Welcome to our final Season Three episode of 80s TV Ladies! Hosts Sharon Jonson and Susan Lambert Hatem continue their in-depth conversation with actor Jon Cryer. In this second part, Jon shares behind-the-scenes stories from his television and film career, including his start in 80s television with "The Famous Teddy Z," the ups and downs of sitcom life, and his experiences working with legends like Charlie Sheen, Christopher Reeve, and Gene Hackman. In this episode: Jon’s journey from 80s movie...
Jul 16, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Susan and Sharon are thrilled to welcome director, writer and actor Jon Cryer to 80s TV Ladies ! Jon Cryer is an Emmy-winning film and television icon, known for starring as “Duckie” in the 1986 John Hughes teen classic Pretty in Pink -- and then going on to star in all twelve seasons of Chuck Lorre’s long-running, award-winning sitcom, Two and A Half Men . Along the way, Jon has starred or appeared in dozens of television shows including The Famous Teddy Z, Partners, Dharma & Greg, Family G...
Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 23
“This show makes me feel like I have a blanket around me and I’m eating mac & cheese.” -- Megan Ruble, 90s TV Baby, about The Facts of Life. Susan and Sharon welcome back the notorious “90s TV Babies” to find out what they think about The Facts of Life, which ran August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. Did they “take the good” and “take the bad”? Did the “World Live Up To Their Dreams”? We’re gonna find out! Megan Ruble and Serita Fontanesi were asked to watch these FOL listener-suggested episodes: ...
Jun 18, 2025•56 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Susan and Sharon keep the good times rolling with Part 2 of their conversation with singer, song-writer, actress, author and diabetes advocate Gloria Loring! Known for her Number One hit “Friends & Lovers”, Gloria is also the legendary co-composer and singer of the impossible to forget Facts of Life theme song! In Part 2 of their conversation, they touch on Gloria’s work for the Juvenile Diabetes Association, her wild career in TV and music and the benefits of living a spiritual and healthy ...
Jun 04, 2025•46 min•Season 3Ep. 21
“When I sang, I knew who was on the stage. When I got off the stage, I was very shy, couldn’t look people in the eye. But when I was ON the stage I was just filled with my own light.” - Gloria Loring Susan and Sharon welcome Gloria Loring -- singer, song-writer, actress, author and diabetes advocate. Known for her Number One hit “Friends & Lovers”, Gloria is also the legendary co-composer and singer of the impossible to forget Facts of Life theme song! THE CONVERSATION WHERE THE MUSIC COMES ...
May 21, 2025•53 min•Season 3Ep. 20
"It is equally treacherous when you are very successful as when you are trying to get your foot in the door in terms of keeping the sense of who you are.” -- Asaad Kelada, producer/director, The Facts of Life In Part 2 of their conversation with Asaad Kelada, Susan and Sharon talk with the director about the gifts and pitfalls of success; his reputation as a director who brings harmony to the most disharmonious sets in Hollywood; and the challenge of breaking into the “Hollywood TV Club” for an ...
May 07, 2025•52 min•Season 3Ep. 19
“There was a sense of discovery about what this series was going to be about. It was going to be about young people -- with all of their shenanigans, and the maneuvering, and all the silliness that takes place with that. But it was also going to be about growing up. These five people, and the fabric that holds them together.” -- Asaad Kelada - producer/director, The Facts of Life Susan and Sharon welcome legendary Director Asaad Kelada. In a career spanning four decades, Asaad Kelada has directe...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Susan and Sharon continue their conversation with legendary 80s TV Lady -- and The Facts of Life writer/producer -- Margie Peters! In Part 2, the conversation turns to the challenges of making comedy out of date rape and toxic masculinity; “comedy sparring” in the Different World writer’s room with Debbie Allen, Thad Mumford and Susan Fales-Hill; the creative opportunities for “women of a certain age”; and the lasting impact of the cruel moniker “The FATS of Life”. Margie Peters has written and ...
Apr 09, 2025•59 min•Season 3Ep. 17
"We're thinking of doing this show with all women. Becasue women are becoming this big thing, ya know. And the leads of the show would all be women!" Susan and Sharon are excited to talk with legendary 80s TV Lady -- and writer/producer of 80 episodes of The Facts of Life -- Margie Peters! Margie Peters has written and produced over 140 hours of television, including The Love Boat, Valerie, One Day at a Time and A Different World . But her best-known gig was the six years she spent on The Facts ...
