Mystery Monday, and why American tv is so far behind the brits in putting women in charge.

[lyssie]

Muder in Suburbia is back. Whoot. Scribbs and Ash are in fine form. Amusingly, Scribbs has let her hair grow. It's kind of... mini-series Kara hair vs. season two Kara hair. But it's cute on her (actually, it's closer to Jo's in series two of Red Cap). Poor Ash is being kept awake every night by the sex life of the woman living next door. Scribs' suggestion is to have a one-night stand. Much mocking back and forth occurs.

The case itself wasn't bad, delving into the lighter side of sex, real estate agents, and money.

Scribbs was wearing this atrocious faux fur jacket (her fashion sense has remained unchanged), and it was very 70's glam (think Cally's fur from, er, the episode with Sarkoff).

Love my girls.

Prime Suspect was on right after, with the second half of Prime Suspect 3. I haven't seen a lot of the early Prime Suspect, sadly. But it wasn't hard (per se) to fall into watching the episode. The best plan was to try and play catch-up, guessing that they were investigating a murder. I was right.

I love Jane. She plays with the big boys, using their own game against them. It was beautiful, it was fabulous, you'd never see something so ardently feminist on American TV.

*happysigh*

Plus, she's evil.

eta: oh, right. The whole UK women get better parts than US...

I honestly can't think of a single female cop in US tv that's ever come close.

Law and Order: classic had Anita Van Buren, but I know nothing about her, because it's a procedural show that could replace every character with a cardboard cutout and there'd be no difference. The only things I know about Anita are that she's female and black.

SVU has Olivia, but she has nothing on the range of emotions/pathos that Susan Taylor of Touching Evil had.

CI has Eames, but the same holds true.

I haven't actually ever seen Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue or Homicide or Third Watch, but none of them struck me as being centered around a woman in charge.

Perhaps I've missed some, somewhere, but I doubt it.

I suspect if there were to be anything like Prime Suspect in America, the part would be played almost for laughs. Perhaps a sitcom.

*shudders*

Comments

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

But you didn't explain why American TV is so far behind in this area... I was looking forward to an explanation. ^^

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I honestly can't think of a single female cop in US tv that's ever come close.

Law and Order: classic had Anita Van Buren, but I know nothing about her, because it's a procedural show that could replace every character with a cardboard cutout and there'd be no difference. The only things I know about Anita are that she's female and black.

SVU has Olivia, but she has nothing on the range of emotions/pathos that Susan Taylor of Touching Evil had.

CI has Eames, but the same holds true.

I haven't actually ever seen Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue or Homicide or Third Watch, but none of them struck me as being centered around a woman in charge.

Perhaps I've missed some, somewhere, but I doubt it.

I suspect if there were to be anything like Prime Suspect in America, the part would be played almost for laughs. Perhaps a sitcom.

*shudders*

[lavidaessueno.livejournal.com]

the critics are trying to describe "The Closer" as an American Prime Suspect, but there's one major problem: The. Show. Sucks. It's terrible. Getting better, I'll admit, but for the love of all that's holy, why did they feel the need to saddle a native Northeasterner with a Southern accent that she is completely incapable of rendering with any consistency or accuracy?

As I said, the show is improving, but that's not exactly praise. I'm not entirely sure why the critics are all peeing all over themselves over it.

[lavidaessueno.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you're right. They've made the main female character into an idiot who can't read a map to save her life (which, I'm sure, is why the CIA trained her...) and also has some sort of eating disorder and is a total slob.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

*snerk* See, the problem with The Inside is that I've seen it before. It was called Profiler, though.

And I don't mind if they make them human and flawed, Jane certainly isn't perfect. But... reducing it to farce is irritating.