# Any examples on TV & film of brawn=woman and brain=man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823 "2012-01-08T15:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/1 "2012-01-08T15:01:58Z")
It’s a trope that in male/female pairings, the brawn will be the guy and the brain will be the girl. If there’s a split, that is. I’m thinking of innumerable TV ads, Moonlighting, Anne McCaffrey’s Ship series, etc. Are there any examples of this being reversed? Where the brawn is the girl? And yes, I’ve checked [TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrainsAndBrawn). They only give one, and that’s in a super-hero universe. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/2 "2012-01-08T15:07:57Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It’s a trope that in male/female pairings, the brawn will be the guy and the brain will be the girl. If there’s a split, that is. I’m thinking of innumerable TV ads, **Moonlighting,** Anne McCaffrey’s Ship series, etc. “We’re a team. I’m the brains, she’s the muscle.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/3 "2012-01-08T15:08:14Z")
[The Librarian-Quest For The Spear.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412915/) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/4 "2012-01-08T15:09:14Z")
Will and Grace. Will is the smart one and, several times throughout the series, Grace is shown to be very strong or at least strong then Will (whose muscles you can see through his tight shirts). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/5 "2012-01-08T15:11:53Z")
Weatherby and Helena in [_DOA: Dead or Alive._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOA:_Dead_or_Alive) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/6 "2012-01-08T15:12:44Z")
Buff the Vampire Slayer (superhuman-level strength) and Giles (educated librarian and researcher of all things mystical). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/7 "2012-01-08T15:23:17Z")
Boy detective Encyclopedia Brown has a girl bodyguard named Sally, to protect him from villainous Bugs Meany. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/8 "2012-01-08T15:25:03Z")
Oh, and Angela Bassett is the muscle behind Ralph Fiennes’ operation in the movie\*\*\* Strange Days.\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/9 "2012-01-08T15:25:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “We’re a team. I’m the brains, she’s the muscle.” I was just going to quote that myself, actually. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/10 "2012-01-08T15:52:49Z")
Circuitry Man - the couple featured in this tongue in cheek post apocalyptic film has the female partner a bodyguard/organized crime thug and the male partner a very cultured and fey male prostitute. If it changes anything he is a non-biological android of some variety. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/11 "2012-01-08T15:59:08Z")
_The Avengers_. ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/12 "2012-01-08T16:05:20Z")
Sarah and Chuck in the early seasons of _Chuck_. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/13 "2012-01-08T16:09:04Z")
Baltar and Number Six from Battlestar Galactica. He’s a 5’8" super genius and she’s a 6’ (in heels) bond artifical human with, if not super human strenth, still pretty strong. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/14 "2012-01-08T16:41:07Z")
Leverage - they have a male character who’s the brawn, but also a female character who’s seriously athletic and extremely strong, and their in-house geek is male. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/15 "2012-01-08T16:57:37Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Baltar and Number Six from Battlestar Galactica. He’s a 5’8" super genius and she’s a 6’ (in heels) bond artifical human with, if not super human strenth, still pretty strong. Also, Kara Thrace and just about anyone. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/16 "2012-01-08T17:14:22Z")
On “Dark Angel”, Jessica Alba’s old TV series, her character Max was the superhero and the guy in the wheelchair with the computers (who grew up to be Agent DeNozo on “NCIS” 🙂 ) , was the brains. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/17 "2012-01-08T17:23:53Z")
Castle and Beckett in _Castle_. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/18 "2012-01-08T17:24:47Z")
While it wasn’t a regular part of the series, the title character on _Xena: Warrior Princess_ occasionally teamed up with a man who possessed knowledge or specialized skills that she lacked. There were a few episodes where she needed the help of Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), the self-proclaimed King of Thieves, to steal something or break into a secure location. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/19 "2012-01-08T17:36:17Z")
Gina Torres was muscle in the Firefly show. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/20 "2012-01-08T17:38:54Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > While it wasn’t a regular part of the series, the title character on _Xena: Warrior Princess_ occasionally teamed up with a man who possessed knowledge or specialized skills that she lacked. There were a few episodes where she needed the help of Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), the self-proclaimed King of Thieves, to steal something or break into a secure location. In some ways, _all_ of Xena could fit the OP (Xena = brawn; Gabby = brains). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823.md?page=2)