November 4th, 2008.

The United States of America, the most famous and powerful country in the world, elects its first African American president - Barack Obama.

Congratulations.

November 4th, 2008.

The state of California votes to overturn the law that legalized gay marriages. Hence making people who did get married, not so much anymore.

Hmm, one step forward, two steps back!

Your probably wondering what this has to do with TV?

Well just the other day it was announced that Brooke Smith (who plays Dr. Hahn on Grey's Anatomy) has been fired, and her lesbian storyline will end on today's episode. This coming on the heels of Rebecca Romijn's transgender character Alexis Mead leaving the cast of Ugly Betty (though word is that it is because she is pregnant).

Word going around is that ABC is anti-gay. Actually the network has the most homosexual characters on TV. Seven as of this past September.

So, what's the problem? Do you think that America isn't ready for a strong gay storyline?

Perhaps? The Grey's Anatomy storyline was probably one of the most risque I've seen on network tv in a while. A lot of the discussion in the last episode was about oral sex, and how each of the lesbian characters felt about it.

With gay culture slowly getting in the mainstream, we've seen a lot of homosexual characters in our favorite shows. Ellen and Will & Grace are probably the most famous of these shows. Both were built around main characters being gay. The former eventually turned into that (and ended up getting cancelled), while the latter was the premise. But there have been other shows. Melrose Place started off with a gay character (Matt, played by Doug Savant of Desperate Housewives), Spin City, Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Larry Sanders Show, as well as many more.

In each of the shows I mentioned the characters were secondary characters and while they all had storylines that involved their sexuality and life, they were never as 'A-Plot' as the one in Grey's.

I'm not sure if the actress wasn't the greatest on set, if the story was not working in the ratings, or if the writers just didn't know where to take it (though if your starting a storyline, you better know how to end it), but it just seems rushed out out of place, and sadly, undue attention on a show that has some good points to it.

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Well I do!... Or so I thought.

I heard this line the other night on Gossip Girl. It was a throwaway line, but it got me thinking... do people watch TV on TV anymore?

Of course, I thought to myself. I do. I do it everyday. But on further inspection, I realized, very few of the shows I watch today, are actually when they are on air.

Mondays have become the most hectic day in the week for me. Between Chuck, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, 2 hours of WWE Monday Night RAW (it's awesome, so don't judge me!),One Tree Hill (guilty pleasure, so don't judge me!), Samantha Who? and Boston Legal I barely can watch any one program live. Add to the fact that I am at my weekly football game, and well, I thank the good Lord for DVRs, timeshifting and weekends!

Then there are shows that for some reason, do not cross the border as fast as others. Take for example ABC Family's Greek. Premiering in the states in the summer of 2007, the series finally debuted this summer on CTV and subsequently got over played on MuchMusic. The problem, however, has been that the good people over at CTV/Much have decided to halt the series mid way through the first season (it was really the mid season finale stateside, but a full season finale here). Greek is currently in the middle of its second season, while us crazy canucks are waiting for season one to resolve itself. By the time that actually happens, it should be graduation time! In cases like that, I've found myself moseying on to youtube and the like, watching episodes people have posted in bits and pieces. 30 Rock even recently premiered its season opener online a full three days before it went on air! The result, its highest ratings ever for a season premiere (I'm sure the Emmy helped as well!)

And then there are TV shows on DVD, iTunes, and On Demand channels. Most people I know get their entertainment this way. From the people I've spoken to, more people watch Entourage and Dexter on demand during the week than during their Sunday night timeslot.

It seems like people want to watch their show at their own pace. Whether it be watching 10 episodes of Nip/Tuck in a row (DVD), or watching an episode and then coming back to it later (on Demand/online), TV viewing has changed dramatically.

Neilsen even has figures for shows recorded on a DVR (a rating that seems to have saved shows like Friday Night Lights). New reaseach shows that DVR watchers actually watch MORE tv than your average live tv viewer. In fact in Europe 45% of people do their viewing online. Here in North America, networks are putting their programming online to attract views there. 90210 is one show has people flocking over to the Globaltv website here in Canada.

While I have crossed over to this new frontier, making the TV schedule work around my schedule, I still feel as if there still isn't anything like watching your favorite show on a big tv screen, rather than in front of a PC (or Mac) or even your iPod.

Call me old fashioned!

How about you? Where do you view most of your series? On Air? Online? On DVD? Let me know.

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Alright, alright, I know I've been away. But there's been so much on offer and so little time... so with that in mind, let's proceed.

• HBO has picked up Entourage for a sixth season a month into season five coming on air. Great news for fans of Vincent Chase and company!


• Not to be outdone, Showtime announced that Dexter has been picked up for two additional seasons. Looks like Sunday night is pretty much set for for me for the next two years


• NBC has picked up full season orders for Knight Rider and Kath & Kim (Seriously?!)


• Private Practice and Samantha Who? has been picked up by ABC as well.


• Barack Obama proved that people are really interested in this election. Using tv as a way to improve his image and get his name out there, Obama aired a 1/5 hour infomercial on every network save for ABC. Later that night he showed up on The Daily Show and garnered huge numbers for them as well!


• CBS said goodbye to the Ex List. For some reason I really thought that one would work!


• D.L Hugley has his own show on CNN. WTF?! D.L Hugley Breaks the News began October 25th.


• The CW announced that with the success of 90210, they are working on creating a new Melrose Place for next season.

So, what do you think? Excited some of these shows are staying. Glad that some are off the air? Confused why CNN has a comedy show? Wondering why the CW is becoming the 90's nostolgia channel ?

Your comments would be gladly appreciated :)

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