List of TV series with a strong female lead

I think "The Secret Circle" was from 2011/12 and not from 2003. Too bad that one only lasted one season, but hey this got us Malia on Teen Wolf.

Speaking of which, the ensemble cast rule feels a bit too vague when you compare certain series. If I look at "The nine lives of Cloe King" and "Shadowhunters" I see female main characters - that always have a man for the fighting scenes. Men that were the same type of superhuman than the main girl to boot making her essentially part of an ensemble cast of equals. The worst part of the Supergirl Season 2 can be summed up as becoming more like these shows and less like it was in season 1. I remember commenting on Cloe King and how Teen Wolf outlived it despite having the exact same plot. But looking back at it this plot was just so much better executed and we did get increasing numbers of ubergirls as the seasons progressed. Too bad they rarely got to shine (yet still were more imposing than the aforementioned main characters).

Another mention would be Salem (2014?) with it's female lead Mary Sibley.

Eastwick (based on The Witches of Eastwick) ran for one season in 2009-10.

Has "Charmed" been mentioned? Not one but three super-powered femmes. I thought Prue had the coolest of the powers, especially when she used her stare to move whatever she wanted. Paige after that. Phoebe was a bit of a disappointment and of course, Billie in the belt episode.
There's an um.. special clip of Billie / Kaley Cuoco I might try find a link to...found it...

breastexpansion.be/2009/04/charmed-be/#podPressPlayerSpace_1

Thanks a lot for your partecipation!
I've updated the list with your suggestions once again, it's quite long now!
I've also added Wikipedia links for each entry.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote: By the expanded definition, Stranger Things isn't a stretch. I'd question Once Upon a Time more as there are multiple people with powers, and they aren't all women. There is a lot of girl power on the show though. But if that's the criteria, then I'd offer up Westworld (to be non-spoilery as possibe, given that it's Westworld, people should know the basic plot arc of robots run amok. The simpliest thing to say is that the androids that are the most independent, and therefor exhibit acutal power, are women.).

Dark Matter should qualify despite the ensemble cast. Two is unique (* spoilers). It's an important arc in S1 and S2.

Dark Matter's synopsis reads as follows: "A group of six people with no memory of who they are or where they came from wake up on a starship called the Raza. Naming themselves One through Six in the order of their awakening, they stabilize their vessel and begin trying to figure out what happened to them."

It doesn't seem to be centered on the female character, apparently. I get that she's important and powerful, but we could say that of Daenerys from GoT as well. But I didn't watch the show so I'm not sure how it develops.

I also haven't seen Once Upon A Time. According to the synopsis it looks like it's centered on Jennifer Morrison's character, the daughter of Snow White and the Prince, and that's why I added it. But if this is not the case we can surely write it off.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote: Charlie's Angels?

I kind of wanted to avoid that because the girls there are really not that special. But I guess it fits.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote: Cleverhead (2016)

Are you sure the name is right? I couldn't find anything with that name.

njae wrote: I think "The Secret Circle" was from 2011/12 and not from 2003.

You're right, my mistake. Fixing it now.

njae wrote: Speaking of which, the ensemble cast rule feels a bit too vague when you compare certain series. If I look at "The nine lives of Cloe King" and "Shadowhunters" I see female main characters - that always have a man for the fighting scenes. Men that were the same type of superhuman than the main girl to boot making her essentially part of an ensemble cast of equals.

Yes, unfortunately it's impossible to make a very precise, watertight rule. Not that it needs to be, it's not like we're making rocket science. It's just a list of TV series.

My point was that there is a huge lot of TV series featuring strong/special/powerful women within big casts. In recent years, almost any sci-fi series has some girls kicking ass. If we were to add each series which featured a powerful woman at some point, the list would become endless and, frankly, pointless. I wanted to keep it limited to shows centered around a strong female or a group of strong females. If you guys agree, of course.

j2001 wrote: Thanks a lot for your partecipation!
I've updated the list with your suggestions once again, it's quite long now!
I've also added Wikipedia links for each entry.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote: By the expanded definition, Stranger Things isn't a stretch. I'd question Once Upon a Time more as there are multiple people with powers, and they aren't all women. There is a lot of girl power on the show though. But if that's the criteria, then I'd offer up Westworld (to be non-spoilery as possibe, given that it's Westworld, people should know the basic plot arc of robots run amok. The simpliest thing to say is that the androids that are the most independent, and therefor exhibit acutal power, are women.).

Dark Matter should qualify despite the ensemble cast. Two is unique (* spoilers). It's an important arc in S1 and S2.

Dark Matter's synopsis reads as follows: "A group of six people with no memory of who they are or where they came from wake up on a starship called the Raza. Naming themselves One through Six in the order of their awakening, they stabilize their vessel and begin trying to figure out what happened to them."

