Get ready for some "Flack"

It's laughable that the star of the new Pop TV drama Flack Anna Paquin was asked if the show's mostly female ensemble was by design.

Courtesy of Pop TV

I was reading an Entertainment Weekly article about Pop TV's new drama Flack and I laughed when I ran across a question asking the star of the series Anna Paquin if the show's mostly female ensemble was by design. Before I tell you why I thought it was comical, let me tell you more about Flack. It's about Paquin's character, Robyn, an American woman who works as a crisis PR strategist in London. Think Olivia Pope but without the politics. Robyn has what some would consider a sexy PR role with a high-profile client roster to boot. Think sports stars, top entertainers and fashion houses. Simply put, she's a #girlboss and PR chick. Woot! And seriously that's the only reason this topic is even on my radar.

Okay, back to why I found the question in the article funny and really more ridiculous than laughable. First, it annoys me that having a female cast is a shock or has to be "by design." Second, the majority female cast is one of the things that will make the show believable and prevent Flack from getting unwarranted flack (pun intended) from PR pros like me.

I wonder if the EW reporter did his homework before the interview. If he did, he would have found that women make up anywhere from 61.3 to 69 percent of the PR industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Public Relations Society of America. I've worked in PR since 2004 and from my experience the number is even higher. I've only worked with four men during my career (I hired two of them!). This is why the question amused me and why design of the mostly female cast makes sense. Don't get discouraged, Flack does feature a few good men, like The Good Wife's Marc Warren.

Now where the show might be a stretch is the make up of the leadership at this fictitious PR agency. It's all-female led, a stark contrast to reality where there's a huge disparity of women in leadership and management roles. Sources estimate women occupy one in five senior positions. Seth Arenstein wrote in a recent PR News piece that globally only about 30 percent of the C-suite at PR agencies feature a woman in the top chair. The causes for this gap in female leadership varies.

One of the reasons I hear too often is lack of flexibility when you're at an agency. What you often find is that those who are ready for promotion leave the industry or create their own practice a few years after having children. Another reason is that women eat our own. Some of my most toughest bosses have been women. I responded to those situations and their tough love by showing them I couldn't be broken. I've heard so many incidents where the "mean girl" culture is just too much too handle. It's hard to lean in when the very person you expect to support you is the one causing you angst.

I doubt Flack will go as deep as to explore any of these issues, and I'm okay with it being an escape from reality for a good hour. The trailer makes me skeptical. Is it going to be a Scandal copycat or will it hold it's own? It premieres on Feb. 21 at 9 p.m. CST. I just hope it's worth watching, we'll see.

#PRChic