Emmy Dream Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2012-2013)

There are a lot of funny women on television, but there could be more!  This list was not hard to narrow dow, the only other people I would have potentially on this would have been Tina Fey (30 Rock), or Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie).  With Dern's show off the air, Foster's show potentially cancelled, and 30 Rock off the air, there are fewer shows with strong female leads.  I am hoping that this category gets some great new potential with the fall 2013 shows.

Laura Dern as Amy Jellicoe in Enlightened

After only two seasons, creator Mike White's show had the plug pulled.  I will admit that this show grew on me, partly because White found his groove, but also because leading lady Laura Dern is a great actress who make Amy incredibly realistic persona.  Amy, and Enlightened are not your traditional comedy archetypes, but there is an something honest about her acting.  Amy wants to live a vivid more connected life, and Dern provides audiences with acting that makes you feel connected with this character.

Zooey Deschanel as Jessica Day in New Girl

Jess went through a lot this year, from being sex buddies with her boyfriend, and realizing she wanted more, to thinking about wanting children, to dealing with her parental baggage, to dating her roommate Nick.  While the first season introduced the quirk the second season added even more depth and layer to Deschannel's Jess.  While many will argue the actress is playing herself, or a version of other characters she has played before, I have argue, that Deschanel still does a great job.  Zooey added life to this character, and had one of the best years for a female performer; she is a vision here, and does a fantastic job within this role.

Lena Dunham in Hannah Horvath in Girls

Hannah, Hannah Hannah, you got a job writing finally, but then you couldn't put words on the page.  One of the most interesting aspects of Hannah's journey this season was the exploration of her OCD, watching Dunham explore this offbeat topic with the blended mixture of humor and drama was some of the best television from this past season.  At the center of this show Dunham is a captivating leading lady, who does not fit the mold, Hannah defies the norm constantly, and does so with guts.  Dunham is great within this role, her performance within the season finale is proof.

Sutton Foster as Michelle Simms in Bunheads

Sutton Foster is one of my favorite Broadway babies, he performances in shows like Anything Goes, and even Shrek were fantastic.  In Bunheads Foster continues the fast talking tradition of Amy Sherman-Palladino as the fast talking Michelle, who is whisked away from her life as Vegas showgirl to get married and move to a small town.  Foster is brilliant as Michelle, the way she mentors the young girls with whom she teaches, and how she spars with Kelly Bishop; she carries the mantle of fast talking champ Lorelai Gilmore well.  Let's just hope she gets to do more, and the show is picked up.

Julia Louis Dreyfus as Vice President Selena Meyers in Veep

Dreyfus is one of the best female comediennes in the history of television.  This is of course a bold statement, but this woman has created three different television characters (all great), and been a player on Saturday Night Live.  In season two Selena helped save hostages, ran into a glass door, and contemplated her own Presidential campaign, none of it was with ease, and most of it was clumsy.  Dreyfuss is the commanding force on this show; she is is great in this role, and really nails every moment, every facial expression with ease.

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation

I like her and I love her!  Leslie's first year on city council was met with many obstacles, like councilmen Jamm, town folk who were willing to let law keep them in the 1800s, and so much more.  The beginning of the season also had her far away from her boyfriend Ben, but that was fixed after Gerry had his fart attack, and Ben proposed.  Poehler still adds new layers to Leslie after all these years; she is one of the funniest women, and makes this sometimes compulsive women the most like able characters on television.  

Women Behind the Scenes in Television: Slowly and Steadily Winning the Race?

At the beginning there was Lucy, and it was good.  Lucille Ball played Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy; she was the first housewife, who wanted more, she wanted to be in the show.  Lucy did some cooking and some cleaning, but most of an episode was her trying to work, trying to be in Ricky's show, and make it big.  Lucy was of course a lot funnier than Desi, but at the end of the day she lost out on her dreams.  Behind the scenes Lucy ruled with an iron fist; she was half of the company Desilu Productions (a television production empire).  Lucy was the brains behind the creative side of things she put shows like Star Trek and The Untouchables into production.

The most famous shows produced or filmed by Desilu were: The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mission Impossible, Make Room for Daddy, My Three Sons, I Spy, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle USMC, That Girl, Mannix, and Hogan's Heroes.  Almost everything this production touched eventually turned to syndicated gold!  Desliu Productions produced most of memorable television series in the late 50s early 60s.  Many of these shows pushing boundaries, like Star Trek, That Girl, and The Dick Van Dyke Show.  Lucy was ahead of her time in many ways; she was the most powerful woman in television during this era.

