The 90s TV Babies are back to examine the 80s sensation A Different World! Serita Fontanesi, Sergio Perez and Megan Ruble signed up for classes at Hillman College TV. But now it’s time for finals. This will ALL be on the test. Professors Lambert and Johnson assigned these episodes to watch: S1: E1 -- “Pilot” S2: E1 -- “Dr. War Is Hell” S2: E20 -- “No Means No” S6: E9 & 10 -- “Faith, Hope and Charity: Part One and Two” So -- will the Babies return for another semester at Hillman College? Or w...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 37
“A lot of production companies… who decide to do stories about people of color are not used to having the people of color they hire coming in with an opinion. Coming in contradicting them on certain things.” -- Neema Barnette, director, A Different World Susan and Sharon welcome legendary producer-director Neema Barnette to talk about her journey from Harlem to Hollywood. Ms. Barnette made history in 1986 when she became the first African-American woman to direct a prime-time sitcom ( What’s Hap...
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 36
“You can be anything you want in this world, darling. But if you become an actress or a nun, I’ll kill myself.” -- legendary actress Josephine Premice to her daughter, writer/producer Susan Fales-Hill. Susan and Sharon welcome writer and showrunner Susan Fales-Hill as they continue their look back at the classic 80’s comedy series A Different World . Ms. Fales-Hill’s writing career began on The Cosby Show and continued on A Different World where she rose from story editor all the way to executiv...
Jun 05, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Sharon and Susan begin an all-new series of episodes looking at the groundbreaking 80s sitcom A Different World (1987-1993). This Cosby Show spin-off starred Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Charnele Brown, Dawn Lewis and Marissa Tomei. It explored the lives of students at Hillman College, a fictional HBCU, and addressed issues such as race, sexual assault, HIV/AIDS and equal rights while still keeping the laughs coming. In 1988, Lisa Bonet and Marissa Tomei left the show and a new show...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 34
“I was quite set on theater. I was going to go out to Los Angeles for one year -- and that was it. Then I was going to go back to New York and devote myself to the theater. It didn’t work out that way.” -- Jan Eliasberg 80s TV Ladies "Director Ladies" series continues as Susan and Sharon welcome legendary director Jan Eliasberg. Jan began her television director career in the 1980s with an episode of Cagney & Lacey -- and she went on to be the first female director ever on Miami Vice, Crime ...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 33
The Best Indie Podcast nomination IS the award! Susan and Sharon thank ALL the listeners who came out to support “80’s TV Ladies” as Best Indie Podcast for the WEBBY AWARDS. A big welcome to all our new listeners! And a sincere thank you to all who voted and to our listeners who reached out. BIG THANKS to our friends who shouted us out, including: Chris Stachiw from Weirding Way Media Network and the Kulturecast Podcast. Scott Philbrook and Forrest Burgess of the Astonishing Legends podcast. Ric...
Apr 24, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Help us win a Webby Award - Vote at WebbyAwards.com . Vote for 80’s TV Ladies for Best Indie Podcast at the Webby Awards Now! Voting ends Thursday, April 18th, 2024 . Vote: tinyurl.com/vote80tvl Thanks to our dear friends, Weirding Way Media and Astonishing Legends for all their support! Cheers and welcome to any Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf fans. One Day More!...
Apr 17, 2024•2 min
BREAKING: 80s TV Ladies has been nominated for a Webby Award! Help us win. VOTE HERE! Back to our episode: Sharon and Susan burst into the Blue Moon Detective Agency and hire Maddie and David to help them answer ONE BURNING QUESTION: What are their Top 8 favorite episodes of the entire series? Maddie: “Eight? Eight? Why not ten?” David: “Can’t do it. It would make them too tens.” In the words of Miss Dipesto: “We’re never late, we won’t make you wait, but if you want favorite episodes -- you onl...
Apr 10, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Encore! Encore! In celebration of the premiere of Cagney & Lacey 42nd years ago this week, here is a look back at the special Sharon Gless interview we dropped one year ago today! Sharon and Susan are at Podcast Movement Evolutions and The Ambies this week! So here's a look back to when they go to sit down with show business legend Sharon Gless. Multi-Emmy and Golden Globe winner, Sharon Gless has appeared in dozens of television shows such as “Nip/Tuck”, “Rizzoli & Isles”, “The Rockford...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 2Ep. 30
The 90’s TV Babies return: Serita Fontanesi, Sergio Perez and Megan Ruble are back to do a little Moonlighting! Do you agree with the 90s Kids about Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis' hit show? Susan and Sharon served up five key episodes for the Babies' viewing pleasure: S1: E1 – “Pilot” S2: E3 – “Money Talks, Maddie Walks” S2: E4 – “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice” S2: E18 – “Camille” Bonus Episode: S3: E6 “Big Man on Mulberry Street” Plus -- YouTube scenes and snippets…. So, did the Babi...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 29
“I was never so tightly wound as the night we transmitted the show directly from ABC in Los Angeles to New York. We basically went live.”– Sheryl Main, post-production supervisor, Moonlighting Susan and Sharon take you “behind the scenes” with Moonlighting post-production supervisor – and legendary publicity strategist Sheryl Main. As a Unit Publicist, she’s worked on such films as Creed 3, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Expendables, Terminator 3, The Perks of Being A Wallflower and collaborat...