It doesn't seem to be centered on the female character, apparently. I get that she's important and powerful, but we could say that of Daenerys from GoT as well. But I didn't watch the show so I'm not sure how it develops. The show focuses on six people, one of whom is hte leader and superhuman (female). So it rides up against this. I guess other will have to chime in: does it fit the concept or not? It's a _bit_ diluted with the other cast.

I also haven't seen Once Upon A Time. According to the synopsis it looks like it's centered on Jennifer Morrison's character, the daughter of Snow White and the Prince, and that's why I added it. But if this is not the case we can surely write it off.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote: Charlie's Angels?

I kind of wanted to avoid that because the girls there are really not that special. But I guess it fits.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote: Cleverhead (2016)

Are you sure the name is right? I couldn't find anything with that name.

I can see leaving off Charlies Angels. It might even be the definition of when you'd leave off a show with "normal" humans and when you'd include one. Alias vs Charlies Angels. There's a level of Kick Ass that the Angels lack. As you said, we have to try to keep the list at least a _bit_ targeted.

Gack it's CRAZYHead. I must have been blanking out. www.imdb.com/title/tt6038584/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 As I've said, I've not see it yet.

Hm. I think if you want to be pure, you should leave both Dark Matter and Once. Emma Swan is a central focus for Once Upon A Time, but she's mostly powerless (at least initally) and there are lots of other people with powers (the most powerful character in the show is also a man). There are lots of stories going on that she's not the focus of.

Dark Matter, is similar in that there are lots of stories going on. The Android (female) qualifies here, and does Two (who is also the leader). Both are unique (in the first season), and are focal points, but not THE focal point as in most of the rest of the shows on the list. Have we talked about Once Upon a time here? I know we talked about Dark Matter because of the Android. I think that's another unoffical test. I'd say Dark Matter is closer than Firefly (esp since River's story is so late in the game), but also might be one of the edge tests to say "if it's this far out, we leave it off".

There is certainly a great deal of difference between Wonder Woman or even Dark Angel (which has a bit of ensemble and others with powers) and Dark Matter or Once. If the idea is to find shows more like Wonder Woman and Isis ... leave them off.

(Aside: I'd forgotten just how hot Isis was (and I think she's hotter in video than in still pictures). I watched an episode of Tabitha online as I don't think i've ever seen one. She's quite hot herself.)

And yes, Let's do movies next (in another thread).

j2001 wrote:

njae wrote: I think "The Secret Circle" was from 2011/12 and not from 2003.

You're right, my mistake. Fixing it now.

njae wrote: Speaking of which, the ensemble cast rule feels a bit too vague when you compare certain series. If I look at "The nine lives of Cloe King" and "Shadowhunters" I see female main characters - that always have a man for the fighting scenes. Men that were the same type of superhuman than the main girl to boot making her essentially part of an ensemble cast of equals.

Thats a bit harsh to Cloe King-yeah that happened certainly but for most of the episodes it was centered on her. A lot shows recently have done the "Saved by a guy" thing, but if i am being charitable i will say thats in part to build up the main character when that doesn't happen.

UFO (1970) EPISODE Psychobombs has a possessed woman taking over the base with super strength. not a lead character so may not count.

slim36 wrote: UFO (1970) EPISODE Psychobombs has a possessed woman taking over the base with super strength. not a lead character so may not count.

Yeah, I remember this (barely) too. Thanks for the heads-up!

transcript explanation of"Psychobomb"

Some more that came to mind:

Girl With Something Extra(1973)
Small Wonder(1985)
The Fairies (2000)
Highlander: The Raven(1998)
Guinevere Jones(2002)
Rosalka(2000)-which may not count as its in spanish and i have never seen but sounds werdily amazing

Also in 2017 where getting a Tv Version of let

Let the Right one in on TNT

castor wrote: Some more that came to mind:

Girl With Something Extra(1973)
Small Wonder(1985)
The Fairies (2000)
Highlander: The Raven(1998)
Guinevere Jones(2002)
Rosalka(2000)-which may not count as its in spanish and i have never seen but sounds werdily amazing

Also in 2017 where getting a Tv Version of let

Let the Right one in on TNT

Dude, how do you find all these series? I mean, do you have a secret stash or what? D:
"Girl With Something Extra" seems awesome, I wish this kind of series could be easily found online.

The only one I'm not going to add is The Fairies, if you mean the ABC series. It's an educational series starring two girls in a cheap carnival costume meant to teach basic things to pre-school children, I know I said series for kids are all right but come on!

