In fact, it’s an argument as old as television itself.
Premiering 60 years ago this fall, “I Love Lucy’’ became TV’s first enduring scripted series, and it continues to serve as the classic template for sitcoms, despite conflicting views on whether Lucille Ball’s zany housewife was a victim of domestic oppression or — as she schemed to break into show biz or expand her world in some other novel way — a pre-feminist subversive. (Maybe both?)
In any case, it’s ladies first on the vast majority of new shows this fall — an overwhelming display of gender domination and easily the season’s biggest trend.
Women rule on “Pan Am’’ and “The Playboy Club,’’ which portray the fairer sex in two high-profile jobs that called for beauty, performance and impeccable service, even while offering women a rare chance to get ahead.
“Pan Am,’’ set in 1963, is a melodrama that focuses on stewardesses in their snugly tailored blue twill at the dawning of the jet age. It stars Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robbie and Karine Vanasse. “The Playboy Club,’’ set in 1961, is a swanky soap centering on the cotton-tailed, look-but-don’t-touch waitresses in the original Chicago club. Starring as those Playboy bunnies are Amber Heard, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Naturi Naughton, Leah Renee and, as the Bunny Mother, Laura Benanti.
Neither series has hit the air. But already both shows have been called upon to justify themselves as if, by telling these tales from a half-century ago, they are violating contemporary norms and dealing a retroactive blow to the women’s movement — as if any of that were usually a standard against which TV shows are measured.
Many questions on this topic arose at the recent Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles. In one response to eye-rolling reporters, Heard said, “I think it’s just chauvinistic to deny women their sexuality.’’
