Friday, August 16, 2019

Top Ten Anniversary: Female TV Leads

Top Ten Leading Female TV Characters

Continuing our celebration of one decade of Poseidon's Underworld, we now turn to our all-time favorite leading female characters on television. Again, there aren't likely to be many surprises since these ladies have most all been featured here one way or another over the course of this blog's history, but we're using the occasion of our ten year anniversary to create some Halls of Fame, if you will. Interestingly, my tastes seem to run to the polar opposites, very good gals or very bad! The ladies are listed alphabetically according to their characters' first names.

ABBY EWING of Knots Landing -- Donna Mills was brought in after the show had already been airing for one season in order to shake up the famous cul-de-sac. One can safely say she did so! That Mills was known for playing put-upon victims and soft romantic heroines helped make the whole thing that much more dynamic. Abby arrived as a middle class single mother that the other women felt they could trust, but she was soon unveiled as a man-eating, money-hungry vixen who let almost nothing prevent her from reaching her high-flung goals. Yet, there was also a vulnerable motherly side that kept the character balanced. Mills, and her stunning eyes, made an indelible impression.
ALEXIS CARRINGTON COLBY of Dynasty -- Much like Ms. Mills above, Joan Collins was brought onto Dynasty after its brief initial season in order to add conflict to the show. From the very start, Collins strove to have input into the character's presentation from the style of clothing she wore to the insertion of sarcastic humor amid all the turmoil. The result was an international sensation. In the process, real life businessmen wondered whether they ought to have discarded their first wives so cavalierly lest they return to the fray, scorned and ready to wield their own power. Collins also, along with costar Linda Evans, made cat-fights into a much-adored spectator sport among prime-time soap opera buffs. For my own part, Collins work on the show crystallized an already fervent adoration of her that began when I was a tyke and continues to this day!
BLANCHE DEVEREAUX of The Golden Girls -- When this sitcom was put together, the producers gathered a positively perfect cast of ladies. Ironically, Rue McClanahan was initially hired to play ditzy Rose while Betty White had been tagged for the outrageously sexual Blanche. The two wisely opted to swap roles, playing against their established types, and the rest is history. To me, Blanche was always funniest in the first four years or so of the series, when McClanahan was actually less overtly attractive and shapely and the character wasn't written as severely bitchy as she later emerged. Somehow that made her antics more amusing. All of her saucy remarks were delivered in a hooty accent that the director of the pilot wouldn't allow the actress to use, but thankfully she was able to utilize it thereafter.
JAIME SOMMERS of The Bionic Woman -- Lindsay Wagner guest-starred on The Six Million Dollar Man as an old girlfriend of Lee Majors who is severely injured and repaired with bionic parts, but then dies when her body rejects them. Wagner, however, was so popular in the two-part episode that a series all her own was built for her, revealing that she hadn't truly died. Wagner's innate charm and down-to-earth style made the superheroine relatable and believable (and, like any idealistic heroine, Jaime was humane and just.) Legions of little girls (and not a few boys!) duplicated her hand-to-the-ear gesture on the playground, pretending to be able to hear faraway events. I know I also, even at sixteen, hardly put my foot out of a car without thinking of the time she stopped one from rolling away with her bionic leg!
JENNIFER HART of Hart to Hart -- "This is Mrs. H. She's gorgeous!," said Max, the Hart's chauffeur and Man Friday as Stefanie Powers' face appeared in the opening credits of this stylish mystery series. Sometimes chemistry just soars off the charts between people and such was the case when Powers was paired with Robert Wagner as two wealthy socialites whose lifestyle somehow always places them in the proximity of a crime, usually a murder. Having toiled in an endless string of movies and TV shows, Powers really found her wheelhouse with Jennifer, who had the most distinctive way of calling out, "Jonathan!" to her husband. Actually, everything she said and did, each expression, was distinctive and also intoxicatingly captivating. Ten years after its five-season run, the duo returned for a series of eight popular TV-movies.
KELLY GARRETT of Charlie's Angels -- Jaclyn Smith (one of only two ladies here who hasn't received a tribute of her own, though it's often been considered) came to the trendsetting and wildly popular detective series with the least experience (and third-billing.) Her good girl private eye, ever earnest yet firm when necessary, won audiences over and led to her becoming a household name. Smith is the only Angel to have stayed for all five seasons of the show, which means that she is the only one who appears in all cast photos no matter the line-up. She stayed the course and achieved top-billing, then parlayed her fame into a plethora of successful TV-movies and miniseries. We always know that Kelly will do the right thing, whatever the cost.
MAUDE FINDLAY of Maude -- We adore Dorothy Zbornak of The Golden Girls, but practically every off-the-cuff insult or slow-burning grimace was taken for a test drive first on Maude. With All in the Family's staggering success featuring a far-right character like Archie Bunker, Norman Lear took the other tack and looked for comic gold in a far-left character with Maude. It's safe to say that TV viewers never saw anyone quite as outspoken or as aggressively opinionated as Maude, but even during the most controversial and touchy subjects, Bea Arthur delivered comedy with gusto. Her habits of saying people's names twice ("Oh, Walter, Walter...") or exclaiming "God'll get you for that..." were trademarks of the show. And though TV certainly became ever more topical and permissive, I just don't think anyone could ever top Ms. Arthur when it comes to an aggravated insult or even a startled gaze.
SABLE COLBY of The Colbys -- No dramatic TV character ever caught my attention more than Stephanie Beacham as Sable. Among the least known of a star-filled cast, she came out punching and swiftly became a standout, be it tangling with her craggy sister-in-law Barbara Stanwyck or with her actual sister Katharine Ross. Critics claimed that Beacham was merely playing an Alexis wannabe, but the characters were actually distinctly different. Alexis hadn't been able to cope with her husband's emotional and physical absences and turned to other men. Sable lived completely for her husband and family and was steadfastly faithful to him even though he inexplicably carried a torch for her dreary sister Ross. (Sable's history was unduly tampered with later on Dynasty.) Beacham imbued every line of dialogue with supreme weight and always looked eye-popping. The day she finally granted husband Charlton Heston his divorce ought to have garnered an award nomination, but by then the show was close to cancellation. To this day, youtube is filled with all of Sable's scenes strung together and they remain the principle merit of the show.
VICTORIA BARKLEY of The Big Valley -- The very definition of upstanding, Victoria (as portrayed by Miss Barbara Stanwyck) was the moral compass of the whole region near Stockton, California and the guiding force of its most prominent family, The Barkleys. Stanwyck made it clear from the start that she wasn't going to fret around the house in crinoline while the boys went out to fight. She played with a longer wig and plenty of dresses for one season before shifting to an anachronistic shorter 'do with more trousers and gauchos (not to mention false eyelashes!) She performed with gusto, hurling herself into all sorts of rigorous stunts while always somehow retaining a ladylike image (and behind the scenes running herd on her gaggle of young costars, making sure they behaved professionally!) I probably learned more about discerning right from wrong through Victoria Barkley than from anyone else in my own real life.
WONDER WOMAN of Wonder Woman -- If I approached the new Wonder Woman (2017) movie with apprehension, it's because I already had "my" Wonder Woman, the glorious Lynda Carter. (For the record, I did enjoy Gal Gadot and, for the most part, the movie.) No one will ever, in my opinion, match Carter for that combination of luminous beauty, altruistic innocence and iconic inhabiting of the famous character. It was just a perfect marriage of actress and role, though it must be said that the series itself was never up to snuff, writing-wise, with the performance Carter was providing. Oh, and if you think kids on the playground imitated Jaime Sommers, think about how many slinked towards a secluded spot and then reenacted Carter's legendary twirling transformation from Diana Prince into the red, white and blue heroine!

