How about entertainment we *can*stomach?!

[moofolk]

Inspired by the other thread of feminism ruining TV.

Let's compile some good stuff.

Not too many men, lots of strong female characters, hopefully some lesbians, definitely not loads of women being raped and murdered for male titillation.

I watched The Women with Meg Ryan and Annette Benning recently. It's bubblegum and hardly a feminist manifesto. It has a very strong female cast including Bette Midler and Carrie Fisher and crucially there are no men in it at all.

What have you got?

[Babdoc]

Going back a long way, but there are several series of the sitcom “Surgical Spirit”, about a fabulously feisty female consultant surgeon Sheila Sabatini, (who eats her male colleagues for breakfast and has a brilliant line in sarcastic putdowns!) played by Nichola McAuliffe if I remember rightly. There are plenty of other good female characters too, including the theatre manager and the nurses. It was such a mould breaking series when it came out, having a female lead in a male dominated profession, with such uncompromising attitudes, wit and strength. Her evil toothy grin as she crushed and outwitted the male opposition was a tonic for oppressed women everywhere!

[TeaAndStrumpets]

We loved Orphan Black. The main character is a no-shits-given female and she has many clones!! Plenty of strong and resourceful female supporting characters too.

[talesofginza]

Not a suggestion for a film or show, but instead a streaming service MUBI which has lots of international, independent and older films and shorts. I have seen some really wonderful things on there, many featuring interesting female characters and/or directed by women.

[BlueCatRedCat]

Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, Unforgotten - love anything starring Sarah Lancashire and/or Nicola Walker. Nicola Walker in Anneke Stranded on BBC Sounds is also very good.

[ReeseWitherfork]

Anything Reese Witherspoon produces (I’m not a mega fan despite the username!). She’s really into stories told by women. Off the top of my head: Wild, Big Little Lies, The Morning Show, Little Fires Everywhere.

I used to like The Women - but rewatched recently and found it hard to stomach but can’t put my finger on why. The characters aren’t really that fleshed out, they almost seem caricatures if women (the career one, the serial mother, the executive housewife, the tramp and the token lesbian). But I like the general concept re: cast.

[TyroBurningDownTheCloset]

Seconding Discovery - plenty of well-rounded women, including a butch lesbian engineer; half the bridge crew is female and so's the protagonist. Definitely passes the Bechdel test. Fair warning though: the third season's touted as having a transgender character and a non-binary one so hopefully that won't be handled in a wokey-wanky way.

[happygolurkey]

I've really enjoyed three comedies/comedy dramas on Netflix. One is Glow. Sounds dreadful on paper - about female wrestlers. Saw the ad and though, yuk, no! but caught the trailer and it made me laugh so gave it a chance. was soon addicted. very funny, great characters, and actually quite emotional. great analysis of female friendships, the dilemmas of trying to be feminist while also just trying to get through real life etc.(also a subtle look at the conflicts between different strands of feminism) Wonderful. very cleverly written. It was created and written by women. Another is Great News. The whole cast is brilliant, but i love the fact that one of the funniest and most prominent parts is an older woman. It's about a struggling young tv producer whose mum joins the company as an intern. Tina Fey is one of the writers, and she also makes an appearance in some episodes, including one which is a really clever satire on sexual harassment in the workplace. The third is Dead To Me. Just completely over the top daftness, hilarious. It's just great to see two really funny interesting women in a drama. My partner watched all three of these with me and loved them (especially Great News) so just goes to show it's a myth that men won't/can't enjoy funny women/writers. we've actually watched Great News twice now and both agreed that it is the first thing since Father Ted that is one of those shows you can watch again and again and still fall about laughing at.

[MedusasBadHairDay]

Glow is amazing, I wasnt expecting to like it, but it was very well done.

Also I'd add Call the Midwife.

[Gibbonsgibbonsgibbons]

Halt & catch fire as PP said is brilliant (& I am not at all a tech /programmer person!)

I really enjoyed GLOW too - didn’t expect to!


Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is my comfort blanket - 1920’s Australia female detective

[CopsCantCatchCriminals]

Motherland.

[happygolurkey]

Glow is amazing, I wasn't expecting to like it
ha ha, yeh, the whole idea gave me the boak initially. but was surprised as it went on the sorts of themes it dealt with. It's a good mixture of fun, sharp humour and emotional intensity. i cried buckets when the third season ended.

[Imnobody4]

I enjoyed 'Golden Girls' - it was on early morning tv recently but I missed it.
Also 'No Offence' with Joanna Scanlon which was quite outrageous at times but great female leads.

