Most Watchable Women of 2008
Leighton Meester - Gossip Girl
Blair Waldorf is a lover of headbands who never accepts defeat. She’s willing to scheme with all her might in order to get what she wants. The character could have been a superficial yawn but Meester plays her as wily and intriguing. Blair’s ongoing shenanigans with Chuck rescue the show from being another trite teen melodrama.
Tina Fey - 30 Rock, SNL
Her spot-on impression of Alaskan Governor and Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin made Saturday Night Live relevant again. Some people think it swayed votes to the other side by highlighting Palin’s ineptitude. Much of the dialogue was taken verbatim from the governor’s interviews. But it was the uncanny accent, the You Betchas, and the hammy pageant-strut that won me over.
Aside from SNL, Tina Fey consistently brings the funny as Liz Lemon of 30 Rock, which she writes and produces. As a career woman, emotional eater, and chronic chooser of the wrong men, Liz is (sadly) pretty relatable. And her crazy Princess Leia voice made me laugh-snort.
Christina Hendricks, January Jones, Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
I tried to choose just one Mad Woman but it was too difficult. As Joan Holloway, Betty Draper, and Peggy Olson (respectively), each represents a group of women during the time period. Yes, they all have issues with the oppression of females but not for the same reasons.
Christina Hendricks is stunning. The shape of her figure invokes memories of Marilyn Monroe. Her character, Joan, is the perfect secretary. She’s an unmarried woman (which would have been uncommon at her age) constantly trying to please the men in the office…and occasionally outside the office. This season she’s engaged to a doctor who scolds her for her sexual prowess and later rapes her on the office floor. After helping the TV department, Joan is cast out when they find a man (with no experience) to replace her. You can see the internal effect of these events just below the surface as Joan desires to do and be more while trying to live within the confines of her place in society.
As Don’s wife, Betty Draper has lived a cushy life of means. But she quietly battles with depression while appearing as perfect as Joan Cleaver. After realizing her husband had an affair, Betty does the unthinkable. She breaks a chair, wears the same cocktail dress for two days as she rummages through Don’s things, kicks her hubby out, and has a romp in the backroom of a bar with a stranger. Watching her breakdown was a fascinating and, somehow, refreshing transformation.
The only female copywriter at Sterling Cooper, Peggy Olson has to work harder than the men. But it hasn’t made her cruel or resentful and she doesn’t resort to using her feminine wiles to get ahead. She’s also trying to negotiate her feelings about religion and dealing with a scandalous personal secret. So much effort is spent keeping her life in order that an emotional unraveling is unavoidable.
Jennifer Esposito & Melissa McCarthy - Samantha Who?
The only commonality between Dena and Andrea is the amnesiac friend they share. Melissa McCarthy is endearingly funny as the insecure, bumbling, giggly childhood pal. She counsels Samantha on doing the right thing and is as loyal as the Newfies she adores. Jennifer Esposito is the perfect polar opposite, wicked and sexy, with a glass of booze always at the ready.
Becki Newton - Ugly Betty
Amanda and Mark are reliable when it comes to pulling off snarky one-liners. This season, Newton’s character still brought the laughs while making a little progress as a human being. Now rooming with Betty, Amanda is becoming a real friend. The kind of friend who isn’t afraid to throw your carb-laden breakfast treat in the garbage if it’s for your own good.
Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies
She’s a little sprite with plenty of pep and a big ol’ voice. Olive Snook has spent much of the series pining after a man, with a magical resurrection finger, who loves his ex-dead childhood sweetheart. But her pitiable position hasn’t kept her down. She’s plucky and loyal and I look forward to her musical interludes more than I look forward to seeing the campy corpses. And that’s really saying something.
Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds
Nancy Botwin may not be in line for any mother of the year awards but she’s doing the best she can with her skill set. A single mom of two boys, she deals pot to pay the bills. This year the series gained freshness with a new setting (comatose grandmother-in-law’s stale beach house), a new and creative drug-smuggling business (a tunnel to Mexico under a maternity store), and a new man (sizzling mayor of Tijuana). Parker aptly walks the line between drama and comedy; making me laugh and gasp in equal measures.
Anna Paquin - True Blood
Nothing much happens in Bon Temps, Louisiana…until the vampires go public (or, as some say, “come out of the coffin”). Sookie Stackhouse is burdened by her gift of telepathy and finds peace with vampires because their minds are silent. She’s a tough woman, capable of defending a vampire against sleazy drainers or snuffing out a serial killer with a shovel. The character runs the emotional gamut: being the object of ridicule, stalked, beaten, devastated by loss, finding complicated first love. Sookie is also damn persistent and funny. The part requires a lot from Ms. Paquin and she delivers.