Inevitably the dust settled after the divorce of Lucy and Ricky and where things fell with Desilu.  The late 60s and 70s brought a rise in the influence of feminist ideals with television shows Mary was on the pill, Maude had an abortion, Gloria was promoting women's liberation, and got divorced.  Carol Burnett had her own Variety Series, entitled The Carol Burnett Show where she was producer but not in the writer's room.  Burnett headlined the show with an ensemble cast; she never won a variety performer Emmy, but Tim Conway and Harvey Korman dominated this category.  While the late 60s, and mostly 70s highlighted some great female characters (mostly thanks to Norman Lear and James L. Brooks) there was something missing, the women.

Women soon started to come back in full force behind the scenes in the mid to late eighties, through three television series Designing Women (1986-1993), Roseanne (1988-1997), and Murphy Brown (1988-1998).

Designing Women was created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.  Thomason was the main writer for the series, and most of the other credited writers were also female.  While the show has some slap stick comedy, and often loses out credibility to the superior Golden Girls this show was at the forefront of creating a show about women by women.  Thomason added the personal touches to this show making it richer and deeper, talking about gaining weight, spousal abuse, AIDS, divorce, being a single parent, but at the end of the day female friendship.

Roseanne broke new grounds as well it was a show created by her, which she and another female Marcy Carsey, and Tom Werner produced.  Roseanne was the first mainstream sitcom about blue collar families.  Roseanne ruled the house, and pushed the boundaries of the the traditional mother from the 50s and 60s.  Roseanne based this show on her own experiences, wanting to be more realistic.  This series also tackled obesity, teen pregnancy, gay issues, divorce, abuse, and much more.  At the core Roseanne broke ground because she was herself, and people had never seen anyone like her on television.

At the same time as the other two shows Diane English brought Murphy Brown to life with actress Candice Bergen.  English wrote Murphy to be a somewhat flawed (coming out of rehab) smart journalist.  Bergen brought Murphy to life with so much much flare; she was truly a force to reckoned with, she was Lou Grant, not Mary.  English also broke ground with Murphy, making her a single mother, one of the first, which even got Vice President Dan Quayle is a tizzy.

These women broke barriers, they were loud, stated their opinions, and were not the typical wives and mothers of television.  Together these three shows (brought to life by women) represented something which pushed the envelope, and allowed audiences to not feel betrayed by the legacy of Donna Reed et., al.  Then there was a shift, as these shows hit their peak Seinfeld and Saturday Night Live, and the numerous cop dramas brought back the boys club.  Fewer women were writing, and creating television series.  While television quality was advancing the amount of women behind the scenes had plateaued, and even dropped.

Enter Tina Fey the first head writer of Saturday Night Live in 1999.  I have written numerous times about the talent of Ms. Fey, but I can't convey more just how important this women has not only been to comedy, but to the face of television.  Fey got the ball rolling; she was given the reigns to the "boys club" of Saturday Night Live, while sitting in the Weekend Update desk, and proving how funny, and talented women are.  Fey's reign as head writer at Saturday Night Live lasted until 2006.  2006 was also the birth of a show entitled 30 Rock, which Fey, created, produced, wrote for, and starred.  Fey's 30 Rock is seen as one of the funniest comedy series of the modern era, and all time.

I have spoken mostly about comedies, because female produced/created/written dramas centered on women from women still have a way to go.  The person who changing the face of this female driven drama is Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, 2005-Present, Private Practice, 2007-2013, and Scandal 2012-Present).  While many will write of Shonda's shows as soapy (which they are) and melodramatic (which they are) there is something about the way she writes people, which gets at the human element so well.  Rhimes herself has stated Grey's is a love story for Meredith and Derek, but in reality it's a love story between Meredith and Christina, two women who value their careers more than anything.  Shonda has created complex women like Addison Montgomery in the spin-off of Grey's entitled Private Practice.  This show like Grey's deals with the eternal working women who walks that tight rope.  Scandal is Shonda's passion project, and a show she has always wanted to tell, the show also has the first African American female lead of a drama series since Julia starring Diahanne Carroll.  Shonda is the example of the women changing the dramatic television world one step at a time, and her influence will reverberate to shake things up even further.

