Why Can't A Woman Lead?

I recently watched a very interesting BBC 2 series called 'The United States of Television: America in Primetime' (Linky). This was a 4 part series that, each week, examined a different aspect of US primetime TV - Man Of The House, The Misfit, The Independent Woman and The Crusader. It tracked the development of these characters through the last 60 years of television and how these developments reflected wider issues within US society. I really enjoyed this show.

Until the last episode.

This episode looked at the Crusader - the character that is driven to do the right thing, even if by doing the right thing, they have to do the wrong thing. The characters that work in the grey. Here are the characters they discussed:

• Jack Bauer - 24
• Gregory House - House
• Andy Sipowicz - NYPD Blue
• Hawkeye Pierce - M*A*S*H
• Omar Little - The Wire
• Frank Pembleton - Homicide: Life on the Street
• Vic Mackey - The Shield
• Dexter Morgan - Dexter
• Dana Scully - The X Files

Other than the fact that there are some fantastic characters and shows there, notice anything about that list?

ONE WOMAN?

AND NOT EVEN THE LEAD IN THE SHOW?

REALLY??

And this got me to thinking - is there only one woman on that list because this programme in itself was sexist? Or is there only one woman on that list because, for some reason, a female led TV show just isn't accepted by primetime viewers?

If the answer is the second point, then why is this? Why do the majority of viewers struggle with women led, primetime TV shows? And if so, why do these shows tend to well in non-primetime slots - Buffy, Alias, Xena, Scandal, Dollhouse, Dark Angel, Veronica Mars, etc, etc, etc?

What does this say about the majority's view on the role of women? Are people still so entrenched in their view of what a woman should and shouldn't do that they cannot watch her 'kick ass' - physically and/or metaphorically?

As I have no such limitation on my views (thank you Wonder Woman and Col. Wilma Deering), I really don't know the answer to any of these questions.