How come there are so few intelligent TV shows aimed at women? Networks started aiming a few shows to their female audience in the mid sixties, but, mostly soap operas. The thought was that women didn't work, were home all day and they didn't actually own or buy televisions. The men owned them. The women were just allowed to use them when the man wasn't home. All kinds of stupid ads have always been aimed at women, women do the shopping and they need to look good doing it.*
I am always looking for TV I can relate to and seldom finding it. Why are grown up women such a rare subject for TV? Still. I mean, we work, we buy the god damn things, we pay the cable bill and we still have to watch mostly shows with male characters in the lead. At least it seems that way to me. The "housewives" shows, real and fictional bear no resemblance to any woman I know or hang out with. Mad Men is one of the few shows that deals with women's issues and it's ironically called Mad Men. There's a huge market for teen shows. Some of them are well written, a lot of them are about vampires. Really? Vampires? How many vampires do you know? How many teens do you need showing you the meaning of life?
I am always looking for TV I can relate to and seldom finding it. Why are grown up women such a rare subject for TV? Still. I mean, we work, we buy the god damn things, we pay the cable bill and we still have to watch mostly shows with male characters in the lead. At least it seems that way to me. The "housewives" shows, real and fictional bear no resemblance to any woman I know or hang out with. Mad Men is one of the few shows that deals with women's issues and it's ironically called Mad Men. There's a huge market for teen shows. Some of them are well written, a lot of them are about vampires. Really? Vampires? How many vampires do you know? How many teens do you need showing you the meaning of life?
*
I don't know if there is a meaning to life, it's always seemed like an occasional nice ride while you wait for the inevitable, but, shouldn't I be entertained in the meantime? Why are women still ignored in TV? I started looking things up and I got a lot of depressing statistics. Oh, and an ad for The Lifetime channel. Stick that up your ass, Lifetime. That channel just assumes we're all love starved...and really stupid. Where are the Thelma and Louise's? Where's Samantha Stevens and her mom, Endora? Don't they know by now why Mary Tyler Moore was so popular? Do they really think it was that spunk thing? I'd even take a Peg Bundy, at least I could understand her. Any suggestions for someone who's bored with watching men on TV? I mean, not that I don't love Gregory House, but, come on. Why can't a bitchy woman addict be a doctor?
I don't know if there is a meaning to life, it's always seemed like an occasional nice ride while you wait for the inevitable, but, shouldn't I be entertained in the meantime? Why are women still ignored in TV? I started looking things up and I got a lot of depressing statistics. Oh, and an ad for The Lifetime channel. Stick that up your ass, Lifetime. That channel just assumes we're all love starved...and really stupid. Where are the Thelma and Louise's? Where's Samantha Stevens and her mom, Endora? Don't they know by now why Mary Tyler Moore was so popular? Do they really think it was that spunk thing? I'd even take a Peg Bundy, at least I could understand her. Any suggestions for someone who's bored with watching men on TV? I mean, not that I don't love Gregory House, but, come on. Why can't a bitchy woman addict be a doctor?
35 comments:
Have you seen the previews for the new Julianne Margulies show "The Good Wife"? Says Wiki,
"The storyline focuses on Marguiles as Alicia Florrick, the wife of a politician, Peter Florrick (Noth). Her husband has been jailed following a very public sex and corruption scandal. She returns to her old job as a defense attorney to rebuild her reputation and provide for her two children.". I might give it a try.
I did a google for "good shows for women" and orthopedic shoes came up lol.
LMAO Valle. Gawd. Okay, I'll check out The Good Wife.
BTW, do not, under any circumstance, watch Strangers With Candy. Your brain will die.
Because America loves trainwrecks. And I love The Real Housewives of Atlanta even though I can't relate to them but I can still laugh at them. So don't take the fun away!!! lol
Well I dont like Housewives crap or lifetime. I hate romance stories with a passion.
Yes I do agree tV is not for females. I want something that will intrigue me. Not something that will make me feel inadequate. How many programs do you have to have about cheating wife's and husbands. Money, Ponzi Scams Makeover shows etc...