Fey and Rhimes are just two of the powerful women behind the scenes within the last decade or so Amy Sherman-Palladino, Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), Bunheads (2012-Present) Jenji Kohan,Weeds (2005-2012) Diablo Cody, United States of Tara (2009-2011), Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem, Nurse Jackie (2009-Present, Michelle King, The Good Wife (2009-Present), Elizabeth Meriweather, New Girl (2011-Present), Lena Dunham, Girls (2012-Present), Mindy Kailing, The Mindy Project (2012-Present).  This is just the women behind the scenes, many star in their own shows, but the key factor is the growing influence of women behind the scenes, which is creating greater roles for women in television.  If only this were the case for film.

From Lucille Ball to Tina Fey to Lena Dunham, these women have impacted the way female characters have been seen on television.  Each of these ladies had a voice, and changed the face of a generation.  While there could be more diversity (more lesbians, or women of color) that area of diversity has grown slightly as well.  There is still a long way to go if you look at the statistics below:

Reality shows employed 21% women, while sitcoms and dramas employed 28% women.

Women achieved historical highs as creators of shows (26%) and executive producers (25%). These numbers mark an 8% and 3% increase from the previous year, respectively.

The number of female producers jumped one percentage point to 38%

The number of female writers rose 15 percentage points to 30%.

The number of women working as directors in prime time stayed flat over the last year at 11%

The number of female editors dropped seven percentage points to 13% over the last year.

90% of primetime programs employed no female directors

from (http://www.thegrindstone.com/2012/09/18/office-politics/women-creating-more-tv-shows-157/#ixzz2VHRSwNlr)

If you look at late night television as an example most all late television is fronted by male hosts, with mostly male writing staffs, except for Chelsea Lately who is another television pioneer.  Women are gaining ground, but she is a prime example of the male dominated world of late night television.  Not only are men still the dominate forces in late night, but they are still (percentage wise) most of the actors, producers, writers, directors, and editors.  Women have come a long way, but there is still a lot of ground to gain.

Women in Comedy Part II: Acting, Directing, Writing, Creating, Producing!

This past Saturday night Lena Dunham became the first winner of the Director's Guild of America (DGA) Award in the television comedy category.  Dunham won the DGA for the episode entitled "Pilot" or the first episode of the show Girls.  While women have won this category in the drama category, most of the recent wins have come in the most recent years.  One of the most recent wins was Patty Jenkins winning for the first episode of the television series The Killing.

Over the last decade female characters in television series both comedy and drama have become more and more interesting and dynamic.  One of the main reasons for these dynamic women in television is mainly because there are more women behind the scenes as creators, directors, writers, and producers.  In the drama world Shonda Rhimes is the best example working, with shows like Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal centered all on female leads.  Yet the women of comedy have grown the most, and in larger numbers.

I would say that Tina Fey was at the start of this trend in the world of television comedy.  Fey an SNL alum created a small, but critically acclaimed television series about Liz Lemon who works on an NBC Variety Show named TGS. Sound familiar?  Fey's television series, 30 Rock, was not a monster hit in the ratings, but the show had an impact in many ways.  Fey started this trend where she not only starred in the show, but she created the show, produced the show, and wrote for 30 Rock.  Fey's Liz Lemon does feels as though she is a genuine creation of her own make; she is Tina Fey.  I always think of 30 Rock as the modern day Mary Tyler Moore Show, but Mary Richards was written and created by a woman now.

Fey influenced gal pal Amy Poehler in her next step after SNL, Poehler is stars in Parks and Recreation, and writes many of the episodes for the show.  I believe that New Girl would be something different without creator/producer Liz Meriweather behind the scenes.  The combination of Deschanel and Meriwather makes Jess an even more interesting layered, and of course quirky character.  Mindy Kailing who was a producer and writer for The Office has her own show now as well, where stars produces, and writes.  While The Mindy Project is still finding its footing the series feels right out of the mind of the star herself, and Mindy's adventures make sense because they are a creation of her own doing.

Then there is today's "modern" girl who has brought women even further to the forefront in television, Lena Dunham. Dunham's Girls is a show where you may not like the characters, you may not think its funny, but boy does it have a strong power.  While I think its one of the funniest shows on television Girls sharply points out the harsh realities of generations inability to cope, struggle, but they know how to have fun, and believe that life should be this amazing adventure.  Dunham has created four spectacularly different female characters that bring out all of these elements.  Dunham is a is genius, and  week after week she creates an evolutionary pattern for women working in television.

