Blanche Devereaux and the Evolution of the TV Cougar

When Rue McClanahan died last week, I found out via Facebook. This is no great revelation. I got the news about Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper the same way, but I was struck by the different tone of the status messages mentioning Rue's passing. For one thing, they came mostly from women. We ladies pictured Rue swanning about in a caftan in heaven and wished her well. There is sadness, yes, but no sense of tragedy or mystery. Here on Earth, she delighted us as Blanche Devereaux on 'The Golden Girls,' and we hope that somewhere in the great Miami in the sky, she has finally found a man worthy of her affections. Or many men.

Blanche was the first cougar of my television memory. (For the record, I'm trying to take back the word 'cougar' here, the way we're always trying to take back the night. I'm not sure I can entirely swallow the idea, but it's a lot shorter than 'sexually aggressive older single woman', so bear with me.) Debuting in 1985, 'The Golden Girls' originally cast McClanahan as Rose, and Betty White as Blanche. The two women realized the roles were too similar to ones they had played in the past. White had portrayed a sexually aggressive proto-Martha Stewart on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', while McClanahan had played sweet and timid on 'Maude'. They convinced the show runners to let them switch roles, and the rest is history. Since then, there has always been a cougar character on TV.

Blanche laid down a lot of the laws of the TV cougar. Her behavior should cause amusement, consternation and a touch of envy in her friends. Blanche swore she was never the 'other woman' in an extra-marital relationship, at least not to her knowledge. The comedy cougar is informed about sexual health and has safe sex. Airing as it did through the beginning of the AIDS crisis, 'The Golden Girls' told us that Blanche had safe sex and knew her lovers' sexual history. What she lacks in a strong relationship with a man, she makes up for by having great friends.

While Blanche was working her way through the men of Miami, Mona Robinson was tearing through the eligible bachelors in Connecticut on 'Who's the Boss'. Airing over almost exactly the same period, 'Who's The Boss?' also gave us an example of the comedy cougar. Katherine Helmond's Mona eventually settled down with one guy, but before that she dated everyone from college students to fusty old CEOs.

In the 90s, the TV cougar changed. For one thing, she was younger, part of a trend that continues to this day -- soon we'll be back to the 1950s ethos, where an unmarried woman of 22 is a cougar instead of an old maid. At the moment, the age at which a sexually rapacious single woman earns the moniker seems to hover at 35.

Which is my best guess for Amanda Woodward's age when she debuted on 'Melrose Place' in 1992. Unlike those who came before her, Amanda is not the hero of the story and she's definitely not funny. After all, 'Melrose Place' was not a sit-com -- the soap world is definitely where Amanda came from. Cold, calculating and a ruthless man-eater, she was involved with almost every male character on the show. As much as Amanda's role on the show was as an antagonist to the more naive women in the apartment complex, for my girlfriends and I -- and I think for most of the women watching -- she was the closest thing to an actual role model on offer.

And then in 1998, we got Samantha Jones. 'Sex and the City's resident 'try-sexual' brought fun back to the cougar comedy equation. Where Amanda Woodward terrified us, Samantha Jones made us laugh and made us jealous. Especially in the early seasons of the show, Kim Catrall's portrayal of a late-forties career woman with an endless sexual appetite reinvented the idea of the cougar. For one thing, she got to say things that were funny, instead of being the thing that is funny. (Later episodes, like the one where Samantha gets sick and can't even manage to blow her nose without a man, back-tracked on this promising path.) Sam brought the TV cougar up to date -- she worked, she worked out, and eventually she found the younger man of every cougar's dreams in Smith Jerrod -- supportive, smoking hot, and totally in love with her.

Samantha carried us into the new millennium, but now that 'SATC' has moved to big screen, the TV cougar scene has sort of dried up. It's too early for me to tell if Jules Cobb of 'Cougar Town' will join this list. The title of the show is deceptive -- and show creator Bill Lawrence admits it's mainly meant to shock people into watching -- as Courteney Cox's Jules seems to spend most of her time expressing reservations about dating younger men, not doing it. At least the show is set in Florida, where Blanche's spirit may live on.

Whatever we think of the word 'cougar', it's clear the idea appeals to women, at least in fictional form. I know that throughout my twenties, I despaired of ever meeting someone I would want to share an apartment with, let alone marry. Samantha, Amanda and Blanche all offered a glimpse of a life that included professional and sexual fulfillment without marriage. It could also include a fantastic wardrobe, great friends and even love. And after a certain age, permission to wear caftans.