Buffy The Vampire Slayer

WORLDWIDE, the show is seen by some 21million viewers in 150 countries every week. In Malaysia, The Oprah Winfrey Show is aired three times a day (5am, 9am and 1pm - none of them repeats, on Star World/Astro), five times a week. Easily one of the most successful TV personalities and entrepreneurs in the United States, Oprah Winfrey is arguably today’s loudest mouthpiece for women’s issues on television.

While some may brand her programme as “over the top” (just watch her annual “favourite things” show come Christmas time and you will know what I mean), unashamedly gushy (with major celebrity guests like Jennifer Aniston, Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts...to name a few) and even trivial and indulgent (the episode where Oprah gets a “role” on Desperate Housewives comes to mind), Oprah’s strength lies in her readiness to tackle women’s issues head-on.

The 52-year-old former journalist and sometime actress broaches a wide range of topics related to women, from the frivolous (yet very important) stuff like choosing the right bra and jeans or wondering “Does my butt look big?” to more serious subjects like emotionally scarred wives, women in prostitution, suburban mums on alcohol and drugs, and female teachers and young boys, broadening the discussion to touch on secret sex at school, women who are living a lie, etc.

As a former victim of child sexual abuse, Oprah is particularly sensitive to this topic and has, many times, addressed the issue on her show. Most of her guests may be American, but the issues she deals with are universal.

In fact, one of her most compelling segments highlighted the plight of tens of thousands of Ethiopian girls and women suffering from fistula - holes in the tissue that separates the vagina from the bladder - a condition that occurs among teenagers who are injured during labour either because of their young age or because they have small pelvises.

Oprah featured Dr Catherine Hamlin who (with her late husband Reginald) spent the last 50 years of her life away from her native Australia providing free reconstructive surgery to these fistula patients.

Not only did the show raise the plight of these victimised African women (educating women about the atrocities their counterparts have to face in some countries), it also revealed the humanitarian efforts of Dr Hamlin, spurring viewers to donate towards the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital opened by the couple.

However, there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat. While talk shows are an easy medium to openly address issues, women’s concerns are also well represented in TV movies and series, albeit subtly.

One such series currently on the air is Judging Amy (Hallmark Channel, Astro), which is about three generations of women who confront personal and professional dilemmas in their daily lives.

The women, social worker Maxine Grey (Tyne Daly), her daughter Judge Amy Grey (Amy Brenneman) and granddaughter Lauren (Karle Warren), deal with tough everyday issues like gender prejudice at work, divorce, motherhood and so on.

The show comes across as real and being much more than a stereotypical drama about women partly because of the superb acting and also because it is based on the life of Brenneman’s own mother, Juvenile Court judge Frederica S. Brenneman.

Nevertheless, a show like this (where the focus is on family, relationships and real-life matters and not sex) may be rare and unappealing to a large section of the younger generation (read: fans of The OC, One Tree Hill and the like). A contemporary series about women would probably resemble Sex and the City, which also deals with women’s issues - like, what do you do if your husband suffers from erectile dysfunction, or if a woman is dating younger men.

The three generations of Grey women - Maxine (Tyne Daly), Amy (Amy Brenneman) and little Lauren (Karle Warren) - struggle to cope with life’s challenges in Judging Amy. With them is Amy’s brother Vincent (Dan Futterman). Whatever your fancy, TV certainly has ample programmes for and about women. The following is an index of other series (from the good old days to the present) that feature women prominently.

Cagney and Lacey (1982-88)

IF you are over 30, you may remember this 1980s cop drama in which the lead characters were two women, Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless) and Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly).

Created by two women - Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday - Cagney and Lacey boldly tackled issues for women like rape, incest, abortion and breast cancer, and won 14 Emmys throughout its six-year run.

Ironically, the two creators faced much harassment from network bigwigs on issues like wardrobes, hairstyles and the actors’ body weight.

Kate and Allie (1984-89)

THIS comedy starred Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two childhood friends who decided to move in together after their respective divorces. Although a comedy, the series was a novelty at the time as the two lead characters were strong, independent women who were not vulnerable to men.

Murphy Brown (1988-98)

Candice Bergen rocked as hard-nosed journalist/news anchor Murphy Brown in this sitcom. Bergen’s character was unmarried although later in the series she became a single mum. This caused some degree of controversy with the then vice-president Dan Quayle who openly criticised the character’s pregnancy for ignoring the importance of fathers and bringing up her baby alone. In the show’s final season, Brown battled breast cancer and, according to Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia online), the show’s handling of the subject caused a 30% increase in the number of women getting mammograms.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Sarah Michelle Gellar played Buffy who was great at kicking butt while looking damn good. She became, to many, a symbol of female power and the series had a cult following.

Gilmore Girls (2000-present)

THIS drama/comedy centres on the lives of single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her daughter, also Lorelai Gilmore (Alexis Bledel). The unique mother-daughter bond is indeed heartwarming, albeit a little unreal at times.

The themes highlighted are family relationships and generation divides as well as the usual relationship issues that arise between the two leading ladies and the men in their lives. - SI