It occurred to me recently that there are more gay and lesbian characters on TV right now than ever before. That's pretty cool.

And they run the gamut from The L Word 's edgy Shane (pictured) to Desperate Housewives' funny Bob to Entourage's loyal Lloyd, who takes more verbal abuse from Ari Gold than anyone should ever be allowed to take.

See if you agree with my list of top gay characters on TV right now, and feel free to add your own in the comments. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Lead characters are extremely important for TV series, as they are the basis of the shows' storylines. However, to make said lead characters shine and make the storylines interesting, supporting characters must be introduced. Sometimes, those characters have a major impact on a series and even end up becoming leads. Just see how Ben Linus on Lost was set to appear in a few episodes, but ended up being so helpful to the storyline and loved (or hated) by the fans that he became an integral part of the series and is now a major player on the show.

That compelled me to make a list of new supporting characters who helped make their series better this season. Since my list only has 10 items and because I don't watch all current TV series, I will have missed tons of supporting characters, so feel free to add to the list by commenting below. However, note that I restricted my list to supporting characters that were introduced THIS season. So the Ben Linuses of the TV world are not on the list.

(S05E19) After the commercials continued to mention how wonderful Grey's Anatomy was going to be, I was brainwashed. This episode had to be good. For me, it delivered. In the first five minutes, we were given Owen's PTSD situation and it set the tone for the rest of the episode. Then we get the wonderful voiceovers from Alex, a good change from Meredith.

There were definitely serious tear inducing moments, along with two really funny situations. We also had a believable patient. When does this hospital get normal patients? Probably when they went down a few ranks. More thoughts and analysis after the jump.

There a few news bites from several of the Grey's Anatomy actors pre-scoured for your convenience. It's kind of odd reading about these people outside of their characters, but it's true: they are real people. We got some news from Patrick Dempsey, Chandra Wilson, T.R. Knight, and more:

Chandra Wilson to join cast of Chicago - This one's a little old, but noteworthy. Chandra Wilson, better known as Miranda Bailey, will be playing Matron Mama Morton in the musical Chicago starting June 8th and ending July 5, 2009. It's great seeing Wilson play another really strong character; I've never heard her singing chops, but she has a background in musicals, so I'm not doubting it.

More after the jump.

(S05E18) "I'm a fan of daytime television" – Bailey

Tonight was the big night for the whole Izzie storyline getting into full gear. On a positive note, this episode happily shows that all of the characters can actually interact with others without it leading into a bad fallout or sex. Unlike last week, all the characters were themselves. Also, only having two surgeries to focus on was much better than splitting everyone up. Otherwise, it gets confusing.

Does it always turn out that the first year interns are overly dramatic? The side story between Megan/Pierce/Steve was funny because it sounds just like something Meredith/George/Alex/Izzie would have gone through. More analysis after the jump.

There's a reason why when you watch The Mentalist, there are always subtle close ups of Simon Baker's eyes or of his mouth when he's talking. The producers know he's hot and they know women are watching. Between him, the cast of Friday Night Lights, and a whole other list of DILF's, there's a lot of male eye-candy on TV right now. But what about the women? Of course television is filled with hot chicks, but who do other women like to watch?

There are certain female characters who, when you watch them, you just want to hang out with. Either you think she'd be a good friend, or exciting to have around, or maybe you just kind of want to be her. This, my friends, is a Girl Crush. Here is my list of Top Ten TV Girl Crushes.

(S05E17) "There's no fixing you. You're a lemon." - Derek

It's official: I'm an emotional loser. After two weeks without my weekly Medical/High School drama, Grey's is back and even more dramatic than I remember. Has Grey's Anatomy been this good in a while? I always thought that with such a big ensemble cast, the show was bound to have loose ends. With this episode, it seems as though each character is what I remember from the first two seasons.

With no big guest stars this week, the characters developed amongst themselves. I appreciate the return of the Meredith/Christina friendship, now back at full strength, but why does it seem like when Meredith solves one thing, another falls apart? She suffers from the Chaos theory.

In case you didn't know, I'm Canadian. That being said, I watch tons and tons of American TV, partially because our main English channels -- CTV and Global, just to name two -- mostly air US shows. And, let's admit it, I enjoy a lot the shows created by my friends south of the border.

Since there are more TV shows produced in the US and because actors can make more money down south, a lot of Canadian actors go to the USA. to work (or try to get work in a US show shot in Vancouver or Toronto). Here I present you with ten Canadian actors currently starring in lead roles in various primetime US TV shows. Did you know these ten actors were not from the US?

