I’m sure I’m telling you nothing new by saying that powerful, strong female characters are a rarity on television these days. But (thankfully) we do have a few of them. They’re detectives, doctors, attorneys, and heck, they’re even pot-dealing soccer moms.

But regardless, they’re scarcer than they should be, and what’s worse — their characters are often overly flawed. (See the linster’s post about In Plain Sight for a ridiculously spot-on example.) Additionally, their characters are usually either sexless (see: Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU) or their storylines are based almost solely on their love-life (see: Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy).

These issues, among others (see: far too few queer women on TV), are concerns that we’re all too familiar with at AfterEllen.com; the problem seems to lie in the fact that no one else recognizes it. Or, at the very least, no one with the power to do so does anything about it.

So, the other day, when I stumbled upon an article by Stuart Levine on MSNBC titled, “Powerful TV women must face backlash,” I smiled a little bit on the inside. I couldn’t help but think — for a fleeting moment — that things are turning around. After all, if you’ve glanced through Malinda Lo’s "TCA Diaries" lately, you’ve read all about some fantastic shows currently on TV that accurately and responsibly portray strong female leads. It was in this vein that I gleefully opened the article, ready for a poignant look at women in television. What I got, quite simply, was a big pile of nothingness.

These days, being compared to Amy Winehouse would be the equivalent to calling some a trashy, racist crack-head. Not so flattering, right? But, there was a time just a few short months ago that Ms. "Wino" Winehouse was on the top of the world with a platinum-selling album, Grammy awards, and a number one song. And it was then that a young, British soulful singer, Adele started making a name for herself was referred to as “the next Amy Winehouse.”

Don’t worry, Adele — we know it’s only a musical comparison, and I have to say that I don’t think it’s that far off, either. Both women have a very smoky component to their voices (of course, in conjunction with that accent, woo!) and both graduated from the prestigious Brit School (as did Lily Allen, Kate Nash and Katie Melua). In fact, last spring Adele suggested that the female alums form a “supergroup” of sorts, but I think Winehouse’s recent exploits have probably quashed that idea.

After winning the first ever Critics’ Choice Award at the BRIT Awards in December, Adele has seen her career skyrocket. Her freshman album, 19, debuted at #1 in the UK and was certified platinum in three weeks. The song “Chasing Pavement,” reached #2 in the UK and the top ten in several other European countries.

Recently, Adele’s popularity in the United States has been growing: she just completed her first North American tour, has signed with Columbia Records, performed last week on The Late Show with David Letterman, and “Hometown Glory,” was featured on the finale of a little show called Grey’s Anatomy. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for some of the wealthiest, talented and most beautiful that our world has to offer to get all gussied up and gather for a night of mutual adoration and self-celebrations. No, I’m not talking about the Academy Awards; I’m talking about the 2008 ESPYs.

The 16th annual awards show will be hosted by Justin Timberlake and highlights the year’s best athletes across the board. For the fifth year now, you can help decide the winners if you vote before midnight on July 11. Don’t know who to vote for? Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Best Female Athlete:
Lorena Ochoa, Golf
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Danica Patrick, Auto Racing
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

My pick: Candace Parker

Because, well, duh — Ms. Parker was the most dominant player in college basketball, winning two straight national championships and more awards than I have time to list in her years at Tennessee. Now, as a Los Angeles Sparks player, she is already making her mark on the WNBA. Recently, she became the first woman to ever dunk in back-to-back professional games. Girl can play! She is also up for (and should win) Best Female College Athlete.

The 2008 Black Entertainment Television Awards were last night and, as expected, it was quite a spectacle. In what BET promised to be the “hottest ticket on television,” musicians, actors, athletes and others gathered to celebrate the achievements of the most accomplished black celebrities of the past year.

They arrived in droves, and they arrived in style. (Well, all except for Lil Mama, but I won’t even get into that.) Behold, some of the most fashionable ladies to attend the awards:

Gabrielle Union, Keri Hilson, Rihanna

Once inside, the festivities began, though not quite as smoothly as some would have liked. If you happened to tune in late (or not at all) don’t worry about missing Usher’s opening performance; it appears as though he slipped and fell during his dance sequence. Oh well, karma’s a bi-yatch, isn’t she?

