Roseanne took the cheese out of TV’s family unit model — the Connors were a blue-collar family struggling to make ends meet. But before Roseanne Barr was giving America a realistic family portrayal on the small screen, she was entertaining on the comedy stage. Her career started in Colorado comedy clubs, where they deemed her “The Queen of Denver Comedy.” The success of her club act led her to getting her own series on ABC, Roseanne (1988-1997). The show was a hit, and eventually bumped The Cosby Show off in ratings, to became the number one show on television. During the show’s run, she received a number of honors, including an Emmy, two Golden Globes, and six People’s Choice Awards. Tackling complex issues such as teen pregnancy, alcoholism, drug abuse, race, domestic violence, and obesity, the show’s likability was centered on Barr’s unconventionally charming and relatable depiction of life in middle America. — CB (photo courtesy of roseanneworld.com)

27. Alexandra Patsavas

Remember helplessly humming Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” after sobbing uncontrollably during Grey’s Anatomy? You can thank music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas for that. Working in projects including Roswell, Patsavas put unknown acts like Coldplay and Doves on its soundtrack. She became known for seeking out the best up-and-coming artists. If this indie band soundtrack strategy sounds too familiar, it’s because she used the same idea to sell six successful soundtracks for The O.C. during its four-season run. She slipped rock bands into the show’s plot lines, inadvertently launching the careers of Death Cab for Cutie (a Seth Cohen staple), Rooney, and the Killers as they jammed on the stage of the infamous Bait Shop. Patsavas has been the music supervisor for Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, and Mad Men. Not only have her efforts introduced mainstream audiences to independent bands, but Patsavas and her label, Chop Shop Records, have positioned music supervisors as the new A & R. — JK (photo courtesy of photobucket.com/krafftebing)

28. Paula Kerger

When Paula Kerger took over PBS in 2006, she brought public broadcasting way beyond the days of those “Only you can prevent forest fires” commercials. Don’t get us wrong, we love Smokey, but Kerger can knock the socks off any educational media exec. She has brought programming like The War, the highest rated PBS series in the last 10 years, and Curious George, the number one show for toddlers for 3 years. Kerger rocketed the station to new relevance by partnering with iTunes, YouTube, and Hulu earning her a spot on the Hollywood Reporter’s “Women in Entertainment Power 100” list . Her keen understanding of technology and willing embrace of multimedia landed PBS 33 Emmys, eight Peabodys, and an Academy Award— not bad for the network that brought us Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. — KK (photo courtesy of fordfound.org)

29. Donna de Varona

In 1965, former Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona was hired as ABC’s first female sportscaster — making her the first on network television. De Varona first came onto television at 13 competing in the 1960 Rome Olympics. When she retired from swimming in 1965, she had 37 national titles and two gold medals. At just 17 years old, de Varona became the first female commentator for the Olympics and knocked down the sports commentary ceiling for good. She won an Emmy in 1991 for a feature on the Special Olympics and would be nominated again in 1998 as the writer, co-producer, and host of the “Keepers of the Flame” special. She has worked behind the scenes as an advocate for women in sports. She served as the first President of the Women’s Sports Foundation. As an advisor on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport, she helped move along “Title IX” to passage in 1972. — AD (photo courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

30. Margaret Cho

Widely popular due to her unapologetic, confessional comedy shows about drugs, eating disorders, bisexuality, and Asian-American stereotypes, Margaret Cho’s All American Girl was the first and still the only show about an Asian American family. Her own family served as comedic inspiration — born in 1968 in San Francisco to a Korean mother, who fled an arranged marriage and married Cho’s father, a Korean joke-book writer. Cho’s grammar school, as she fondly remembers, was encircled by “old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the 60s, drag queens, and Chinese People.” With this backdrop, Cho compiled material for her first stand-up show at sixteen. After the cancellation of All American Girl, Cho fell apart into a phase of eating disorders and drug abuse. She dusted herself off and used it as material for her first one-woman show I am the one that I want, which followed up with equally popular, sold out shows. San Francisco proclaimed April 30th as Margaret Cho Day.— KK (photo courtesy of santoki.wordpress.com)

