Celebrating TV's smart women
Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 7:00 AM by Paige Newman
Filed Under:
TV
Sometimes the female characters on shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” drive me crazy. These are supposed to be smart women -- doctors! -- but they make such stupid choices, and their lives seem to revolve completely around men. In the words of Cristina Yang, “Seriously?”
But there are also tons of smart female characters on TV and with the return of “The Closer” on Jan. 26, on TNT, this is a perfect time to celebrate them.
Speaking of “The Closer,” Kyra Sedgwick’s Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson is one of my absolute favorites. She has her foibles, including her candy fetish, her commitment issues and the fact that she’s a serious workaholic, but she is without a doubt one of the smartest women on TV. Here are three more of my favorites:
Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan, “Bones”
Emily Deschanel’s Temperance Brennan may not be pop-culture smart (she’s likely to say, “I don’t know what that means” when anyone brings up anything to do with TV and movies), but she is the Jeffersonian Institute’s star forensic anthropologist (and also a best-selling author of crime fiction) who can determine the way a victim was murdered by simply studying that person’s bones. She also tends to be fearless, whether it’s facing off with a bad guy or letting Seeley Booth throw knives at her while they’re undercover as a circus act. It’s as though she’s already determined the logical chances of getting hurt and decided that the stats are in her favor. (“Bones” airs Thursday nights at 8 on Fox).
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Glenn Close always has an agenda, and she'll figure out yours, on "Damages."
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Patty Hewes, “Damages”
The best thing about Glenn Close’s super lawyer Patty Hewes, especially in season two, is that she’s not simply a good or bad character. She’s all of the above. She made some questionable choices in season one (like driving Ray Fiske to suicide), but what she does is ultimately for the greater good. Her case against Arthur Frobisher in season one was always about bringing him to justice (she just got caught up in the “by any means necessary” thing). This season, she’s already suspicious of new client Daniel Purcell. What’s most fun about Patty is that the wheels never stop turning – she’s constantly measuring up whomever she’s talking to. (“Damages” airs Wednesday nights at 10 on FX)
President Laura Roslin, “Battlestar Galactica”You think President Obama’s rise to power was quick? Try being the secretary of education one day, then surviving a nuclear attack only to be made president of the 12 Colonies soon after, and then convincing the surviving population that they should join you in the search for Earth. That’s the path that Mary McDonnell’s Laura Roslin took. What’s nice about Roslin is her fallibility. Not only is she fighting cancer through much of her journey, she also faces hard questions about the use of torture against the Cylons, her failures on New Caprica, and, this season, the fact that the Earth she sought for so long is uninhabitable. What’s fascinating about Laura is that she’s on a journey, and as it changes, so does she. (“Battlestar Galactica” airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on the Sci-Fi Channel).
Who are some of your favorite, smart female characters on TV and why?