Bonus Pic

I just had to share this clipping I found while searching for the right photos of these ladies. I couldn't agree more with the text on it. I've watched a lot of TV over the last half-century and no one ever knocked me out the way Ms. Beacham did!

7 comments:

Gingerguy said...

This one was great fun and your comments are thoughtful and interesting. Donna Mills is my favorite blonde raccoon from that period, beating out Lisa Hartman.
I am reading a memoir that was recommended to me "A Young Man's Passage"by Julian Clary, he was in a band called "The Joan Collins Fan Club" which just goes to show that she inspires adoration from many of us.
Jaclyn Smith was super pretty. While she was never my favorite Angel, in retrospect she got to do the unintentionally funniest bits, like singing and dancing on the show. So when I do see an episode now I look out for her. I also watched many of her miniseries in the 80's. Her Jackie Kennedy pillbox springs to mind. I also adored Sable Colby, first for the name (like Caress) but then for her fabulous chops and great looks. What a lineup!

SkippyDevereaux said...

I would have thought that Cinnamon Carter from "Mission: Impossible" would have made the top ten, or Jeannie from "I Dream Of Jeannie" or maybe Samantha or Endora from "Bewitched". Not complaining, as I LOVE this site. Oh, and was shocked to see Blanche from "The Golden Girls" in there. I got a smile on my face for that one, obviously.

BrianB said...

Well I wasn't so much into night time soaps except for Falcon Crest (even went to a series premiere party! As Lance of course!) so most of your picks didn't resonate with me. I don't think I ever watched The Colbys.

Maude - AWESOME!

I always adored Jane Wyman so I had to follow her machinations in the Napa valley! LOVED her pairing off with Ana Alicia! When Anna threatened to pull her grapes from Janes wineries Jane responded that she would only loose out, and said "Well you'll be the Raison Queen of the Tuscany Valley!". Also, Susan Sullivan who had THE BEST DEATH SCENE EVER when her engagement ring got caught in the drain of the swimming pool and she drowned!

Since you are showing female leads I would have Mary Tyler Moore in there as the very top of the list. But she was earlier than most of your picks and I loved the comedies.

Huge Angela Lansbury fan in "Murder She Wrote"!
Marlo Thomas in "That Girl!"
Stephanie Powers in "The Girl From Uncle"!
Diahann Carroll in "Julia"

Definitely more male stars in earlier times than women.

