80s TV Ladies

By: 134 West | Susan Lambert Hatem & Sharon Johnson
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • 4-time Podcast Awards Winner! Webby nominated for Best Indie Podcast.
    80s TV Ladies is dedicated to the beloved female-driven shows of the 1980s! Do you love 80s pop culture, television and fabulous women? On our show, you’ll hear a breakdown of how these shows got made, how they were influenced by the times and, in turn, how they influenced pop-culture trends to follow. We love discussing the “two-steps forward, one-step-back” lens of media-driven feminism.

    Join hosts Susan Lambert Hatem and Sharon Johnson as they talk about the fabulous ladies of television: Cagney & Lacey, Designing Women, A Different World, The Golden Girls and more.

    With special guests, TV creators and stars! Do these shows we hold so dear hold up? Let's find out.

    Season 1: We examine three “detective duo shows” this season, with multiple episodes and awesome guests for each TV show we cover.
    Scarecrow and Mrs. King
    Remington Steele
    Cagney & Lacey

    Season 2: Multiple episodes per TV show exploring representation and behind-the-scenes insight in science fiction, drama and sitcoms!
    Queer representation in 70s and 80s
    9 to 5 television show
    It's a Living
    Designing Women
    Ladies of the 80s: A Divas Christmas
    Star Trek Ladies
    Moonlighting

    Special guests: Eugenie Ross-Leming, Martha Smith, Robin Bernheim, Stephanie Zimbalist, Evan Ball, Debbie Evans, Barney Rosenzweig, Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, Karen Arthur, Cynthis Beemis Abrams, Matt Baume, Jane Epsensen, Drew Greenberg, Paul Kreppel, Bryan Edward Hill, Maggie Friedman, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Stan Zimmerman, Mary Lou Belli, Nana Visitor, Glenn Gordon Caron, Shery Main and more!

    We publish every other Wednesday.
    Tell us: Who should we interview and what's your favorite 80s Ladies television show? https://www.80stvladies.com
    Susan Lambert and 134 West
    Show More Show Less
Art Social Sciences
Show More Show Less
Episodes
  • Heather Thomas on The Fall Guy, Activism and The Poster