Feb 28, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 28
“I said to Cybill Shepherd, ‘You are a Prima Donna!’ And she said, ‘Yes. I am. Do you know what ‘Prima Donna’ means, Glenn? It means First Woman. And don’t you forget it.” – Glenn Gordon Caron In the second of our two-part conversation with Moonlighting and Medium creator Glenn Gordon Caron, we cover everything from Al Jarreau’s iconic theme song to sparring with Cybill Shepherd, to a forty-year career spent working with “audacious people”… Moonlighting , which ran from 1985-1989 starred Cybill ...
Feb 14, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 27
“They said I could do whatever I want. So I thought, I’ll write a boy-girl detective show that kills this stupid genre.” – Glenn Gordon Caron, creator of Moonlighting Some walk by night, some fly by day… Susan and Sharon cross paths with legendary writer, director, producer and creator of the classic 80’s series Moonlighting for a rollicking conversation about David, Maddie, Ms. DiPesto – and everything in between! Moonlighting ran from 1985-1989. It starred Cybill Shepherd and a then-unknown Br...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Susan and Sharon sit down with actor, director, and writer Elayne Heilveil. Elayne has worked with Mike Nichols and Mark Rydell in the classic 70s television series Family and has guested on such shows as The Rockford Files, The Waltons, Emergency!, Hawaii 5-0, Hill Street Blues and The Mary Tyler More Show. She has appeared opposite such legendary stars such as James Garner, Rip Torn, Ben Vereen, Jeff Goldblum, Valerie Bertinelli, David Jansen, Robert Culp and Dame Judith Anderson. In this laye...
Jan 17, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 25
“Every new Star Trek show ‘ruins’ Star Trek.” – Nana Visitor In the second episode of their two-part conversation, Susan and Sharon open a channel into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with Nana Visitor who starred as “Kira Nerys” on the classic television series. Nana reflects on the differences between working in television then vs. now, balancing work and personal life -- and what it’s like to forever be a part of the singular Star Trek family. THE CONVERSATION GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: Auditioning for ...
Jan 10, 2024•52 min•Season 2Ep. 24
“I remember an agent saying to me: ‘You’re not pretty, you’re not fat – I don’t know what to do with you.’… They still don’t know what to do with me.” – Nana Visitor All-New 8TL Pop-Up Series - "Star Trek Ladies". Explore out-of-this-world conversations with and about the women of the Star Trek universe! Sharon and Susan begin with Nana Visitor, who starred as “Kira Nerys” on the classic television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In Part One of a two-part conversation, Nana talks about her ea...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 23
“The thing I loved about the theater was ‘the puzzle’. And in television, it was a new puzzle every week. And I LOVED that.” – Mary Lou Belli, on the joy of directing. In a career spanning five decades, Emmy Award-winning director Mary Lou has directed episodes of Charles In Charge, Major Dad, The Hughleys, Girlfriends, Monk, The Game, Heart of Dixie, Devious Maids, Station 19, Black Lightening, NCIS: New Orleans , Sweet Magnolias and The Ms. Pat Show . She is the co-author of four books: Direct...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Is “Reservations for Eight” your favorite or LEAST favorite episode of “Designing Women”? How can a simple television comedy cause us to dive into a deep discussion of First Wave Feminism? Yes, it’s time for the 90’s TV Babies to weigh in on Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s Designing Women. Serita Fontanesi, Sergio Perez and Megan Ruble were given the assignment: Watch nine seminal episodes of the series, from the first season to the last, that feature all seven main cast members -- and be prepared t...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 21
On this special Bonus Holiday-themed episode, Susan and Sharon welcome Stan Zimmerman , co-writer of Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas . Stan Zimmerman is a prolific producer and director but is perhaps best known for his work with writing partner James Berg on A Very Brady Sequel and on the classic television as Roseanne, Gilmore Girls and The Golden Girls . In Ladies of the 80’s: A Divas Christmas , Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills and Nicolette Sheridan star as fiv...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Susan and Sharon continue their discussion with the creator of Designing Women, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (also Evening Shade , Hearts Afire , Filthy Rich , and more!). In Part Two of their conversation, Linda touches on the challenges of television production, her experiences with Dixie Carter, Delta Burke’s struggles on the show -- and the differences between the north and south. THE CONVERSATION LOVE IS IN THE AIR: We get the inside scoop on the real-life romances between the cast members of ...