31. Nancy Cartwright

As an Emmy-winning voice actress, Nancy Cartwright is arguably one of the most prolific women in her industry. Cartwright got in touch with Daws Butler (the voice of Yogi Bear) among others who introduced her to voice actors and directors at Hanna-Barbera, where she landed her first role as Gloria in Richie Rich. She remains most famous as the voice of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons, auditioning in 1987 when the show was but a series of animated shorts. It’s too bad that these days Cartwright’s been getting publicity for unlawfully using the Bart voice for a Scientology-related voicemail. Who would have thought authority-phobic Bart would be worshipping Lord Xenu? When The Simpsons began, Cartwright was not allowed to use the Bart voice in public, but over 20 seasons later, there is no hiding the woman behind animation’s favorite kid. — JK (photo courtesy of simpsonseps.com)

32. Gracie Allen

In the ‘50s, The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show was one of the first to make a successful transition from radio to television, and at its heart was the inimitable Gracie Allen — who was nominated for five Emmys during the show’s eight seasons. The duo ran their act first on radio eventually graduating to television in 1948 and showed husband wife duo work through commonplace problems caused by Allen’s “illogical logic.” After her retirement in 1958, Burns attempted to continue the show without her, but it lasted only a year, handicapped by the absence of its magnetic star. Though she has yet to be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Allen is the namesake of the Gracie Award, which recognizes outstanding women in radio, television, and film. — JK (photo courtesy of coutant.org)

33. Dorothy Fuldheim

You would think a big city like New York would be the first to put a woman behind the anchor desk, but when America’s first female anchor went on air in 1947, it was in Cleveland. Fuldheim was already an old hat at broadcast pioneering — she was also the first female commentator on the ABC radio network. At age 54, she was hired to read the news for the newly formed WEWS for only 13 weeks until a man could replace her, but she stayed with the network for the next 37 years. She conducted over 15,000 interviews in her career — with everyone from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Barbara Walters and, during World War II, both Hitler and Mussolini. The broadcaster remained at the station as a commentator until 1984, when the 91-year-old newswoman suffered an on-air stroke. — AD (photo courtesy of Cleveland Public Library, clevelandartsprize.org)

34. Dee Dee Myers

Dee Dee Myers — the first female (and second youngest) White House press secretary — is known for her straightforward honesty and feminist lens. She revealed in an interview that she made significantly less money than her male counterparts and former press secretaries, showing America that pay inequality even plays out on the White House staff. She resigned from her post in 1994, and went on to co-host daily political talk show Equal Time, and was a regular commentator on Meet the Press. She later penned the awesomely titled memoir/manifesto, Why Women Should Rule the World, in which she used her experiences to argue for a free and fair society where women could share power roles with men. In addition to conquering D.C., she earned acclaim in Hollywood for her contributions to The West Wing. Not only did she serve as the inspiration for Allison Janney’s character, C.J. Cregg, but the former Clinton staffer also acted as a consultant to the award-winning series. — CB (photo courtesy of deedeemyers.com)

35. Edna Mae Horner

The first woman to appear on television, Edna Mae Horner was an operator at Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company when AT&T held its maiden demonstration of television in 1927. Horner made her memorable appearance on the screen as she connected guests in Washington D.C. with the New York audience. The New York Times referred to her as “one good-looking girl with fluffy hair, and as cool and efficient as if she had been at the television-telephone switchboard all her life.” Though her broadcasting career was short-lived, the still image of her sitting at the switchboard marks a tidal technological shift. — JK (photo courtesy of corp.att.com)

36. Michele Ganeless

Since its debut in 1997, South Park has made victims of every historical figure and newsmaker imaginable. From Michael Jackson to Helen Keller, no one is safe from the wrath of producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who take the smallest shred of pop culture and turn it into a half hour satire. A show that not only throws political correctness out the window, but flips it on its side, lights it on fire, and scatters its ashes across mainstream television requires a courageous person to constantly defend its actions. That woman is the president of Comedy Central, 44-year-old Michele Ganeless.