Other than the homophobe du jour, there were performers who actually deserved some recognition. Alicia Keys brought the women of SWV, En Vogue, and TLC on stage with her, and they managed to completely bring down the house with TLC’s hit “Waterfalls,” and I was simultaneously reminded of why I miss '90s music so much. (Seriously, you want to watch that video. It was totally badass.)

T-Pain led all nominees with five, but females were actually fairly well represented; several were nominated for at least two awards and all gender-neutral categories contained at least one female nominee. That is more than can be said for the Grammy Awards, the CMT Awards, or the ACM Awards. But, out of the eight categories shared by men and women, only one woman prevailed: Erykah Badu (with Mr. Roboto) for Best Video Director.

A full list of nominees and winners can be found here, but I’ll (happily) round out the list of victorious women for you.

Alright ladies, bust out those mechanical pencils and dust off your textbooks; it’s finally time to Get Smart. The movie’s posters and trailers have been out for months, and while I’ve completely revved myself up for a good laugh, I’m still most excited about a heaping dose of one, Anne Hathaway.

As Agent 99, Hathaway is reprising Barbara Feldon’s role, and in an Associated Press interview, she gives credence to the gargantuan shoes she has to fill:

“She inspired so many women. When you look at the kind of women we aspire to be today, a lot of them are very similar to Barbara Feldon's 99. There's no way I'm going to be able to touch that kind of legacy, but I do think I have good chemistry with my co-star, so that's probably what I have in common with her.”

The co-star of which she speaks is (of course) Steve Carell, who plays her perpetually inept partner Maxwell Smart.

The film may only be hitting theaters today, but the Smart stars hit the red carpet on Monday for its premiere, and they all looked quite dapper.

With the solstice on the horizon, it’s time to prepare for the inevitable heat, excess of bugs and an abundance of women in bikinis. (Okay, perhaps that last one isn’t too bad!) But, for me, it also signals the beginning of several months over-advertised television marathons and late night re-runs.

Personally, I have to agree with Amy Wilkinson over at Entertainment Weekly on a few of her choice picks. I, too, am a sucker for Law & Order or ANTM marathons. In fact — in the interest of full disclosure — I vividly remember blowing off studying for a final my sophomore year of undergrad in favor of spending nine hours listening to Det. Benson degrade perps and Det. Munch cynically out-snark everyone in the squad room.

Lucky for me, I don’t always have to wait on marathons to find an excuse to sit in front of the boob tube for hours on end. Take Scrubs, for instance. The quick, quirky sitcom is one I admittedly didn’t catch onto until way too late, but its ridiculous level of syndication means that I have now seen every episode. And yet, it still doesn’t get old; take this clip for instance:

How cute is it that they harmonize in that song? Seriously, though, Scrubs is one of the only (straight) shows on television that so frequently, accurately and hilariously weaves gay and lesbian references into the fabric of its show. That’s worth tuning in for, as are these women:

Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes and Christa Miller

Additionally, I catch my fair share of old episodes of Home Improvement and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air because, apparently, I have a penchant for '90s television families.

I watch a lot of television — like, way more television than anyone should watch in their lifetime. If you couldn’t already tell, I’m a fanatic of both American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy, but there are many, many other shows I have an unhealthy addiction to. However, even with the variety of reality shows, prime time dramas and cable sitcoms I watch, very few accurately reflect my own life. This could be attributed to either the lack of lesbians on TV or the fact that I am not a world class surgeon (you decide), but either way, I enjoy the rare occasion when I can actually relate to a character. This is why I love Jordana Spiro’s portrayal of PJ Franklin on My Boys so much.

The TBS comedy series surrounds the life of PJ, a Chicago Cubs journalist (be still, me beating heart!), and her group of mainly male friends: brother, Andy (Jim Gaffigan), best friend from journalism school, Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), radio DJ Brendan (Reid Scott), fellow Cubs’ journalist, Bobby (Kyle Howard), sports memorabilia collector, Kenny (Michael Bunin), and failed self-proclaimed playboy Mike (Jamie Kaler).

