The world of televised entertainment may not be completely on point when it comes to being just as likely to showcase a female protagonist as a male, but it’s rapidly getting there. In the past few years, the number of shows with complex and interesting female leads has increased tremendously, and interested viewers have their pick of a number of great shows.
Why is this important? Because everybody should be able to have a hero—or a favorite villain—with whom they can identify. Plus, getting to know characters you don’t identify with can be a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale television landscape. No matter what, it’s a win.
Because the current lineup of shows includes so many great entries, we’ve narrowed the list down to 7 favorites that you’re sure to like. These shows run the gamut of genres—there’s something for every type of viewer, whether you enjoy drama, comedy, superhero action, or dystopian political thrillers.
And the best part? It’s a good bet that each of these shows will be returning for years to come, so if you find one you like, it won’t be going anywhere.
Let’s get to it and start going through our list of the 7 best female-led shows on television.
Jessica Jones
Played by the somber-faced Krysten Ritter and based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, Jessica Jones is one of the best superhero offering on television today. It also represents the first female superhero that Marvel has ever introduced as a lead.
This show centers around Jessica, a former superhero who now runs her own detective agency. She’s a complex, brooding cynic who struggles with post-traumatic-stress-disorder. Unlike many superhero properties, this story is about the aftermath of a superhero’s career rather than its origin, and that creates a refreshing environment where the norms of the comic-book genre are inverted, much to the surprise and delight of viewers.
Jessica is endowed with superhuman strength, but rarely uses it, making the show more about when not to exercise power than about the entertainment that comes from wanton set-smashing.
She’s matched against the evil Killgrave, a tormented man who can control the minds of others, and the complex interplay between the two raises this show well above the pack.
If you’re looking for something dark, complex, and female-led, look no further. Jessica Jones is for you.
Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time started out strongly in 2011, and hasn’t let up. It’s premise is simple, but full of promise: fairy tales are real.
Borrowing stories and settings from your favorite myths, fairy tales, and even Disney characters, Once is a fantasy adventure series that won’t let you down.
The show takes place in the fictional town of Storybrooke, Maine, where all of the residents are characters from fairy tales that have been pulled into the real world and had their memories wiped—they think they’re ordinary people as the result of a curse from the Evil Queen, Regina.
When the show’s protagonist, Emma Swan, arrives, she begins uncovering secrets that begin to lift the curse, and in each episode, viewers learn more and more about the background and true identity of each character.
It’s a fun ride that moves through joy, darkness, despair, and hope, but whatever is going on onscreen, Jennifer Morrison’s Emma stays strong and human.
If you love fantasy and fairy tales, give Once Upon a Time a try.
iZombie
To be honest, the premise for iZombie sounds downright strange. When Olivia Moore, a Seattle medical resident, is turned into a zombie, she abandons her career and her fiancé, and takes a job at morgue. There, she discovers that when she eats the brains of the corpses there—to avoid becoming a typical, brainless zombie—she can experience visions of their memories.
She then starts using this ability to fight crime, using clues from victims’ memories to piece together the puzzle of how they died.
But while the idea of a stylish, crime-fighting zombie girl might sound odd, the execution is spot on—this show is great. From quick-witted banter to intriguing mysteries to the ins and outs of interpersonal relationships, this show has it all.
Even if this doesn’t sound like your thing, be adventurous and give iZombie a try. You might be surprised at how good it really is.
Orphan Black
BBC’s Orphan Black is a science fiction thriller puts Tatiania Maslany into the role of Sarah Manning, a young woman who witnesses the suicide of a stranger, only to find out that this stranger looks exactly like her.
This launches her into a convoluted web of conspiracies centered around an illegal human cloning experiment, and she is soon forced to deal with the fact that her entire life has been based on misinformation.
Orphan Black deals with the ethics of scientific progress, especially in regard to human cloning, and explores issues of personal identity.
Maslany’s performance, though, is the real draw of the show. The actress not only plays the lead in the series, but also plays each of her clones, and she differentiates them so well you’d swear they were played by different actresses.
This award-winning show is in its 5th season, and is still going strong, so there’s plenty to watch. If you’re a sci-fi and conspiracy thriller fan, watch it!
The Handmaid's Tale
Based on the 1985 novel of the same name, The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian drama that’s not for the faint of heart.
Handmaid’s Tale is set in the near future, where a fundamentalist Christian government rules over America and a new civil war is being fought. Society, in the show, has been reorganized, and women are brutally subjugated—they’re not allowed to work, own property, or read.
Mass infertility results in this government—called Gilead—conscripting women to be used as breeders, calling them handmaids and assigning them to the homes of the elite.
The show follows Offred, played by Elizabeth Moss, who is the handmaid assigned to Gileadan Commander Waterford, where she must wait for the chance to someday claim her freedom.
This is a story about extremism, and the consequences of unchecked power and inequality. Never easy to watch, Handmaid’s Tale is compelling nonetheless. Moss’s portrayal of a suffering, yet unbroken woman is the anchor which holds together this show, and the visually stunning sets create a world that feels absolutely, horrifically real.
Jane the Virgin
Ready for something a little lighter? Good, because Jane the Virgin is hilarious.
This romantic comedy-drama was nominated for Best Television Series at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and has received critical acclaim since it began in 2014.
The premise is this: Jane Gloriana Villanueva is a religious young Venezuelan American who took a vow to save her virginity until marriage. But her plans are thrown into chaos when a doctor accidently artificially inseminates her during a check-up. To make matters worse, the biological father is a married man who was once Jane’s teenage crush.
It doesn’t get much more awkward than that.
Things get tough when the prospect of choosing between the biological father of her baby, and her current boyfriend looms, and Jane’s efforts to carefully navigate this ridiculous situation in a realistic way makes for surprisingly realistic and heartwarming story.
Great writing and a strong performance from lead actress, Gina Rodriguez make this show a must-see for anyone who loves a good laugh, the occasional cry, and a lot of great storytelling.
How to Get Away With Murder
If you’re looking for a strong female lead, they don’t come much tougher than law professor Annalise Keating.
How to Get Away With Murder follows her story as she, along with five of her students, become involved in a murder plot. Viola Davis, who plays Keating, has received critical acclaim for her acting, becoming the first black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She also won two SAG awards for Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series, as well as a number of other awards.
Annalise Keating is, by far, one of the most interesting characters on television since Breaking Bad’s Walter White—she’s unconfined by the conventional restraints placed on a show’s protagonist, able to be both good and bad in equal measure.
In other words, she’s human.
If webs of intrigue are your thing, this legal drama won’t disappoint. Give it a try!
Hours of Entertainment
If you’ve been searching for the next great female-driven show, you’ve found it—along with a few others. But even if you’re just looking for quality programming, you can’t get much better than these well-told stories. They have great plots, strong protagonists, and will keep you coming back for more season after season.
So kick back, find the remote,and tune in to one of these shows the next time you have a free evening.