Ganeless started her career at Comedy Central in the ’90s, and after enjoying a successful stint at USA Networks as Vice President and General Manager of Programming beginning in 2001, returned to Comedy Central in 2004. Since then, she has been in charge of bringing the laughs from the TV screen to the computer screen. By integrating its programming digitally, the Northwestern University graduate hopes to build the Comedy Central brand as a multi-platform, interactive experience.

Although Ganeless has claimed in interviews that she isn’t that funny herself, she certainly has an eye for what makes people laugh. Under her direction, liberal-leaning shows like South Park, The Daily Show,and The Colbert Report are mainstays for Gen Xers and Millennials everywhere. Perhaps it’s the businesswoman in her that continues to place Comedy Central at the forefront of pop culture and political hilarity. — JG (photo courtesy of Comedy Central)

37. Mary Ahern

As the producer of Omnibus, a high-culture magazine news show that fostered the archetype for public television, Mary Ahern set the precedent for using television as a vehicle for civic education. The 90-minute program would introduce America to some of the most outstanding talents in the country, such as Orson Welles, Hume Croyn, James Dean, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William Faulkner. Developed by the Television-Radio Workshop of the Ford Foundation (a hybrid commercial/nonprofit production company), Omnibus was the first show of its kind to be featured on three commercial networks. Ahern was also the first curator of the Museum of Television and Radio, and worked to expand the holdings of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress— creating and preserving television history for generations to come. — CB (photo courtesy of womenbehindtv.com)

38. Irna Phillips

Irna Phillips, the “Queen of Soap Operas,” spawned the genre with a 1930 radio program called Painted Dreams which she created for WGN Chicago. The Chicago-native came from a single-mother home with nine siblings, perhaps inspiring much of the drama she worked into her writing. Phillips was known to create through acting out scenes and having an assistant put her words to paper. Her method was even adopted by William Bell, creator of The Young and the Restless. She ensured her legacy through the creation of Guiding Light, As the World Turns, and Days of Our Lives. Although her own love life was unsuccessful, Phillips gave audiences relationships through which to vicariously live. Phillips later mentored soap titan Agnes Nixon. What would soaps be without the cliff-hanger ending and an eye for drama? To this day, her fingerprints are all over daytime television. — JG (photo courtesy of pgpclassicsoaps.com)

39. Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper’s Rhoda Morgenstern — sarcastic second-fiddle to Mary Tyler Moore — was strong enough to receive her own Emmy award-winning spin-off in 1974, Rhoda. Harper herself won an impressive four Emmys and one Golden Globe for her role as Rhoda on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, not to mention countless nominations. Life after Rhoda includes guest spots on That ‘70s Show, Sex and the City, Melrose Place, and a number of stage performances. Harper’s talents extend beyond the screen and stage — she sits on the national board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild. — JG (photo courtesy of valerieharper.com)

40. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

While Julia Louis-Dreyfus is notably absent from the first episode of Seinfeld, she’s made a number of “firsts” of her own — first female SNL cast member to come back as a host, first female guest of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and first to break the “Seinfeld curse” with her new hit show, The New Adventures of Old Christine, for which she brought home an Emmy. While she was studying theater at Northwestern University, Louis-Dreyfus was plucked from a comedy revue and cast as a regular on SNL in 1982. On the set, she met Larry David, co-creator of the absurdly misanthropic sitcom, Seinfeld, who would end up casting her as the witty and confident Elaine Benes. Brought onto the cast of Seinfeld because the network thought the show was too male-centric, Elaine quickly became a fan favorite for her tumultuous love life, her biting comebacks, and of course, her fancy footwork. — CB (photo courtesy of julialouisdreyfus.org)

