FOX’s Girls’ Night Out Lays Down Rules to Live By

This past Monday evening, FOX hosted an event to highlight and spotlight the women in front of and behind the camera on many of their top-rated shows.

Featuring Jane Lynch (GLEE), Chelsea Peretti (BROOKLYN NINE-NINE), Mindy Kaling (THE MINDY PROJECT), Liz Meriwether (Executive Producer, NEW GIRL), Heather Kadin (Executive Producer, SLEEPY HOLLOW), Yeardley Smith (THE SIMPSONS), and Alex Borstein (FAMILY GUY), the panel was moderated by Stacey Wilson of The Hollywood Reporter.

Over the course of the next hour, the panelists revealed insights into some facets of their shows – Jane Lynch commented on how the cast is still able to pay tribute to Cory Montieth after his death; Chelsea Peretti noted that she and Gina are similar in their love of texting all the time; Liz Meriwether discussed how she was beckoned to talk to Prince while shooting the post-Super Bowl episode – while also providing insight into being women in the television industry.

Kadin, who started off working in movies, had one of those stories about entering the business that seems far fetched – working for free as an assistant for a movie producer – but ultimately moved into television later.

As the two voice actors on the panel, Smith and Borstein told very different stories of how they work – and how they originally found their jobs – than anyone else. Smith went to far as to say that her audition for The Simpsons was recorded on a tape recorder where she needed to press play and record at the same time.

Stories of their individual shows aside, at the end Wilson asked about some of the best advice they had ever received. Kaling’s advice didn’t come from anyone in the business, but her mother. The quote was “Why not me?” when looking at the world and seeing things going against you. Everyone could relate to being on the losing side of auditions or being low-women on the totem pole in their job.

When looking at life now, I’ll keep in mind the words from Kaling’s mother and thank all of these women for their tireless work towards making television great for women.