When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today

Written by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Narrated by Nan McNamara

“Leaps at the throat of television history and takes down the patriarchy with its fervent, inspired prose. When Women Invented Television offers proof that what we watch is a reflection of who we are as a people.” —Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls

New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells the little-known story of four trailblazing women in the early days of television who laid the foundation of the industry we know today.

It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women—each an independent visionary— saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch tv today.

Irna Phillips turned real-life tragedy into daytime serials featuring female dominated casts. Gertrude Berg turned her radio show into a Jewish family comedy that spawned a play, a musical, an advice column, a line of house dresses, and other products. Hazel Scott, already a renowned musician, was the first African American to host a national evening variety program. Betty White became a daytime talk show fan favorite and one of the first women to produce, write, and star in her own show.

Together, their stories chronicle a forgotten chapter in the history of television and popular culture.

But as the medium became more popular—and lucrative—in the wake of World War II, the House Un-American Activities Committee arose to threaten entertainers, blacklisting many as communist sympathizers. As politics, sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, and money collided, the women who invented television found themselves fighting from the margins, as men took control. But these women were true survivors who never gave up—and thus their legacies remain with us in our television-dominated era. It's time we reclaimed their forgotten histories and the work they did to pioneer the medium that now rules our lives.

This amazing and heartbreaking history tells it all for the first time. 

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Mar 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9780062973344

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is 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. She writes about entertainment and pop culture for the New York Times Book Review, Fast Company, Vulture, BBC Culture, Entertainment Weekly, and several others. Armstrong lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

Reviews for When Women Invented Television

[Jados Moreno · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wouldn't go around bragging about who invented television. It's not a force for good

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Women Invented Television by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is a 2021 Harper publication. Gertrude Berg, Irna Phillips, Betty White, and Hazel Scott are true television pioneers. Before televisions were a staple in American households, these women saw its potential and helped to propel the medium into the mainstream…After women laid the foundation, men took notice of this new medium and swooped down to overtake it. This book plays long overdue homage to these four women and presents to us the ways they changed television, and the impact they made, which can still be felt today. I am embarrassed to admit I was not aware of this history. This is a very interesting profile of these trailblazing women and I’m so glad their stories are finally seeing the light of day and they are being recognized for their contributions to television, even if it is a long overdue accreditation. We all know who Betty White is, but I had no idea she had her own talk show until after her death. The show aired in 1952-53 on one network, and in 1954 on another one- but the show was canceled soon after she refused to cancel Arthur Duncan’s appearance on the show. It goes without saying that Betty’s television career was a big success, but this book gives us more insights into her early days as a television performer and a glimpse into her past that few are aware of. One could talk for days about all the impressive work Betty left behind, but there were three other groundbreaking women in this book whose names I was not familiar with:Hazel Scott-Hazel, a jazz performer, was the first black woman to host her own television show in the 1950s- but her show ended abruptly after she had to testify before the House of un-American Activities Committee. Irna Phillips- If you ever enjoyed ‘As the World Turns’ or ‘The Guiding Light’ you have Irna Phillips to thank for that. Irna was a script writer who created her stories with women in mind. She got her start in radio, but eventually transitioned over to television. (A fun bit of trivia-That organ music so often associated with soaps was Irna’s creation as well. It was meant to mimic a church organ- and was first heard at the beginning of Guiding Light and was inspired by the spiritual sermons Irna took comfort in after suffering personal losses.) Irna Phillips created a huge soap empire and mentored others in that business. Gertrude Berg:Gertrude, like Irna, got her start in radio. She was the first woman that multi-tasked a series- which was called ‘The Goldbergs’. The show featured a Jewish family living in a Bronx tenement. The show was adapted for television in 1949 and was aired until 1954. (The show was well- received, and Berg won an Emmy for her role in the show) When I got to thinking about how truly incredible it was that these women broke through so many barriers at a time when those achievements were incredibly hard, I am amazed! Because men have long been given credit for advancements in television, they could not have achieved any of it were it not for these women who saw the potential television had. We owe a debt of gratitude to them, but it also boggles the mind that we don’t hear more about these women and their contributions and foresight. They stood up to bullies and brought loveable, diverse characters into American homes, something it took men decades to duplicate. I’m sad that, other than Betty White, I had never heard of the other three women featured in the book, but I’m so glad I found this book and was finally made aware of them, and their accomplishments. *The research is good, the history is enlightening, and it’s about time we were made aware of these women; the construction of the book, however, is not the best. The flow is not as smooth as I would have liked, and while the author’s work is obvious, the presentation is a little sloppy. Despite that, I recommend the book, for the history lesson and homage to these ladies who were ahead of their time.

[kayanelson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting book about the start of television.