I was watching The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season II the other day — you know, the season where The Hardy Boys team up with Nancy Drew and Bess in Transylvania, and Nancy and Frank sort of…like each other. A lot.
I couldn’t help but notice, now that I’m old enough to no longer be swayed by Parker Stevenson’s manly charms, that Nancy’s role gets progressively chopped in Season II, especially when she’s sharing the stage with Frank and Joe. Poor Pamela Sue Martin. She really was an energetic and appealing Nancy. I can see how she must of tired of lines like, “And I told you I can look after myself!”
Sheesh.
Anyway, it started me thinking about buddy shows. The successful ones, with the exception of Charlie’s Angels, are always male. True, there was Cagney and Lacey, but I was never a fan. It’s embarrassing to admit this as a grown up woman, but…they weren’t pretty enough for me. And they certainly didn’t seem to have nearly enough fun.
I do vaguely remember Honey West when I was a kid. Or, more exactly, I remember watching my mother watching Honey West. She had great legs, an ocelot or some big cat (Honey, not my mother), and this giant mole (facial, not another pet) that my mother assured me was very sexy.
Huh.
And I equally vaguely remember The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Mostly because she had a really cute male sidekick who I had a crush on. Even as a little girl I preferred The Man From U.N.C.L.E. And, with the exception of Nancy Drew and Charlie’s Angels, all my favorite shows seemed to be about men. Even Lassie and Fury had male owners. So, now that I think about it, did Gentle Ben and Flipper. Man, I had a crush on the older brother in Flipper!
But I digress.
It’s not that I didn’t — and don’t — enjoy female protagonists. I loved Purdey in the New Avengers. I loved the brief run on A&E of Anna Lee. And Remington Steele was one of my all-time favorite shows — and not solely for Remington. Er, Pierce. I have all kinds of favorite heroines in books, but they’re usually solo. Solo works well. And male/female pairings seem to work even better — although there’s always the push to turn it romantic. Why doesn’t the buddy thing seem to translate well for females?
Or am I just forgetting a lot of great shows?
Could it be that these theoretical female buddy shows and films wouldn’t work because odds are they’d be written by men? I know, a very sexist thing to think — let alone say. And that’s probably not it because you don’t see much of it in books either, and those would likely be written by women. Don’t ask me, I’m just wondering why such a successful formula for men just doesn’t seem to work when it’s wearing a dress.
Any thoughts? Any theories? Any good female buddy shows you want to recommend?
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Diana, I watched Cagney and Lacey. Wasn’t there another show on about that same time that featured two divorced moms who shared a house? It wasn’t a mystery and I can’t think of the name of it right now. Other than that show, I’m drawing a complete blank, but then it is Monday morning after a holiday weekend.
by Sara on November 26th, 2007 at 8:25 am
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The only other girl-buddy show I can think of was a sitcom in the 80s - Kate & Allie. It was pretty good, and the WE channel reruns it during the day now. They don’t solve mysteries; they’re just two divorced moms trying to make a new life on their own.
My only theory about the lack of good girl-buddy shows is the idea that you put two women together often enough and long enough and they’re going to be catty to each other. Or they’ll get jealous of each other. Or they’ll have naked pillow fights. Or some such nonsense. Not the best fodder for prime time TV.
BTW, loved Remington Steele. I wanted to have Steele and I wanted to be Laura (aka Stephanie Zimbalist). ;o)
by B.E. Sanderson on November 26th, 2007 at 8:27 am
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LOL Sara, great minds think alike. I wouldn’t have been able to think of the name if I didn’t watch it during the day.
by B.E. Sanderson on November 26th, 2007 at 8:29 am
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“The Hardy Boys team up with Nancy Drew and Bess in Transylvania, and Nancy and Frank sort of…like each other. A lot.”
Hmmm, was this a very early paranormal romance??
