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In case you were wondering...Mamma Mia has now made $280 million overseas and has become the fifth highest overseas grosser of the year. Can they still say that people won't see films about women?

I am a huge TV addict. There I've said it. I used to be ashamed but no more. I love the box that is the TV. September is my favorite month of the year for TV. All the new TV shows start and I excitedly dive into EW and TV Guide to pick the shows I want to watch. While being a TV addict, I am still picky and there are shows that I have no interest in -- all of reality TV, and many of the stupid guy sitcoms. Just keep in mind that this season could be a big bust because development was stunted by the writer's strike. Here's what I am looking forward to this season:

Fringe: (Fox, 9pm Tuesdays, starts tonight)
J.J. Abrams writes some strong women. Think Alias. His new show (which I really can't figure out what it is about at all) stars Aussie newcomer Anna Torv. I read that it is like a mixture of Alias, The X-Files and Bones. And any show that has Blair Brown as a co-star (with a mechanical arm) gets a couple of watchings from me.

Here's what Abrams told TV Guide about writing strong women:

It's funny because I don't consciously write strong women. I just hopefully write strong characters who may happen to be women. If Olivia were a guy, I don't think you'd be saying, "oh, it's a strong male."

The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS, Wednesdays, 8pm)
If you don't watch this show you are missing out. Julia Louise Dreyfus is brilliant. The ongoing story this season that sounds hilarious is the gay marriage between Christine and her friend Barb (Wanda Sykes) to prevent Barb from being deported.

ER (NBC, Thursdays, 10pm)
In its last season the show is bringing in a big gun -- Angela Bassett is checking in as the new head of the ER. Awesome.

The Life and Times of Vivienne Wyle (Sundance, Sundays)
Ab Fab's Jennifer Saunders in a new series. Need I say more?

The Starter Wife (USA, begins 10/10 at 10pm)
Show takes up a year after the end of the mini-series. Stars Debra Messing and the amazing Judy Davis.

Shows I will watch but am not yet convinced will be good
Kath & Kim (NBC, begins 10/9 at 8:30pm)
Molly Shannon and Selma Blair star as mother and daughter (they are more like sisters in age) in the remake of the hit Australian show.

The Ex List (CBS, starts 10/3 at 9pm)
Elizabeth Reaser finally gets her own show but I hate the premise. She is told by a psychic that she has to marry within the next year or she never will. Way to freak out women. I will give it a show because of Reaser and showrunner Diane Ruggiero.

Interesting Guest Star
Mary Tyler Moore at Brooke Shields' mother on Lipstick Jungle

Other things I am thinking about:

• I am hoping that Shonda Rhimes can get Private Practice on track cause I love all the actors on that show.
• The aftermath of the kiss between Callie and Dr. Hahn on Grey's Anatomy.
  
• Hoping that people will find Friday Night Lights on the Direct TV Channel.
• Wondering why CBS moved Without a Trace.
• Can't wait for the craziness that is Brother and Sisters.
• Tina Fey whose 30 Rock is the funniest most subversive feminist show on TV.
  

At the press conference for Nothing But the Truth, Rod Lurie's fictional retelling of the Judith Miller-Valerie Plame saga:

The conversation then turned to a discussion of women in film, the lack of good roles for women, and the recent comments of a studio exec who, on the heels of the Jodie Foster-starring revenge pic The Brave One tanking at the box office, said his studio would produce no more films with a woman in the lead role.

"You mean he's not going to do the Sarah Palin story?" said Alda.

"Kate and I are going to do it," said Lurie. "I'm going to write it for Kate."

The hit film The Devil Wears Prada was mentioned as proof that a smart, well-written film starring women can attract a crowd.

"Half of the best actors in the world are women," said Lurie.

"Slightly more than half," Beckinsale replied.

At least the lack of opportunities for women is being discussed. That's the first step.
Nothing But The Truth: TIFF press conference diaries (National Post)

Check out this creative and original post from an awesome new community for mom's in Dallas. They are giving away 40 tickets to the premiere of The Women. Smartly, as part of the package they are offering child care.

If you live in Dallas, you should hook up with this group (even if you are not a mom.)

Moms Out Loud is hosting a Premiere Event at Studio Movie Grill-Plano (Park/Preston) for the upcoming movie “The Women”, headlined by Meg Ryan and Annette Bening. This movie is about friends, mothers, and daughters. It’s about relationships, through good times and bad. It’s about defining yourself and what you believe in, then walking through fire to stand up for it. It’s about Women.

The date to win the tickets has passed, but if you want to go with them send an email to: TheWomen@MomsOutLoud.com

Read full post here: Win Free Tickets and Free Childcare to The Women

It's the week of The Women and to continue to build awareness the studio has offered a give-away of the soundtrack to the readers of Women & Hollywood.

In order to win the soundtrack you need to email me at melsil@earthlink.net the answers to the following questions (they're really easy):

• What year was the original film made?
• Name two other films that starred women that opened that year?
• Who wrote the original film?
• Diane English (the film's writer and director) created what TV series?
  

Include your address in the email so the prize can be mailed to you.

Film description: The Women tells the story of Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a clothing designer who seems to have it all – a beautiful country home, a rich financier husband, an adorable 11-year-old daughter and a part-time career creating designs for her father’s venerable clothing company. Her best friend, Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening), leads another enviable life – a happily single editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a possessor of a huge closet of designer clothes and a revered arbiter of taste and style poised on New York’s cutting edge. But when Mary’s husband enters into an affair with Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes), a sultry ‘spritzer girl’ lurking behind the Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter, all hell breaks loose. Mary and Sylvie’s relationship is tested to the breaking point while their tight-knit circle of friends, including mega-mommy Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) and author Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett-Smith), all start to question their own friendships and romantic relationships as well.

More info on The Women all week long.

Looks awesome. What a cast! Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Sophie Okenedo, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson. It's based on the Sue Monk Kidd novel. Here's a cast photo from the Toronto premiere.
Can't wait. Opens in limited release on October 17th. Here's the trailer:



photo credit: Getty Images

We don't know very much about her here in the US. Her work appeared on Broadway for the first time last season with the revival of Top Girls and she is arguably the most important feminist playwright. (I said arguably and those of you who know about theatre than I do can all argue about it.)

The folks in England celebrate her 70th. Here are some quotes from people who have worked with her:

Lindsay Duncan

I first met her on Top Girls. I'd never been involved in anything like it. There we were at the Royal Court, all of us women, asking all these questions of ourselves and the world. It was quite a heady time. I remember being so taken with her, this tall, striking, rather elegant but selfeffacing woman. I don't mean that she denied herself in any way, but she was one of the team, very open, she didn't intimidate or in any way make us feel that we weren't capable of doing it right. She wears her intelligence so lightly and brings the most delightful merriment into the rehearsal room. I remember feeling, this is what it's like to work with a woman. I decided then that I only ever wanted to work in that way. Not to play a part in something, but to be a part of something.

Harriet Walter

I think Caryl's particular skill in working through workshops while maintaining her individual inventiveness helped to feminise theatre in some way. She won't write anything that she doesn't want to write; she won't write at all if she's not in the mood. She is not in the least concerned with keeping trendy. She is so completely her own person, her own writer.

And from the Guardian

Of all the major forces in British playwriting, I can think of no one else who is regarded with such affection and respect by her peers. Maybe it's because Churchill has kept a low public profile over the years - she rarely gives interviews - while always supporting new writers.

Why Caryl Churchill is the Top Girl (The Times)
'She made us raise our game' (The Guardian)
photo credit: Jane Brown