41. Cristina Saralegui

Known for being the “Spanish Oprah,” Cuban native Cristina Saralegui’s high-rated talk show has been on the air for 20 years. While mainstream Americans may get their talk-show fix from Winfrey, Saralegui appeals to the fastest growing demographic in America — Spanish speakers. After graduating from the University of Miami in ’73, Saralegui nabbed an internship at Vanidades, a popular Spanish-language magazine. By ’89, she brought an outlet for Latina women and their concerns through her Miami- based talk show El Show de Christina. Her recognition brought guests like Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, and Selena onto her show, and Saralegui even enjoyed a short-lived English version of her show. Although El Show de Christina is taped in Spanish, Saralegui’s charm transcends language barriers, and English-speaking shows have given their nods to Saralegui’s success. She sealed her American mainstream recognition with her animated role on The Simpsons, and even nabbed a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. — KK (photo courtesy of cristinaonline.com)

42.Annette Bachner

Bachner became the first female director at NBC Television in 1947, but not on purpose. She was working as a stage manager for The Howdy Doody Show where she was listed in the credits as “A. Bachner.” The NBC executives promoted her to director without realizing she was a woman. Once the network found out what the “A” stood for, she was let go from the company, but not before she had directed NBC’s first televised news program. Bachner had a strong case for gender discrimination, but NBC’s cut came 17 years before the Civil Rights Act. She went on to direct and produce television commercials, eventually becoming the first American to win the Golden Lion at Cannes: International Advertising Festival for directing. — AD (photo courtesy of womenbehindtv.com)

43. Susan Harris

In addition to creating Sophia’s sarcastic one-liners and Rose’s St. Olaf delusions on Golden Girls, Susan Harris showed she was a standout among the mostly male television writers. She began as a writer for Garry Marshall’s Love, American Style in 1972. She next worked for All in The Family where she would write the one of the series’ most controversial episode, “Maude’s Dilemma” in which the title character had an abortion. In 1976, she formed an independent television production company with Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. Before creating her own company, she commented on how most of the shows she worked on featured male writers writing for female characters. She created and produced Golden Girls showing us these four ladies who weren’t afraid to talk about sex even if they were in their 60s. Harris’s creation can be seen as the precursor to Sex and the City’s bedroom dish. —AD (photo courtesy of museum.tv)

44. Anne Sweeney

Taking up a position as a program manager’s assistant at Nickelodeon in 1981, Anne Sweeney hoped to combine her interests in children’s education and television. After climbing and conquering the Nickelodeon ladder, Sweeney joined the Walt Disney Company. Using her Havard Masters in Education to her advantage, Sweeney has helped launch pivotal tween cable shows like Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, proving that Disney isn’t all about toddlers and nostalgic baby boomers. As of 2004, she was named president of Disney-ABC cable networks group. This position garnered her a spot on “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” by Forbes and on the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” by Fortune Magazine. The Disney Channel has consistently held the No. 1 position in primetime television among kids and tweens. Sweeney must be making the cryogenically frozen body of Walt Disney very happy. — JK (photo courtesy of forbes.com)

45. Phyllis Adams Jenkins 

As a producer during TV’s Golden Age, Phyllis Adams Jenkins took risks to make her mark. She was born into a privileged family of Manhattan’s East Side in 1923. She had aspirations of becoming the First Lady of Theater but she ended up a pioneer in a different industry. She began producing two 15 minute chat shows, Footlights and Klieglights, and Bringing Up Mother, for her local NBC affiliate (WNBT) in 1951— four days of the week, the show appealed to the stereotypical housewife, but on Fridays, the talk was serious women’s issues. The show grew into its own half hour show called It’s a Problem, which NBC sent to 18 other stations. This was the first serious issue-orientated show for women. Despite the show’s short run, Jenkins risked her job to bring on birth control crusader, Margaret Senger, and paved the way for magazine-style news shows like 60 Minutes. — AD (photo courtesy of womenbehindtv.com)

