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A huge rarity. Two females wrestling on a TV show. Here Gabrielle armbars Varia for the Amazon queenship. It was in fact a fistfight (notice the period knuckle gloves). The script originally called for wrestling BUT the powers that be changed it because it was a TV show. Xena:Warrior Princess.
Aside for one boring stint as a pacifist, Gabrielle was right in there with Xena for all the fighting (mainly against men). Mixed battles ruled the series. Gabrielle could really move as the series went on. Especially in season 5.
Yet, try to find a still pic of Xena with fists up.
Also in season 5, Xena was pregnant (IRL as well as forced unexplained on the show). So she had little to do but go to China and learn chi using it to fight at a distance. When the expecting mom actually did what the show's namesake required (the actress did have stunt doubles), it seemed artificial. But she finally got back into her game.

Sydney Fox in "Relic Hunter" fought at least 3 times per show.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer started each show with a fight. Again mostly against men. But she knew her moves. She was a real-life expert in Karate.
Sydney Bristow on "Alias" was second only to:

The gal who started it all, Emma Peel of "The Avengers". The REAL Avengers, not some comic strip drool. After her came Tara King who gave a good accounting of herself in her fights. Then it was Purdie. And to show you how long this series really ran, there was a precursor female fighter, seen mostly in England: Catharine Gale. Her fights were strictly judo. As were Emma Peel's, though she knew karate also and threw fists as well.
They started to use fists, kicks and judo chops with Tara who would also use a brick in her purse for a quick KO. But still judo.

NOW, what the heck? ALL of these shows were last century. In the 21st Century there's not a single female lead who body fights. What happened?
Did "Good girls don't fight" all of a sudden take us back in time? Way back? -- People who say that, never say, "good girls get raped." Never out loud.
When are we going to enjoy a 21st century fighting woman on network TV?

Description
A huge rarity. Two females wrestling on a TV show. Here Gabrielle armbars Varia for the Amazon queenship. It was in fact a fistfight (notice the period knuckle gloves). The script originally called for wrestling BUT the powers that be changed it because it was a TV show. Xena:Warrior Princess.
Aside for one boring stint as a pacifist, Gabrielle was right in there with Xena for all the fighting (mainly against men). Mixed battles ruled the series. Gabrielle could really move as the series went on. Especially in season 5.
Yet, try to find a still pic of Xena with fists up.
Also in season 5, Xena was pregnant (IRL as well as forced unexplained on the show). So she had little to do but go to China and learn chi using it to fight at a distance. When the expecting mom actually did what the show's namesake required (the actress did have stunt doubles), it seemed artificial. But she finally got back into her game.

Sydney Fox in "Relic Hunter" fought at least 3 times per show.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer started each show with a fight. Again mostly against men. But she knew her moves. She was a real-life expert in Karate.
Sydney Bristow on "Alias" was second only to:

The gal who started it all, Emma Peel of "The Avengers". The REAL Avengers, not some comic strip drool. After her came Tara King who gave a good accounting of herself in her fights. Then it was Purdie. And to show you how long this series really ran, there was a precursor female fighter, seen mostly in England: Catharine Gale. Her fights were strictly judo. As were Emma Peel's, though she knew karate also and threw fists as well.
They started to use fists, kicks and judo chops with Tara who would also use a brick in her purse for a quick KO. But still judo.

NOW, what the heck? ALL of these shows were last century. In the 21st Century there's not a single female lead who body fights. What happened?
Did "Good girls don't fight" all of a sudden take us back in time? Way back? -- People who say that, never say, "good girls get raped." Never out loud.
When are we going to enjoy a 21st century fighting woman on network TV?