HBO; CBS; AMC
Some of us have been ready for a female president since we were born. The rest of us may find the idea more normal after an era of powerful women in prominent fictional roles on our favorite TV shows.
Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times:
If Clinton loses this election, it will not be television's fault. Many things have changed since she lost the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama in 2008, but few more pointedly than scripted television's relationship with women. Where once rare enough to be remarked upon, with inevitable comparisons to "Maude" or "Prime Suspect's" Jane Tennison, female leads now abound, many correcting the double standards that have historically kept women from positions of power.
As a controversial American personality, Clinton has directly affected the creation and narrative course of several series. On CBS, "The Good Wife" is the story of long-suffering wife of a philandering politician as she fights her way back to a sense of self that, most recently, included running for office. When "Madam Secretary" premiered on the same network this last fall, some conservative pundits complained that it was overt pro-Hillary progaganda (never mind that though McCord and Clinton share a title, a gender and a hair color, there the similarities end).
Less generously, the nakedly ambitious Frank and Claire Underwood (Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright) of Netflix's "House of Cards" have been compared to Bill and Hillary Clinton (particularly this season as Claire, dismissive of the traditional first lady role, fought to influence policy), and many "Game of Thrones" fans see Hillary Clinton more in the scheming Cersei (Lena Headey) than the noble but struggling Daenerys (Emilia Clarke).
"Thanks to TV's strong women, voters are ready for a female president" [LA Times]
