Forums » Smalltalk » TV Shows with Female Leads.

I personally like criminal minds,

i would recommend more but it seems like everyone is talking about live-action shows. . .I'm a big fan of animations

I have one more, and this one might take a little bit to explain why I recommend, but there's an older sitcom show called Rosanne. I know that the revival didn't work out so well because of the actress Rosanne Barr's terrible comments about that political staff member and I'm not offering any kind of excuse or defense for it.

However, the older seasons of Rosanne, from the nineties I think they are, are very liberal leaning and very good and very funny. I don't remember if there are fat jokes in it, but as both of the main characters were plus sized actors (Rosanne Barr, and John Goodman) I believe they would be very few and far between if any existed at all.

I do have to warn you however that the ending will punch you in the gut and probably make you cry... a lot. I haven't seen it myself, but my wife was devastated when she watched it.

Also, there's another sitcom called Ally McBeal that ran from 97 to 02. She's a lawyer. This one I'm not so sure about when it comes to inappropriate jokes, and I don't believe there's much in the way of main characters as LGBTQ+ representation. It is older like I said, and minorities and LGBTQ+ were even more underrepresented than they are now. But Ally McBeal is very much the main character, and I feel that she is strong in her own way, even if a bit neurotic, which is where a good portion of the comedy stems from.

There are some shocker episodes, some that will probably make you cry, and I think there were some jokes that might make you gasp, but I don't think there was anything offensive... it's been a few years since I watched it, so I couldn't guarantee. Overall, I found that this show was actually really really good. It's main focus is on Ally McBeal just navigating through her life in New York, faced with working side by side with her childhood sweetheart who is married to someone else. She deals with aging (I remember there's an episode where she struggles with hitting 30), struggling with her love life, standing up for various social issues. I'm sure there's more to it, but I can't remember what.

Sometimes you need to give it some patience too. Like there's a character called Elaine, and she has a reputation in the show for being easy. At first it looks like that's all she is, but they show her with more depth than that as the show goes on.

You might recognize quite a number of faces too. Portia Rossi, the lady who is dating or married to Ellen, Lucy Liu, Barry White, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert Downey Jr and a few other faces that I've seen in other things but cannot remember or don't know their names.

Some of the comedy in it is loony, and most of the characters have something zany about them. The two characters who own the law firm are named Richard Fish and John Cage, and out of the two, Richard Fish is the more ignorant and probably the most offensive of all of the main cast. John Cage is super quirky and they show more and more of that as the show goes on.

Again, neither of these are historical, but they do have female leads. Both shows give time to other characters too, it's not just the main ones, and Ally McBeal especially drifts off from Ally herself to cover some of the other characters at times.

You might enjoy The 100 on Netflix! It's not Historical, but it does have several badass female characters (the main lead is a bi woman!). There is a handful of people of color in the cast (not as much as I'd like, but it becomes more diverse as the seasons go on) and it even includes a disabled latina character.

The show contains no sexual assault or abusive relationships, although the characters do get into conflicts and wars that include violence and sometimes death. I'm not sure if you mind gore, but if you do I would not suggest watching this show.

Overall, it's a great show! The characters all have complex backgrounds and it touches on moral dilemmas (which was one of the things I loved most about the show). It also always kept me guessing and wanting more. Like I said before, it does contain blood and violence, but if you can handle stuff like that The 100 might just be for you.

"Reign" Is a good one, though I think there's one episode where it might make you uncomfortable. Mary is a very strong character and I like her a lot.

Netflix used to have this show called Bomb Girls that took place during WWII and in Canada it was really good although a few scenes are a bit maybe too much, like sexually but like factory accidents