Editor’s Note: Boob Tube

Recently, on that social media site and time-suck known as Twitter, film critic Miriam Bale asked her female followers: “What is one of your earliest feminist stirrings from watching movies (or TV)?” The query was notable not only because of the swift responses (everything from the problematic ending of Grease to the pop power of […]

“I couldn’t help but notice…”: Murder, She Wrote’s Prime Time Feminism

First airing in 1984, Murder, She Wrote, about the sexagenarian crime-solving widow Jessica Fletcher [i] (Angela Lansbury), was written—and well-received—as a cozy, satisfying crime procedural. But in the decades since,  the show’s meanings have evolved far beyond its seemingly benign prime-time origins. Thanks to reruns, Murder, She Wrote has seduced a new generation, who watch with a side of […]