Most of the shows that I classify in the comedy section could be considered a sitcom, though there is an exception. Many of the shows in the sci-fi and drama categories have elements of comedy and could arguably be grouped here. There's one show in this group (Chuck) that was especially difficult to classify. Chuck is an action-spy-comedy with elements of science fiction and drama. I decided that the show does lean more heavily on comedy elements than it does science-fiction of drama. I did think about having a separate "action" category, but there wasn't enough for that. Chuck is also the only show in the comedy category that isn't the standard 30-minute sitcom format.
This first entry for the comedy shows ranks the women of comedy. There are some very funny women on television these days, and that is completely to our (the viewers) benefit.
Top 10 Comedy Female Characters
Malory Archer is the head of the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), and mother of ISIS top spy Sterling Archer. She often uses the agency's resources in schemes that will benefit her, often with negative results. Malory has never been a good mother to Sterling. She is often seen holding a drink.
April is a college student who began the show as an intern in the Parks and Rec office. Due to her lack of enthusiasm, her boss Ron Swanson decided to hire her full time as his assistant since he too doesn't like to be bothered by the duties of his job. April and resident shoe-shiner Andy Dwyer flirted for much of season 2 before finally getting together (and eventually married) this season. April's sarcastic personality and deadpan humor provide a unique bit of comedy that stands out on a show filled with many funny people.
On a show starring four geeky men, Penny really stands out as the cute girl across the hall. Penny has really grown over the last few seasons into a great character. She was in a pretty serious relationship with Leonard for a while, but her reluctance to accept love pushed Leonard away. She spent most of this past season hanging with girlfriends Bernadette (Howard's girlfriend/fiance) and Amy (Sheldon's "girlfriend"). Since Leonard started dating Raj's sister Priya, she was not really allowed to hang out with Leonard. Seeing them together brought out Penny's true feelings about Leonard, and she showed more emotion than ever this past season.
There are a lot of beautiful women on television right now (Yvonne Strahovski anyone?), but my biggest crush by far is Alison Brie. Though the character of Annie is only twenty, Alison was born the same year as me in real life, so I feel better about that. Annie is the innocent young college student who is the most studious of the study group. She does have a troubled past when she was forced to drop out of high school due to an addiction to Adderall, but she is now clean and trying to be successful in school. Annie has feelings for Jeff and it seems he may have feelings for her. But Jeff is well aware of the age difference and is trying to keep his distance from the possibility of the two of them together. Much of her humor stems from both how proper and naive she is.
30 Rock has now been on for five seasons, and Liz hasn't really changed much through the series. Often you would want and expect some kind of growth of a character, but the fact is Liz is perfect the way she is. She is so different from how most women are portrayed on television. As the head-writer for fictional TV show The Tracy Gordan Show (TGS), Liz deals with the pressures of creating a weekly live television program. She must juggle the nerdy writers, naive actors and all the mishaps that takes place at the home of NBC. Liz had found love for a while this season, but her pilot boyfriend only worked out cause they didn't see much of each other. Liz may never find her perfect mate, but we love her as the lonely, hapless and quirky woman that she is.
Robin really took a backseat in season 6 of How I Met Your Mother. Ted was prepping for his GNB building to be built, Marshall and Lily dealt with the struggling to get pregnant and the death of Marshall's father and Barney finally tracked down his father. Robin on the otherhand had no major storyarcs this season. She switched jobs, but that was the only major event for her. We did get to see another chapter of Robin Sparkle's career, which consisted of a Canadian children's show called Space Teens. The show starred Robin Sparkles and Jessica Glitter (Nicole Scherzinger) and featured Alan Thicke. The show featured a song with Glitter and Sparkles about how "two beavers are better than one."
It seems strange ranking her with all of these comediennes, but I did decide to group Chuck in the comedy category. Sarah certainly brings some amusement to Chuck, but most of the comedy is left for everyone else. Sarah is a butt-kicking CIA agent and as of the season finale, wife of Chuck Bartowski. For a long time I didn't want Chuck and Sarah to be together, cause it seemed like she played with his emotions. This past season however, we saw how much she really cares for him. There was one episode following Chuck's capture that was just Sarah going into southeast Asia alone and beating down anyone who got in her way. She's always been beautiful and very dangerous, but now we see her heart as well. Typically you would see someone like her and think, "I have no chance," but Chuck and Sarah's growth through the series should give hope to every good guy out there.
As the one main female character on It's Always Sunny, Sweet Dee certainly holds her own with the men of Paddy's Pub. Dee dreams of being famous, but is truly talentless. Charlie, Mac and her brother Dennis are always pushing her down, but she can't seem to do much except take it. This past season Dee became pregnant, and there were two episodes that revolved around who got her pregnant. In the end, it turned out she was a surrogate for a transexual.
Lily is married to Marshall Erickson, and they are officially the cutest couple ever. This season brought much heartache for the couple though. They struggled all season to get pregnant and started to believe they wouldn't be able to have a baby. Then Marshall's father died very unexpectedly. The couple worked through these issues all season, but thankfully for them they found out that Lily was pregnant in the season finale. Other than those two things, Lily was her usual fun self.
Leslie Knope has to be one of the most likeable and kind-hearted characters on television. She is the director of the Pawnee parks department, and she takes her job very seriously. She cares so much for the town and the people who live there. This season provided a boatload of sexual tension between Leslie and state auditor Ben Wyatt. Due to their boss's rules on dating in the office, they had to keep their feelings to themselves all season. By the end they opened up to each other, but are still struggling to figure out how to handle it. The closing moments of the season found Leslie being offered a position in state politics, which would take her away from her beloved parks department, as well as Ben. Guess we'll have to wait until season 4 to see what she decides.