11 funny and inspiring women who masterminded their own TV success
In honour of International Women's Day, here are some of TV's most successful females who created their own work — and took centre stage...
Tina Fey
Why she's inspiring: The creator and star of 30 Rock, Fey's parodic character Liz Lemon was the sort of woman rarely seen on TV — struggling with a work/life balance, falling over rather a lot and saying things like, "women are allowed to get angrier than men about double standards.” As well as having serious success with 30 Rock, Fey was the first head writer on Saturday Night Live and, perhaps most crucially of all, she was responsible for Mean Girls, playing a teacher who tells The Plastics not to call each other "whores". More recently she wrote Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring Ellie Kemper. It was warm, smart and, thankfully, very funny indeed — and series three is on its way.
What she says: "There are a couple of things I want to impart to ladies who want to be in comedy: One, you don’t have to be weird or be quirky to get your job done. And two, comedy skill is not sexually transmittable. You do not have to sleep with a comedian to learn what you’re doing. Male comedians will not like that advice, but it is the truth." [Bossypants, 2011]
Miranda Hart
Why she’s inspiring: After toiling on the comedy circuit for years, Hart got seriously famous when she created and starred in her semi-autobiographical BBC sitcom Miranda. It was a Marmite brand of comedy, earning a devoted following of fans who found her loveable, awkward, ungraceful persona a complete joy. She pin-pointed her insecurities and played them large — and for laughs. And it was her award-winning sitcom that won her the attention of Paul Feig, the Bridesmaids director known for creating meaty roles for funny women in Hollywood. Having seen her show, he cast her in his 2015 comedy Spy alongside Melissa McCarthy.
What she says: “I will always write comedy, and I will always write it with women in mind, and in the back of my head I’m always writing as a feminist and casting women — but actually, I have to step away from it, because I don’t want my work to become an agenda.” - Time
Jessica Knappet
Why she's inspiring: Knappet wrote and starred in E4's Drifters, a sitcom about twenty-something women getting into all sorts of nightmarish situations, including awful, badly-paid jobs and awkward relationships with the opposite sex. She has always said that her aim was to have three women on screen being funny and making fun of each other — and for that we salute her.
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What she says: In an interview with RadioTimes.com, she said; "I’m really grateful for having been given this opportunity. But I think there’s an expectation maybe that, because there isn’t a lot of comedy written by women around, most of it isn’t going to be of a very high quality. There's an expectation there that I feel I have to overcome."
Amy Schumer
Why she's inspiring: The creator, co-producer, co-writer and star of the sketch show Inside Amy Schumer is hilariously and poignantly spot-on about sexism, double standards and body image. In 2015 she also co-wrote and played the lead role in rom-com Trainwreck. Refusing to be beaten down by her critics, Schumer reminds women to be fearless...
What she says: "I say if I'm beautiful. I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story — I will. I will speak and share and f**k and love and I will never apologise to the frightened millions who resent that they never had it in them to do it. I stand here and I am amazing, for you. Not because of you. I am not who I sleep with. I am not my weight. I am not my mother. I am myself. And I am all of you, and I thank you." - Amy Schumer's speech, Gloria Awards and Gala 2014
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson
Why they're inspiring: Their show Broad City, which started as a web series, was hailed in the US as one of the best new comedies to emerge in years, and it's got a cult following in the UK now, too. Glazer and Jacobson play Abbi and Ilana — two broke, desperate women who are full of confidence in themselves and each other. While on-screen females are often either perfectly in control or failures ashamed of their mess-ups, Ilana and Abbi are at ease with their chaotic lives. In a still rare (but increasingly common) example of truly feminist pop culture, Broad City's duo are pretty happy being imperfect in every way.
What they say: Glazer: "it's new for TV to see two women be tender and it not be about a guy, or at the end of a big fight. I'm so grateful for Amy (Poehler, who produces the show) for encouraging us to stretch our wings in that way."
Jacobson: "When we started making the web series, it came out of feeling very powerless in becoming what we wanted to become, not being able to get parts or get seen or heard as a performer or comedian. We both found ourselves in this spot where, when you want to make something like this, you have no other option but to go full-force or not at all." Interview magazine
And full force they went...
