On the Beat: The Evolution of the Crime Drama Heroine

Police Woman, which cracked the top-twenty in the Nielson ratings in its first season and even rose as high as number-one in the weekly ratings, was the first successful hour-long drama series in American prime-time television history to feature a woman in the starring role. Star Angie Dickinson (Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson) embraced a character who exuded sex appeal and brains in equal measure. Though Dickinson never framed her role as in the vanguard of modern feminism, the series’s impact is felt to this day, as Police Woman laid the groundwork for a host of crime dramas to come featuring strong female leads. Now, on the fortieth anniversary of Police Woman’s debut, the Paley Center joins WE TV, whose first scripted series, The Divide, premiering this July, features the latest in a long line of powerful female protagonists, to present a special clip-filled conversation exploring the evolution of the crime drama heroine with a prestigious panel of TV groundbreakers.