@TwiceOnThursdays: thanks for the heads up. So I'm removing Once Upon A Time and adding Crazyhead =)

Added Lightning Point (Alien Surf Girls) (2012), from the same creators of H2O Just Add Water.
Both very likeable shows for young teenagers, recommended for some light fun and eye candy (most of the actresses are crazy hot - Jessica Green, Phoebe Tonkin, Cariba Heine, Indiana Evans...)

j2001 wrote: Added Lightning Point (Alien Surf Girls) (2012), from the same creators of H2O Just Add Water.
Both very likeable shows for young teenagers, recommended for some light fun and eye candy (most of the actresses are crazy hot* - Jessica Green, Phoebe Tonkin, Cariba Heine, Indiana Evans...)

* Crazy Hot w/ Austrialian accents. Extra nice.

I might have to see if i can find an episode or so of this. Thanks.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote:

j2001 wrote: Added Lightning Point (Alien Surf Girls) (2012), from the same creators of H2O Just Add Water.
Both very likeable shows for young teenagers, recommended for some light fun and eye candy (most of the actresses are crazy hot* - Jessica Green, Phoebe Tonkin, Cariba Heine, Indiana Evans...)

* Crazy Hot w/ Austrialian accents. Extra nice.

I might have to see if i can find an episode or so of this. Thanks.

Don't tell anyone but I watched them on Netflix and I liked h2o so much I had to buy the box set. I'm in love with Cariba Heine

It realize if where limiting ourselves to english language stuff, that really means like 5 countries(Uk, canada, US, NZ and Aus). But one of the suprising things to me about this list is the number of Australian Shows here.

Its a big country obviously, but not a huge Tv industry-but i am seeing at least 6 shows from there. A lot centered on kids stuff-but thats kinda of impressive.

castor wrote: Some more that came to mind:

Girl With Something Extra(1973)
Small Wonder(1985)
The Fairies (2000)
Highlander: The Raven(1998)
Guinevere Jones(2002)
Rosalka(2000)-which may not count as its in spanish and i have never seen but sounds werdily amazing

Also in 2017 where getting a Tv Version of let

Let the Right one in on TNT

Let the Right One In is going to series? Where was that reported?

j2001 wrote:

TwiceOnThursdays wrote:

j2001 wrote: Added Lightning Point (Alien Surf Girls) (2012), from the same creators of H2O Just Add Water.
Both very likeable shows for young teenagers, recommended for some light fun and eye candy (most of the actresses are crazy hot* - Jessica Green, Phoebe Tonkin, Cariba Heine, Indiana Evans...)

* Crazy Hot w/ Austrialian accents. Extra nice.

I might have to see if i can find an episode or so of this. Thanks.

Don't tell anyone but I watched them on Netflix and I liked h2o so much I had to buy the box set. I'm in love with Cariba Heine

Yup, Cariba would have made a great Supergirl with her Australian accent standing out in the U.S. on foreign territory even although she is Kryptonian. It would have been a nice measure, and her figure beats Melissa's when it comes to a Supergirl's body.

castor wrote: It realize if where limiting ourselves to english language stuff, that really means like 5 countries(Uk, canada, US, NZ and Aus). But one of the suprising things to me about this list is the number of Australian Shows here.

Its a big country obviously, but not a huge Tv industry-but i am seeing at least 6 shows from there. A lot centered on kids stuff-but thats kinda of impressive.

Well, English-speaking countries will always have an advantage because they can win a production budget bigger than what would be acceptable for their market for the sole reason their product will be marketable worldwide. An Aussie show has the chance to be sold in the USA, in the UK and in Canada without adding localization costs because of the English language. H2O is a great example of a show that started small and then gained an increasingly bigger budget thanks to a worldwide success.
Without a huge market to appeal to it's impossible to secure the kind of costly FX a sci-fi TV show requires. I think that's why sci-fi productions aren't big outside of the English-speaking world.

But it's not just that. As you noted, there are several Aussie shows for kids with powerful girls. Guess what? There's always one guy behind them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_M._Shiff
This guy, now in his seventies, quitted his job as a lawyer to produce engaging shows for kids and young teenagers most of which are about girls with powers: Ocean Girl (1994), The New Adventures of Ocean Girl (2000), Cybergirl (2001), H2O (2006), The Elephant Princess (2008), Lightning Point (2012), Mako Mermaids (2013).
I think he could be a honorary member of this community

andyf wrote: Let the Right One In is going to series? Where was that reported?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_the_Right_One_In_(TV_series)

Monty wrote: Yup, Cariba would have made a great Supergirl with her Australian accent standing out in the U.S. on foreign territory even although she is Kryptonian. It would have been a nice measure, and her figure beats Melissa's when it comes to a Supergirl's body.

Very nice shot of Cariba! (The second pic is Claire Holt's).

I agree that Cariba would have made a great Supergirl. Her blue eyes are incredible.