All Work, No Play: Why Women Rarely Have their Personal Lives in Order on TV

There are a slew of lead female characters this fall TV season. Kate Walsh’s Rebecca Wright on “Bad Judge.” Debra Messing’s Laura on “The Mysteries of Laura.” And Viola Davis’ Annalise Keating on “How to Get Away with Murder,” just to name a few.

And what do they all have in common? These female characters have their shit together in their careers, but their personal lives are a mess.

This is a common theme on most shows involving female protagonists (and who can complain, since personal issues make for entertaining television). But what’s interesting is that female protagonists on TV almost rarely experience the reverse: having their shit together in their personal lives, with professional lives that are a mess.

Think about it. It’s a classic TV plot device. But when are there female characters that have amazing personal lives with lackluster careers?

There are only a few that come to mind.

First, Fran Drescher on “The Nanny.” OK, so the show started with her being fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend on the same day, but despite Nanny Fine struggling from episode to episode to manage the responsibility of childrearing, she was never one not to have a date or a friend to cry to. Even her relationship with her family—especially her mother and Grandma Yetta—was strong.

Another more modern example is “Two Broke Girls.” Caroline (Beth Behrs) and Max (Kat Denning) both reluctantly have jobs as waitresses at a diner in an effort to save money for their cupcake business, but the two have their personal lives in working order, meaning healthy sex lives (with hotties like Johnny and Candy Andy) and good company in each other.

Despite being a pretty cookie-cutter blonde on the show, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting’s Penny on “The Big Bang Theory” reverses this common TV stereotype, as a fine example of a woman that has a robust personal life, with friends that care about her, but a career that says otherwise (failed actress).

So why is it that women are rarely allowed to have burgeoning personal lives on television? One wonders whether there’s still a fear of sexism, that to depict a woman floundering at a job while being an excellent wife would be anti-feminist. But then of course, there’s CBS’ “Manhattan Love Story” and NBC’s “A to Z,” which both feature women who like purses and “girls’ girls,” which is just about as insulting as what’s supposed to be insulting on AMC’s “Mad Men.”

Maybe it’s just because personal issues are more entertaining. If Meredith Grey of “Grey’s Anatomy” only had career and hospital drama to deal with, the ABC series probably wouldn’t still be on the air. Sex sells, and while three female characters listed above are examples of flourishing personal lives, they are also on comedies, where it’s OK to be shitty at your job because it makes for hilarious television. If Olivia Pope was shitty at her job, all “Scandal” would be is a soap opera.

So why can’t characters have excellent personal and professional lives? Well, for one thing, there would be no conflict. Why else make a show if everything is going swimmingly for characters? There has to be some kind of conundrum that drives the story.

But the other hand, maybe TV is starting to realize that characters can have conflict while still “having it all.” CBS’ “Madam Secretary” is attempting to tackle this new plot device by portraying Tea Leoni’s Beth as a highly capable professional with a loving husband and two kids who’s just trying to make the United States a safer place. Maybe TV is headed into a new direction where women can be as good at their jobs as they are at their relationships and still make for compelling series television.

tea-leoni-and-tim-daly-in-madam-secretary

Sign In

Reset Your Password

Email Newsletter