In Praise Of The Sane TV Heroine

In Praise Of The Sane TV Heroine

According to Alyssa Rosenberg in Slate and Heather Havrilesky in the New York Times Magazine, a battle for viewer affection is unfolding on television between the anti-heroes (e.g. Don Draper, Walter White, and Dr. Gregory House) and the faux-crazy ladies (e.g. Carrie Mathison, Leslie Knopes, and Hannah Horvath, who recently revealed her OCD on Girls). Both articles argue that these women aren’t actually “crazy”—just smart and a little eccentric.

But if Carrie, Leslie, and Hannah are entertaining because of their narcissism and kooky rebelliousness, there also exists a group of female characters who don’t fit the emotionally unstable mold. In fact, many of these women play the straight man to a crazy male co-star. Herewith, a sampling of and ode to television’s sanest, most grounded heroines:

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