BrianB

hsc said...

"If I approached the new Wonder Woman (2017) movie with apprehension, it's because I already had "my" Wonder Woman, the glorious Lynda Carter. (For the record, I did enjoy Gal Gadot and, for the most part, the movie.) No one will ever, in my opinion, match Carter for that combination of luminous beauty, altruistic innocence and iconic inhabiting of the famous character. It was just a perfect marriage of actress and role..."

THIS.

Also, I had the funniest experience once involving Barbara Stanwyck and THE BIG VALLEY:

At one point, TBV was running back-to-back on local TV. I was visiting a couple of gay friends, who had it on in the background, and as I was leaving, there was some sort of big Stanwyck moment which caused my friends to chuckle, "Barbara Stanwyck-- she's SUCH a butch woman!"

I left their house and went over to a straight friend's house where the two teen sons were watching a different TBV episode in the background. At at one point, there was another Victoria Barkley moment and they actually said, "Barbara Stanwyck-- she's SUCH a butch woman!"

Another great Top Ten list!

Poseidon3 said...

I know I'm late in responding to all your comments, but I've been positively frantic... I'm in rehearsals for "Mamma Mia!," still work full time, had a birthday Monday the 19th with all the surrounding hoohaa and am off to a convention today with work at which I'm performing two songs!! All the while I've been trying to put up these Top Ten posts...!

Gingerguy, thanks for the compliments on my ramblings and musings about these ladies. I wonder if Miss Joan knows of that reference in the book... Jaclyn Smith was quite bowlegged, something they often tried to obscure, but then she'd be cast as an undercover dancing star! LOL Love her, though.

Skippy, as much as I loved Barbara Bain's look on "M:I" (and she has a full tribute here) there really wasn't much "character" when it came to Cinnamon. More a cool distraction. In fact, the producers deliberately kept almost all of the personal lives of the agents out of things. And as much as I adore Barbara Eden, Jeannie was sort of a trouble-making imp, who caused a lot of humiliation. So that particular character isn't a huge fave of mine. I probably prefer Samantha. And you may have seen by now that Agnes "Endora" Moorehead has popped up in another list in the meantime. Thanks!

BrianB, I appreciated Jane Wyman's dry, wry Angela Channing to be sure (and I loved Susan Sullivan's Maggie, in the early seasons.)

hsc, I'm glad you appreciated Miss Lynda (and my assessment!) That is a scream about Barbara Stanwyck. My sister and I used to cock imaginary rifles and say, "Get off my land!" in as throaty a way as possible. I don't even know if she ever said that exact line! Ha ha! She just loved to roughhouse on that show! Prior to that, she did the same on eps of "Wagon Train."

Unknown said...

I agree Ms. Meacham is one of the finest actresses ever in t.v. or film. She and Collins had a small rivalry in the early 70's in England (both vied for 'Horror Queen'of films there) Thats why Joan refused to appear on The Colbys. And one of the many reasons why she wasn't happy in Dynasty's final season is because Beacham joined the cast. A sidenote--if its still on YouTube check out the Snickers commercial with Collins and Beacham. Its in the vein of the American ones. If i remember correctly 2 soccer players are accused of being 'divas' (our gals) before morphing into athletes after eating the candy. T.C. never got the attention it deserved (I ended up loving it more than Dynasty). And you are correct-Stanwyck was butch no matter the role, and an excellent enemy of 'Sable'. As Bette Davis once said, Stanwyck was always, "One of the 'boys'". Dreary Katherine Ross proved conclusively with her turn on T.C. that unless she has an extremely talented director she is terrible!
I loved Charlie's Angels at first watching the dynamic Kate Jackson but as the show progressed I became more enamored of Ms. Smith. Smith isn't the greatest actress but she has that presence that all the big stars seem to have.
I never cared much for Rue M. on anything in which she appeared. Possibly I was spoiled by her 2 year run on Another World around 1969-1970. She was a very evil, twisted lady who had killed her own children then tried to kill Pat Randolph so she could raise Pat's twins.
Would have loved to see the uber-talented Elizabeth Montgomery make your list.
Thanks for all the smiles you bring--and all the hairy chest you expose here! LOL

Poseidon3 said...

Unknown, I've seen that Snickers commercial! It was as if it was made for me, but I learned later that not enough Brits understood who "Sable" was for it to make much sense, so it was cut to center on JC. (I really think that Stephanie and JC got on okay, but it had to sting that the producers were spending all kinds of time and money on "The Colbys" and then introduced a "cousin" who was - on the surface - much like Alexis, though, as I say, they really weren't alike. And Joan was right because "Dynasty" floundered badly that year. And the final year, she was rightly irritated that they wanted her to take a big pay cut! When she declined that, they wrote her out of quite a few episodes... :::sigh:::) And, yes, Katharine Ross was positively terrible on the show... a blank slate. Supposedly she was distracted by having just had a baby (who was in the studio with her always.)