Nicole & Mike

Though it feels like some other of today’s shows frequently dabble in bi content, it's nice to note that mainstream shows in the past, such as "Friends, " "Dawson's Creek, " "Buffy, " "Cold Case, " and even "All in the Family" dealt with bi storylines. Today, shows like “Scrubs” deal with three-ways, while shows like "Desperate Housewives” feature a stereotypical but fun bi teenager. With shows like “The L Word” and “Queer As Folk” still going strong, we can only hope even more bi portrals will leak onto mainstream TV. Here are a few significant moments in bi television:

1. Unless you count Uncle Miltie in drag all the time, Billy Crystal's character Jodie on "Soap" in 1979 was the first bi regular on TV, but not on primetime. He first dated a quarterback, then dated two women, then had a sex change operation to please his man.

2. On primetime in the hit show "Dynasty, " handsome Steve Carrington (Al Corley) had a longterm male lover, then married a woman and then in the reunion show snuck off with a man again. Let's see how bi he's going to be in the big screen version.

3. Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor) on the crime drama “Homicide” asks Det. Renee Sheppard (played by actress Michael Michele) out on a date. Bayliss says he's "bi-curious." To which Renee answers that she is bi-curious as well and has in fact dated "bi-guys" before. "Homicide" at the time was the only primetime television show with bi characters.

4. “Roseanne” features the character of Nancy (Sandra Bernhard) who is openly bi. In a later episode, Roseanne, kisses Mariel Hemingway.

5. Carrie, (Sarah Jessica Parker) dates a 26-year-old bi man in an episode "Boy, Girl, Boy Girl" and little does she know (or perhaps she did), that co-star Cynthia Nixon was bi in real life.

6. C.J. (Amanda Donohoe) on "L.A. Law" initiated the historic first same-sex kiss on network television.

7. "Babylon 5" introduced the tough but sexy bi Commander Susan Ivanova.

8. In a bi-phobic "Ally McBeal, " a bi character has to defend himself by insisting, "But I am totally monogamous." In another episode, Ally grapples with whether she can handle dating a bi guy because "I worry that a bisexual man has needs I can't fulfill." And Lucy Liu's character Ling kisses Ally, but they decide ultimately they need penis.

9. Julia, Neve Campbell's character on "Party of Five, " dumps her abusive boyfriend and becomes involved in a lesbian relationship.

10. The British TV show "Gimme Gimme Gimme" shocked audiences when Bob, the gay character, not only falls in love with Rose, but has a lot of indisputably hot hetero sex with her. And, the bi debate that ensues is based on a real couple, according to creator Russell Davies.

11. When macho soccer player Eric Cantona signed to play a gay pirate in the British series "Corto Maltese, " he said, "The character is, well actually bisexual." He had no problem with it, saying, "Some of the greatest gays are the most macho."

12. The latest incarnation of "Dr. Who" features a bisexual inter-galactic time-traveler named Captain Jack Harness.

13. On “Arrested Development” Lindsay’s husband, played by actor David Cross, plays a hilarious gay vague husband, constantly unaware of his obvious gay side. The show also toys with gender, like in the episode where Lindsay, played by out lesbian Portia de Rossi, hits on her high school daughter’s male crushes. In a funny twist, the daughter tells the teenage boy that her mother is really her dad who had a sex change.

14. The now deceased “Six Feet Under” featured a number of tasteful bi storylines. The character of Claire, played by Lauren Ambrose, experiments with a college friend, played by Mena Suvari in season four. Instead of going for the usual “experimentation” storyline, the show deals with Claire’s inner turmoil as she realizes her sexuality is predominantly straight despite her adoration for her friend. In the same season, the character of David is surprised to discover his gay boyfriend Keith slept with a teen female pop singer, played by Michelle Trachtenberg, while working as a security guard on her tour. During the same tour, a male security guard who says he likes women solicits Keith for sex.