Maybe I should just get rid of cable and read again...
Hey how about they make tears for endurment show. Or fried green tomatos. NAAAAA they probably will suck balls...
Hey, DD, have you caught Nurse Jackie on HBO? Very gritty and real. You might like it - I'm hooked because she is sooo not perfect - a prescription pain killer addicted nurse who loves her husband and kids, but she's having an affair and trying to keep it all together.
I tend to not watch a lot of dramatic shows for whatever reason. Right now, I'm obsessed with Glee and can't wait for Fringe to start again. Most shows that are geared towards women are tripe. I hate them. They all boil down to shopping and finding a man to fulfill you. Whatever.
I told my son the other day that when Danika Patrick goes NASCAR next year that the sponsors will love that! She will be driving the pink Playtex tampon car or the blue Kotex car. I was being serious! Yay for a woman NASCAR driver, maybe, but you watch ...the spnosors will take her down, back where she belongs. On her damn period!@!!
rox
I like two shows with strong women but they are both crime drama.
"The Closer" with Kyra Sydwick
She's the boss lady at the police station. Wears really stylish close and carries nice handbags. But she breaks rules and puts all kinds of men and women in there place. She is a mom too and occasionally they add that to the story and it's done well.
"Saving Grace" with Holly Hunter it takes place in Oklahoma not LA or NYC. That's cool. She also seems to have a spirit guide or a dude that visits from time to time. Not sure they have ever defined him. He appears and disappears and she has driven through him.
She is not a mom or married. She drinks and has sex. He's hot.
I have watched that show with Jada Picket but I have missed some didn't know she was addicted or having an affair. I liked it but I am a little worn out with medical drama.
Don't forget we have Cougar Town with Courtney Cox to look forward to. ;P
Kathy, okay, Nurse Jackie..I added it to my list. Thanks.
Noelle, Saving Grace sounds good. I'll look for that. I like Holly Hunter. I'm about fed up with cop shows and damn detectives too.
Chinatown..I hate the title Cougar Town, it makes all women sound preditory...still, it's worth a try. Oh, will Jen be joining? Sigh.
Alanna..I've seen Glee, it's corny but, campy too. I can stand it. Who's the main charactor? A man. Of course.
Terms Of Endearment and Fried Green Tomatos..now ya talkin.'
I really enjoy a good ole' Agatha Christie mystery especially when Gwendolyn plays Ms. M. Usually seen on BBC America or PBS. She's always underestimated and in control...and I like that because I can totally relate there.
ok, I've flipped thru my dvr schedule and have concluded that I am in no way in any position to advise on tv watching! All reality shows and friggin maury. I think I like watching train wreck reality people because sometimes I am truly amazed and entertained by all the crazy that goes on.
Sorry, Beach, I don't share your love of mysteries. Though they don't suck like love stories.
Valle, isn't it sad that reality TV has such potential and yet gave us the Kardashians and Denise Richards? Worthless people.
off topic, but found out about textsfromlastnight.com. people submit drunken texts the've sent/received. pretty hilarious.bored and have been reading them for 2 hours now!friggin rainy day .
Murder She Wrote lasted 9 or 10 seasons and shot over 260 new episodes.
I wish they'd do a series based on Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books.
I'll stick with Antiques Roadshow and the new one on the History channel (or anything on the History channel) Pawn Stars. Everything else is pretty much crap. I do enjoy certain shows on the Food channel too.
While on the subject, I hate the phrase "trophy wife". I hate the implication that if your wife looks a certain way then by god ole' buddy you've got a trophy. I don't know any "wives" who look like that. And another thing, what's with this "wife" thing? How about saying trophy woman? Using wife in the same sentence as the word trophy is dehumanizing. You never hear "she's got a trophy husband" Ok, that's my rant.
They killed me when they dumped ER... Top Chef and Project Runway are usually okay but I'm splotchy with my nightime viewing.