[littleburn]

For comedy, Broad City written by and staring Ilana Glazer and Abbie Jacobson and produced by Amy Poehler. Super funny and inventive - a bit like a female, 420-friendly Flight of the Conchords

[TheChampagneGalop]

I love Gentleman Jack, the fact that it's based on a real woman's diary and the energy of Suranne Jones as Lister. Here have montage of her " Being Dapper and Storming Off "

[CaraDuneRedux]

Yes to Cagney and Lacey, Tenko (regular teen viewing with my mum - dad used to go and hid in the kitchen ), Victoria Wood. Also French and Saunders - been re-watching some of their stuff recently, and some of the film spoofs were fabulous. The scene where they tackle Fellini is hysterical. Also, since someone mentioned Lily Tomlin upthread, can I put a big vote in for 9-5 with Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton? The sort of very funny ensemble piece about sexism in the workplace that I just can't imagine anyone making these days.

I've been watching Harlots on BBC. I thought it might be a bit too happy hooker myth but a fully shows the desperation and how rough it was for women.

Yes, I watched it recently, and I'd agree with that summing up. The other thing that really struck me (it has female writers and show-runners) was how the sex scenes were handled, given that it's a series about sex. You very rarely see women's naked bodies - quite a lot of naked male arses. And when there are rapes, they are mostly handled off camera. There's just enough detail in the lead up and aftermath that you can see the horror of it, but I suspect someone (or group of women) took a policy decision along the lines of "we are not going to portray any of the rapes in a way that some sick bastard could use for wank fodder."

I think there could be a whole separate thread about whether it is a good or bad thing to make a drama out of this subject matter, or indeed to play it as entertainment rather than unrelenting horror, but (as the start makes clear) given that something like 1 woman in 4 in Georgian London was involved in prostitution, it's an important part of women's social history, so I think it shouldn't be "off limits" to a writer or TV maker.

[drspouse]

@BlueCatRedCat

Female led drama:

Unbelievable on Netflix is fantastic but shocking - it's based on a true story, and some might find it harrowing.

Sensitive Skin and Good Girls (both on Netflix).

Good Girls has a girl that likes wearing trousers so must be a boy. Put me off totally.

[Thesuzle]

Just found SENSITIVE SKIN but where is season 1 ?

[saynotofondant]

@Hazelnutlatteplease

Enola Holmes was fab!

Another vote for gentleman Jack

Glad to hear about Enola Holmes! Was thinking about giving it a go. I've only seen the trailer and was wondering if they'd perhaps overdone the "strong female character" and make her into someone who can do no wrong - (without spoilers) is that not the case?
It looks funny, at least :)

[BlueCatRedCat]

I've only seen season 1 of Good Girls. The girl is just a tomboy and has not gone any further than that. TBH, the daughter's mum is a complete car crash, and I thought it was kind of a subliminal message about bad parenting that she would have a daughter wishing to escape the madness through pretending to be someone else.

[ErrolTheDragon]

I've just thought of another one we watched recently - perhaps surprisingly as the main storyline is arranged marriage - A Suitable Boy. Great female characters and some interesting themes.

[ahagwearsapointybonnet]

I really want to see Enola Holmes, but don't have Netflix and don't much want to get it now, is there any other way to watch it?

Gibbons I was just coming on to say Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries as well! I got the DVDs after people on here recommended it and have been absolutely loving it, I finish pretty much every episode with a smile on my face, which is a big deal at the moment. Just got 2 or 3 episodes left, so no spoilers please!

[JulieBindelAteMyHamster]

I enjoyed Jessica Jones (Netflix, I think). She's a badass

[craftyjan]

Loved Gentleman Jack. Also Keeping Faith, Jane Austen book adaptations, Phoebe Waller Bridge productions - Fleabag, Killing Eve.
Yes to rewatching French and Saunders. Also Vicar of Dibley and Abfab.
I haven't got Netflix only Amazon Prime. Anyone recommend any good female lead films on that?

[TheChampagneGalop]

Enola Holmes is a fun film to watch with the DC or alone. Because of her childhood, Enola has a lot of book and martial arts knowledge but she doesn't know much about society and how to fit in. Her mum is a suffragette!

[Hazelnutlatteplease]

overdone the "strong female character" and make her into someone who can do no wrong - (without spoilers) is that not the case?

Maybe a little. Youre certainly convinced Enola isnt going to come to serious harm and will prevail in the end (which is surprisingly warm and fuzzy in a post game of thrones world).

However Its all so tongue in cheek and done with a wink to the camera (sometimes literally) I'm not sure that matters.