COME MEET BETH SULLIVAN -- THE REAL DR. QUINN TV'S MOST POWERFUL WOMAN Agoura Hills, CA. "If a guy fails in the television industry, that's okay. But a woman? You can't imagine the struggling, politicking, and strategizing women have to do to get on the air." Beth Sullivan knows. As Executive Producer and creator of the popular "DOCTOR QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN" (Saturdays on CBS), the 4o-s-year-old is the first woman to successfully create and oversee a 1-hour drama on television. But that's not where it all began. Upon graduation from UCLA Film School, Sullivan worked as a script supervisor on Jonathan Demme's first film, "CAGED HEAT," and later made her mark as development/production executive in the television division of 20th Century Fox. Audiences, however, are more likely to remember the Beth Sullivan touch from her acclaimed 1989 telefilm "A CRY FOR HELP: THE TRACEY THURMAN STORY," dealing with police responsibility toward battered wives. Another 1989 movie of the week, "WHEN HE'S NOT A STRANGER," focused on the timely social issue of campus date rape. From 1990-1991, media attention grew when she co-created and co-wrote "THE TRIALS OF ROSIE O'NEILL." Still, it wasn't until 1992 that She made her biggest career move with her new family drama about a woman physician named Doctor Michaela "Mike" Quinn, who moves her practice from Boston to the western frontier after the Civil War. "CBS was not happy that I would have total control as Executive Producer. But I threw myself on the railroad tracks and sold my soul financially. And that included where to shoot the series. They wanted everything out of state and non-union," Sullivan relates. "I told them we could do it just as cheap here in LA-on Paramount Ranch, and I came within $20,000 of the budget." Perhaps the biggest gamble for the new series was Sullivan's insisting to showcase on Saturday night..usually not a time for high Nielsens: "I told Jeff Sagansky, head of CBS,'I can do this!' He thought it over for 24-hours and this was his answer: 'Don't let me down."' LMS: So the whole deal is traced back to the fact that you were a woman asking for'favors.' BS: I'm aware that if it had been a man, and someone with one-half the production background that I have, we wouldn't be discussing it. Sure, we'd let *him* do it. LMS: Suppose he had failed'? BS: Oh, that's okay for a guy. But once I got charge of' DR. QUINN,' it was clear that if *I* failed, women after me had better watch out. LMS: But you opened up tire doors ... BS: Before I came along, it was assumed that only a Bochco ("NYPD BLUES") or a Kelley ("PICKET FENCES") could handle a 1-hour dranna. LMS: Yet once your program debuted, you were a runaway hit. BS: We came out of the gate like Secretariat with Shoemaker on his back. LMS: How did the cast take to overnight stardom? BS: Let's put it this way: Suddenly I had actors coning up and telling me they didn't want to look scrungy. They wanted to have blond streaks in their hair. LMS: How did you answer that'? BS: By taking control from the very beginning. People lose respect if you don't get tough once in a while. LMS: So you rule with a firm hand. BS: Some call me "The Rock of Gibraltar;" others call me "Mom." Go to page Two