Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) in “Damages”

TV is quickly becoming the place to find “multidimensional female protagonists.”

“The list of gutsy women with more than a few flaws is long — “Saving Grace” (TNT), “Bionic Woman” (NBC), “Painkiller Jane” (Sci-Fi), “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Fox), and “In Plain Sight” (USA), to name a few,” writes Gloria Goodale of the Christian Science Monitor.

She begins the story by discussing “Damages,” the FX drama starring Glenn Close in the scariest role she’s ever had (yes, including “Fatal Attraction”).

Chuck Barney of The Mercury News also notes the trend:

It wasn’t all that long ago in Hollywood that television was viewed as a grungy stepsister to the big screen, and established performers avoided it unless they were desperate. But two things have happened to gradually alter the perception: Movies became hopelessly obsessed with youth and formulaic big-scale concepts; while television, on some fronts, matured and broadened its storytelling scope.

The eminently watchable Lili Taylor has a first-hand perspective on this trend since she plays a therapist with her own issues on “State of Mind” (Lifetime). And she’s worried that a trend too easily becomes a cliche in Hollywood: “It seems like TV is pushing itself more. And if it’s pushing itself, it’s going to probably push itself off in the realm of the feminine. I think what happens is when you have a formula, a lot of times the female character is going to suffer.”

When one hears that the producers of “Bionic Woman” are proudly touting it as “post-feminist,” I begin to get a little anxious myself.

Having seen the premieres of both “Saving Grace” and “Damages,” I think there’s plenty to like in both series. Holly Hunter’s Grace, an Oklahoma City detective in “Saving Grace,” is a dynamic and complex character that defies most stereotypes. But the show’s major conceit — an angel that comes down to reform her — threatens to undermine the ground-breaking possibilities within that character.

Glenn Close is equally remarkable as attorney Patty Hewes in “Damages,” but her co-star, Rose Byrne, is the surprisingly effective narrative centerpiece — she reveals the many layers of her character in subtle gestures and expressions. The show has less flaws than “Grace,” but then it aims a little lower — it’s much more concerned with being a taut thriller than a character study. But it looks like it’s going to be a very enjoyable ride.

Speaking of thrillers, Cherry Jones is set to be the next president on “24.” Just when I thought I could finally let go of shamelessly contrived Fox series, admitting that Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe was not enough of a reason to keep watching, it keeps pulling me back in …