15. The character of Karen, played by bi actress Megan Mullally, on the now retired “Will and Grace, ” went both ways according to Mullally. With lines like, “C'mon, we got a room full of lovely ladies. Let's put on some music and get those tops off, ” we think Mullally’s assessment is correct. Too bad Karen never got any action from Grace.

16. In the late 1990s, "Xena: Warrior Princess" kept viewers captivated with vague allusions and references to Xena and her female companion Gabrielle’s sexual relationship. Though hailed for its intense lesbian subtext, both characters were arguably bisexual, sometimes kissing male characters and evoking one another’s jealousy. The relationship between the women ended in the finale, when Xena allowed herself to be beheaded, leaving Gabrielle to live without her, pissing off many bi and lesbian fans.

17. When “The L Word” premiered in Jan. 2004, it posed an almost immediate bi dilemma for one of its characters (Jenny), featured another character who was openly bisexual (Alice), and an interesting development in which a a straight character (Kit) dated a female drag king. But during most of season two, bi storylines vanished as bi characters went unrealistically gay or virtually ignored their bi side. Alice injected the occasional line about being bi, but pretty much stopped dating guys, while Jenny unrealistically declared herself gay. Fortunately, for us bisexuals, season three reignited some serious bi storylines—Bette’s partner Tina has strayed to explore her sexual cravings for a man, Jenny is dating a FTM transgender, and Alan Cummings guest starred as a bisexual club promoter. Even the unlikable character of Helena Peabody turned sympathetic through her affair with a bi-curious straight girl who has a boyfriend. Though we had our doubts that the predominantly lesbian show would realistically and fairly handle the gray areas of sexuality, we’ve got to hand it to the show’s lesbian creator, Ilene Chaiken for addressing the inconvenient fluidity of sexuality on her show. Our only complaint is that her characters often express or discover their bi-ness through infidelity. And those seriously off-color bi slurs have gotta go. But on the bright side, in Chaiken’s world, no one’s ever permanently gay or permanently straight, and for the most part, the bisexual character of Alice, who admits she leans a tad more to the gay side, has at least stayed bi. Now if Jenny would just fool around with a man again—and she undoubtedly will when Moira (a.k.a. “Max”) finishes her sex change—we’d be perfectly content.

18. Leave it to MTV, the network that first acclimated teens to gay and bisexual reality show stars on “The Real World, ” to introduce “South of Nowhere, ” a show that integrates bisexual and gay teenagers as regular cast members. Broadcast on MTV’s new teen network The N, “South of Nowhere” features Spencer, a teenage girl new to L.A. who gets close with bisexual Ashley Davies, who used to date the school’s basketball star, but now pretty much just dates girls. Spencer develops genuine feelings for Ashley, culminating in a confrontation, (“You know what? I can’t just be your friend Ashley. It needs to be more than that or I’m out of your life.”) ending with a long-awaited kiss.

19. “The O.C.” isn’t exactly a gay show. As Generation Y’s “Beverly Hills 90210, ” it’s more of a homage to the tortured lives of rich Southern California kids. So you can imagine our surprise when the show featured a fairly accurate representation of a bisexual teen relationship—at least until they ruined it. The show’s writers set up bi character Alex’s sexuality in previous episodes as opposed to fabricating it out of the blue like most mainstream network shows that dabble in bi storylines to boost ratings. Alex possessed none of the stereotypical bi traits (she wasn’t predatory or promiscuous) and instead was a well-rounded character with a good head on her shoulders—the perfect gal to seduce bi curious Marissa (Mischa Barton). Even better, the two characters actually had relationship that they worked on and not just a fling. Too bad it ended in stereotypical lesbian psycho-drama when Alex pulled a 180 and started stalking Marissa. Ugh, when will these writers ever learn?

20. "All My Children" has been a ground-breaking soap opera since it debuted in 1970. Daytime TV's first lesbian kiss was between characters Riegel and Sosnovska, who had an insatiable sexual appetite and who's motto was: "men for business, women for pleasure."