From Left: Howard, Gaffigan, Kaler, Spiro, Bunin, Scott and Stewart

With a motto like, “You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends,” I’m sure all of you can recognize at least some part of yourselves in the show, but PJ and I, however, have a lot in common. We’re both avid Cubs fans and we’re both writers (if I may be so bold as to claim that title.) We both have female friends (dating a guy named Lance, no less) that all too often try to make us “girl-y” as opposed to “guy-y,” and we would rather spend an evening playing poker and drinking beer with a group of our closest guys than go dancing with our closest girls.

But PJ and I do have our differences; the main one being, of course, that PJ constantly has to finagle the fine line between having boy friends and having boyfriends. Oh, the joy of being a lesbian.

If you differ from me, though, and you can’t identify with PJ personally, perhaps you need more motivation to tune into this show. Well, My Boys, which is one of cable television’s highest rated original sitcoms, was created, co-executive produced and largely written by a woman, Betsy Thomas. Now, that’s something.

Well, at the end of the first season, PJ and Stephanie were on their way to Italy on a romantic double-date getaway, only, the viewers were left hanging as to which of PJ’s many potential dates actually ended up on the flight. (Watch the season finale, “Rome, If You Want To,” as well as the rest of the first season of My Boys on TBS.com.)

In case you haven’t heard, Jessica Simpson has a country album due out in September. Yes, you read that right.

As an admitted fan of country music, I have mixed feelings about the move. Simpson doesn’t have the best track record as an artist, so I haven’t been too convinced that a change in genre will do her much good. But, the release of her first country single is changing lots of minds.

I’m still not entirely sure what to think, but I do have to admit that “Come on Over” is a bit catchy. (You can hear it on Simpson’s MySpace page.) Her voice is still too airy for my taste, but since I have already been caught singing along to the song, I can’t hate on it too much. It’s still too early to tell whether Simpson’s genre-jumping will pay off or not, but let’s look at some others who have successfully made the leap.

Celebrities have power. (This should be no surprise to you.) They get ushered to the front of lines at clubs and in Disney World, they make more money filming one movie for a few months than I will ever see in my lifetime, and they have “people” — people that cook for them and clean for them and even drive them around. Sometimes, it’s shocking what money and a recognizable name gets these people.

But amidst all the glitz and glamour, there are the occasional celebrities out there who use their power and presence for good. While news of Oprah’s charity or Angelina Jolie’s support of cause X and Y on any given day is abundant, there is a rising trend of Tinsel Town’s finest testifying in hearings before Congress on behalf of their pet causes.

Sheryl Crow was the most recent to do so when, in late May, she spoke before the congressional subcommittee on health about the need to pass the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act. The act would provide $200 million towards researching the environmental factors contributing to breast cancer.

This wasn’t a new arena for Crow, though. Last year, she spoke at a press conference about the same bill that was highly attended by many members of congress (including Hillary Clinton). In her most recent trip to Washington, D.C., the breast cancer survivor had this to say: “I don't live in a political world, and while this might seem like a political discussion, until you are [one of] the one in seven women diagnosed with breast cancer, you will never know how not political this is.” You tell ‘em, sister!

The 2008 MTV Movie Awards are live this Sunday night, but with a disturbing lack of female nominees (is anyone really surprised?), I’ve realized that you might more incentive to watch than usual. How does this do it for you?

OK, so the Pussycat Dolls might not exactly provide a huge musical presence, but the aesthetic boost certainly doesn’t hurt, does it?

Additionally, there are some lovely A-listers scheduled to present awards as well; Sarah Jessica Parker, Lindsay Lohan, Charlize Theron, Katherine McPhee, and Megan Fox are only a few.

Hello, Megan!

My shallow tendencies aside, I can’t really ignore such an obvious opportunity to see drunken celebrities act like, well, I usually do on weekends. After all, who can forget the fabulously groan-inducing Sarah Silverman jokes about jail-bound Paris Hilton a year ago? If only Mike Myers wasn’t hosting this year; I foresee more Love Guru plugs in this show than the American Idol finale.

