(CNN)  -- In the same way a Christmas playlist is incomplete without a tipsy, eggnog-drinking grandmother having an unfortunate accident with reindeer, the melodrama of certain shows and films improves when a boozy grandmother is written in.



The minor role is normally reserved for television, but it makes the jump to movie theaters this year in "The Lovely Bones," Peter Jackson's cerebral thriller based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel, with Susan Sarandon playing the hard-drinking Grandma Lynn.



"She's such a strange grandmother," Sarandon told the Australian press about her first role as a family matriarch. Although Sarandon, 63, said she's old enough to play one, her Grandma Lynn isn't "a granny grandmother."



"She's the comic relief in this very deep, very hard movie; she comes in and the movie gets lighter," said movie reviewer Kit Bowen. "She's trying to vacuum while ash is falling from her cigarette."



Television critics say it's hard to nail down when this character first made an appearance, but the anti-grandmother role we know today was more than likely inspired by the spirited older women on "Golden Girls," and has since become a television staple.



Kelly Bishop played a version of the difficult, drinking grandmother for seven seasons as Emily Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," and Holland Taylor has taken her vodka neat as Evelyn Harper on "Two and a Half Men" and as Peggy Peabody on "The L Word."



The Upper East Side hour-long melodrama "Gossip Girl" has the scheming Celia Rhodes -- whose signature scent is Chanel No. 5 with a top note of gin -- and Jessica Walter has perfected the role as Lucille Bluth on "Arrested Development" and Tabitha Wilson on "90210."



"These women, they're not knitting -- they're more interested in mixing their drinks than watching kids," said Entertainment Weekly's pop culture writer Tim Stack. "They're more inclined to offer a witticism or a barb than to give you sweet advice. These ladies aren't cooking -- I don't think they even eat. They drink their lunch. And their dinners. And their breakfasts. ... Maybe they eat the olives."



They're the exact opposite of the stereotypical grandmother, said TVGuide.com's senior editor Mickey O'Connor.



"They're supposed to be the truth-tellers -- whether it's liquid courage or lowering their inhibitions, I don't know," O'Connor said.



"But everyone can relate to having an older relative that embarrasses you to some degree," he added. "Shelley Long just did a drunken grandma on 'Modern Family.' There was a wedding scene where she got drunk, gave a toast and ended up kicking the cake over. It's about the universality of how we deal with our older relatives. If you make them drunk, there's some way to at least codify what embarrasses us about them, or to excuse their outrageous behavior."



With O'Connor's own grandparents, though, "it's less often an indication of how much they've had to drink and more often just who they are."



Because it's a role that's virtually paint-by-numbers -- drunk grandmothers are nearly always wealthy, white and cruelly witty, with poor parenting skills -- it demands a strong actress who can keep the potentially two-dimensional from falling flat.



Case in point for film reviewer Bowen is the difference between the Grandma Lynn in Sebold's novel and Jackson's cinematic version.



"I loved the book, but the funny thing is that I don't remember the grandmother," Bowen said. "She definitely is more memorable in the movie, and I'm glad her character is in the movie because it adds another layer to it.



"Which, of course, has everything to do with Susan Sarandon," Bowen added.



The talent of the women who have taken these minor roles and turned them into iconic characters is what has kept the "drunk grandma" role from veering into cliché
Are these grandmas the stereotypical grandmothers? Who dies Susan Sarandon play in "The Lovely Bones"? Who is the drinking grandmother on "Gilmore Girls"? What character plays Kelly Bishop? Who plays Grandma Lynn  in "The Lovely Bones"? What do experts say about these grandmas? Who played Emily Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls"?
They're the exact opposite hard-drinking Grandma Lynn. Emily Gilmore Emily Gilmore Susan Sarandon made an appearance, but the anti-grandmother role we know today was more than likely inspired by the spirited older women on "Golden Girls," and has since become a television staple. Kelly Bishop
question: Are these grandmas the stereotypical grandmothers?, answer: They're the exact opposite | question: Who dies Susan Sarandon play in "The Lovely Bones"?, answer: hard-drinking Grandma Lynn. | question: Who is the drinking grandmother on "Gilmore Girls"?, answer: Emily Gilmore | question: What character plays Kelly Bishop?, answer: Emily Gilmore | question: Who plays Grandma Lynn  in "The Lovely Bones"?, answer: Susan Sarandon | question: What do experts say about these grandmas?, answer: made an appearance, but the anti-grandmother role we know today was more than likely inspired by the spirited older women on "Golden Girls," and has since become a television staple. | question: Who played Emily Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls"?, answer: Kelly Bishop