Broad Sheet for December 20, 2013

This week's can't-miss, female-centric entertainment highlights include some good old-fashioned murder mysteries, a very special and very Latina Christmas special, some hot, wet drama at a lakeside cabin, and a Grammy-nominated out singer who's not afraid to speak truth to the patriarchy. 

5. DVD: Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Series

When Netflix removed Murder, She Wrote from its lineup this year, fans were in an uproar. No matter now — the entire 12 seasons of the show are available in this giant, must-have DVD set, which comes with 264 episodes on 63 discs featuing tons of great guest stars like Courteney Cox, George Clooney, and Joaquin Phoenix. But the real star will always be Angela Lansbury, the Broadway superstar who was nominated for 12 consecutive best actress Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher, a small-town writer with a knack for solving murders (and being in proximity to them in the first place). A true feminist, the widowed Fletcher was quick- witted, intelligent, and in the words of Ron Burgundy, always classy. I watched the show with my grandmother growing up and I still think of her every time I watch it now. $101.49, Amazon.com.— Diane Anderson-Minshall

4. THEATER: The Latina Christmas Special

Three great Latina comedians share quirky Christmas stories that are both hilarious and poignant. The show stars Sandra Valls, the Mexican (Showtime's Latin Divas of Comedy); Diana Yanez, the Cuban, a former New York International Fringe Festival prize-winner; Maria Russell the Mexican-Lithuanian, or Mexiuanian (Suburgatory). Saturday is your last chance to catch the show at Theatre Asylum in Los Angeles. Click here for tickets and get a sample of the ladies’ humor in the video below. — Trudy Ring

3. THEATER: Crones for the Holidays: The Sequel

There’s nothing like Crones for the Holidays, in which holiday traditions are subverted and celebrated by the Crackpot Crones — slightly world-renowned lesbian Jewish playwright Terry Baum and straight lapsed Christian queen of comedy Carolyn Myers. Hear the Virgin Mary’s coming-out story and watch her fight homophobia in Russia, see the Red Hanky Grannies invade the Pentagon, sing along with “The Twelve Days of Family Insults,” and hear the new song “Frosty the Snowden-Manning,” about a whistleblower snowman. The Crones perform this weekend and next at Exit Theatre in San Francisco, and best of all, it’s free, the Crones’ gift to their audience. Find more info here, and watch clips from last year’s show below. — Trudy Ring

2. FILM: Woman's Lake

This exploration of sexual tension among four very different women on a long lakeside weekend is "crackling," according to one critic, and "rife with playful flirting and stolen kisses," says another. The 2012 German film is now available on demand, with English subtitles, from Wolfe Video. Order here and watch a preview below.

[iframe https://widgets.distrify.com/widget.html#5368 allowfullscreen="" class=^{{"distrify-player"}}^ frameborder="0" height="368" id="distrify-player-5368" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"]

1. MUSIC: Mary Lambert, Welcome to the Age of My Body

You might not know Mary Lambert's name, but I'm willing to bet you know her voice. She provides the angelic pipes for the infectious chorus to Macklemore's marriage equality anthem, "Same Love." You know, those goose bump-inducing lines about how "I can't change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to?" Yeah, that's Lambert. And that Grammy-nominated chorus is actually the hook for a song of Lambert's own, appropriately titled "She Keeps Me Warm." The out musician describes the track, with its adorable music video full of budding lesbian love, as "the other side" of the "Same Love" story. And as of Tuesday, you can get Lambert's entire debut EP, Welcome to the Age of My Body, through iTunes. Lambert's powerful, queerly feminine voice carries the EP, complete with a gut-punching spoken-word rap on the first track, "Body Love," that struck every potent heartstring for this plus-size queer femme who's struggled to come to terms with a society that doesn't approve of her size, identity, or politics. If you've ever felt like an outsider, you need to hear this record. —Sunnivie Brydum

Watch the first video for "She Keeps Me Warm" below, and check out the lyric version here.