I have to start out by saying this: Thank you, Shonda Rhimes. Thank you for bringing Grey’s Anatomy full circle, and back to the show that I fell in love with four years ago.

Early on, we get a little update on each of the characters. Meredith is revealing to Dr. Wyatt that her mother once slit her wrists in front of her, yet Meredith ironically is the one to cheer up the still funk-ified Cristina by giving her the sparkle pager. Derek tells Sloan and the chief that he is selling his land, Alex is still caring for the near-catatonic Ava while Izzie covers his shift. Next we see Callie and Sloan, um, enjoying each other’s company in an on call room. Callie appears to be enjoying herself until Sloan dirties up the encounter with talk of bringing Erica into the equation. Luckily for Callie (and my eyes), her pager goes off because of a trauma, and they had to cut things short.

After an awkwardly amusing conversation in the hallway where everyone agrees that Callie is acting weird, several of the doctors head into the pit to see what the trauma is, and for the first time, I think everyone in Seattle Grace was speechless. Their patient, a 19-year old young man, was entirely encased in gradually hardening concrete after being dared to jump in by a group of his “friends.” (Some friends, I say.)

They finally begin chipping away at the concrete, and Bailey promises the (justifiably) terrified young man that he will live. By far, the best part of these scenes were the stolen glances between Hahn and Torres.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Derek and Meredith are preparing to treat their last two patients of the trial when they discover that the two teens not only know each other, but are in love with each other. It seems that Beth (brilliantly played by Jurnee Smollett) and Jeremy met in their chemotherapy support group, much to Beth’s parents’ distaste. But, MerDer throw out the book on parents’ wishes (as well as the one on ethics) and help Beth and Jeremy sneak into an empty room to lose their virginity. Seriously.

Charlize Theron is hot. In fact, Esquire dubbed her the sexiest woman alive last year. And, as if being hot isn’t enough to make you successful in Hollywood, she is ridiculously talented, too.

With one Oscar win (and an additional nomination) under her belt, it is hard to dispute her abilities on the screen, but apparently, there are people out there who want to dispute her beauty. Yeah, you read that right, but don’t worry — I heard your collective Jill Bennett-esque “Whaaaaaat?!” and I am right there with you.

Allow me to explain: Theron is on the June 2008 cover of W magazine, presumably to help promote her summer flick with Will Smith, Hancock.

Things got weird was when the interviewer began to hint at the fact that she makes “risky” selections in her roles because the characters she usually portrays (Aileen Wournos in Monster, Josie Aimes in North Country, or Detective Sanders in In the Valley of Elah) look somehow vastly different from Theron herself. But she is very quick to combat his line of questioning:

“Oh, no, you better not be bringing up ‘ugly.’ Look, I get it, Monster was a transformation … [but it’s not when I play] women in middle America living normal lives. North Country was dirt. That’s what happens when you go into a mine. In the Valley of Elah — that’s when I took real offense, because that was just my real hair color and me with no makeup.”

Theron as herself and as Aileen in Monster

Theron in character for North Country

I must say, I applaud the woman. To imply that it is a career-effecting move to play a role where she actually looks like the rest of us is offensive, and it’s refreshing to see someone of such caliber (both physically and — I can only presume — intellectually) set the record straight.

If my AfterEllen pseudonym doesn’t give it away, I’m a southern girl through and through who’s spent all her life in Carolina and Tennessee. Thus, it is probably no surprise to you that in addition to being a pop culture addict, I am an avid country music fan. So to say my level of anticipation for Sunday night’s Academy of Country Music Awards was high would be an incredible understatement.

The event, held in Las Vegas, was hosted for the tenth time by Reba McEntire.

