About this season
Special for Women (also known as Purex Specials for Women) is a drama/documentary anthology series broadcast on NBC from 1960 to 1965. It dramatized problems faced by everyday women, including menopause, sexual dysfunction and the feminine beauty ideal, followed by a discussion of that episode's topic with a panel of experts.
Episodes (14)
1. The Cold Woman
Aired 14 October 1960 • 60 min
Leora Davis confronts her sexual frigidity with her husband, Charles.
2. The Trapped Housewife
Aired 10 November 1960 • 60 min
Wilhemina Ross realizes she is dissatisfied with her life as a housewife when she leaves a note for the milkman that reads 'Help.' She confronts this with her husband, Mike.
3. The Working Mother
Aired 8 December 1960 • 60 min
Laura Tyler has been accused of child neglect simply because she works a job in addition to raising children. With her husband, Ross, she confronts the existential issues around working women in society.
4. The Single Woman
Aired 2 February 1961 • 60 min
A troubled single woman is torn between a single man and an affair with a married man.
5. Mother and Daughter
Aired 3 February 1961 • 60 min
A mother and daughter, Ruth and Jeannie Evans, confront their mutual resentment of each other.
6. Change of Life
Aired 13 April 1961 • 60 min
As Minna Borden goes through menopause, she reflects on her life, her regrets and her missed opportunities.
7. What's Wrong with Men?
Aired 19 October 1961 • 60 min
Henry Fellow is dissatisfied with his office job and life in general. He confronts this with his wife, Helen.
8. The Glamour Trap
Aired 16 November 1961 • 60 min
Five women at a beauty salon face society's pressures to conform to the feminine beauty ideal.
9. The Lonely Woman
Aired 8 January 1962 • 60 min
Martha Sloan is married and has a full social life on the surface of things, but secretly, she deeply fears loneliness.
10. The Indiscriminate Woman
Aired 1 February 1962 • 60 min
A couple break off their engagement after the woman's promiscuity comes to light.
11. The Problem Child
Aired 19 April 1962 • 60 min
Reports that a nine-year-old has been pushed down a flight of stairs by his father leads to intervention by a social worker. Conflicting stories are heard in a Rashōmon-esque fashion, including from the mother. Investigations reveal that a wide range of social problems are at play.
12. A Child in Danger
Aired 28 October 1964 • 60 min
A female lawyer reluctantly defends a male client accused of child molestation.
13. The Menace of Age
Aired 10 December 1964 • 60 min
After she suffers a stroke, Barbara Lawson is suggested by her doctor that she and her husband Joe live with their daughter's family.
14. Just a Housewife
Aired 26 February 1965 • 60 min
Jacquie Hunter is sick of being thought of as 'just a housewife' and wishes to leave her husband Matt to work for a career-oriented woman.