Mar 26, 2025•57 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Episode 315: “Everything I Ever Learned About TV Writing, I Learned From ‘The Facts Of Life’ | Anupam Nigam” The Facts of Learning about Television Writing from The Facts of Life The Golden Girls of Eastland: TV Writer Anupam Nigam Shares His Lessons from The Facts Of Life The Golden Girls of Eastland: Top Lessons TV Writer Anupam Nigam Learned from The Facts Of Life For some people, a childhood spent lounging in front of the television leads to nothing but being sent to bed when Law and Order l...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 3Ep. 15
What's your favorite childhood show? If you grew up in Canada or watched Nickelodeon in the 80s, you know and loved The Elephant Show & Skinnamarink TV -- and if you didn't, you’re about to find out all about it! Susan and Sharon welcome Sharon Hampson, one of the creators of The Elephant Show and Skinnmarink TV. As part of the musical trio “Sharon, Lois & Bram” -- featuring Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein, and Bram Morrison -- Sharon rose to fame on these two ground-breaking, award -wi...
Feb 26, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 14
They’re BAAAACK! It’s 2025 and the world-renowned 90s TV Babies have reconvened around the TV screen to gaze upon 80s classic sitcom, Mama’s Family, starring Vicki Lawrence, Dorothy Lyman, Betty White, Rue Mclanahan and Carol Burnett. Do they see what Mama's fuss is all about!? Serita Fontanesi, Megan Ruble -- and A BRAND NEW 90s TV Baby, Sailor Franklin -- drop in on “Mama” Harper, take a seat on the floral print couch, and weigh in with their thoughts. What did they watch? What did they think?...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 3Ep. 13
“You’re in acting class and you’re studying Chekov or ‘Waiting for Godot’ -- and then you end up doing 80s tits-and-a**… You caught on pretty quick what it was about and where the power lay.” -- Actress Heather Thomas What 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. ...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 12
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 y...
Jan 15, 2025•9 min
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 Famil...
Jan 08, 2025•48 min•Season 3Ep. 11
What's the best Christmas episode of The Facts of Life? The Nanny vs Mama's Family? Let's find out! If you grew up in the 80s, tuning in to the special “Holiday” episodes of our favorite shows was a winter ritual. Susan and Sharon bring that tradition home as they dive into the “Best Holiday Episodes” of three favorite 80’s and 90s TV shows -- The Facts of Life, Mama’s Family and The Nanny . Musical numbers, mixed-up gifts, screwed-up travel plans -- and lots of hot cocoa! 80’s TV “Holiday” epis...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 10
“I was the highest paid actor in Hollywood -- if you were counting by the word.” - actor Eric Brown THE CONVERSATION TAKING THE PIPPIN BUS: Nine-year-old Eric played the lead in the original touring company of Bob Fosse’s Pippin! “It was 1974. I was the only child in a cast of adults. One-and-two-night stands. In a bus. Thirty states. Six months. ” PRIVATE LESSONS: The lead got fired -- so Eric was promoted to star! 15 GOING ON 30: In Private Lessons, Fifteen year-old Eric Brown, played a fiftee...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 3Ep. 9
“The roles I’ve played on soap operas are infinitely superior to any roles I’ve played anywhere else. They are about women and women’s stories. The men are just there to screw you -- or screw you over.” -- Dorothy Lyman Just three chicks sitting around talking... Susan and Sharon clean house -- and air some dirty laundry -- with The Nanny director and Emmy-award winning actress Dorothy Lyman. You may know her as Opal Gardner from the long-running soap opera All My Children or as Naomi Oates Harp...
Nov 27, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Susan and Sharon are thrilled to sit down with award-winning singer, songwriter, actress -- and stuntwoman -- Marneen Fields. As a gymnast, swimmer and stuntwoman in the 1970s and 80s, Marneen’s career sky-rocketed with roles on Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Lou Grant, Quincy, Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Man from Atlantis, The Fall Guy, Murder She Wrote, Dynasty -- as well as the Clint Eastwood film The Gauntlet . But it was only after a devastating car accident ended her career as a stunt...