I liked Charlie’s Angels. Of course, I was a big Farah Fawcett fan. I even had that famous swimsuit poster. I even liked it when Cheryl Ladd took over for Farah. But when Shelly Hack arrived, well, she didn’t have that chemistry.
One you may have forgotten, Diana, was Laverne and Shirley. Even in my early morning drowse, I remember them.
by Will Bereswill on November 26th, 2007 at 8:38 am
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“Or they’ll have naked pillow fights.”
One of my favorite scenes in Shanhai Noon, with Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan is the pillow fight scene in the cat house. Nothin’ wrong with naked girl pillow fights. Reading that just woke me up.
by Will Bereswill on November 26th, 2007 at 8:41 am
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Hmmm….I can’t think of any but you do bring back memories of being captivated by Parker Stevenson’s manly charms. WHAT were we thinking????!!!!
by Tasha Alexander on November 26th, 2007 at 8:43 am
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“Any good female buddy shows you want to recommend?”
Xena: Warrior Princess. Damn, I loved that show. 
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And despite the fact that I dated a girl who had the Farrah ‘do, I was always more of a Jaclyn Smith fan. That shot in the opening credits of Charlie’s Angels where she’s dressed in a backless evening gown, tossing her hair and looking back over her shoulder with the definitive “come hither” look…man, that was some great TV, right there.
by JDRhoades on November 26th, 2007 at 9:24 am
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I did watch Cagney and Lacey but I can’t think of any others. All the crime shows now seem to be so heavily populated, if you know what I mean. I suppose they’re trying to hit on someone who will appeal to just about everyone.
Can you even think of any such pairings in books? I really can’t.
by Regina Harvey on November 26th, 2007 at 9:42 am
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Kate and Allie, Sara! I do remember that, but I was disappointed because I always thought Susan St. James should be solving mysteries like she was before she divorced the SF police commissioner!
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 11:53 am
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B.E., Remingston Steele was the best of both worlds: a gorgeous romantic interest, and a female protag that a lot of women could really identify with.
They just don’t make them like that anymore! Or maybe I just don’t watch enough TV.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 11:54 am
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“WHAT were we thinking????!!!!”
It was the 70’s Tasha. You’re allowed.
Have to second Xena: Warrior Princess. Something about the whole swords and sandals genre I’ve come to realize is that it shows just how much tougher than men women are. I mean, the guys are walking around in armor with shields and getting their asses handed to them by women in leather bikinis. With big sticks.
Freud would have a field day.
by Stephen Blackmoore on November 26th, 2007 at 11:55 am
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Poor Shelly Hack. Ugh! What a strange choice she was. I mean, I could see the idea of going with an…um…more brainy angel, but she had no personality. Poor thing. She looked SO uncomfortable.
Of course the worst one was the last one…what was her name? She was supposed to be the tough, street smart one…she just looked very trashy to my youthful and puritanical eyes.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 11:57 am
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Naked…pillow fights…uh huh.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 11:58 am
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Oh my goodness, Tasha! You must revisit the good old days with Parker and rent THE HARDY BOYS AND NANCY DREW MYSTERIES. His HAIR!! What lovely hair…but how the heck could anyone have time for crime solving with hair that styled?! Even Nancy didn’t have such a careful coif.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
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It’s so pathetic that even now a strong female character also has to be pretty to be noticed. I was impressed with this last episode of Criminal Minds, where the computer genius, shot by a psycho, got so much story time. Sadly and typically though, in the end she appears to have caught the interest of a typical male computer genius who would be overlooked by the ‘pretty’ women on the show.
As for Charlie’s Angels, I always wanted to be Kate Jackson (and not because we had the same name).
by Kate Hathway on November 26th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
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Ah, yes. Xena. You know, there’s a good deal of inspirational Xena fan fic on the web, JD. I’ve never been brave enough to read any of it, but…one can imagine….
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
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Freud would have a field day.
