TV Tuesday: Good Girls Revolt

As I've mentioned here before, I use my lunchtime to watch shows just for me (in a house with 3 men, I don't get that chance very often!). With my sons home for winter break now, my alone time is limited (my older son and I watch NCIS at lunchtime instead), but I took advantage of a few days on my own last week and my husband's business trip to finish watching the first season of Good Girls Revolt on Amazon Prime, a new-ish show based on real-life events.

This show is SO good!! You must watch it! Hmmm...guess that's not much a a review is it? Let me try again...

Good Girls Revolt is set in NYC in 1969 and is based on a nonfiction book with the same title by Lynn Povich. The real-life story is about a group of women working for Newsweek who sued the magazine because they weren't allowed the writing jobs that men had; they were relegated only to support positions. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was still fairly new and had not been applied much yet to women's equal rights.

The TV show is based on the book but fictionalized, about a group of young women working for "News of the Week." As in real life, they are only allowed to be secretaries and researchers. Even when they do much of the writing and/or editing of an article or are the creative force behind a great story, they get no credit or byline - those go solely to the men at the magazine. Though this is the way things have always been, the young, ambitious women there slowly, gradually realize that this situation isn't fair and they want more.

The show focuses on several young women. Genevieve Angelson is in the lead as Patti Robsinson, probably the most ambitious of the young women and the one who first recognizes the disparity. She is the researcher for reporter Doug, played by Hunter Parrish, whom she also has a personal relationship with. Cindy, played by Erin Darke, is a quiet, mousy young woman who works writing captions for photographs (again, secondary to a male photographer). Cindy is married but not happy; her husband expects her to be a typical 60's wife and mother, but Cindy loves her job and doesn't want to leave it. He's given her a 1-year deadline to quit work and "settle down." Jane, played by Anna Camp, is different than the other "working girls" because she comes from a wealthy family. She is also a researcher at the magazine, supporting a male reporter, but her father sees her job as just a fun lark until she gets married to the country-club boy she's been dating. There are many other young women in the newsroom, all played by wonderful actresses, rounding out the group of "girls" in the office. And I loved seeing Grace Gummer as Nora Ephron in a few episodes (she doesn't last long under the restrictions at News of the Week)!

That's the basic plot, with the first season focusing on the women pulling together and trying to get support for their cause, while keeping it a secret from the men in the newsroom. However, the show also delves into their personal lives and pulls in all sorts of different aspects of "the women's movement" that was just starting at that time: roles as wives and mothers, social unrest in the general population, and a growing awareness of sexual freedom, too.

It's fascinating to see what it was like for women in 1969 and the kinds of things we now take for granted. But that's not all. The show does an incredible job of depicting 1969/70 with beautiful costumes, scenes of social unrest in the city, and fascinating settings. It's a gorgeous, enthralling show to watch but focused on some serious and engaging issues, too.

I just finished the first season last week, and I absolutely loved it! The show really grew on me, episode by episode, until I was completely hooked. The acting is superb, the writing outstanding, and the sets and costumes perfect. Plus, of course, there is the outrage at what the women put up with, as you root for them to see what is possible and be successful in their quests for freedom and equality. All in all, it's an excellent show and highly recommended.

This is an Amazon Prime original show, so it is available exclusively on Amazon (link below). I hope there will be a season 2...and I want to read the book, too!