CSI and Criminal Minds can hold my interest at times. Beyond that, Weather, Travel, History and Food Channels and occassionally a good flick on Chiller TV.
If TV depended on me for success they'd all need part time jobs to suppliment their incomes...
Nurse Jackie on Showtime is awesome in case nobody mentioned it. It has a very gripping storyline and you can watch it free on the internet. Just type in free nurse jackie episodes. I watched the whole season online and cannot wait until it starts up again. Otherwise I only watch True Blood, House, and Criminal Minds.
Pat,
Sorry to go off topic but did you happen to get my email? I was just worried I offended you in some way.
If we are looking for realism, where are older people with a life, who are not interested in their bowels or forgetful. They even act like 40 is old and something to be dreaded. We all spend a great deal of money, but we are not courted with parts and programs that portray us in a true and respectable manner.
Someone called peg Chinatown!
At least it didn't say Chinatown Pig.
I am addicted to Nurse Jackie too, cant wait till it comes back.
snowbunnie
I hate those stupid brain-dead women on any of the "Real Housewives of..." shows. Oooh, you're going shopping...again. Oh wow, how very, very interesting. Except, not.
My favorite thing to watch is specials on the Discovery channel or the History channel, like "The worst jobs in history" and "What sank the Titanic?" and that kind of thing. I also like true-life medical shows, which they used to show a lot of on TLC before it turned into the People Who Have Lots of Kids channel.
One kind of show I like which unfortunately is not popular anymore is anthology shows. I don't like to invest too much time in getting to know television characters, so anthology shows are perfect because they have a new story and a new cast every week. Shame they don't really make them anymore. (I loved "Tales from the Crypt"! LOL.)
Pat,
Have you heard of this show that features a real can do lady? It's called jon and kate plus 8... :) lol
I barely watch TV. Besides Rachel Maddow, First 48 hours, Crime 360, stuff like that.
I'm really into documentaries. Love them, because they're real and I like stuff that makes me come away with a different point of view. I went on HBO's site and went through the list of docs, and a lot of them are on youtube.
I cannot wait until I can rent Nurse Jackie.
Oh, and I don't watch much Tv because I am an extremely productive person; I am not, I just find it boring. I'm a reader.
I am going to have to check out Nurse Jackie, I have seen the ads for it and thought it looked interesting. Now you all say it is good, so I must watch.
I do like Real Housewives Atlanta...and I like Jill Zarin.
Completely off topic, but today in class my math teacher was telling us about when she attended Rutgers for her master's degree decades ago. She dropped out before getting her PhD, but her friend went and applied to the doctoral program which consisted of taking oral questions from the faculty and doing a presentation. Supposedly the men were so vicious to her she left within 15 minutes crying. You'd think by now that kind of thing doesn't happen anymore, but I think it does... nobody sees women as being treated unequally, but if you look, you'll see it still happens. :-/
Anon 5:10
I love Evanovich! Stephanie (a bounty hunter), Grandma Masur, Lula, even Connie---all stong female characters. The men are thrown in as eye candy.
I thought Holly Hunter would make a good Stephanie. Lula would be hard to do without really being over the top and Connie would just be a good Jersey girl. Grandma Masur is a hoot. There are two men in one set of books---Morelli and Ranger. Deisel is in another set. The way the people are described are perfect and I think I'm madly in love with all the men. It's really light reading and extremely entertaining and I think it would make a great series.
If you like light reading Janet Evanovich is one of the best--but read them in order.
DD, I know you don't like mysteries, but these really aren't mystery like. And the women are so entertaining. They will keep you in stitches!! They really get good when Lula joins the group. IF you read one--start with "Three".
Anon 5:10, do you know any other authors like Evanovich?
I LOVE Janet Evanovich!! I am sooo a Morrelli girl. The first one, One for the Money was one of my favs... the comedic timing in that series is fabulous!
Do you watch The New Adventures of Old Christine? JLD is so good in that.
Check out Drop Dead Diva on Sunday nights. Very clever show with a terrific star.
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