Finely made women in 'Cashmere'

Say what you will about the "Enjoli" campiness of some of the ads, but I defy anyone to speak slightingly about the cast of "Cashmere Mafia," a female foursome so formidable that two of them are Australian. Not the characters, which are straight-up American power babes, but the women who play them prove once again that limited opportunities for female leads in film are a tremendous boon for television.

There's Miranda Otto, so regal and moving as Eowyn in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, alongside fellow Aussie Frances O'Connor, who has starred in such high-end fare as "Madame Bovary" and "Mansfield Park." There's Lucy Liu, who needs no formal introduction, shoulder to shoulder with Bonnie Somerville, formerly of "NYPD Blue" and "The O.C."

Together, they play four high-functioning, A-list New York career gals who look like supermodels, talk like society dames and still manage to find loads of time for girl bonding. "Sex and the City" meets Edith Wharton by way of "The Devil Wears Prada." Got all that? Actually, you might want to have a notebook handy, not to mention a Valium; while the ABC dramedy is entertaining, it's not exactly relaxing. Watching these gals wield their cellphones, BlackBerries and personal assistants like light-sabers has much the same effect on the nervous system as a triple-shot, low-fat, no-foam cappuccino -- you may be up for hours.

Which doesn't mean they aren't human. Of course they are, and that's where all the fun is. Liu's character Mia, for instance, has just become engaged to her fellow magazine bigwig, only to be pitted against him in a race for publisher. You know, the typical personal versus professional tug of war so many of us face. Otto's Juliet Draper is the CEO/philanthropist with the perfect husband -- ha! Zoe (O'Connor) takes on the Power Mommy dilemma, complete with her own personal nemesis, a stay-at-home mother with eyes toward Zoe's husband -- this devil wears a velvet tracksuit -- while hot young designer Caitlin (Somerville) is wondering if maybe the reason she can't seem to find a boyfriend is because she doesn't really like boys.

Have we got all the psycho-emotional bases covered? Well, no one seems to have a brother or sister in Iraq, but otherwise yes, we do.