Nov 13, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 7
There is no fandom like the Scarecrow & Mrs. King fandom -- passionate, dedicated and absolutely obsessed with red hats, train stations, the Q bureau, and Cream-&-Wood 1983 Ford LTD Country Squire Station Wagons. In this episode, Susan and Sharon meet up with super-fans Taya Johnston, Jennifer Peterson and Miranda Thomas from The Mrs. King’s Chronicles, a re-watch podcast about -- what else? -- Scarecrow & Mrs. King! From Beaverton, Oregon… to Clarkston, Michigan… to Florence, Kentuc...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 6
“Katie and I, our relationship could be a little exciting -- I had to watch my step, I had to toe the line. I had to behave myself or I’d get taken to the principal’s office... And she was the principal.” -- Bruce Boxleitner In Part Two of their conversation, Bruce reflects on the differences between doing TV then and now, his relationship with Kate Jackson -- and how the long hours can sometimes turn your co-stars into your family… Bruce Boxleitner’s television career started way back in 1973 w...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 5
“ Kate was able to go off script. Then I found I could go with her. Pretty soon we’re doing stuff that is not on the written page. That’s where we found the little ‘in-between’ moments.” - Bruce Boxleitner Susan and Sharon are so excited to talk with the star of one of their favorite 80s TV shows of all time -- Bruce Boxleitner from Scarecrow & Mrs. King! Bruce’s television career started way back in 1973 with an appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He has since appeared in over 100 film...
Oct 16, 2024•41 min•Season 3Ep. 4
‘The Princess Diaries’, ‘Romy & Michelle’, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, ‘Clueless’… Whenever I think my work doesn’t mean anything to anyone at any time and never will… somebody says to me, ‘Those movies -- I watched them and I showed them to my kid.” -- Casting Director Marcia Ross In Part Two of our conversation with Casting Director Marcia Ross, Susan and Sharon discuss the changing business of Hollywood, favorite finds, shrinking budgets, and going from in-person auditions -- to auditio...
Oct 09, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 3
“An actor is either compelling -- or they are NOT compelling. Doesn’t matter if they’re green. You want to watch them. That’s what makes them a star. How do I know? I just feel it.” -- Marcia Ross, Casting Director How did “Clueless” and “Princess Diaries” and “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” find their leads? Casting Director Marcia Ross has been instrumental in putting together amazing ensembles for classic films and TV shows since 1983. Susan and Sharon sit down this week with Ms. Ro...
Oct 02, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Welcome to Season 3! Sharon and Susan kick off a new season with Jennifer Keishan Armstrong, the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything, When Women Invented Television, Sex and the City and Us, and Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. Jennifer writes about entertainment and pop culture for the New York Times Book Review, Fast Company, Vulture, BBC Culture, and Entertainment Weekly. Her latest book So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We're ...
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In this special bonus episode, Susan, Sharon and Melissa spill a few secrets about our upcoming season and fun guests coming soon to 80s TV Ladies. Can you guess what female-driven television shows from the 1980s we’ll be covering in our upcoming season? THE CONVERSATION Do we know what we did this summer? How was your summer? What is that feeling in the air? Is it hope?!! Are you ready to Vote? Does Melissa even want to talk about her summer? Okay, for real: what shows are we gonna cover in Sea...
Sep 04, 2024•39 min
BONUS: Check out this exciting encore episode from Season 1: Part TWO of our interview with true show business icon and classic 8os TV Lady -- “Remington Steele’s” one-and-only Laura Holt -- Stephanie Zimbalist. In a career spanning six decades, Stephanie has performed on stage and screen with everyone: Alec Baldwin, Walter Matthau, Jessica Tandy, Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Patricia Neal, Alfred Molina, Tommy Tune, Jimmy Stewart AND her own father, the legendary Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Steele Ta...
Aug 28, 2024•1 hr 7 min
It's more Summer Reruns. Check out this cool encore episode from Season 1: Susan and Sharon sit down with a true show business icon and classic 8os TV Lady -- “Remington Steele’s” one-and-only Laura Holt -- Stephanie Zimbalist. In a career spanning six decades, Stephanie has performed on stage and screen with everyone: Alec Baldwin, Walter Matthau, Jessica Tandy, Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Patricia Neal, Alfred Molina, Tommy Tune, Jimmy Stewart AND her own father, the legendary Efrem Zimbali...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Encore! Encore! For the summer break, Sharon and Susan take you back to the 80s with reruns, and back to Season 1 with a very special encore presentation of Ep. 119. Meet the woman behind Mary Beth Lacey. Sharon and Susan are excited and honored to talk with Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and the star of Cagney & Lacey, Tyne Daly. In a career spanning eight decades, Tyne Daly has appeared on stage and screen in over 100 roles in everything from “The Mod Squad” and “Judging Amy” to co-st...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 18 min
"One of the things I love about looking back at 80s television is you get to see some early and amazing young stars and very exciting stunt casting." It's Guest Stars Galore on 80s TV Ladies! We're taking a nostalgic trip back to the iconic 80s sitcom " A Different World ." Susan and Sharon debate -- and celebrate -- the amazing roster of guest stars that walked the halls of Hillman College during the six seasons of A Different World . As one of the only black-centered shows of its time, A Diffe...
Jul 17, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 38
