Oct. 15th - Nov. 15th, 2008 ENTERTAINMENT tc.
Nov. 1st - Dec. 1st, 2007 PAGE 04 f.i.l.e.s.
TV’s Top 10 Kickass Girl Heroes
Erica Kane, “All My
Children”
What can you say about
the scheming soap firecracker
played for decades by the lovely
Susan Lucci? She’s married
almost everyone in Pine Valley,
and there might be a few bodies
TV has long been home to great kick-ass heroines — you strewn in her wake. She’s not
know, the gal who’s got your back, who comes through in the the warm and fuzzy kind of kick-
clinch, who’d toss you her 9mm and her new Jimmy Choos in the ass girl, but stand in her way at
blink of an eye. She’s resourceful, witty if not always graceful under your peril. (And hint to the
pressure, and refuses to back down. Here are our favorite kick-ass Daytime Emmy Awards people:
girls of all time, some who’d save you — “a lot,” like Buffy — and that one measly statue isn’t
some who might only kick your ass ... in a good way. going to do. Get busy.)
Olivia Benson, “Law
& Order: SVU”
Mariska Hargitay is one
of the best and most underrated
TV actresses working today. She
— and tortured hunky costar Lassie
Chris Meloni — are the glue of OK, we all now know Lassie was played by some Screen
the strongest “L&O” franchise on Actors Guild female-impersonating boy dog, but still, we know her
right now. She’s fearless, as “Girl,” and she saved that hapless Timmy (and his family, and
indefatigable (does she even the fire chief, and the sheriff) so much that you sort of feared for
have an apartment?), gentle, Timmy as an adult, unless he were to work in a dog-friendly
trustworthy and feels the pain workplace. BFF.
but picks herself up and dusts
herself off. This is the girl I want Lt. Uhura, “Star Trek” original series
at my back (and I want that cool Now, Lt. Uhura was not one of the showier roles on “Star Trek,”
little gold necklace she wears, but this lieutenant played by Nichelle Nichols was always cool in
too.) the face of any alien threat. Who would you have turned to as the
hideous bad guys were attacking — the hyperventilating Scotty?
Oprah Winfrey The “I’m a doctor, so don’t ask me to do anything” McCoy? Nah, it
Is there anything she’s was Lt. Uhura who stayed clear-eyed during unfathomable danger.
afraid of? Well, OK, yes — asking Where no man has gone before, remember?
celebrities the tough questions OK, so we wouldn’t totally trust Evangeline Lilly’s Kate — yet. But
(“Tom, will you get off my kick ass? This girl has outsmarted the U.S. marshals, been an
couch? Stop touching me; you’ve international fugitive, packs a piece with the ease of Jesse James
clearly lost your mind!”). But and faces off the jungle critters, Sawyer, hatch madness and the
aside from that, she’s got nerves rest with the cool assurance of a girl who only needs a little spritz
of steel, surro u n d e d by a in the Hawaiian sun to look gorgeous. Jack may be the nominal
gracious aura. If Oprah says it’ll hero of the castaways, but Kate is the one you want at your back .
be OK, it probably will. Oprah for . . with one eye on her, of course.
president, anyone?
Runners-up: Lorelai Gilmore, “Gilmore Girls”; “Wonder
Woman”; Sabrina on “Charlie’s Angels”; Nancy Grace; Dr. Molly
Caffrey, “Threshold”; “Roseanne”; President Mackenzie Allen,
“Commander in Chief”
DANCING WITH THE STARS
Veronica Mars
Entertainment Pro Spotlight
Kristen Bell’s heroine owes a lot to Buffy (read on), but
she’s much more of a loner and even more resourceful in battling
bad guys of the venal everyday variety. Veronica can crack a case,
while cracking wise — she’s Phyllis Marlowe, in low-slung jeans.
Inna Brayer
ACHIEVEMENTS:
“Here’s what you do: You get tough, you get even — works for
me.” · 2007 - Current US
Amateur 10 Dance
Sydney Bristow, “Alias” Champion
Jennifer Garner’s super spy is brilliant and brutal, and those
fight scenes look like they hurt. No wonder Vaughn and most of STATS:
the bad guys fall for her. The wigs, the cheekbones, the steely Style: Latin
glare, the fist to the squishy part right under the terrorist’s chin ... Nationality: Russian
I’m all happy for the coming baby and everything, but personally I Based in: Brooklyn
can’t wait ‘til Sydney’s back in fighting shape.
Status: Competes with
partner Pavel Pashkov
Emma Peel, “The Avengers” BACKGROUND:
She’s Sydney Bristow’s plucky great auntie, paving the way Born in Moscow and
for sexy, smart super agents for decades. As the star of the raised in America since
English ’60s series, Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel was sleek, unflappable the age of 2, Inna has
and unafraid to plant a karate kick in the sweet spot. been dancing since the
age of 7. Her life has been a whirlwind of events from the
very beginning, from travelling around the world to compete
to practicing long hours on a daily basis.
Dancing was never just a hobby for her, but more of
a lifestyle. Inna and her partner, Pavel, placed 11th at the
World Championship in Tokyo, and placed 9th at the World
Cup in Vancouver. The couple represented the U.S. at 6
world championships and are 3 time U.S. Amateur
Champions. Taliat and Marina Tarsinov have been a major
impact on their career together. They are still competing
after 5 years, and are the current representatives to the
worlds.
Pavel Pashkov & Inna Brayer started dancing
together in 2003 as Youth Currently they are registered as a
couple in USA. They dance in Amateur.
Buffy, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
This show was all about female strength and friends as
the new nuclear family — the Higher Power of the ’90s. No challenge Dorothy, “The Golden Girls”
was too small for Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy, including dying a This ensemble older-girl-power series was the blueprint
couple of times and battling everything that leapt out of that dad- for a lot of shows that followed, including “Sex and the City,”
blasted Hellmouth. It actually helped her martial-arts skills to have “Girlfriends,” “Sisters,” “Related” and more. And as Dorothy, Bea
been a cheerleader — did you notice that? Runner-up: Witchy Arthur was the hard-nosed, big-hearted, tough-talking center
Willow, the soft-spoken brainiac whose real superpower was being around which the other girls swirled. She was there in the clinch
the Best. Friend. Ever. but ready with a snappy putdown. Favorite exchange: Rose: “Can
I ask a dumb question?” Dorothy: “Like no one else.”
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