If you look at each of these women they star(ed) in some of the funniest shows of the last ten years, and have laid the groundwork for the future of television to continue to evolve, and create incredible female characters.  They have also started this great trend of letting women have more power over their own voice, and establish precedent for future generations to come.  These women are trailblazers in the world of television, and the work they do helps further the art of television.

Emmy Week 2012: Here's to the Ladies who Laugh, Comedy Lead Actress

The Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series award is highly competitive this year with seven nominees.  Throughout the years this category has been one of the most entertaining to watch namely because there have been so many talented women competing.  From Lucille Ball to the Golden Girls (minus Sophia) all the way up to Tina Fey's modern day woman in Liz Lemon.

One problem with the winners in this category, up until the 2000s, was that the same women kept winning this trophy.  Candice Bergen has five wins for portraying the iconic television character Murphy Brown in the self titled television series Murphy Brown.  After Bergen's long winning streak in the late 80s into the early 90s another actress took up that crown, Helen Hunt.  Hunt won four Emmy Awards playing Jaime Buchman in the NBC comedy Mad About You.

Mary Tyler Moore has also won five Emmy Awards in this category, but her wins are split between two shows.  Moore won three times for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and won twice for The Dick Van Dyke Show.  Moore winning five trophies is a testament to her true comedic/acting abilities; she created two different legendary characters, and I applaud all of these wins.

While I do not begrudge Bergen or Hunt of their numerous accolades I must say that there were several funny women throughout this time who deserved a little recognition like: Patricia Richardson from Home Improvement, Cybill Shepherd for Cybil, Ellen DeGeneres for Ellen, and Calista Flockheart for Ally McBeal to name a handful.

After Mad About You went off the air it looked like this category was going to crown another repeat winner in Patricia Heaton; she won two back to back Emmy Awards for Everybody Loves Raymond in 2000 and 2001.  However the opposite was the case, this category has not crowned a repeat winner in over ten years,  a pattern that has never existed within this category.

This year that non repetitive pattern could be broken.  The seven nominees in this category are:

Zooey Deschanel-The New Girl
Lena Dunham-Girls
Edie Falco-Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey-30 Rock
Julia Louis Dreyfus-Veep
Melissa McCarthy-Mike & Molly
Amy Poehler-Parks and Recreation

Of the women nominated four of these women have won in this category before, Falco, Fey, Louis-Dreyfuss, and McCarthy.  Of these four women Dreyfus has the best shot of winning; she is competing for a brand new show, which is also a nominee in the Outstanding Comedy Series category.  At the moment my prediction is Dreyfus, but you can't rule out any of the three women who have never won before.

Dunham is a four time nominee this, for producing, acting, writing, and directing.  Will she be snubbed in all four categories, my guess is she takes home the writing category, or goes home empty handed.

Deschanel had an Emmy misfire, and the judges who watched all the Emmy tapes in this category were sent the wrong tapes so they get to see her twice, this gives her a leg up, and she truly is funny.

Poehler has 5 nominations under her belt, two for Saturday Night Live, and three for Parks and Recreation, her campaign story was an uphill battle, and voters may finally want to reward her truly hilarious Leslie Knope.

Looking at each of the four prominent possibilities, and the other three nominees proves that you can't count any of these funny ladies out.  All of these seven women provide non stop laughs, and great acting through their shows.  Even Falco and Dunham who have dramedies have some laugh out loud moments that seal the deal for me.

These seven women uphold the great comedic styles of the women who came before, and also show that  television is evolutionary.  While Tina Fey is a modern day Mary Tyler Moore in her show, she also created, writes for, and is a producer on the show.  Dunham is no Carrie Bradshaw, and she wants to make that clear.  Girls is told from the perspective of modern day girls who came from privilege, and are trying to survive in society.  Deschanel brings quirk to a whole new level that made first famous by Dharma's Jenna Elfman.

Each of these women pay homage to those who came before them, like Moore, Hunt, Arthur, White, Stapleton, Rashad, and especially Ball.  At the end of the day the winner is the audiences who get the opportunity to find these funny women on their television screens on a nightly basis.