Women on TV
Sep. 22nd, 2010 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bennet_7I had it in my head that The Good Wife was back last night (and thus I would be able to download it today) but alas, it did not, so I could not.
A shame, because I'm really, really hankering for some awesome female-centric TV right now.
By my reckoning, the new hour-longs (I'm not wading into sitcom territory) with the most critical buzz are: Boardwalk Empire, Lone Star, and Terriers. However, I haven't felt a strong inclination to check any of them out because they are all male-centric. My understanding (based mostly on short promos and reviews from people like Alan Sepinwall) is that they break down like this:
- Terriers: Focuses on two unlicensed male PIs. Apparently, one has a well-written girlfriend and the other has a cliche of an ex-wife, but both are supporting characters.
- Boardwalk Empire: Male main character, whole bunch of male supporting characters, and Kelly MacDonald, who is/will be romantically involved with a male character. Also, as it is set in the 20s, chances for empowered, independent females who have goals and achieve them are slim to non.
- Lone Star: Male main character, four supporting male characters, 2 supporting female characters, both of whom are love interests of the main male character.
[This meta could take a turn for the serious if I was to do more in-depth research into the cast make-ups of all of these shows, but, as my mother has informed me, most viewers don't read half-a-dozen blogs or check YouTube for trailers when deciding what new shows to watch. They catch a promo on TV, they read a blurb in the TV guide, and they need to be hooked on the premise by that. So I'm doing this largely from the POV of the average viewer and also, I don't want to research a bunch of shows that have already failed to grab me, which is kind of my point.]
Now, just scrolling through the my mental Rolodex of new shows, I can think of only three where a female is unquestionably the main character: Body of Proof (not airing for another month or so), Nikita, Hellcats.
If anyone can think of anymore, please tell me! Until then, let this thought fester: two of those shows are on The CW, which, yes, does skew towards a young female audience anyway, but still. The freakin' CW is telling more new female stories than any other network.
Now, there are shows where a female shares the lead with a male. Off the top of my head: The Whole Truth (as far as I know, they are old friends but are not romantically involved and they are opponents in court), Undercovers (husband and wife), My Generation (seems to be a fairly balanced ensemble but I can't tell if there is a lead or not largely because there's been barely any buzz, good or bad, about it), No Ordinary Family, and Chase (Daniel Fienberg says "Justified is a star vehicle for Timothy Olyphant and In Plain Sight is the same for Mary McCormack. Chase isn't built the same was for Kelli Giddish, who gets the most screentime, but definitely is part of the sort of ensemble you'd see going after serial killers on CBS", which I take to mean that this isn't her story they're telling nor that they are filtering it through her POV (also, he says she's poorly written as a character too)).
Other new hour-longs with male leads: Outlaw, Hawaii Five-O, Detroit 1-8-7, The Event (actually, I don't think this has a clear lead but Jason Ritter and Blair Underwood appear to be the protagonists, Laura Innes and Scott Patterson seem to be supporting, Zeljko Ivanek seems to be supporting anatgonist, and Sarah Roemer pushes the plot forward by disappearing), Blue Bloods (again, not sure if Tom Selleck is the lead, but it is a largely male ensemble), and The Defenders.
So, for the TL;DR crowd:
- Male leads: 9
- Female leads: 3
- Male and Female lead/largely balanced ensemble: 5
In conclusion: write more TV shows with women as the main characters, where they get to be multifaceted, have goals and desires of their own, and be successful in their jobs and relationships.
You know, this was going to be a quick rant before I talked about the amazingness that is Being Erica (for the things that I listed above) but now I am spent. I'll be back later.
A shame, because I'm really, really hankering for some awesome female-centric TV right now.
By my reckoning, the new hour-longs (I'm not wading into sitcom territory) with the most critical buzz are: Boardwalk Empire, Lone Star, and Terriers. However, I haven't felt a strong inclination to check any of them out because they are all male-centric. My understanding (based mostly on short promos and reviews from people like Alan Sepinwall) is that they break down like this:
- Terriers: Focuses on two unlicensed male PIs. Apparently, one has a well-written girlfriend and the other has a cliche of an ex-wife, but both are supporting characters.
- Boardwalk Empire: Male main character, whole bunch of male supporting characters, and Kelly MacDonald, who is/will be romantically involved with a male character. Also, as it is set in the 20s, chances for empowered, independent females who have goals and achieve them are slim to non.
- Lone Star: Male main character, four supporting male characters, 2 supporting female characters, both of whom are love interests of the main male character.
