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Using examples from I Love Lucy, the Bob Newhart Show, and the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the changing role of women in the workplace is examined.

Who could forget the classic I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel get all decked out in suits, hats and gloves and march down to the ACME Employment Agency, help wanted ad in hand. But hey, what did Lucy know about working in an office-or in any workplace for that matter? Ricky wouldn't even let her go down to the Copacabana Club to see him work. What was she equipped to do? Nothing, according to the guy at the employment agency.

In spite of that, she and Ethel land jobs on the production line in a candy factory. On their first day the forewoman roars at them, "You understand from your indoctrination session that you're here for one purpose! That is to work!"

Lucy announces, "Well, they used to call me the big dipper!" and the forewoman snaps back, "There's no room for levity, no matter how weak!"

It was clear Lucy and Ethel were doomed. The conveyor belt starts and they try to keep up, but there's no way they can. Their workload far exceeds what they can possibly keep up with.

Lucy and Ethel were promptly fired. The underlying message in TV's depiction of the workplace of the '50s was clear for women-stay out. "Basically the entire culture was trying to keep women out of the workplace in the '50s. Today they are shoving women out the door and saying `go to work,"' says Nancy Smith, editor-in-chief of Working Woman magazine. "It was just tradition. TV shows in the '50s reflected that. The TV shows with women had them cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids while the neighbors peered through the window for a visit."

Today's sitcoms portray women just as easily in an office as the home. While Lucy and Ethel were summarily fired for underperformance, by the time the '70s rolled around, women were definitely feeling a bit more empowered. Take for example Carol, the secretary on the original Bob Newhart Show, one of the first shows to portray women realistically in the office. In one episode, Carol is not a happy camper. She's working for four doctors who ask her to do everything from fetch coffee to pick up their dry cleaning. She made excuses to their girlfriends when they called and even sharpened Bob's pencils. Carol felt overworked and underpaid.

But bad as it was, there was one important change. Carol felt like she could talk to her employers. They valued her work-especially after she quit and they had to answer their own telephones. After storming out one day, Carol let them know if she came back to work for the doctors she wanted some respect. No more outside personal errands, no typing personal letters, no calling girlfriends. She demanded an hour lunch break, no working on legal holidays and she wanted a day off for her birthday. They gave her everything she wanted-with a raise. She was empowered.

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Of course the show of that era that really mirrored the changing role of women in the workplace was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The show, which made its debut in 1970, centered on the exploits of a young woman, Mary Richards, working at good old WJM TV in the big city of Minneapolis. Unlike Lucy and Ethel, she was an indispensable part of her workplace. And, unlike Carol, she had powershe wasn't a secretary, but the associate producer ofthe Six O'Clock News. Mary Richards became the role model for young women everywhere. "Mary Tyler Moore was extremely important to a whole generation of women," says Anne Conners, president of the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women. "Women at this time needed to feel that working was O.K. Television shows like this validated the ideal that it's fine to work, to have an apartment and friends and a life of one's own."

One woman in the incentive industry who took the show to heart was Jane Schuldt, president of Minneapolis-based World Marketing Group Inc. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show was fabulous because it presented women in an independent, `take care of themselves' type of role," says Schuldt. "At the same time it also showed what the challenges were for women in the workplace."

Lou's demeanor was one of the trademarks of the program, according to Schuldt. "He was a good manager in that he could take in what his employees gave him," she says. "Mary could speak her mind to Lou and he wouldn't have a problem with her."

Conners agrees that the sitcom portrayed the boss/employee office relationship effectively. "Lou and Mary really had a complex relationship in addition to the one as employee and boss," she says. "Lou was part father figure, part friend and then part old-fashioned oppressor. He was part of the old boy, cigar-chomping world. It was very interesting to watch his world change with women like Mary."

Today, half a century after their candy factory experience soured Lucy and Ethel on work and a quarter century after Mary was hired by Lou, women are a fully integrated part of the workplace in real life as well as television. "There's such a rich spectrum of women on TV today. A little girl watching TV today can see that she can be a police officer or mayor or even a nanny," says Conners. "You have Roseanne, Oprah and Murphy Brown. That's a great span of women if you think about it." -J.J. & J.S.