Though Carrie Underwood opened the show performing her newest single, “Last Name,” her time to shine came later in the show. In a very poignant tribute to the recently passed Eddy Arnold, she and the winner for Video of the Year and Top Male Vocalist, Brad Paisley, sang Arnold’s 1965 hit “Make the World Go Away.” Though the standing ovation that followed was clearly for the fallen legend, I can’t help but wonder if they would have garnered the same reaction regardless. The two of them sounded absolutely fantastic together — and she didn’t look too terrible, either.

Oh, and did I mention that Ms. Underwood also walked away with Top Female Vocalist honors? Yeah, I told you she had a big end to the night.

But this wasn’t just The Carrie Underwood Show. On the contrary, there were actually many surprises on the night, each resulting in a win for the ladies.

The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy is this Thursday (and is two hours long!), which means that last week’s episode had the duty of setting up storylines for mind-blowing conclusions and over-the-top cliffhangers. (This is why I love television.)

Last week’s laughter and nervous silence between Callie and Erica left us with little to go on regarding the possibility of another (another!) lesbian/bisexual character on network television, but I’m still holding out hope — meek yet persistent hope.

This episode, aptly titled “Losing My Mind,” featured crazies left and right. Meredith is still seeing her shrink, Dr. Wyatt, sort of. She wants to fire her and get her chart back, but the unrelenting doc is hesitant to give up on Meredith. Cristina is so jaded and messed up that she resorted to cleaning her apartment. (Oh, the madness!) But the two friends find comfort in each other: Meredith asks Cristina if she is “in the dark place” and a quick “Yeah” and a “Me too” are all they need to understand. They walk away from each other, apparently having filled their in-touch-with-their-emotions quota for the day.

Elsewhere, Mark Sloan actually thinks he can act like a real boy (as opposed to the hormone-driven pig we’ve become accustomed to), and we discover that Ava (or more accurately, Rebecca) is not just a conniving be-yatch. Rather, she actually thinks she is/was pregnant and needs Dr. Sloan to give her breast implants so that her body matches her face. That’s one odd cookie, folks.

One of Chief Webber’s old teachers (and also a world-renowned cardio-thoracic surgeon) has come to visit the hospital, but not in the capacity that the chief or Dr. Hahn are inclined to believe. As it turns out, Walter Tapley is there because he needs very complicated heart surgery, but being who he is, no one wants to perform the surgery and become known as his killer. Dr. Webber feels he owes it to his mentor, but Dr. Hahn isn’t so quick to put her reputation as a surgeon on the line.

When lunchtime rolls around Sloan slides into a table next to Callie, and she tells him she’ll see him in an on-call room in a few, but he quickly squashes the idea. Hahn interrupts the happy couple and the two taunt Sloan with illusions of a threesome. He promptly leaves. Clearly, he was getting a little too excited for his liking.

(Side note: Did you notice that it’s only Callie that tried to hetero-fy the conversation? Erica said nothing of bringing Sloan into the equation, which elevates my hope again.)

There’s a lot of voting going on around here these days — and I’m not even talking about the presidential primaries. From the Hot 100to the NewNowNext Awards, to the Best. Lesbian. Vlog. Ever., and the Best Character on TV Tourney that Malinda opened our eyes to, I am spending even more time clicking on random websites than I do watching TV (and that’s more telling about my social life these days than I care to admit.) So, who needs another random and unnecessary list/award/tournament/poll to vote for? Apparently I do.

If you’re like me, the head over to EW.com where they are currently accepting nominations for TV’s Best Chemistry. The relationship between Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan (played by David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, respectively) on Bones seems to be the catalyst for the contest, but I think we can all agree on the fact that some lesbionic relationships are much needed additions to the competition.

Seriously, how awesome would it be if enough of us went over to their site and flooded the comments with Sapphic suggestions? To get you started, here are a few of my picks:

Bette and Tina (The L Word)

I’m sure some of you will cry foul for using TiBette as my L Word couple rather than Alice and Dana, but the heat these two emitted during season 5 cannot go unnoticed. Jennifer Beals and Laurel Holloman continually deliver some of the most believable sex scenes in the whole show. Their chemistry is what brought the show to life in its inaugural season and has played a vital role in the success of the show as a whole. These two are the glue that keeps the show together.