I've been a fan of Melissa George since I first saw her in 2001's short-lived Thieves. I was, quite possibly, the only person in the known universe who actually loved that show. She starred with John Stamos as lovers and professional thieves who worked a deal with the FBI. I guess I have a soft spot for anything that even resembles the 1960s show T.H.E. Cat, though there will never be anyone like Robert Loggia.

Melissa George has held assorted roles since then, including Lauren Reed in Alias, Laura in In Treatment, and Dr. Sadie Harris in Grey's Anatomy. These were great, but I don't think she's really found her place in TV history yet. But maybe that will change soon, because she's just nabbed the female lead in the CBS drama pilot US Attorney.

Could Meredith be getting another half-sibling on Grey's Anatomy? According to Entertainment Weekly's Mike Ausiello, it's very likely.

In his latest installment of Ausiello TV, he notes that late last year, executive producer Shonda Rhimes began quietly looking for a male actor to play a mysterious new recurring role. The person had to be both bi-racial and in his late 20's.

Although we won't know for sure until next season, it seems likely that the character might be the product of the affair between Meredith's mother and the Chief, as their affair was 20-some years ago.

A few other things spring to mind:

Do doctors really sleep around this much? I mean, we know that Sloan, Callie, Izzie, and all the rest of the staff currently employed at Seattle Grace have bedded down pretty much everyone on the show. But apparently, that was happening 20 years ago, as well.

(S05E16) "In Human please Doctor Yang." - Doctor Campbell

When I learned a few weeks back that Faye Dunaway was going to guest star this week, I was a tiny bit worried at what her role would be since Grey's Anatomy has not been very good lately at introducing new characters and Dunaway deserves better. Luckily for her, the role of Doctor Margaret Campbell was introduced with some humor and her presence helped Cristina become a better doctor while touching the topic of when doctors should retire.

As a TV blogger, I've got to say this whole drama is exasperating. I'm a little tired of writing about Heigl, Knight and Shonda. I was even on the fence about choosing the "Reality-Free" category for this post, since the backstage hijinks of Grey's Anatomy could give any reality show a run for their money.

On Wednesday, I reported that James Pickens let slip that Heigl and Knight were leaving Grey's Anatomy. Yeah, that's not true, according to Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes says that rumors spread as fact and that Pickens' words were taken out of context. Heigl and Knight are not leaving Grey's Anatomy, and that's a fact, again, according to Rhimes. Do I smell a cover (your ass) up, Shonda?

The original rumor stated that it wasn't a done deal because they were trying to negotiate story arcs for the characters for next season. That's a pretty detailed fact to be "just a rumor," if you ask me.

It will be very interesting to see what actually does take place when all is said and done. I'm exhausted, and I'm really starting to wonder if I'll ever care as much about Izzie and George in proportion to the amount of will-they-won't-they that has gone on.

(S02E16) "I'm not pathetic. I'm a man. A man with asthma." - Sam

The second hour of the Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy crossover was as action-packed as the first hour (read the review here)! Was Archer going to make it? Why was Jen having troubles breathing? Was Sam having asthma attacks because he couldn't let go of Naomi? What were Pete, Violet, Dell, and Cooper up to back at Oceanside?

Answers and my two cents about the episode coming up!

(S05E15) "I need you to be a God." - Addison to Derek

The Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy crossover reached its peak this week with a two-hour event. Both episodes were so action packed, thanks to patients Jen and Archer who were part of the two episodes, that this week you not only get a review for the Grey's Anatomy installment but also one for the Private Practice episode.

So let's get to it, shall we?

You know, sometimes I think Grey's Anatomy isn't so much about the drama on screen, since the behind-the-scenes drama always seems to trump the fictional stuff. Is the Meredith / Derek love-fest as interesting as the Heigl / Knight quit-fest? It seems that the entire cast of Grey's is suffering from a medical condition: a giant, gaping hole in the center of their face that just doesn't quit gabbing.

Just when the whole Isaiah Washington big-mouth scandal and subsequent firing finally blows over, we begin hearing rumors that T.R. Knight is going to be let go. Then we are assured that isn't the case, only to hear that Knight is very vocal in begging to be let go.

Katherine Heigl couldn't let Knight get all the limelight, though; it started with her obnoxious behavior when she pulled her name for consideration of an Emmy nomination, blaming the writers for her crappy storylines. Then it morphed to her sleeping-with-the-dead-guy storyline (she asked for it!) which only made us think more about Izzie leaving the show with a fatal condition. We know you think you're better than TV, Katherine, now shut up about it.