# Encino Woman
**Encino Woman** (also known as **California Woman**) is a 1996 American made-for-television comedy in which a prehistoric woman named Lucy, awakened by an earthquake in modern Los Angeles, becomes the spokesmodel for a cosmetics company while falling in love with the marketing intern who shelters her. It aired on ABC on April 20, 1996, as a television sequel to the 1992 theatrical film *[Encino Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/encino-man)*.[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116197/releaseinfo/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original broadcast | ABC, Saturday, April 20, 1996, occupying the 9:00 pm hour of a two-hour block, as a two-hour television movie[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) • [3](https://www.tvtango.com/listings/1996/04/20) |
| Relationship to *Encino Man* | Television sequel to the 1992 theatrical film, with an all-new cast and a female lead in place of the unfrozen caveman premise[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) • [4](https://mutantreviewersmovies.com/2026/07/10/encino-woman-1996-youll-pray-for-pauly-shore/) |
| Director and writers | Directed and co-written by Shawn Schepps (screenplay with Anne Joseph), who had written the script for *Encino Man*[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman) |
| Principal cast | Katherine Kousi as Lucy, Corey Parker as David, Jay Thomas as Marvin, John Kassir as Jean Michel[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) |
| Other titles | Released in Spain on March 20, 1999, as *California Woman*; French title *Préhistoire d'amour*[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116197/releaseinfo/) |
| Current availability | Not available to stream, rent, or buy in the US as of the most recent listings, and not on Netflix[6](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/encino-woman/gpbDk15L916UwFymf574r4/where-to-watch/) |
| Music | Composed by David N. Lawrence[7](https://filmmusic.com/tv/encino-woman/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
An earthquake unearths and thaws a frozen prehistoric woman, Lucy (Katherine Kousi), who then falls into the care of David (Corey Parker), a young intern at a marketing firm. Working on a cosmetics advertising campaign, David advances his career when his protégée is chosen as the model and spokeswoman for the brand, and he falls in love with her along the way.[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) A Disney summary describes David promoting Lucy to his agency as the "primal" woman they had been searching for to advertise a new perfume.[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/)
## Production
Shawn Schepps, an actress and screenwriter who wrote the screenplay for the theatrical *Encino Man*, wrote and directed this sequel, sharing the screenplay credit with Anne Joseph.[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) • [8](https://outlawvern.com/2022/06/15/encino-man/) The producers were Jeffrey Lambert and Irwin Marcus.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman) A production-designer résumé lists George Zaloom as producer and Peg McClellan as production designer.[9](https://www.setdecorators.org/sites/setdecorators/user_uploads/utj47u.pdf)
The supporting cast includes Rick Overton as Raji, John Kassir as Jean Michel, Annabelle Gurwitch as Chris, Joel Murray as Mr. Jones, [Elisa Donovan](https://www.edgepedia.org/elisa-donovan) as Ivana, Clarence Williams III as Javier, and [Bobcat Goldthwait](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobcat-goldthwait) as a character named Yogi Paxil.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman/cast-and-crew) • [8](https://outlawvern.com/2022/06/15/encino-man/) [Pauly Shore](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauly-shore), the star of the original film, does not appear.[8](https://outlawvern.com/2022/06/15/encino-man/)
## Broadcast and reception
The film aired on ABC on Saturday, April 20, 1996, occupying the 9:00 pm hour of the two-hour block after the special *CityKids: All-Star Celebration*; TV Tango's archived listing records a rating of 5.4 and a share of 10 for that hour.[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) • [3](https://www.tvtango.com/listings/1996/04/20) The piece was introduced by Disney chief [Michael Eisner](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-eisner), and a Variety review noted a mid-show outtake in which Eisner discussed, in a Ripley's Believe It or Not tone, a newspaper article about a frozen prehistoric man found in an Alpine glacier.[8](https://outlawvern.com/2022/06/15/encino-man/)
Critical and audience records are sparse. Rotten Tomatoes lists no critic reviews for the title and fewer than 50 audience ratings.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman) The film has been described in retrospective commentary as an obscure sequel that never received a home-media release, with surviving copies tracing to off-air recordings.[4](https://mutantreviewersmovies.com/2026/07/10/encino-woman-1996-youll-pray-for-pauly-shore/)
## Runtime and catalog discrepancies
Reference databases disagree on the film's length. Rotten Tomatoes lists 1h 37m,[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) and Moviefone list 1 hr 30 mins,[11](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/encino-woman/2030111195/) and TheTVDB lists 120 minutes,[12](https://thetvdb.com/movies/encino-woman) consistent with the "two-hour television movie" description in Disney's own archive[1](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/) and with the two-hour ABC slot in which it aired.[3](https://www.tvtango.com/listings/1996/04/20) The shorter listings likely reflect the program without padding, though no source reconciles them.
## Current availability
As of its most recent crawl, Moviefone reports that *Encino Woman* is not available to stream, rent, or buy online in the United States, and answers its own FAQ with "No, *Encino Woman* is not currently available on Netflix."[6](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/encino-woman/gpbDk15L916UwFymf574r4/where-to-watch/) Streaming catalogs change as licensing agreements expire or shift to other services, so a title with no current listing may return to a service later when rights change.[13](https://gonenext.com/guides/what-happens-after-a-title-leaves/)
## References
1. [Encino Woman (television), Disney A to Z (D23)](https://d23.com/a-to-z/encino-woman-television/)
2. [Encino Woman (TV Movie 1996) - Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116197/releaseinfo/)
3. [TV Listings for April 20, 1996, TV Tango](https://www.tvtango.com/listings/1996/04/20)
4. [Encino Woman (1996) — You'll pray for Pauly Shore, Mutant Reviewers](https://mutantreviewersmovies.com/2026/07/10/encino-woman-1996-youll-pray-for-pauly-shore/)
5. [Encino Woman, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman)
6. [Encino Woman - Where to Watch, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/encino-woman/gpbDk15L916UwFymf574r4/where-to-watch/)
7. [Encino Woman (1996) TV Movie, FilmMusic.com](https://filmmusic.com/tv/encino-woman/)
8. [Encino Man review, Vern's Reviews on the Films of Cinema](https://outlawvern.com/2022/06/15/encino-man/)
9. [Brenda Meyers-Ballard credits, SetDecorators.org](https://www.setdecorators.org/sites/setdecorators/user_uploads/utj47u.pdf)
10. [Encino Woman | Cast and Crew | Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/encino_woman/cast-and-crew)
11. [Encino Woman - Where to Watch and Stream, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/encino-woman/2030111195/)
12. [Encino Woman, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/movies/encino-woman)
13. [What Happens After a Title Leaves a Streaming Service?, GoneNext](https://gonenext.com/guides/what-happens-after-a-title-leaves/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1995 to 1999 › Teen comedies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license