From: THE
MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO
Contact: Dan Klores Communications MT&R
Wendy Katz /212.685.4300 Loretta Ramos /212.621.6785
________________________________________________________________
THE MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO TO HONOR
BARBARA
WALTERS, SARAH JESSICA PARKER, DIANE SAWYER, KATIE COURIC, OPRAH WINFREY, AND
OTHERS AT LAUNCH OF
SHE MADE IT: WOMEN CREATING TELEVISION AND RADIO
New Collection with Companion Screening and
Listening Series Highlights Influential Women in
Television and Radio
(New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA) – December 1, 2005 - The Museum of Television
& Radio released today the names of the 2005 honorees who will be included
in the new collection She Made It: Women
Creating Television and Radio—a three-year initiative celebrating the
achievements of creative and business women in the television and radio
industries. (See attached list.)
The
initiative will launch tonight, December 1, 2005, at 6:00 p.m., at a reception
at The Museum of Television & Radio’s New York location, where many of the
2005 honorees will be in attendance. The website (www.shemadeit.org)
will also go live at that time. Additional
honorees will be named in the following two years.
Spanning
the generations from early trailblazers to current innovators, She Made It will honor writers,
directors, producers, journalists, sportscasters, and executives. She Made It will preserve the legacy of
women who have had an enormous impact on our most powerful media.
At
the center of She Made It is a
unique collection of radio and television programming created by some of the
most influential women in both industries.
It will serve as a major resource for scholars, students, industry
professionals, and the public. At the end
of the three-year project, 2000 hours of programming compiled both from the
Museum’s existing collection of over 120,000 programs and from new acquisitions
will be available at both Museum locations, in New York and Los Angeles. Seminars, screenings, and a website will
support this landmark collection.
As
part of the She Made It initiative,
the Museum will host a screening and listening series highlighting selected
work from the collection. The screenings
will be presented in four separate packages.
In New York, they will screen Tuesdays through Sundays at 2:30 p.m., and
in Los Angeles Wednesdays through Sundays at 3:00 p.m. The Museum will present a special Launch Week Daily Marathon of all four
screening packages from December 2 to 8, 2005 as follows:
1:00
p.m. Producing Media Icons
2:00
p.m. Women Directing for Television
3:30
p.m. She Made It on Her Own
4:30
p.m. Theatrically Speaking
December 9 to
January 12
PRODUCING MEDIA ICONS
In 1988, Diane
English created the hit series Murphy
Brown, about an outspoken broadcast journalist who opts for single
motherhood. A decade later, Sex and the
City burst onto the airwaves and catapulted its executive producer and star
Sarah Jessica Parker to iconic status for her portrayal of a different breed of
journalist—sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw, who chronicled the foibles and fables
of dating in Manhattan.
·
Murphy Brown: “Full Circle”
After Murphy (Candice Bergen), who is pregnant, learns of the sudden death of
her mother, she receives a letter from her mother and a visit from her
estranged father (Darren McGavin).
(1991; 25 minutes)
·
Sex and the
City:
“My Motherboard, Myself” Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) agonizes over the loss
of her “life” when her computer crashes, but Miranda (Cynthia Nixon)
experiences a much more profound loss—the death of her mother. (2001; 30
minutes)
January 13 to
February 16, 2006
WOMEN DIRECTING FOR TELEVISION
Ida Lupino
(1914–1995), was a Hollywood leading lady who embarked on a new phase of her
career in the late 1940s: directing episodic television from The Virginian to The Twilight Zone to Gilligan’s
Island. Mimi Leder worked as a script supervisor on the landmark series Hill Street Blues and got her first
directing job on L.A. Law,
subsequently working as a director and supervising producer on China Beach and as a director and
coexecutive producer of ER.
·
The Twilight
Zone:
“The Masks” In this episode directed by Ida Lupino, the ancient, dying
millionaire Jason Foster (Robert Keith) strikes a peculiar bargain with his
hateful heirs: He will leave them all of his vast estate, provided they wear a
selection of grotesque Mardi Gras masks until the stroke of midnight. (1964; 25
minutes)
·
ER: “Love’s Labor
Lost” In this episode directed by Mimi Leder, chief resident Dr. Mark Greene
(Anthony Edwards) finds himself perilously out of his depth as he oversees a
complicated childbirth. (1995; 40 minutes)
February 17 to
March 23, 2006
SHE MADE IT ON HER OWN
Marlo Thomas
created the character of aspiring actress Ann Marie and made the pilot for That Girl under the banner of her own
company, Daisy Productions. Mary Tyler Moore’s eponymous series (1970 to 1977)
about an associate producer of a local news show was produced under the aegis
of MTM Enterprises—a company Moore founded with her then-husband, Grant Tinker.
