping five Emmys for the role), an investigative journalist and news anchor who enters the series fresh from rehab after suffering from alcoholism. Single and forty-ish, Murphy caused a huge stir outside the show when she became unwed and pregnant. After the show made it clear Murphy would raise the child alone, then-Vice President Dan Quayle infamously spoke out against the show's disprespect of family values.
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4 Comments
Norman Kelley | April 15, 2012 4:49 PM
@ Leon Raymond. Yeah, I forget as well as black men being either invisible or targets, black women don't even exist except for in films such as The Help or the other end: Monsters Ball.
I may take a look at "Girls" on HBO for free the day after, but it really says a lot that Hollywood and TVland won't even consider something like "Girlz": looking a four young women of color; black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American, or even add one or two of them to the above mix.
It's always the same people whose lives and problems that are validated.
LeonRaymond | April 14, 2012 4:48 PM
@ NORMAN KELLEY -This was written by some one who would think (Black people, Oh yeah, I forgot, they do exist on this planet)
Norman Kelley | April 13, 2012 10:40 PM
Hey! What about Queen Latifah's six year-run in "Living Single"? A story about four single, thirty-something black women living in the big city as roomies.