“Honey, tact is for people who aren’t witty enough to be sarcastic,” Will & Grace’s Karen Walker once said. And boy would she know! She and her six cohorts listed here are simply in a league of their own in terms of biting wit.
Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter)
Designing Women, 1986-93
The woman who never met a soapbox she couldn’t climb, Julia was often the mouthpiece for Designing Women creator and writer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s political stances, including standing up for HIV+ people when it was still unpopular and generally setting Atlanta society straight about the issues of the day. And, really, who could forget "the night the lights went out in Georgia?"...
Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams)
Ugly Betty, 2006-10
A.k.a. the menace of Mode magazine, Wilhelmina ruled the offices of the fashion magazine with the help of her loyal minions Marc and Amanda, although even they could be at the wrong end of her wrath occasionally. The character was so iconic that some of her traits bled into Williams’ Desperate Housewives character, Renee Perry.
Maryann Thorpe (Christine Baranski)
Cybill, 1995-98
Karen Walker’s predecessor, Baranski and Shepherd’s characters resembled the Ab Fab duo of Edina and Patsy crossed with Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz. Maryann and bff Cybill Sheridan (Cybill Shepherd) got into all kinds of fun mischief in the 1995–98 show.
Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch)
Glee, 2009-
Mayhem in a tracksuit, thy name is Sue. Although she’s softened in the last season or so, Coach Sylvester has always been Glee’s villain. From denigrating pregnant cheerleaders and young gay glee club members to trying to get Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) fired, the cheerleading coach will stop at nothing to be at the top of the heap at Lima, Ohio’s McKinley High.
Karen Walker (Megan Mullally)
Will & Grace, 1998-2006
Delusional. Clueless to other people’s feelings. A pill-popping, boozy insane train. Whatever you call her, Karen definitely demanded your attention. The comic foil to Debra Messing’s Grace Adler, and partner-in-crime to Sean Hayes' Jack, Karen could insult a pregnant woman and denigrate her loyal maid Rosario (Shelley Morrison) with equal aplomb.
Jane Forrest (Ellen Barkin)
The New Normal, 2012-
A female Archie Bunker for this decade, Barkin’s nana Jane berates her granddaughter Goldie’s life choices at every turn and can offend a multitude of sexual orientations and races within seconds of entering a room. It looks like she’ll be locking horns with the other tough broad in the cast, NeNe Leakes’ Rocky—hopefully for many years to come.
And last but not least....
Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur)
The Golden Girls, 1985-92
Arthur’s Dorothy was often the voice of reason but could ruffle a few feathers now and then, too. Just ask her ex-husband Stan, usually on the other end of her barbs and slammed doors. Also a tough broad on her ’70s sitcom Maude, Arthur and her iconic characters were known for their outspoken nature and signature slow-burn look. And for whacking Rose Nylund (Betty White) with a newspaper.
So who is your favorite? Any great sharp-tongued TV ladies we forgot?
