# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/21 "2012-01-08T17:39:51Z")
I can think of a few [Bond](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_View_To_A_Kill) [movies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldenEye). ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/22 "2012-01-08T17:48:31Z")
How bout Joel and Maggie on _Northern Exposure?_ Joel: xenophobic physician. Can’t drive a stick shift, doesn’t know to chop firewood despite living in a log cabin in Alaska. Despite this he takes his duties as a town physician seriously and may be the smartest of the bunch, even if he lacks some common sense (or perhaps he simply is the least crazy). Maggie: bush pilot, likes to build airplanes and home DIY, kills bears and boyfriends on a regular basis. Thinks nothing of bivouacing in the middle of nowhere for a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/23 "2012-01-08T17:55:20Z")
Jamie Sommers and Oscar Goldman. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/24 "2012-01-08T18:33:26Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Gina Torres was muscle in the Firefly show. What was Jayne? Chopped liver? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/25 "2012-01-08T18:34:43Z")
Criminal Minds. Dr. Spencer Reid couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, but the female agents all kick ass. The Big Bang Theory. Penny outfights all the brillant guys. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/26 "2012-01-08T18:36:04Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > … 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. A more relevant TV Tropes page is [Action Girlfriend](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ActionGirlfriend). (It’s sometimes hard to work out the right name of the trope over there.) The setting is not uncommon in anime: one case where the male is very intellectual and the female is a very powerful fighter is [Sumomo Mo Momo Mo](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/SumomoMoMomoMo), where the male (Koshi Inuzuka) is a high school student whose ambition is to become a lawyer, and the female (Momoko) is a tiny pink-haired girl in love with in Koshi – they are supposed to have an arranged marriage – and who has spent all her life training in martial arts, so that she can beat anyone else regardless of size or age. ---
**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, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/27 "2012-01-08T18:46:15Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > In some ways, _all_ of Xena could fit the OP (Xena = brawn; Gabby = brains). Gabrielle wasn’t a man, though. I don’t think that partnership was a clear brains/brawn split either – Xena was depicted as intelligent and an excellent tactician, and Gabrielle learned to fight partway through the first season. Gabrielle’s big contribution to the team was that she had more emotional sensitivity and was thus better at dealing with situations that couldn’t be resolved through violence or cold logic. I was thinking about _The X-Files_, but I’d say the Mulder and Scully duo doesn’t fit the brains/brawn model either. It was more logic/intuition, although it did reverse the more traditional logical man and intuitive woman trope. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/28 "2012-01-08T18:50:36Z")
> [@'\[Undecided](#): > > Adrian;14645759’]Sarah and Chuck in the early seasons of _Chuck_. This is what I came to say. I still like the (soon-to-be-over) show, but I think the “I know kung fu” scene at the end of season 2 was, IMO, the beginning of the end for _Chuck_. ---
**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, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/29 "2012-01-08T20:09:59Z")
Not as uncommon as I thought. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/30 "2012-01-08T23:10:36Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Gina Torres was muscle in the Firefly show. > [@'\[Undecided](#): > > Adrian;14645759’]Sarah and Chuck in the early seasons of _Chuck_. Boy, Adam Baldwin can’t get no love in this thread at _all_. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/31 "2012-01-08T23:20:30Z")
Johnny Mnemonic. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/32 "2012-01-08T23:58:18Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Gina Torres was muscle in the Firefly show. > [@Candyman74](#): > > What was Jayne? Chopped liver? > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Boy, Adam Baldwin can’t get no love in this thread at _all_. I’m guessing **Sr Siete** means Mal and Zoe during their Browncoat years. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/33 "2012-01-08T23:59:06Z")
Kim Possible? ::clicks on action girlfriend link:: D’oh. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/34 "2012-01-09T00:54:37Z")
The whole point of THE MENTALIST is that Patrick is the brains – it’s right there in the title! – who solves crimes that baffle gun-toting special agent Teresa Lisbon, who in turn pretty much bodyguards the genius in between slapping the cuffs on the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/35 "2012-01-09T01:02:59Z")
\*\*\*\*_Psych_ - Shawn uses his mental abilities to solve crimes, and his girlfriend Juliet is one of the cops who do the heavy lifting. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/36 "2012-01-09T01:34:35Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Where do you think The Mentalist got the idea? 🙂 Eerily similar! A virtual carbon copy! Okay, how about FRINGE, where special agent Olivia Dunham (a) routinely defers to genius Peter Bishop and _thin-line-between-madness-and-genius_ Walter Bishop on scientific questions during their increasingly weird investigations but (b) is the go-to one of the three when there’s gun-totin’ special-agentin’ to be done? ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/37 "2012-01-09T01:41:21Z")
Leela and the fourth Doctor Who ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/38 "2012-01-09T01:42:36Z")
> [@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. Yea, but in her Crystal Singer stories, her lead traveled several times on ships where the ship “Brain” was male and the walkabout partner “Brawn” was female. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/39 "2012-01-09T01:47:14Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > Johnny Mnemonic. Of course, in that one the woman has fighting-implants and -enhancements. Including metallic claws that can be extended from beneath her fingernails, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823/40 "2012-01-09T01:50:17Z")
Can we count SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, where Lex Luthor was routinely accompanied by his kickboxing bodyguard Mercy Graves? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-examples-on-tv-film-of-brawn-woman-and-brain-man/608823.md?page=3)