46. Katie Couric

Katie Couric became a household face during her 1991-2006 stint with The Today Show, and in 2006 became the first woman to anchor national evening news solo when she joined CBS Evening News. Armed with a girl-next-door charm and razor sharp wit, the newswoman can switch topics with the flash of a smile or an intense stare without missing a cue. She tackles stories rather than waiting for them to come to her, and — as her admirably tough 2008 interview with Sarah Palin plainly illustrated — she isn’t afraid to bring big names back to solid ground. Her method of conducting an interview invites the interviewee to a conversation, but never lets the subject forget who is in control. — JG (photo courtesy of businessweek.com)

47. Andrea Wong

Generally speaking, female-friendly Lifetime is known for the saccharine and dramatic. Its movies feature women with drinking problems, missing children, and terminal diseases. While these rehashes previously clogged much of its programming, Lifetime recently re-emerged with a sophisticated, classier line-up thanks to executive Andrea Wong, the current CEO and President of Lifetime Networks.

Before taking the reigns at Lifetime in 2007, Wong was the Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming at ABC. While ABC had moderate success with some of its dramas and sitcoms, it was Wong’s development of the now defunct Extreme Makeover that revitalized the network’s programming. Her creation yielded the unstoppable, Emmy award-winning Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, one of ABC’s biggest rating draws to date. If that wasn’t enough, the addictive and gratifying Dancing with the Stars also has Wong’s name attached. As she surveyed the tear-soaked, cliché-propelled remains of the channel, Wong knew Lifetime would need a makeover of its own if it wanted to survive in the vast TV landscape. She began by hiring a marketing head to make waves about their three new shows. With Wong’s fierce dedication to making the show a smash as well as a decent-sized media blitz, Army Wives is Lifetime’s highest-rated show in the network’s 25-year history. One of the network’s biggest victories came even more recently — from the triumphant battle with Bravo for fashion phenom, Project Runway. We can’t wait to see what Wong does next. — JG (photo courtesy of Lifetime Network)

48. Marlo Thomas

Marlo Thomas’ iconic turn as occasionally employed actress Ann Marie on That Girl defined the 1960s. With her bouncy brown hair and sugary smile, Thomas was perfect for the role. She combined her showbiz experience and teaching degree on the popular children’s special Free to Be… You and Me, which made use of poetry, songs, and sketches to encourage individuality, acceptance, and happiness with one’s identity. Thomas produced and starred on the special, alongside guests like Shel Silverstein. The show received several Emmy nominations and nabbed Thomas a Golden Globe. The show created a lasting impact on audiences, and proved Thomas to be more than justThat Girl. — KK (photo courtesy of biography.com)

49. Geraldine Laybourne

Geraldine Laybourne’s fearless vision has landed her serious media mogul status. First hired as Nickelodeon’s program manager, in 1989 Laybourne became president of the fledgling company. Known for turning Nickelodeon into the first global television network to profit from selling advertisement to children, she took a different approach to managing a corporate media company, by providing staffers with “green slime” to play with during brainstorming sessions, and soliciting ideas for Nickelodeon from audiences and staffers of all ranks. Laybourne’s work at Nickelodeon completely revolutionized children’s television in the 1980s and ‘90s, and garnered several honors for the network. And life would be a much darker place without Nick classics like Legends of the Hidden Temple and Guts. Laybourne is also founder and former CEO of Oxygen Media, the first woman-owned and operated cable network. — CB (photo courtesy of facebook.com/geraldinelaybourne)

50. Andrea Mitchell

The first female journalist to cover five presidents, Andrea Mitchell’s reporting has taken her to North Korea, Kosovo, Pakistan, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Mitchell first came to NBC News in 1978 where she began covering the White House during Regan’s terms in office. In 1988, she was named Chief Congressional Correspondent and her reporting on the Clarence Thomas hearing was heralded. When it comes to announcing running mates, Mitchell has been known to win the race. She was first to announce Dan Quayle as Bush’s running mate in 1988 and John Edwards as Kerry’s running mate in 2004. Her reporting has taken her to North Korea, Kosovo, Pakistan, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. She is now five decades into her career, she is NBC’s Chief Foreign Correspondent where she focuses on the diplomacy of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A daily dose of Mitchell can be seen on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” — AD  (photo courtesy of tcu.edu, photographer: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders)