I’m sure I’m telling you nothing new by saying that powerful, strong female characters are a rarity on television these days. But (thankfully) we do have a few of them. They’re detectives, doctors, attorneys, and heck, they’re even pot-dealing soccer moms.

But regardless, they’re scarcer than they should be, and what’s worse — their characters are often overly flawed. (See the linster’s post about In Plain Sight for a ridiculously spot-on example.) Additionally, their characters are usually either sexless (see: Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU) or their storylines are based almost solely on their love-life (see: Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy).

These issues, among others (see: far too few queer women on TV), are concerns that we’re all too familiar with at AfterEllen.com; the problem seems to lie in the fact that no one else recognizes it. Or, at the very least, no one with the power to do so does anything about it.

So, the other day, when I stumbled upon an article by Stuart Levine on MSNBC titled, “Powerful TV women must face backlash,” I smiled a little bit on the inside. I couldn’t help but think — for a fleeting moment — that things are turning around. After all, if you’ve glanced through Malinda Lo’s "TCA Diaries" lately, you’ve read all about some fantastic shows currently on TV that accurately and responsibly portray strong female leads. It was in this vein that I gleefully opened the article, ready for a poignant look at women in television. What I got, quite simply, was a big pile of nothingness. … continue reading

It’s not surprising that of all the singers to pick from, Feist was chosen to be on Sesame Street to help kick off their 39th season, which premieres August 11th. Her monster hit single “1,2,3,4” has been reworked into “1,2,3,4 Monsters Crawling Across The Floor” in order to help teach the kiddies learn to count to four. I mean, who cares about learning to count from five to infinitive when Feist is singing to you?

So are you ready to see the cutest thing in the world? There is happy music, singing chickens and penguins, so consider yourself warned. You may want to find someone’s cheeks to grab onto because you are going to want to squeeze the heck out of them once you are done watching the video.

Has counting to four ever been so joyful? Watching that makes me want to buy the world a coke, hug each and every one of you and maybe even adopt four dancing penguins. I love counting to four. … continue reading

Last year when the Internet's collective heart went atwitter over the news that Monica Geller and Rachel Green were meant to share a kiss on Monica's new show Dirt, I could not wrap my mind around the hoopla. I mean, it's not like Monica and Rachel never kissed before. They kissed for a solid minute that one time to get their apartment back from Joey and Chandle. Rachel also kissed Phoebe, and she kissed her coconut-knockin' friend from college named Meli — dammit, I'm doing it again.

Friends has been off the air for four years, and I still can't separate the characters from the actors who played them. That's the problem with inviting someone into your living room every Thursday night for ten years: You expect things will stay a certain way. (It's why sex-with-the-ex is so popular.)

I have rooted for the cast of Friends in each of their post-sitcom projects, but none of them have resonated. Courteney Cox's roles, especially, have been such a departure from her comedic roots that they just have not interested me — until now. Entertainment Weekly reported last week that when Scrubs returns next fall, Cox will play Sacred Heart's new Chief of Medicine. She has signed on for three episodes so far, and it is a brilliant move as far as I'm concerned. … continue reading

Are you ready to embrace your Grace? The hit cable drama Saving Grace returns tonight to TNT and with it comes the hardest working, hardest drinking, hardest partying, hardest hitting female detective on television. A bold statement, sure, but this is Holly Hunter we're talking about. Don't make her to pull out the Oscar, because she can. Plus, what other Academy Award-winner poses with a barbed wire fence?

The series enters its sophomore season just as feisty as its first. Last season ended on a cliffhanger with Grace confronting Father Patrick, the priest who sexually abused her as a little girl. And, before we move on — yes, Grace has had a superhuman amount of tragedy in her life. She was sexually abused as a child, raped and assaulted by a killer as an adult and had her sister die in the Oklahoma City bombing. No wonder she drinks.

Holly aside, I was a tad leery of the series in the beginning. First there was the whole tough girl with a troubled life thing. Why whenever a woman is good at her job must she have a screwy private life? Then there was the whole Touched by a My Name is Earl aspect. A bubba angel is her last chance for salvation? M'kay. And, finally, there was just crime drama fatigue. I know it's sacrilege given the untold number of hours of my live I've given to nearly all the Law & Order and CSI franchises.

But then a funny thing happened. I watched and I couldn't stop watching. A lot of it was Holly, but everything, from the setting to spirituality, worked for me. The supporting cast, from Laura San Giacomo as Grace's best friend to Lorraine Toussaint as her captain and — of course — Leon Rippy as her angel Earl, was rock solid. … continue reading

Hello, my name is Ms. Anthrope, and I’m a DVD-aholic. But I’m not addicted to just any ol’ DVD — sci-fi shows with kick-ass female leads are my crack. (You know you have a problem when you already own each individual season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and still couldn’t resist buying the pricey complete-series box set.) I’ve been clean since Christmas when I did some major Battlestar Galactica damage, but I’m about to fall off the wagon — big time. The reason for the relapse? Too many DVDs featuring supernaturally hot TV chicks are hitting shelves this summer! Take a peek at these upcoming cult favorites.

Birds of Prey: The Complete Series
Release Date: Tomorrow

A Plot Refresher: Based on the DC comic, the show centers on three crime-fighting superheroes who are — get this — all women. Even the main villain (Mia Sara) is female! (Uh, why didn’t this show last longer than a season? I blame the totally dull Dinah character; she’s way more culpable than, say, the lowly network.)

Anyway, the biggest bad-ass of the trio is Huntress, the lovechild of Batman and Catwoman. But more importantly, she’s played by a brooding, raven-haired Ashley Scott (think Angelina Jolie’s character from Foxfire, only with superpowers). Her mentor in lesbian subtext is the former Batgirl, who’s now known as the wheelchair-bound Oracle (Dina Meyer).

The DVD Lowdown:

BOP fans have been pushing for the release of the complete series ever since it was canceled way back in 2002. While the wait is finally over, don’t get your hopes up for a big production: The penny-pinching studio didn’t even bother to buy the rights to the original theme song. They did manage, however, to include all 13 episodes and two bonus features. The first one is the complete web series of Gotham Girls, which is probably great if you’re into animation (I’m not). But I did like watching the un-aired pilot extra, mainly because it’s interesting to see how Sherilyn Fenn played the recast role of Dr. Harleen Quinzel. … continue reading

I could care less for The Bachelorette — give me a life challenge, a goal worth working for, and real people sweating it out on national television for their own greater good and I am hooked. As a fan of The Biggest Loser, I had to catch the premiere of Student Body, a show on The N produced by Reville, the same company who puts on the NBC weight loss show, as well as The Office, Ugly Betty and The Tudors.

Student Body is a reality show in the vein of Loser which provides two teams with professional trainers in hopes of helping the contestants improve their health. The difference is, this show's teams are obese teenagers who are from rival high schools. They are fighting not only for their own fitness, but for the chance to win $25,000 for their schools. And, there will be one overall winner who wins $25,000 for their very own.

Former Dancing with the Stars participant Boxing champ Laila Ali is the host of the show, and she doesn't put up with any crap from the teens, specifically from one girl named Tana who has an "I don't care" attitude from the start. … continue reading

I love it when I find another closet Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan in the most unexpected of places — like a colleague at work, an old high school friend or a cop who pulled you over for speeding and notices your Once More With Feeling soundtrack. (Not that that's ever happened to me.)

So imagine my delight when reading a Q&A on wowowow.com between 60 Minutes correspondent (and one of the site's founders) Lesley Stahl and New York Times columnist Gail Collins I learned that Buffy was the latter's favorite show of all time. Now that's what I call all the news that's fit to print.

Lesley Stahl and Gail Collins

But my glee turned glum when I read Lesley's response to Gail's admission.

LESLEY: Television. What do you like to watch on TV?
GAIL: My all-time favorite program in my entire life was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
LESLEY: No! No! No, no, no.
GAIL: I’m sorry.
LESLEY: It can’t be.
GAIL: It is.
LESLEY: Yeah, you’re apologizing. I heard that. I’m sorry. That’s extraordinary.
GAIL: I love that program so much; I can’t tell you.
LESLEY: Why?

Boo, Lesley Stahl! Boo! Of course, this kind of incredulous, disdainful response is all too familiar to fellow Buffyverse disciples. How many times have you had someone look at you funny after you've revealed your love for Buffy and say, “Buffy? Seriously? Um, yeah, whatever.” … continue reading

Ah, summer: time for swimming, frolicking, eating ice cream, sitting in a dark room and crying because all the good television shows are on hiatus until fall.

Kidding, of course! Summer is a time of great optimism for television addicts. You can catch up on any shows you missed, because last fall's shows will be hitting DVD any day now. You can watch the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, hoping to catch a glimpse of any fall shows that will feature strong, confident, beautiful women in leading rolls. (And maybe if we're lucky, even some lesbian subtext!) You can even take a look at the Television Critics Association's Summer poll and set your TiVo (or order your Netflix queue) accordingly.

According to the Television Critics Association's summer poll, here are the best and worst of shows of 2008:

Best:

I definitely agree with the first seven. I haven't seen Breaking Bad or In Treatments. I can say, however, that even as a history nut, watching Laura Linney make out with Paul Giamatti in John Adams is downright yucky. … continue reading

We want certain things from our newscasters. We want them to be honest, we want them to be fair, we want them to be intelligent, and we want them to be just attractive enough to spend an hour or so in our living rooms every evening. This poses a bit of a problem for CBS foreign correspondent Lara Logan.

You see, while Lara is honest and fair and intelligent, she is also gorgeous. And, well, that's where things get complicated. The 37-year-old South African native was recently named chief foreign affairs correspondent at CBS and has worked for CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes and The Early Show. She has reported on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Her work has earned her international acclaim as well as shiny hardware including Emmy, Overseas Press Club and Edward R. Murrow awards.

But if you read The Washington Post earlier this week, all you'd really know about Lara is that she is pregnant by a married man. Columnist Howard Kurtz wrote what amounts to a tawdry tabloid tell-all masquerading as serious journalism. We learn that she has been separated from her husband for a long time, then she had a relationship with a fellow journalist in Iraq and after that, started seeing her current partner, a federal contractor who is also separated from his wife. You can practically see Kurtz pinning the scarlet “A” on her chest. … continue reading

Are you a struggling actor? Can't even get a gig as a dead body in an episode of Law & Order? Can't even get a callback to be an extra in a Valtrex commercial? If you need a Plan B, you may want to look into appearing on a quality show like Who Wants To Be a Superhero, The White Rapper Show, Flavor of Love. It might be time to enroll in the prestigious New York Reality TV School, where you will be taught how to accentuate your most annoying personality traits so that you can snag a coveted spot on reality television with other attention-seeking reprobates future pop-culture icons.

Will you be the next Puck? The next Trishelle? The next girl whose name no one remembers but whose line, "Hey, girl, hey!" was so memorable that it has its own entry on UrbanDictionary.com?

Your headmaster will be Robert Galinsky, whose claim to fame is starring as a "Fanatic Hasidic Jew" in a film called Brooklyn Babylon. According to Slate, when class is in session, you will be handed the "Eight Commandments of Reality TV School," which includes the following commandment: "Thou Shall Groom Hairy PITTS," which stands for "personal issues to tease." The commandment reads as follows:

As a reality star I will always groom my PITTS and allow them to be accessible. They are relationship, family, work related.

I think this is code for "Expose as much of my dirty laundry as I possibly can within my allotted air time. It is OK if I embarrass and humiliate my family, loved ones and co-workers. Because the temporary thrill of being the center of attention is worth it. I'm worth it. I'm so worth it. Look at me. Please? Love me?"

But wait — where else have we seen use of commandments in the context of reality television?

… continue reading

Master Galinsky may be ambitious, but he certainly isn't original.

To further stoke fan speculation about what's going to happen in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which opens July 25 — and to reintroduce the series to those who may not have been X-philes when it was on the air — a "new" X-Files DVD is being released today. The compilation of eight episodes is called "Revelations," and as the cover itself proclaims, this is the "Essential Guide to the X-Files movie," with "8 critical episodes handpicked by the series creator."

Does it deliver? Yes and no.