·
That Girl: “Rain, Snow,
and Rice” When bad weather ensues following their friends’ wedding at a cozy
inn, Ann (Marlo Thomas) and Donald (Ted Bessell) are forced to share a room for
the night—where Ann’s parents (Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp) catch them
“together.” (1967; 25 minutes)
·
The Mary Tyler
Moore Show:
“Just Around the Corner” Mary’s parents (Nanette Fabray and Bill Quinn) move to
Minneapolis to be near her—and drive her crazy by dropping in on her at all
hours and monitoring her dating life. (1972; 25 minutes)
March 24 to
April 30, 2006
THEATRICALLY SPEAKING: Mildred Freed
Alberg (1917–2002) parlayed her lifelong love of theater into a distinguished
television career as a producer of the Hallmark
Hall of Fame, where she brought classy, accessible adaptations of
Shakespeare, Shaw, and other master playwrights to the small screen.
·
Hallmark Hall
of Fame: Little Moon of Alban With a teleplay by James Costigan and stars
Julie Harris and Christopher Plummer, Little
Moon won four Emmy Awards including Best Special Dramatic Program. Set
during the time of the 1919–23 Irish Rebellion, Costigan’s beautifully crafted
story about the friendship between an officer and a nun was dear to Alberg’s
heart. (1958; 90 minutes)
RADIO LISTENING
ROOM: SHE MADE RADIO
The radio
listening series will be presented in two separate packages. The packages will run continuously in the
radio listening rooms.
December 2 to
January 29 in New York and Los Angeles
THEY MADE
GENRES: Irna Phillips and Gertrude Berg
Gertrude Berg
(1899–1966) created the genre of the family sitcom with her radio (and,
subsequently, television) program The
Goldbergs, which debuted in 1929. Irna Phillips (1901–1973) created another
enduring programming genre—the soap opera; one of her best known programs, The Guiding Light, began as a radio
serial in 1937 and arrived on television in 1952, where it remains to this day.
·
The Guiding
Light:
In this episode of the long-running daytime program created by Irna Phillips,
Peter confesses his misdeed and is prepared to take the consequences—which may
include disbarment and the end of his legal career. (1945; 15 minutes)
·
The Goldbergs: In this
episode of Gertrude Berg’s popular program about a Jewish family in the Bronx,
widower Mr. Allison is uncertain whether or not he should marry a woman he knew
many years ago, and he is offered advice by Molly, Jake, and even young Seymour
Fingerhood. (1940s; 15 minutes)
January 31 to
April 30 in New York
February 1 to
April 30 in Los Angeles
RADIO
SUPERSTARS: Fanny Brice and Dorothy Thompson
Fanny Brice
(1891–1951) was a theater superstar when she came to radio in the thirties and
focused her act on an outlandish character she had been shaping for years, a
precocious, bratty child named Baby Snooks. Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) was
one of the most influential journalists in American history. From 1936 to 1945,
as the world first balanced on the edge of war then plunged full-bore into
armed conflict, Thompson’s eloquent and well-informed views were regularly
broadcast to millions over NBC (both the Red and Blue Networks) and, later, the
Mutual Network.
·
Fanny Brice on The Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour (The
Rudy Vallee Show) In this excerpt from Rudy Vallee’s variety show, Fanny
Brice portrays Baby Snooks, who has a run-in with her kindergarten
principal. Following the sketch, Brice
performs a song written by her husband Billy Rose. (1936; 10 minutes)
·
Dorothy
Thompson Newscasts: Dorothy Thompson reports on FDR’s controversial
plans to reorganize the judicial system, and also discusses the New Deal and
other policies. A separate broadcast includes a report on the 1937 Nobel Prize
winners and awards ceremonies held in Stockholm, Sweden. (1937; 30 minutes)
Admission to
the She Made It screenings
and radio listening series is included with the
Museum’s suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00
for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles.
About
The Museum of Television & Radio
The
Museum of Television & Radio, with locations in New York and Los Angeles,
is a nonprofit organization founded by William S. Paley to collect and preserve
television and radio programs and advertisements and to make them available to
the public. Since opening in 1976, the
Museum has organized exhibitions, screening and listening series, seminars, and
education classes to showcase its collection of over 120,000 television and
radio programs and advertisements.
Programs in the Museum's permanent collection are selected for their
artistic, cultural, and historic significance.
###
The
Museum of Television & Radio in New York, located at 25 West 52 Street in
Manhattan, is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. and until
8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The Museum of Television & Radio in California,
located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills is open Wednesdays through
Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Both Museums are closed on New Year's Day, Independence
Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00
for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children
under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles. The public areas in both Museums are accessible
to wheelchairs, and assisted listening devices are available. Programs are
subject to change. You may call the Museum in New York at (212) 621-6800, or in
Los Angeles at (310) 786-1000. Visit the
Museum's website at www.mtr.org.
The Museum of Television & Radio
SHE
MADE IT: WOMEN CREATING TELEVISION AND RADIO
2005
HONOREES