Now that testosterone-drenched movie comedies featuring the Judd Apatow gang (Seth Rogen in Knocked Up, Jonah Hill in Superbad) and the Frat Pack (Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Luke and Owen Wilson, et al) are ubiquitous, it’s worth asking: where are the comedies built around funny women? (Warning: link contains some NSFW language.) That’s the question posed by this article in SirensMag (an online women’s magazine co-edited by EW’s own Jennifer Armstrong), which lists Wanda Sykes, Amy Sedaris, Amy Poehler, Bonnie Hunt, Judy Greer, and Aisha Tyler (pictured) as women who should be starring in their own movie and TV comedies. I agree on all counts, especially Tyler, who seems to be the most underutilized of the bunch. (Greer, the article acknowledges, actually is getting her own TV vehicle, Miss/Guided, during the coming season.) Poehler does get to shine as one of SNL’s MVPs, and Sedaris starred in both the TV and film versions of Strangers With Candy (though it’s surely time for her to retire Jerri Blank), but the others are often stuck in second-banana land. I’d add Sarah Silverman and Poehler’s SNL costar Kristin Wiig to the SirensMag list, though at least Silverman got her own series on Comedy Central earlier this year. Which other funny females belong on the list, and what sort of projects would you like to see them take on?
Where are the film vehicles for funny females?
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How about Jeanene Grafaolo? I know, I know she did star in “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” but she had to share screen time w/ Uma Thurman. Can’t she star in a romantic comedy where she doesn’t have to fight for the attention of some hunky guy against some tall, leggy supermodely blonde? Why can’t two guys fight over her for a change? I’m just saying. Also, where’s Maya Rudolph? She belongs on that list as much as Amy Poehler. Am I right?
Hello!? Tina Fey?!
I second that vote for Maya Rudolph, although I completely disagree about Sarah Silverman. Woman is just not funny
Amanda Bynes – she’s young and a very funny actress.
I’d mentioned Aisha Tyler and Judy Greer when Popwatch posed a similar question not that long ago. I LOVE Maya Rudolph and I’ll add Sofia Vergara, Sarah Chalke, Elizabeth Banks and Callie Thorne.
I keep hearing that Aisha Tyler is so funny, but I’ve never seen her in anything except a few episodes in the waning days of “Friends,” and I don’t recall her being that hilarious. Can someone please point me to the TV shows/movies where her comic brilliance is on display? (I’m not trying to be obnoxious here–I really do want to know what I’m missing.)
Aisha Tyler used to host the dating show The 5th Wheel. She’d usually utter condescending snarks about the contestants. Nothing funny really. She is beautiful and she is supposedly smart(yet to see the evidence for that, too)but funny? Not really. I don’t see her ever going big time.
Molly Shannon or Cheri O’Teri should’ve been Will Ferrel – equally unafraid to get loud, physical, awkward or ugly. And the women of MADTV are beyond extreme: Stephanie Weir in particular would’ve had a breakout hit on TV or movies were she a guy. Blame sexism at every level, from the boys’ world of comedy writers to exec producers. Also blame the women themselves, who often want to go “emotionally deeper” when given a shot, when they should just go for the laugh – Shannon’s “Superstar” was a tepid, emo mess — she didn’t even crash through a single wall!!! Networks need to take a page from Tina Fey (or British Television), shich gave us French & Saunders, AbFab, Gimme Gimme Gimme and dozzens more) — give a brash woman carte blanche and let her do her thing.
Anna faris is realy gifted comedicly! I never knew who she was (never saw the scary movie series) but first saw her in “Just Friends” where she stole the show as a Brittany type. I just saw her in My Super ex-girlfriend where she had very little to work with but made her role memorable.
She should be getting a lot more screen time.
Sorry nycgirllms- but Janine Garafaolo has not been funny in years! Not since she got political and wants to make a point nw instead of being funny.
Aisha Tyler was always very funny when she hosted Talk Soup….she has a true stand up comedy background as well.
I second Sarah Chalke. Also Leslie Mann – why doesn’t her hubby, Judd Apatow, write a movie where she’s the star?
Susman, you lost me at Sarah Silverman. Being cute and saying dirty words doesn’t make you funny — although it worked for Pearl in that Landlord clip. Tina Fey should DEFINITELY be on the short list of film-worthy female comics. I think that the film roles for the ladies is limited by the audience. These male stars are seen as much more marketable, which might just be good PR from their agents.
I am completely infatuated with Aisha Tyler. First of all, she is stunningly beautiful. Second, she seems to be so down to earth, intelligent, and articulate. I always enjoyed catching Ebert & Roeper when she was a guest host. And while she may not be funny in a side-splitting sort of way, she is certainly witty and has great comedic timing. Unfortunately, her highest profile gig has been on FRIENDS when she deserves the romantic comedy roles that go to actresses like Cameron Diaz or Jennifer Aniston. I would have loved to see her in THE HOLIDAY b/c frankly that movie was way to pasty for me.
I can see Maya Rudolph, Stephanie Weir, Amy Pohler and Kristin Wiig in a movie or a sitcom but I always belived that Andrea Martin needed her own sitcom, and her performance in My Big Fat Greek Wedding pretty much proves it. “You don’t eat meat?!” Too much.
Amanda Bynes, Leslie Mann, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Rachael Harris. I believe Anna Faris is doing something really different by starring in Smiley Face, a stoner comedy with a female lead. I also think comedy is one of Jennifer Garner’s strengths. If only someone else would give her another vehicle as good as “13 Going on 30.”
Reality check, folks.
