Strong Female Characters on Fall’s New and Returning TV Shows

Well, we have officially passed Labor Day and are into September which means two things. One, it’s pumpkin spice latte season! And two, we have a whole new crop of fall television shows about to premiere in the coming weeks along with the premieres of returning shows.  This year, there’s some great female power in the new network shows. Since we previously highlighted some favorite female empowering movies, now it’s time to look at some strong female characters coming back to our television screens in just a few weeks.

• Rayna James, Juliette Barnes and Scarlett O’Connor, Nashville: Connie Britton and Hayden Paniettiere star as dueling queens of country music while Clare Bowen is the Nashville newcomer. Both Rayna and Juliette have overcome some tough obstacles in their past and have risen to the top of the country music world. Neither lady lets themselves get pushed around by anyone and they fight for what they want while Scarlett is just beginning to learn her own strengths in music and in life.

• Goldie Clemmons, The New Normal: Georgia King plays Goldie, a young woman who packs up her daughter and embarks on a new life outside of her small town much to the dismay of her domineering grandmother. Travelling cross country to California, Goldie and her daughter toss the old rules out the window and find a new version of happiness.

• Julia Braverman-Graham, Parenthood: Erika Christensen portrays a successful lawyer who’s also mom to daughter Sydney. Traditional family roles are reversed here as Julia works full time while her husband Joel takes care of their daughter. In the upcoming season, the Graham family is also adjusting to their new addition, son Victor.

• Emma Swan, Once Upon a Time: Jennifer Morrison stars as the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White transported to another dimension to be saved from evil. Emma has grown up thinking she was an orphan and developed a pretty tough skin. She currently works in Storybrook as the town sheriff and doesn’t let anyone push her around including her enemy, Regina Mills.

• Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation: Never has anyone been as dedicated to small town government service as Amy Poehler’s character Leslie Knope. Leslie knows what she wants to accomplish and she doesn’t rest until her goals are reached. This season, Leslie has been elected to Town Council and her ambitious work ethic is sure to be even stronger.

• Elena Gilbert, The Vampire Diaries: Nina Dobrev stars as loyal and courageous orphan Elena Gilbert. Elena’s reality includes  dealing with supernatural forces on a daily basis including some vicious vampires and werewolves. Elena never lets her friends down and is always there to save them from evil. This season, she herself may become a vampire and must deal with those life changes.

Who are some of your favorite strong female characters on television today? Who are some of your all time favorites from television over the years? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us your answers!