The Buzz: Ladies who raunch

With Friday's opening of the mostly female comedy "Bridesmaids," the writer and co-star, Kristen Wiig, proves that women can be just as raunchy, crude and outrageous as men. The film, about a group of women planning a wedding, includes all manner of unladylike behavior, from belching to barfing to much, much worse. Here's a look at some of the comediennes who blazed the trail for the, ahem, broad comedy of "Bridesmaids."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus As Elaine on NBC's long-running "Seinfeld," Louis-Dreyfus was always willing to embarrass herself. One memorably mortifying highlight: Dancing like an injured James Brown in the episode "The Little Kicks."

Roseanne Barr With her full-size figure, nasal voice and take-a-hike attitude, Barr both spoofed and saluted the middle-American housewife. Her groin-grabbing, loogie-hocking rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a 1990 baseball game remains a YouTube favorite.

Joan Rivers For decades, Rivers has worked blue, and always with a fierce feminist streak. Her 1978 film, "Rabbit Test," which she directed and co-wrote, starred Billy Crystal as the world's first pregnant man.

Jane Lynch A frequent gender-bender, Lynch takes roles that could have gone to males: Think of her sexually aggressive boss in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," the recovering coke addict in "Role Models" and the tyrannical coach on Fox's "Glee."

Lucille Ball The star of "I Love Lucy" remains one of the great slapstick artists of either gender. Among her better-known routines: getting drunk from a mysterious health tonic, flailing in a grape-stomping vat and doing the tango with a blouse full of eggs. Few comediennes have tackled physical comedy so bravely.