    Heather Thomas on The Fall Guy, Activism and The Poster
    Jan 29 2025
    “You’re in acting class and you’re studying Chekov or ‘Waiting for Godot’ -- and then you end up doing 80s tits-and-ass… You caught on pretty quick what it was about and where the power lay.” -- Actress Heather ThomasWhat was it like to be an 80s poster icon and sex symbol? Susan and Sharon welcome The Fall Guy star and “80s Poster Lady” Heather Thomas. She’s an actor, writer and activist -- but may be best known for her “Pink Bikini” poster, one of the best-selling pin-up posters of all time. Heather Thomas had leading roles in television shows like BJ and the Bear, The Love Boat and TJ Hooker -- as well as the movie Zapped! with Scott Baio, Willie Aames and Felice Schachter. But her most famous role was playing stuntwoman Jody Banks on the hit 80s television series The Fall Guy. Running for five seasons on ABC, The Fall Guy spawned board games, posters, a video game -- and just last year, a major feature film starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt -- and Heather Thomas! Since her days as a TV star and pin-up queen, Heather Thomas has gone on to an extraordinary career as a novelist, political activist, organizer and fund-raiser. NOTE: This episode was recorded Dec. 2024, before the LA Fires. Our thoughts are with Heather and her family, and all those impacted by the fires. Stay safe. Be well. THE CONVERSATIONWORKING WITH MONKEYS: Clyde, the orangutan from Every Which Way But Loose, was her co-star once: “He thought it was funny to keep grabbing my boob. I thought he was gonna rip it off!” And a stint on BJ and the Bear led to producer Glen Larsen tapping her for the co-starring role in The Fall Guy. WORKING WITH TV PRODUCERS: “All of them are crazy. You’re not gonna find any normal ones, not in those days. Everyone was nuts. And they still are.”"Smile more": Early on, the ABC network executives were afraid that Heather Thomas wasn’t likable. So they put her in a bikini. “I guess that made up for me not smiling enough.” STUNT WORK: “Lee Majors almost broke my nose once.” "I was good on rollerskates!"In preparation for a Fall Guy episode, Heather trained with the Los Angeles Thunderbirds roller-derby team: “They showed me how to ‘break my back’ on the rail -- it was really fun!”Ted Lange -- Isaac, the bartender on The Love Boat -- was one of Heather’s favorite directors on the Fall Guy.A GOOD DIRECTOR: For Heather, it was someone who brought her into the filmmaking process. For Lee Majors -- it was anyone who got him home by 5:00pm! THE POSTER: Once the show was a hit, a poster was the next big step: “It outsold Farrah Fawcett. I bought a house. I was thrilled.”DIS-LIKENESS: Heather’s image has been hi-jacked and used for everything from lighters, to puzzles, to notebook covers -- to a pillow!ON HAVING A FAMOUS BODY: “My body was my living. That’s how I saw it. So I had to feed it, exercise it -- I couldn’t have an ounce of cellulite. It was part of the gig. But I didn’t care, I was grateful. I was making more money than I ever had in my life. I was a kid.”ZAPPED! -- Teen sex comedy -- or sexual harassment? “They tried to get me topless, but my contract said uh-uh! So, they used a body double. There’s a big disclaimer at the end of the movie saying that it’s not my tits.”Activism: “Ever since they said, ‘You can’t climb the tree, the boys can’ -- I was a feminist.”So join Susan and Sharon -- and Heather -- as they talk fly-fishing, Star Wars, David Letterman,Teen Beat, Shaun Cassidy & Parker Stevenson, “Gabor-lore”, Cliff Robertson’s toupeé, organizing your phone by decade, not complying in advance -- and canoeing with Henry Winkler!AUDIO-OGRAPHYFind Heather Thomas on Twitter at Twitter.com/HeatherThomasAF And find Heather Thomas on BlueSky at HeatherThomasAF.bsky.social Watch Heather Thomas in The Fall Guy on Peacock, Amazon Prime or Flixfling!Check DontGetPurged.org to make sure your name has not been purged from voter rolls!Find out more about CREW at CitizensForEthics.orgVITAL READINGGet Handbook for A Post-Roe America by Robin Marty at Bookshop.org.Check out Men In Dark Times by Hannah Ahrendt at Bookshop.org.Read Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson at Bookshop.org.You can also follow Richardson’s substack.SUPPORT FOR THE LA FIRESOnline at DisasterAssistance.gov On the FEMA App for mobile devices or Call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362Calls are accepted every day from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. PST.More resources at Eaton Canyon Community Relief.Google List of LA County Resources. AIRBNB is offering temporary free housing for those displaced by the fires. Start here. PLACES TO VOLUNTEERGoogle Doc for Wednesday and ongoing.Volunteer with the Red Cross.TALK TO SOMEONEReach out to friends and family. Take care of yourself:Pro Bono Therapy for LA Wildfires - Google Doc. More mental health resources at LARevive.DONATINGMaster GoFundMe List for LA Fire Victims Google ...
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Bonus: Message from a City on Fire | How to Help

