What first appeared as adorable sleepwear on shows like Friends now has become de rigueur for any situation on women of any age. Over on HBO's True Blood, poor Anna Paquin is wearing tanks so wee they look like toddlers' undershirts. Weeds is set in Southern California, so at least Mary-Louise Parker's Nancy Botwin has an excuse for all those spaghetti straps and baby-doll dresses, but the ladies of Lipstick Jungle huddle over their lattes in sleeveless silk and linen, nevermind that it's autumn in New York and sleeting.

Seriously, it may be the most oppressive instrument of fashion since the chastity belt. Yes, Linda Hamilton looked great when she buffed up for Terminator 2, but those biceps were necessary to save the world. Wouldn't it be better for actors to spend time working on, say, their Southern accents than doing endless sets of pull-ups? Do we really want a generation of women with arms like Madonna?

You would think that producers would lighten up a little and let the tank top go. Or at least acknowledge that a woman can be sassy and attractive and still wear long sleeves (or even short sleeves).

For one thing, it would probably cut down on all the on-set drama. When you haven't eaten in 17 days, when whatever free time you have is spent lifting free weights, when you face a wardrobe full of clothing designed for a 12-year-old, it's hard not to become a little ``difficult.''

But, more important, a move away from tank-top skinny would improve the general aesthetic of television. The current cavalcade of wafer-thin, over-toned and stringy women can be quite depressing to watch. You worry too much about their general health. Are they smoking too much? Taking those weird Chinese herbs that are really just natural speed? Do they not remember when Jamie-Lynn Sigler almost had to quit The Sopranos because she got too thin?

The real problem with the eating-challenged actresses of 90210 is not that they're going to jump-start a cult of anorexia but that they're going to ruin their own show. How can you, the viewer, concentrate on the drama of the story if you're worrying that Grimes and Stroup will literally collapse before your eyes?

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