For more than 50 years, television situation comedy has been inspiring laughter while reflecting American culture in unique and often fascinating ways. Between the prefeminist antics of Lucy Ricardo and the postfeminist musings of the women in Friends, the depiction of females in this genre has evolved as interestingly and surprisingly as the women's movement itself. In Televison Women from Lucy to Friends, author Lynn Spangler applies a cultural feminist perspective to many shows and characters, discussing the nature of humor, theories of television effects, and various definitions of feminism.

Each decade of the half-century is analyzed, with six series highlighted for each period. The author discusses, for each sitcom, the features of its major female characters, including their appearance, work, and education, female friends, relationships with men, and other social issues that have made the situation comedy a powerful lens through which to view 20th-century feminist subjects.