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It's interesting that at the same time that these new shows are being produced, the concept of the "man law" has been firmly rooted in male-oriented programming. Tune in to sports radio or ESPN long enough and you will hear a comment about somebody needing to turn in their "man card" for doing something like not ordering the porterhouse steak at dinner or using an umbrella to walk the 10 feet from their car to their office (I heard this one a couple of days ago). A beer company's main campaign slogan is "Men Should Act Like Men," and features men getting crushed by giant beer cans as punishment for not catching a tossed brewsky correctly or saying "whee!" while testing out a trampoline. Also, TV and movie actors like Jim Belushi and "Sopranos" tough guy Frank Vincent have authored books about how to be a "real" man.
It seems to me that this codifiction of male behaviors that are socially acceptable mirrors the kind of rules imposed on women until the late 20th century. During that time, the people who called the shots in media (The Executive Producers, studio chiefs, and publishing heads) were overwhelmingly men. Nowadays women fill many critical creative roles in TV, movies, and print. The overarching theme of tough, accomplished women who have to deal with professionally, socially, and economically impotent men might be an unconscious reflection of what many of these women see themselves going through. Similarly, media geared toward men might reflect a lot of anxiety guys have about how they're supposed to act among each other and with girls who are just as powerful as them.