The DVD's eight episodes span the first six seasons of the television series, skipping (wisely) the last three seasons entirely. At first this seemed a little odd, because if this DVD is supposed to be the essential guide to the movie, and the movie takes place after Season 9, don't we need to know what happens in those last three seasons? A short "series trailer" included on the first disc does give a rundown of the entire nine seasons, but I'm going to guess that what happened in the last three seasons just isn't that important. (Sorry, Annabeth Gish fans, but I never could get into the character of Agent Reyes.)

Each episode is certainly a classic — "Pilot," "Beyond the Sea," "The Host," "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Memento Mori," "Post-Modern Prometheus," "Bad Blood" and "Milagro" — and each one is introduced by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz. Their commentary, though, is limited to a couple of minutes each time, so they don't provide a lot of new information.

It is amusing to see Gillian Anderson stick her head over Chris Carter's shoulder in the commentary before "Milagro," and she is wearing the tan trench coat you've seen in preview photos for the X-Files movie, but very little is revealed about what's going to happen in the film. It does seem that Carter is shooting these intros on the set of the movie, though, because at one point a man in full surgical scrubs (an actor, I'm guessing) walks right behind him. I can't believe that wasn't entirely orchestrated, so, uh, spoiler alert? Man in scrubs will be in movie! … continue reading

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for some of the wealthiest, talented and most beautiful that our world has to offer to get all gussied up and gather for a night of mutual adoration and self-celebrations. No, I’m not talking about the Academy Awards; I’m talking about the 2008 ESPYs.

The 16th annual awards show will be hosted by Justin Timberlake and highlights the year’s best athletes across the board. For the fifth year now, you can help decide the winners if you vote before midnight on July 11. Don’t know who to vote for? Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Best Female Athlete:
Lorena Ochoa, Golf
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Danica Patrick, Auto Racing
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

My pick: Candace Parker

Because, well, duh — Ms. Parker was the most dominant player in college basketball, winning two straight national championships and more awards than I have time to list in her years at Tennessee. Now, as a Los Angeles Sparks player, she is already making her mark on the WNBA. Recently, she became the first woman to ever dunk in back-to-back professional games. Girl can play! She is also up for (and should win) Best Female College Athlete. … continue reading

We all know the best way to get couch potatoes to turn off their television sets and head out to a movie theatre is by putting their favorite TV shows up on the big screen. How else can you explain a summer of Get Smart, Sex and The City and The X-Files all in feature length?

Well, for a long time now there have been rumors of a Friends flick. Ever since the super successful NBC show ended in 2004, Hollywood hotshots have been trying to figure out a way to get its stars to reunite. The whispers of a movie have come and gone every year, until finally last weekend the internet was abuzz with the news that all six cast members had signed on and the movie was a go. Fans rejoiced! Everything was right in the world! Until Warner Bros., the studio that owns the rights to Friends, issued a statement saying only idiots believe what they read on the internet (I’m paraphrasing) and no Friends movie was in the works.

Well, I can’t take it anymore so I’ve scheduled a meeting with Warner Bros. brass to get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna blow it. I’m just gonna ask them: why? If Hollywood can make a movie out of a crummy show like The Dukes Of Hazzard, why can’t we get those Friends kids together? For god’s sake, the Disney people turned one of their freakin’ rides into a blockbuster franchise. (See: Pirates of the Caribbean).

How hard can this be? It’s not like the cast — except for maybe Jennifer Aniston — is busy. Sure, a few of the friends have since starred in their own television shows, but none of those shows made it past a second season (Joey, Dirt, The Comeback). (To be fair, I thought Lisa Kudrow’s brilliant Comeback was only guilty of being too nuanced for TV. It was HBO — maybe she should have whacked someone?)

Only Aniston seems to motivate people to buy tickets to her movies (The Break-Up, Rumor Has It), but she gets more attention for the string of guys she’s gone through since her divorce from the Man Whose Name Is Not Spoken By Friends. She isn’t exactly wowing the critics, either, although her work in the upcoming He’s Just Not That Into You might change this. I’ve seen the previews and, gee, the movie looks like it will be great — for 11-year-old girls. (Seriously, when I saw the cast of this movie, which includes Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson and Ginnifer Goodwin, I thought, “Do all of these women owe their agents a favor?”) … continue reading