Episode
Writing Fearless Women: Cagney & Lacey, China Beach, and Sisters | Georgia Jeffries
- Podcast
- 80s TV Ladies
- Published
- Mar 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5022
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
“ Barney and I were interviewed about that episode on Entertainment Tonight because the word “condom” had never been used on television before.” - Georgia Jeffries, Cagney & Lacey writer Hosts Susan Lambert Hatem and Sharon Johnson welcome writer-producer-professor Georgia Jeffries, an Award-winning writer known for Cagney & Lacey, China Beach, and Sisters. Jeffries recounts growing up as an only child, loving The Twilight Zone, reading history, and finding an early spark for writing through school assignments and UCLA journalism and creative writing courses. She talks about her time working as a freelance journalist while caring for her family. And the pivotal LAPD ride-along that inspired her first produced Cagney & Lacey episode, “An Unusual Occurrence,” which won a WGA Award. She compares the culture of Cagney & Lacey with China Beach, discusses unproduced pilots and projects (including HBO series, and an unmade Cher/Jessica Lange/to-be-directed by Frank Oz movie, Confessions) She reflects on writing episodes that tackled addiction, AIDS-era conversations, and sexual assault. Jeffries also shares details about her novel, The Younger Girl, current writing projects, and advice to emerging writers. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:33 Childhood TV Influences 03:56 Good Girl Expectations 05:16 Finding Writing Path 07:48 Early Jobs and Teaching 10:43 LAPD Ride Along Story 14:34 Cagney and Lacey Breakthrough 16:09 Feminism and California Move 18:09 Film Journalism to Screenwriting 19:34 Unmade Cher Lange Film 24:16 Women in Film Opens Doors 29:47 HBO Script to Book Rights 34:54 Working Mother on Set 36:14 Writers Room Culture Then 39:55 Favorite Episodes Tease 40:09 Why This Story Matters 40:47 Writing Cagney and Lacey 44:28 TV Breaking Taboos4 6:45 Breaki…