TVSquad

It looks like the rumors are true. NBC ordered a half-hour series based on Candace Bushnell's latest book, Lipstick Jungle. Bushnell says, while Sex and the City was about finding Mr. Big, Lipstick is about being Mr. Big. The book is about three career-oriented women who are on the New York Post's list of New York's 50 Most Powerful Women. The women are described as willing to do anything to stay on top. I haven't read the book, but let's hope that doesn't mean everyone sleeps with the boss. Bushnell insists that the new show is going to feature powerful women, who are lacking on primetime television, except in dramas.

Where are all the strong female characters?
 
It's hard to find a strong female role model on television who isn't portrayed as a total nutcase or as a sex object. Case in point: Grace on Will and Grace. She's a business owner and supposedly successful designer, but she's incomplete because of her inability to cook and land a man. Or, how about all the ladies on Desperate Housewives? That is just way too many hot, skinny women on one suburban block. Where are the Mom jeans? The minivans? The kids??? There are three versions of CSI and none of them features women in leadership positions. And, I happen to think that Sidney Bristow on Alias uses her sex appeal way too much.

Some of the best female characters on television include Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show, all the women on Firefly (those girls kick ass!), Murphy Brown, Jamie Buchman on Mad About You, C.J. Craig on The West Wing, Olivia on Law & Order: SVU, and Buffy. Notice, the characters who were in comedies are now long gone. What makes these gals good is their independence, their leadership, and their total lack of sexual objectification. Sure, they're all good looking women (it is television, after all) but their characters are not based on sex.

I think women are getting better roles on television, especially in dramas. But, there is still a ways to go. Who are the best female characters on television? Why? Which ones aren't doing women any favors?