Even existing series are amping the female factor.

After successfully focusing on its male anti-heroes for years, "The Big Bang Theory" recently introduced a stronger female presence with Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch taking on recurring girlfriend characters.

That, in turn, has led tube to more substantial storylines for the show's original token female, Kaley Cuoco, says Bialik.

"Much as I love her with the guys, I personally love seeing (Cuoco) acting when she's with me and Melissa," Bialik said during the same press tour earlier this year.

"Because she gets to do more, she gets to be more. (Her character) gets to be the smartest one, because she is — socially, she's superior to these girls but not in an arrogant way.... Kaley's getting this leading lady opportunity to lead in a different way."

Simon Helberg, who plays the randy aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz, agrees.

"When the show first started there was a lot of flack being given to (creator) Chuck (Lorre) and to the show and the writers about Kaley's character being such a two-dimensional, sort of ditzy blond," he says.

"And then she got to grow that character and you got to see her father, where she comes from, the layers of her, and now here we are with this entire, almost other show-within-the-show of these three girls. Every time it cuts to a scene with them I think it's just a brilliant way to use everybody and to give a female voice to the show."

Best known for her dramatic work on "24," Calgary-born Elisha Cuthbert says she leapt at the chance to try comedy on the ensemble series "Happy Endings."

She gushed over co-star Casey Wilson, a former regular on "Saturday Night Live," for helping her get in touch with her funny bone.

"I'm learning a lot about improv from her," Cuthbert said earlier this year at a Citytv media event to trumpet the upcoming second season.

Cuthbert also liked the fact that her character, Alex, was not a cookie-cutter rom-com staple — her character flees her own wedding in the pilot episode, leaving her longtime beau and their friends dumbfounded at the church.

The rest of the first season sees Alex embark on a slow climb back to redemption, culminating in a will-they-or-won't-they reunion with her ex in the finale.

"Anyone in their late 20s, early 30s that is going through that probably has felt at some point the cold feet," Cuthbert says.