TCA: FX’s ‘Mrs. America’ Offers Insights on How U.S. Culture Wars Began

Pasadena, Calif. — Mrs. America, a nine episode series about conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, premieres on FX on Hulu April 15. FX will share the first three episodes on Hulu that day, with episodes premiering weekly thereafter.

Cate Blanchett plays Schlafly, who opposed the growing feminism movement in the ‘70s and pushed a conservative cause instead. She’s an exec producer as well. “There were two women’s movements in the ‘70s--the feminist movement and the conservative movement,” said Blanchett Thursday during FX's TCA winter press tour session.

Tracey Ullman plays Betty Friedan and Uzo Aduba plays Shirley Chisholm. Margo Martindale portrays Bella Abzug, Rose Byrne plays Gloria Steinem and John Slattery plays Fred Schlafly.

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Elizabeth Banks and Sarah Paulson are also in the cast.

Dahvi Waller created the series and is an exec producer, along with Stacey Sher, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Blanchett.

Blanchett said learning about Schlafly “has been an absolutely fascinating journey for me. She was profoundly influential...I was gobsmacked by her ability to galvanize and mobilize women.”

Complete Coverage: 2020 TCA Winter Press Tour

Blanchett described Schlafly as “a true alpha and an absolute force of nature.”

Waller said Mrs. America is particularly timely in 2020. “This series is an origin story of today’s culture wars,” she said, and “how we became such a divided nation.”

FX is premiering drama Devs on FX on Hulu March 5, and Mrs. America goes on FX on Hulu April 15. John Landgraf, chairman of FX Networks and FX Productions, called streaming on Hulu a “transformative opportunity” for the cable network.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.