    Bonus: Message from a City on Fire | How to Help
    Jan 15 2025
    Just a quick message and some ways to help from Susan and guest Richard Hatem (Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf) who live in Pasadena, CA. Links below on how to help. Thankfully, the 80s TV Ladies team are all safe - Sharon, Susan, Melissa, Kevin, Sailor, Sergio, Megan and Serita. Rich and I were lucky enough to be in a good spot. We housed evacuees from Altadena and La Canada this week. We know too many people who have lost homes, schools, churches, synagogues and more. Thinking of all of you and hoping we have gotten through the worst. Sending love and healing and recovery to Los Angeles - which is still a city on fire. The fires have decimated two entire communities within Los Angeles County, and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. The recovery will be immense. This disaster and the other recent disasters around the country and world are made worse by a changing climate, a warming earth. There’s no escape. But there are solutions. There is hope. We can help each other. Donate or Volunteer if you can. We send best wishes for you to stay safe and find the light in the dark. TALK TO SOMEONEReach out to friends and family. Take care of yourself:Pro Bono Therapy for LA Wildfires - https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=5c10f09ac5&e=c2a6c4f49f More mental health resources athttps://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=66ca1a18ce&e=c2a6c4f49f.PLACES TO VOLUNTEERhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eaSXTYlLY_spJ-_w43ac55qu6X4YtgApgRGfads3cM4/htmlview for Wednesday and ongoing.Volunteer with the https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=ac8e5b668f&e=c2a6c4f49f.DONATINGPeople we know or friends of friends gofundmes:https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=c949386ee8&e=c2a6c4f49fhttps://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=417fad5f53&e=c2a6c4f49fhttps://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=ee45e76e82&e=c2a6c4f49fhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/restore-hope-for-the-rosascamacho-familyMORE GOFUNDMEDisplaced Black families in Altadena https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=9973a4701e&e=c2a6c4f49f. Gofundme pages for https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=fe63638093&e=c2a6c4f49fTHANK YOU FIREFIGHTERSDONATE to the LAFD at https://supportlafd.kindful.comHELP Incarcerated Firefighters. CA uses incarcerated firefighters.Read more of their story https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/los-angeles-fires-inmates-speak-1235232001/.Donate to those firefighters at https://antirecidivism.org/donateType “firefighter fund” in the payment box. HELP THE ALTADENA GIRLSTeenagers who lost their school started a fund to help girls victimized by the Eaton Fire at https://www.instagram.com/altadenagirls. Donate to their cause at http://pledge.to/altadena-girlshttps://www.pledge.to/altadena-girlsPRICE GOUGING IS ILLEGALIf you see price gouging, you can report it:Call 311 or 213-473-3231.Or download myLA311 app to report illegally hiked rents and prices.Tracking Rental Price Gouging https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RXWxLqTyWvAuq8A0PgaBuWeEn_G6qTLyTZ8lzfNEaNw/edit.THE SCALE OF ITIt is hard to get a sense of what is lost and the scope of the destruction. “LA has lost more than 20,000 homes and businesses. Its infrastructure has suffered significant damage; over 200,000 residents are without power due to the destruction of high transmission power lines. Water quality in reservoirs has been degraded from smoke particulates, meaning that hundreds of thousands of residents whose homes survived the fires will not have potable water service. Hundreds of thousands more remained locked out of their homes due to evacuation orders.” - https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/los-angeles-firestorms-literal-and?r=u3n9p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=emailIf you want to understand the scale of destruction in these areas, here are satellite images that can show you a detailed zoomable visual. EATON - https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=0d3105d0b0&e=c2a6c4f49f.PALISADES - https://mac.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6955712b931709f7b46b3067&id=677c042027&e=c2a6c4f49f.Damage Destruction maps:- For https://recovery.lacounty.gov/eaton-fire/- For https://recovery.lacounty.gov/palisades-fire/We've heard a lot of blame and finger pointing in this disaster.APPLY FOR FEMA AIDOnline at DisasterAssistance.govor - On the FEMA App for mobile devicesor - Call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362Calls are accepted every day from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. PST.You can apply for FEMA even if you have insurance. If you've lost your home and you're not sure where to start:United Policyholders is a nonprofit that can walk you through what to do. From the CA Gov.'s office: Check out Wildfire Debris Removal guide...
    Show More Show Less
    9 mins
  • Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and all about ‘The Family’

    Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and all about ‘The Family’
    Jan 8 2025
    On March 16, 1974, a sketch appeared on The Carol Burnett Show featuring Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and Harvey Korman portraying a “normal” American family -- warts and all. This sketch, known as “The Family”, led by a then 25 year-old Vicki Lawrence playing a gray-haired 63 year-old ‘Mama’, spawned 30 more sketches, a TV Movie (Eunice) and finally a spin-off series of its own (Mama’s Family) which ran for 130 episodes over six seasons both on CBS and in syndication (1983-1990).In “The Family”, Carol Burnett played the melodramatic, ambitious, brow-beaten daughter of ‘Mama’. Mama, played by Vicki Lawrence, is an exaggeratedly mean-spirited and insult-spitting widow and mother of five children: three sons played by guest stars Roddy McDowell, Alan Alda and Tom Smothers -- and two daughters: Eunice & Ellen (played by Betty White). Eunice’s husband Ed Higgins was played by Harvey Korman.How did one simple sketch take on such a huge life of its own, creating a sprawling TV empire that some are calling “The Mama-Verse”? Susan and Sharon put on their housecoats and curly gray wigs to find out!THE CONVERSATIONCarol Burnett’s career started with a Broadway role starring as the lead in Once Upon a Mattress and then as a rising star on The Garry Moore Show.The Carol Burnett Show was hugely successful, running eleven seasons, garnering 70 Emmy nominations and winning 25.Carol Burnett was encouraged to “speak up for herself” by another TV comedy legend -- Lucille Ball.A fan letter from then 18 year-old Vicki Lawrence to Carol Burnett led to her actually being cast as a regular on the show!“HARVARD SCHOOL OF COMEDY”: Lawrence cites Harvey Korman and Carol Burnett as her show business mentors during the 11 years she spent on the show.ONE-HIT WONDER: Five years into her run on The Carol Burnett Show, Lawrence had a hit song, recording “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”!In the TV movie Eunice, Mama suddenly only has three children instead of five -- what happened to the others? And why is one of them suddenly Ken Berry?Vicki Lawrence was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of ‘Mama’ in Eunice.The TV series Mama’s Family was aired first as a prime-time network comedy and later as a nationally syndicated series. It originally ran for two years on CBS, was cancelled in 1984 -- and then revived TWO YEARS LATER in 1986 by Lorimar Syndication to run for additional 100 episodes!NAME SWITCH: The character Ken Berry played started out as “Phillip” in the TV-movie but then became “Vinton” in the TV series.The TV show introduced “Fran” played by future Golden Girl, Rue McClanahan -- playing Betty White’s aunt!The TV show also introduced Vinton’s children Buzz and Sonya played by “80’s TV Ladies” alum, Eric Brown and actress Karin Argoud.Mama’s neighbor, Naomi Oates, was played by “Another World” “The Nanny” and now “80s TV Ladies” alum, Dorothy Lyman!So join Susan and Sharon as they talk Lou Grant, social justice, Julie Andrews and the first Live Televised Cinderella musical, “Raytown, Missouri”, Kamala Harris, Matlock, driving your own story -- and “Miss Fireball of Inglewood”!AUDIO-OGRAPHYWatch The Carol Burnett Show and Mama’s Family across many platforms. Not all of them feature all seasons. The Carol Burnett Show can be seen for free on Pluto TV. Mama’s Family can be seen for free on Pluto TV.The Carol Burnett Show “The Family” select episodes:S7, EP23 - Aired 3/16/1974 - Jackson Five and Roddy McDowall.The first of “The Family” sketches. “The Reunion - Eunice's brother Phil (Roddy McDowall), a Nobel and Pulitzer prize winning author, returns home for a visit. On YouTube.S8, EP13 - Aired 12/21/1974 - Alan Alda“Home for the Holidays”Christmas sketch with Alan Alda on YouTube. VITAL READINGGet Handbook for A Post-Roe America by Robin Marty at Bookshop.org.Check out Men In Dark Times by Hannah Ahrendt at Bookshop.org.Read Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson at Bookshop.org.You can also follow Heather’s substack.SHOPLAST WEEK FOR THE “80’s TV LADIES” HOLIDAY SALE!15% off on all merch at the 8TL Shop. Make sure to use promo code “Festive80s”!CONNECTVisit 80sTVLadies.com for transcripts and more.Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.Support us and get ad-free episodes on PATREON. In Honor of President Carter and to learn more about his presidency: Get Susan’s new play about him and his Crisis of Confidence speech: Confidence (and the Speech) at Broadway Licensing.
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins

What listeners say about 80s TV Ladies

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.