When broadcast networks unveil their fall schedule, more often than not, some trends become apparent. This fall, the clearly dominant trend, at least in the drama category, is shows with female leads. New series, whether they are trendy or not, always run the risk of being canceled even before a handful of episodes have aired. When that happens, we usually discuss how bad the particular series was or how frustrating it is that the audience couldn’t see the beauty in the show. This year, however, the female leads have widened the typical scope of such postmortem analysis, taking us into new territories.
Before discussing the series themselves, let me share with you why I think what the networks did matters, especially as you will see my points have some bearing on the shows’ reception. The expression “glass ceiling” exists because not all categories of the population seem to be able to reach the stars while there is apparently no visible barrier preventing them to do so. It is true that Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth ruled over England (and Ireland) during the 16th century, just like it is true that Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Erin Burnett and Rachel Maddow are household names today in the U.S. But, none of that changes the fact that the Larry Pages (Google) and Mark Zuckerbergs (Facebook) of the world are still very much distinctly male, even if right below them there is an increasing majority of very capable women.
