Pam Fryman is in the midst of directing her 500th episode of television. According to Deadline, Fryman now ranks among the directors with the highest number of small-screen credits to their name. She’s the first woman to reach this milestone.
“After starting off as a PA, Fryman got her DGA card as an AD on the 1984–85 game show ‘Every Second Counts,’” Deadline reports. While Fryman is best known for helming multi-camera comedy series, her first directing credits were in daytime soaps, which she described to Deadline as “a good business” and “a steady gig.”
In 1994 she was offered a job helming an episode of a comedy series called “Cafe Americain.” She was initially reluctant, but agreed to shadow a director on set, and ultimately chose to accept the gig. Once she started working in sitcoms, she didn’t stray from the genre. “I love multi-cam,” she told Deadline. “I love a live audience — there is nothing like it.”
Fryman’s credits include “Suddenly Susan,” “Frasier,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “How I Met Your Mother.” Her 500th credit is an episode of “The Odd Couple,” a CBS sitcom starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon (“Reno 911!”). The episode films today.
When asked about working in a male-dominated field, Fryman responded, “Not to say this is not a problem, but the fact is that just was never an issue for me.” Newly released research from the Directors Guild of America (DGA) revealed that only 17 percent of episodes in the 2015–16 TV season were directed by women.
Head over to Deadline to read more about this trailblazing director’s career trajectory.
