Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Joins Lineup of Strong Female Leads This Fall

'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Joins Lineup of Strong Female Leads this Fall

10.12.2015

â€‹On Oct. 12, The CW is premiering its sole new comedy this fall, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The comedy follows the cross-country journey of a woman who's slightly obsessed with an old flame, but she appeals to audiences because she's so relatable in her madness.

According to TheWrap, this is the latest series to join a growing list of female-driven series on TV where they play more than just the overbearing wife - they're flawed, they're neurotic and they can be antiheroes too.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rebecca Bunch quits her successful career in New York to move to California on a whim in order to reunite with her ex. The character could easily be a caricature of a clingy 30-something, but instead viewers find themselves laughing with her rather than at her.

Lifetime's UnREAL has also found success with a similar formula this summer, with a female character at the forefront who has issues with her own mental illness, career and dealings with almost everyone around her.

Shondaland's ABC lineup also spotlights relatable but troubled female leads, as well as CBS' Supergirl, ABC's Quantico, The CW's very own Jane the Virgin, which features an entire family of strong female characters in a dramatic but fun way.

But there's still a long way to go.

Recently, writer and actress Andrea Savage lamented the opportunities for female-driven scripts on TV, saying that network executives tend to look at them as their own genre, turning down one project because they already have a female-written series underway. "That's a genre? A woman writing something is a genre? It was maddening," said Savage, calling trying to get female-driven shows on network TV "soul-crushing."

Also, a study done by Trailer Park adds that female characters are often still crafted to appeal to male audiences, even though younger female audiences prefer women who are more complex and don't strictly follow traditional gender roles.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rebecca Bunch is yet another step in the right direction, and a great role model for fellow female characters on TV this fall, but there is certainly a lot still to do in order to make a more inclusive television landscape for creators and characters overall.