[This meta could take a turn for the serious if I was to do more in-depth research into the cast make-ups of all of these shows, but, as my mother has informed me, most viewers don't read half-a-dozen blogs or check YouTube for trailers when deciding what new shows to watch. They catch a promo on TV, they read a blurb in the TV guide, and they need to be hooked on the premise by that. So I'm doing this largely from the POV of the average viewer and also, I don't want to research a bunch of shows that have already failed to grab me, which is kind of my point.]
Now, just scrolling through the my mental Rolodex of new shows, I can think of only three where a female is unquestionably the main character: Body of Proof (not airing for another month or so), Nikita, Hellcats.
If anyone can think of anymore, please tell me! Until then, let this thought fester: two of those shows are on The CW, which, yes, does skew towards a young female audience anyway, but still. The freakin' CW is telling more new female stories than any other network.
Now, there are shows where a female shares the lead with a male. Off the top of my head: The Whole Truth (as far as I know, they are old friends but are not romantically involved and they are opponents in court), Undercovers (husband and wife), My Generation (seems to be a fairly balanced ensemble but I can't tell if there is a lead or not largely because there's been barely any buzz, good or bad, about it), No Ordinary Family, and Chase (Daniel Fienberg says "Justified is a star vehicle for Timothy Olyphant and In Plain Sight is the same for Mary McCormack. Chase isn't built the same was for Kelli Giddish, who gets the most screentime, but definitely is part of the sort of ensemble you'd see going after serial killers on CBS", which I take to mean that this isn't her story they're telling nor that they are filtering it through her POV (also, he says she's poorly written as a character too)).
Other new hour-longs with male leads: Outlaw, Hawaii Five-O, Detroit 1-8-7, The Event (actually, I don't think this has a clear lead but Jason Ritter and Blair Underwood appear to be the protagonists, Laura Innes and Scott Patterson seem to be supporting, Zeljko Ivanek seems to be supporting anatgonist, and Sarah Roemer pushes the plot forward by disappearing), Blue Bloods (again, not sure if Tom Selleck is the lead, but it is a largely male ensemble), and The Defenders.
So, for the TL;DR crowd:
- Male leads: 9
- Female leads: 3
- Male and Female lead/largely balanced ensemble: 5
In conclusion: write more TV shows with women as the main characters, where they get to be multifaceted, have goals and desires of their own, and be successful in their jobs and relationships.
You know, this was going to be a quick rant before I talked about the amazingness that is Being Erica (for the things that I listed above) but now I am spent. I'll be back later.
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 07:27 pm (UTC)My gut reaction to this post is: Thank God I'm not the only one who does this. I like to have a balance of male-centric vs. female-led shows! And yeah, when I read that Boardwalk Empire was a Martin Scorsese project, I knew it was gonna be a non-starter for female characters. (Marty needs to take some womens studies classes or something!) HBO is surprisingly shit in terms of female characters, isn't it? Year after year, it churns out these must-see sausage-fests.
Anyway, maybe you're already familiar with these ones but there were two summer shows with female leads that I've read positive reports of: "Haven" on Syfy and "Huge" on ABC Family. I haven't seen them, and they don't change your numbers -- which relate to fall shows -- but if one of them appealed to you it might help to balance the TV diet or whatever.
The only fall show I can think of that's not on your list is "The Big C", starring Laura Linney. It's a half-hour drama that premiered on Showtime on August 16 and it's already been renewed.
"Facing Kate", starring Sarah Shahi, is supposed to start on the USA Network in January. Also, "Harry's Law", a David E. Kelley legal drama from NBC, starring Kathy Bates, was billed as a "mid-season replacement" last I heard. Sounds like two for 2011 there.
"After watching all these pilots, I'm convinced you can judge the quality of the show by the quality of their female characters. And this upcoming season is an utter wasteland."
Did you try Nikita or Hellcats, btw?
no subject
Date: 2010-09-23 03:52 am (UTC)And I'm kind of sick of stories about men creating there own personal empires.
The Big C was originally on the list but then I found out it was only half-an-hour long so I took it off. I did contemplate looking at all the half-hours but, as an exercise in searching for empowered females, this had already quite depressed me!
I haven't watched Nikita or Hellcats yet, just because I have a limited download capacity. If Nikita continues to be strong (and I've heard largely positive reviews of the first two episodes) then I will pick it up. Hellcats isn't normally my thing but it is already airing in Australia so I'm going to try watching it that way (tricky, because I often work nights).