Stealing the Show

Joy Press

STEALING THE SHOW is the definitive cultural history of female showrunners, starting with Roseanne Barr in the 1980s to contemporary icons such as Lena Dunham. Amy Schumer, and Tina Fey.

Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780571342440
Date Published
08.03.2018
Delivery
All orders are sent via Royal Mail and are tracked: choose from standard or premium delivery.
Summary

In recent years, the television landscape has seen the glorious rise of women to key positions of power within the industry, from writers to producers to directors. Successes like Shonda Rhimes’s Holy Trinity of shows as a producer—Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder—and critical darlings like Lena Dunham’s Girls, Jill Soloway’s Transparent and Jenji Kohan’s Orange Is the New Black have heralded a revolution and inspired women creators to put their smartest and boldest art onto screens everywhere.

But this wasn’t always the case. The story of how women were able to make their names in an often misogynistic and myopic industry is a decades-long journey full of challenges, hard work, heartbreak, and determination.

Starting with Roseanne Barr and Diane English with their now iconic shows, Roseanne and Murphy Brownrespectively, Press shows us how strategic advocating for women in writers’ rooms, in producing discussions, and behind the camera as directors led to an inspiring new era for television drama.

Exhaustively researched and featuring insightful commentary and interviews from the key players involved, this book is the essential companion to what has become a game-changer in our culture.

Critic Reviews

‘In this thrilling book, Joy Press weaves the most influential TV shows created by women into a cohesive narrative arc. You'll learn how Murphy Brown and Roseanne paved the way for revolutionary shows like Transparent and Orange is the New Black – and how these shows actually influenced the culture around them. Press also conjures up figures, and the writing room environments, behind the creation of these shows. Through her sharp descriptions, the showrunners become characters as interesting as the protagonists they created for seasons.’

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JoyPress

Joy Press is the former pop culture editor of the Los Angeles Times, TV critic at The Village Voice, entertainment editor of Salon and co-author of The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock’n’Roll. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

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