Television would be completely different without the women that helped build it, and not for the better. The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murphy Brown, The Golden Girls, 30 Rock, Tuca & Bertie—the list of seminal series created by (and/or starring) women is endless.

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This doesn't even include all the female characters in male-centric narratives, who singlehandedly ensure that their respective shows survive the test of time. These women are often in supporting roles, but that doesn't change the amplitude of their impact, both on the series and on popular consciousness at large.

10 Seinfeld — Elaine Benes Is The Show's Fulcrum

Seinfeld Elaine - The Kicks

Elaine is the only female main character on Seinfeld. Her characterization doesn't subvert as much as decimates the stereotype associated with TV women, ultimately proving that gender has nothing to do with personality traits.

Elaine's identity as a woman is distinguishable from her opinions, her career, her sexuality, and pretty much everything else. Seinfeld without Elaine is like a cup of coffee without the coffee—empty and unstimulating.

9 On My Block — Jasmine Flores Is An Unstoppable Dynamo

Jasmine Flores On my block

On My Block, Netflix's recent-ish addition to its roster of coming-of-age dramedies, goes into the minutiae of adolescent drama set in a gang-controlled neighborhood. The spotlight is entirely on POC characters who carry the double burden of growing pains and street shootings, but none of them are as dynamic as Jasmine Flores.

She takes over the screen whenever she appears, edging the others out with her glittering, sassy charm. Jasmine is such an imposing character that the actress, Jessica Marie Garcia, was promoted from recurring to regular. It's not too much of a stretch to say that Jasmine owns the series.

8 Bridgerton — Queen Charlotte's Schemes Control The Story's Outcome

Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte Holding her pet pomeranian

Queen Charlotte is the epicenter of drama, furthering it by fanning the right embers at the right time. Conversely, she adores a challenge, so she finds Lady Whistledown's takeover of the London gossip columns of great interest to her, specifically because of the writer's anonymity.

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While Bridgerton fans rarely get to see the majestic Charlotte—a Disney princess with all the charm but none of the bashfulness—her precise control over the tiniest of details cannot be discounted. The show simply has no anchor without Queen Charlotte.

7 Frasier — Roz Doyle Is Proudly & Unabashedly Herself

Frasier Halloween - Roz Doyle

Roz Doyle, Frasier Crane's extremely patient producer, has more than earned her place on one of the best sitcoms ever made. Although her vibrant sex life often turns into a punchline—usually accompanied by Niles' bitter wit—she makes it abundantly clear that she feels no shame, let alone guilt or embarrassment, over her choices.

Roz takes Frasier from a generic sitcom about a radio psychiatrist to an incredibly meaningful story involving lives, relationships, and, most importantly, raising children as a single parent.

6 Breaking Bad — Skyler White Bears The Weight Of Walter's Crimes

Skyler in her apartment

Skyler White's character was always meant to "be a woman with a backbone of steel who would stand up to whatever came her way," and Anna Gunn delivers it to pitch perfection.

Skyler doesn't back off when Walter tells her not to worry, nor does she believe his increasingly flimsy fabrications, which inevitably generates the familial conflict at the focal center of Breaking Bad. It's unfortunate that Gunn's portrayal left her at "the center of the storm of Skyler hate," but the audience's overreaction just goes to show how much effect she has had on the story.

5 Firefly — Kaylee Is The Keeper Of Peace & Harmony

Kaylee in Firefly

Firefly's Kaylee is called the "Heart of Serenity" because of her formative influence on everyone else aboard the ship, or, for that matter, anyone she meets. She is overly optimistic and carefree, often annoying Mal with her exuberance, but her mechanical genius is what maintains the Serenity in tip-top shape.

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Kaylee is the glue that keeps the crew from flying at each other's throats, especially since the ship already contains several complicated interrelationships that are liable to combust at the drop of a hat.

4 Malcolm In The Middle — Lois Nearly Breaks Her Back Taking Care Of Her Family

Malcolm in the Middle — Lois and Malcolm

Jane Kaczmarek takes zero pages from the sitcom interpretation of motherhood, instead turning her Lois Wilkerson into a far more violent version. She uses her maternal instincts not to offer comfort as much as sniff out any act of transgression taking place in her vicinity, imposing severe punishments on her children if they're caught.

Her ethically dubious behavior aside, Lois is being the best mother she can be, given her circumstances. Her character reveals that motherhood is not a static concept, that it has forces pulling on it from all sides and trying to tear it apart—and she will never let that happen. Malcolm believes his mom to be a tiresome roadblock, but she is the reason he goes to Harvard in the end.

3 Will & Grace — Karen Walker's Unbridled Spunk Is Everything

Karen Walker in Will & Grace holding a martini

Karen Walker may have been envisioned as a side character, but she lives her life with a fierceness that tends to eclipse the titular protagonists (almost all the time). Her personality revolves around her status and her wealth, both of which form an unyielding bedrock for her unpredictable nature.

In other words, Karen is untouchable because of her money, allowing her to say and do pretty much anything she wants. That said, her withering wit is partly responsible for Will & Grace's radical impression on the sitcom genre.

2 The Good Place — Janet Literally Holds The Universe Together

Janet The Good Place

Janet is the afterlife's attempt at AI, making her omniscient and omnipotent in every way that matters. She has been shown to manipulate the fabric of space-time, as well as wielding ambient energy for creation, attack, defense, and so on.

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Janet is practically God, except limited by the algorithms devised by The Good Place engineers. This delightful not-a-robot steals every scene she appears in, not to mention becoming the best possible ally to Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, Tahani, and Michael.

1 How To Get Away With Murder — Annalise Keating Is The Savior Everyone Needs

Annalise Keating - How to get away with murder

For all her moral failings, Annalise Keating never once commits a murder, but rather endeavors to help those accused of it, despite receiving massive backlash. She is abandoned, at different points on the show, by her students, her friends, her colleagues; anyone who benefits from her benevolence doesn't have the hindsight to offer their gratitude.

Annalise plows through it nevertheless, turning what seem like losses into enormous victories. She gives her all, knowing that she may not get anything in return—the very definition of a savior. How to Get Away with Murder might as well be an ode to Annalise's unquestionable code of honor.

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