Putting women in their place in the new Fall TV lineup

Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., the executive director for Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, suggests that, particularly in dour financial times, male viewers — not to mention the overwhelmingly male decision-makers at the networks — might be looking to retreat into less complicated, more comforting times.”In times of economic and social upheaval and difficulty, nostalgia and a longing for an era when life seemed simpler tend to bloom,” Lauzen said.

Ugh. This sounds very similar to a certain political movement spouting ideals very similar to sentiments like this. I hate to break it to them, but you’re looking at this time period through rose colored glasses. It never existed like you’re remembering it.

“As women continue to gain economic, social and political power, there is always some sort of backlash, a desire to put women ‘back in their place,'” Lauzen adds. “These programs may reflect that type of wishful thinking.”

And that’s exactly why I have no desire to watch shows like the upcoming “Pan Am” and “Playboy Club.” Jiggle TV is what this article has taken to calling it.Christine Baranski asks the very good question, ‘Really? Haven’t we gone past that, well past that?’It’s sad that the percentage of women writers has declined in the past year. So is the new trend to have white men recycle shows originally produced by white men decades before? I’m already bored.

The Morning After on Hulu did a Fall TV Preview week last week and I have to say that I was pretty underwhelmed by the choices. (TV Guide also has a list of some new shows).

Look, I get wishful thinking for a time past. I’m part of a generation that petitioned Nickelodeon to put shows like “All That” and “Clarissa Explains It All” back on the air! Nostalgia is rampant with us. Us twenty somethings (and thirty somethings too) know what it’s like to be out of work, to have a hell of a time finding a job. Or if we find a job, it’s not the one we want. Or maybe we’re underpaid. Maybe we’re still living with our parents. Life,basically, isn’t working out the way it was supposed to. We’re looking back at a time (for us it’s the 90s) when life was good. The economy was great! TV was entertaining and made us laugh all the time! Since we were kids at the time we (probably for most of us) had a sense of security and comfort. There was a routine to it. The terrorists weren’t out to get you. The banks weren’t going to foreclose on you. The world wasn’t a mess.

The problem as I see it is that we (the twenty somethings and thirty somethings) aren’t controlling the studios. It’s the old men who still hold the power. And so, it’s their nostalgia we see over the air waves.