In recent years, there has been a genre shift in crime dramas on television. In the 70s, 80s and early 90s, the viewer saw the main characters heavily male dominated, with one woman added mainly for sex appeal. The shift from the stereotypical nuclear family, with a stay-at-home mother, has impacted many genres of television programming and is illustrated in Paul Cantor's "The Simpsons: Atomic Politics and the Nuclear Family", when he refers away from a historical ideal. the family “in fact [the breakdown] must be considered as a form of liberation from an image of the family which was perhaps good enough for the 1950s but which is no longer valid in the 1990s” (737 ). Popular television has taken “women” out of their “home” and assigned them pants instead of kitchen aprons. Most crime dramas these days are either gender-balanced or even female-dominated. As this change occurred, many new problems began to emerge. The presence of female lead characters in these types of series allows young female viewers to see that women are capable of working in a typically male-dominated workplace and holding positions of power and leadership. The shift in power roles in crime dramas provides young female viewers with leading role models, thanks to unrealistic portrayals of characters by lead actresses, often undermining the realities of motherhood. Many current crime series give young viewers female role models in positions of professional power. Studies have shown that the television genre based on law and crime has had a considerable influence on career choices in forensic science among young viewers (quoted in O'Donnell "Sample Criticism" (216). An example of this popular trend is Law and Order: SVU which commonly throws ...... middle of paper ...... lture, it is imperative that we understand the message that is allowed in the house Works Cited Cantor, Paul. A. “The Simpsons: Atomic and Nuclear Politics Family.” PopPerspectives: Readings for Criticism in Contemporary Culture. Ed. Laura Grey-Rosendale Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 463-476. television creates the myth by which we live." 7th edition: Boston, 2012. Jermyn, Deborah. "Women on a Mission: Lynda La Plante, DCI Jane Tennison and the Reconfiguration of the Television Crime Drama 6.46. 2003): 46-63. Print. O'Donnell, Victoria. “Example of a review of a television program: “CSI: Crime SceneInvestigation”. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2007.215-227. Print.