And then he’d buy the DVD set.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
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It’s so pathetic that even now a strong female character also has to be pretty to be noticed. I was impressed with this last episode of Criminal Minds
Kate, I missed it (due to the Thanksgiving coma) but one thing I do like about Criminal Intent, now that I’ve been won over, is that the female character is attractive but not beautiful — not really even “pretty.” She’s smart and capable and she’s got a mouth I love, but she’s refreshingly unglamorous.
True, I also occasionally resent the idea that you can’t be pretty and smart and capable — because I had to put up with a fair share of that during my years at the day job, but TV Land does seem locked into the idea that viewers only want to watch pretty people in action.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
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No, Regina, I can’t think of any good crime/mystery buddy pairings. There are pairings where the main sleuth has a female sidekick, but not a one can I think of where two chicks are equal partners, get equal screen/page time — there must be a few of them out there…
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
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My only theory about the lack of good girl-buddy shows is the idea that you put two women together often enough and long enough and they’re going to be catty to each other. Or they’ll get jealous of each other. Or they’ll have naked pillow fights. Or some such nonsense. Not the best fodder for prime time TV.
Now that, B.E., is a truly appalling theory! More appalling because I fear you’re right — or, even worse, that the theory is women just aren’t that interesting to watch — not even to other women.
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
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I think everybody’s covered all the female buddy shows. I can’t think of any others myself. And add me to the Fans of Parker Stevenson. *g*
by Tori Lennox on November 26th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
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Yes, Tori, you know Parker had some serious mojo when we were all actually okay with Nancy having to take a backseat to the HB’s sleuthing!
by Diana Killian on November 26th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
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I couldn’t read anything else after “naked pillow fights.”
Damn.
by David Terrenoire on November 26th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
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I remember a show back in the 80s or 90s called Under Suspicion - had a gutsy tough blonde as the MC. She never took crap from anyone, but she had a feminine side. I loved the show. It lasted one season. And the redheaded female detective on Homicide: Life on the Streets. She didn’t last long on that show before they wrote her off. Too gritty, I guess.
I don’t want to be right, Diane. I’d rather be wrong and have the myths fade into obscurity, so women can be friends without being ‘Dynasty-ish’ to each other, where women can be tough without being butch, self-sufficient without being anti-men, and feminine without being wimpy. *sigh*
:climbs off soapbox: Um, sorry.
by B.E. Sanderson on November 26th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
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Has anyone else read ‘Sorcery and Cecelia’ by Caroline Stevermere and Patricia Wrede? It’s not crime fiction at all - shelved under YA fantasy, I think - but there is a mystery of sorts, and the title aside, the two main characters, Cecelia and Kate, do get equal time. They’re best friends and cousins, separated for the time being: Kate is in London having her ’season’, Cecelia has to wait a year for her turn, and is stuck in Kent. It’s written by both authors, one writing as Kate and the other as Cecelia, and it came out of something called the ‘letter game’. Highly enjoyable, if you like that type of thing.
Off-hand I can’t think of any TV-shows or books with a pairing of women characters, either. Thelma and Louise, I suppose, though that’s hardly a mystery. James Patterson has that new TV-series about the four women, but that’s a little different too. Women’s Murder Club, isn’t it? Sorry, no help from me…
by JennieB on November 26th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
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Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are a show now? Sex and the City was cool, and I loved Charmed at times. Until about ten years ago, my TV lived in the closet except on special occasions, so I’m not going to remember anything, LOL. I faintly remember Little House on the Prairie from my childhood, but I’m sure that doesn’t count, LOL …
by spyscribbler on November 26th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
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Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are a show now?
Well, not NOW, but way back in my misspent youth…yes, that show certainly had something…
by Diana Killian on November 28th, 2007 at 10:51 am
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climbs off soapbox: Um, sorry.
Unfortunately, BE, I fear you’re right. Not that this is how women are, but that this is how women are perceived to be.
Then again, having worked in an office full of women…
by Diana Killian on November 28th, 2007 at 10:54 am
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