I just checked the IMDB Top Movies section, and filtered it for comedies. Of the top comedies, only SIX contained pivotal female leads or pivotal female performances:
Amelie (Audrey Tattou… and she was the straight person with everything else crazy around her
Annie Hall (Diane Keaton… also the straight person, to Woody Allen)
Some Like It Hot (Marilyn Monroe… excellent comic timing, but she was also the straight person to Jack L & Tony C)
It Happened One Night (Claudette Colbert, but she was equally matched w/Gable)
Finding Nemo (Ellen DeGenerous FINALLY a great comic character, altho animated and secondary)
The Lady Eve (Barbara Stanwyck – a GREAT comedy, but she’s more of a manipulator than a comic persona)
Looking at the major comedy vehicles of the aforementioned women… “Superstar” anyone[?] it’s a tough road. Indeed, the highest quality film of the list is undoubtedly “Mean Girls”, in which Tina Fey was secondary.
It’s a tough road.
An interesting question, but feature length films with funny ladies haven’t been popular since Doris Day…I mean, sure we could put these ladies in films, but does anyone remember Shelly Long’s string of features in the 80s? No? I didn’t think so.
I would say, add Tina Fey and Rashida Jones, and subtract Sarah Silverman – she hasn’t been funny since her SNL work.
It would be nice if someone like Judd Apatow, who is clearly a genius when it comes to making/directing funny movies, would realize the problem and do something to help it. Such as writing a funny movie that focuses on a woman? And he could use his brilliantly hilariuos wife, Leslie Mann, to star!
Aisha Tyler was hilarious as the host of Talk Soup on E (an otherwise lame channel). I pretty much agree with most of the women you mentioned (especially Kristin Wiig who is definitely my favorite SNLer right now), but I’m glad people added Maya Rudolph and Rachel Harris! They are hilarious and deserve more recognition. I think Tina Fey wasn’t mentioned because she already has her own show and greater success than a lot of those other women. She deserves it though because Mean Girls was amazing and 30 Rock is one of the best shows on TV right now.
I agree with those mentioned so far. Aisha Tyler is grossly underused. I never watched her on Ghost Whisperer, but she’s gone from there anyway. She was GREAT on Talk Soup though. Bonnie Hunt of course. Another person I would add to the list is Kristin Chenoweth. She is so fun and bubbly and talented.
AMANDA BYNES is my dream. Beautiful and funny and a genuinely good girl. She doesn’t get enough credit (or support from top sources like EW). When will there be an EW article written about/with her?
AMY SEDARIS and KRISTIN CHENOWETH are also wonderful and huge points to those who appreciate the women of MAD TV (past and present), fearless and underrated.
I am sure there are exceptions to this theory.
One of the defining traits of a comedian is that they are different then everyone else, or at least percieve themselves to be so. Most comedy is developed as a self defense mechanism to those differances. Maybe they grew up fat (Chris Farley, Horatio Sans) gay (ellen Degeneres) tall (conan O’Brien, Aisha Tyler), a different religion (Jon Stewart a Jew who went to a Jesuit School) or just different in some other way.
this is one of the reasons we rarely see beautiful good looking comedians..rarely in their life have they had to defend their differances.
While Hollywood might allow a male star to not be great looking, it is very rare they they let a female be less then perfect (unless they already established themselves) and the ones that are great looking are not funny. Or it is very rare that they are.
H’wood is against casting an unattractive woman. Thus they are not funny, thus we have few female driven comedies.
@Nick – that’s not entirely fair, although I see your point. But look at Drop Dead Gorgeous, for example. PHENOMENALLY funny movie, COMPLETELY carried by female leads (Kirstin Dunst, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy, Amy Adams I think, etc.)
I’d like to see more Kristin Wiig, Elizabeth Banks, Amanda Bynes, Leslie Mann, Kristin Bell (anyone who is a Veronica Mars fan knows she can pull it off), Portia De Rossi, Alyson Hannigan, etc. Comedy writers are almost exclusively a boy’s club – it seems like the market would clearly be there for a big female comedy that wouldn’t drive men away….maybe get Apatow and Rogen working on it?
I think it’s sad no one capitalized on the success of Mean Girls early in the decade. It may be the best female oriented comedy ever, it was smart funny and for the most part honest.
I would also love to point out that while Stephen Colbert made the move to his own show and Steve Carrell became a big star Samantha Bee has found herself stuck on the Daily Show farm team inspite of being the longest running correspondent still on staff.
Also worth pointing out is the talent of Christen Schall a very good stand up who is a weekly high light on Flight of the Conchords.
Three problems hampering the creation of the “big female-driven comedy,” in order: boys, perception, money. Boys run almost everything in Hollywood, but let’s say a script with a funny female lead gets considered. They will say the perception on cue, “We think it’s funny but will people think a woman can be funny?” Then comes the money. “We’re afraid it won’t make money.” Rejected.
Like “Greek Wedding” or “Something’s Gotta Give,” women have to gather their moolah and make the films themselves. Once they make money, the studios will invest in more female-driven stuff.
(p.s. I don’t consider “Knocked Up” a testosterone-drenched comedy. Katherine Heigl and Leslie Mann were on par with Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd and often 10 times funnier in every scene.)
I don’t really find Sarah Silverman funny…what about Amanda Bynes? (What I Like About You does not count in my book). Gabrielle Union? Keri Russell I think needs time to show her comedic chops – I think she could prove very funny/sarcastic…Anne Hathaway? Emily Blunt?
And I also agree with Kristen Bell!! And Amy Adams! Isla Fisher! Rachel McAdams!!
Parker Posey, in my opinion, is the most underated actress in Hollywood. I know she’s an indie queen and all, but she should be more famous than that. She should have her own movie, book, tv show, everything! I think that she is sooooo fabulous. Couldn’t you tell?
Um, JOAN CUSACK!
Wasn’t this already a popwatch blog item?