Not so long ago, most women on television existed to be the perfect mom or to meekly offer support to male characters. So how did we get from June Cleaver to female characters who are complex, flawed and refreshingly real in shows like Murphy Brown, Nurse Jackie and Desperate Housewives? “The Independent Woman,” the first in a four-part PBS series called America in Primetime, aims to answer that question as it examines how the role of women in television has changed for the better when it premieres Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET.
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