Nov 29, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Susan and Sharon are honored to speak with the creator and writer of Designing Women, Linda Bloodworth Thomason. Novelist, playwright, documentary filmmaker and philanthropist, Linda is a five-time Emmy Award nominee who has created, written and produced such signature hits as "Evening Shade", "Hearts Afire", "Women of the House" and "Filthy Rich". Her TV writing career began with episodes of classic shows including "Rhoda", "Paper Moon" and "MASH". In a career spanning six decades, Linda Bloodw...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 18
“She didn't twirl just a baton. That baton was on fire. And when she threw that baton into the air, it flew higher, further, faster than any baton has ever flown before, hitting a transformer and showering the darkened arena with sparks!” - Julia Sugarbaker Susan and Sharon continue “‘Designing Women’ November” with an episode devoted to the actresses – all seven of them – who played all those outspoken Southern Women! We’re talking the Original Fab Four: Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart an...
Nov 15, 2023•57 min
Susan and Sharon get to sit down with writer/producer/show-runner Maggie Friedman to talk about the show that inspired her to embark on a career in television: Designing Women . Designing Women (1986-1993) was created by the legendary Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and starred Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts and Meshach Taylor as the owners and staff of the Atlanta-based interior design firm “Sugarbaker & Associates”. In its seven-year run, Designing Women was known for sharp w...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 11 min
“ Our ethical language lives in our popular culture. ” – Bryan Edward Hill Susan and Sharon welcome writer, producer, filmmaker, pop-culture philosopher and good friend Bryan Edward Hill. Bryan has spent the better part of the last 40 years processing the hundreds of TV shows and movies he watched as an only child – then later, creating his own work –- and then reflecting on how the two experiences speak to each other. Along with Susan and Sharon, Bryan talks about being raised by television in ...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 15
“When you’re doing the right thing, the right things happen” – Lynda Carter to David Johnson about creating “The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs. King”. Susan and Sharon geek out with SMK experts David R. Johnson, Taya Johnston and Sabine Ludewig – the authors of “The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs. King” - a #1 Bestseller in TV and Film on Amazon Books! How do three people from far-flung parts of the world come together to write the ultimate book about their favorite show? ...
Oct 11, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 14
“The key to good women-driven stories is… Sheryl Lee Ralph” – 90’s TV Babies Susan and Sharon welcome back the 90’s TV Babies! It’s been a while since we’ve seen them, but they’re back and ready for action. Serita Fontanesi, Sergio Perez and Megan Ruble take a look at “It’s A Living” – and they do not hold back! THE CONVERSATION Too many characters in Season One? The Babies don’t think so. Was Season One too sexy – or too sex-positive? Did the more conservative outfits make the jokes funnier? Se...
Sep 27, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 13
What’s your favorite 80s television theme songs? Susan and Sharon were invited to be on Dave Sloan and Holly Cantos podcast “What Difference Does It Make?” to talk 80s TV theme songs and retro music -- and they all had so much fun they’re bringing Part Two of the conversation here! If you want to hear Part One, here’s the link to the 80s TV Ladies episode of “ What Difference Does It Make ?” And get ready to relive – and rehear -- some great TV theme songs! ( “Moonlighting” with Al Jarreau, anyo...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 12
“It seemed possible in the ‘80s that someone would walk up to you at a train station and hand you a package – and you would take it!” -- Jeanette Valliere Welcome to Susan and Sharon’s very first “Fanbar” event – where we talk with outstanding fans of 80s shows. We’re starting off with a big one! Jeanette Valliere has been organizing the "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" Anniversary events since 2003, and she’s got lots of stories – including meeting with and getting to know cast members Bruce Boxleitne...
Sep 13, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 11
“Life’s not the French Riviera; life’s not a charity ball…” – theme song by George Tipton & Leslie Bricusse Susan and Sharon wrap up their thoughts on “It’s A Living” with a global look at everything “IAL” -- from their top favorite episodes, to the amazing careers of the stars – and don't forget that unforgettable theme song! So, if you’ve ever wanted to hear Sharon sing “You Only Live Twice” – this is the episode for you! Plus -- The 5 Things You Need to Know About “It’s A Living”! THE CON...
Aug 30, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 10
“Sonny Mann is a guy with great talent -- but no taste” – Paul Kreppel Continuing their deep dive into “It’s A Living”, Susan and Sharon sit down with beloved Tony award-winner, actor and director Paul Kreppel, known to 80s TV lovers as the “always on the make” singer and piano player ‘Sonny Mann’ on “It’s A Living”. Paul’s stage career began in 1968 with the Boston Improvisational theater group “The Proposition” where he performed with Jane Curtin, Judith Kahan, Josh Mostel and Fred Grandy. Sin...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 9
