I'm certainly not the first person to voice anger over this, but really, what the hell is ABC thinking?

For those not in the loop, ABC and Grey's Anatomy decided to fire Brooke Smith, who plays Dr. Erica Hahn on the show. ABC executives apparently didn't like Hahn's lesbian storyline with Callie, and they really didn't like that the storyline involved Callie worrying over the logistics of lesbian sex. So they basically told EP Shonda Rhimes to fire Smith - meaning that not only is this Thursday Smith's last episode, she doesn't even really get and ending to her storyline. According to Smith, Hahn's last scene is just her walking to her car to go home and we never see her again.

Grey's Anatomy was already having to work pretty hard to keep me interested. And, I'll admit, I wasn't a huge fan of the Callie/Hahn lesbian storyline to the begin with - not because of any ideological reasons, but because I thought it was a lazy move by the writers. Callie and Hahn had developed a really nice, stable, genuine friendship with each other and it seemed like the writers 1) have no idea how to portray this and 2) couldn't come up with anything else for those characters to do. Hey, writers, I know a lot of drunk, 19-year-old sorority girls may do this on occasion, but, for the most part, heterosexual women don't start making out with each other because they don't have anything else to do. It's pretty crappy that Smith is being punished because the Grey's Anatomy writers don't know how to create a compelling storyline. I loved Hahn when they first introduced her as Burke's rival from another hospital, and I thought bringing her in as Burke's replacement at Seattle Grace was a fantastic idea, but it became clear that when it came to giving Hahn some depth, the writers were out of theirs.

That being said, I was impressed at how the show did handle the lesbian storyline - both women were a little weirded out about their first romantic feelings for another woman, they were nervous about how to proceed but they were willing to be honest and brave. They wanted to give it a shot. And, amazingly, we got to see them abuse the hospital facilities in the same way all the straight characters did: by having sex during any moment of downtime. It was refreshing to see not only a gay couple treated in exactly the same manner as all the other couples on the show were treated, but it was great to see that Grey's Anatomy was focusing on two characters who were not of the Ellen "Devastatingly Thin" Pompeo variety.

This turn of events convinces me, though, that ABC is not happy with either of those things. Sure, average-weighted people can be on TV and they can even be in relationships - but if they're in relationships with equally average-weighted people, then the relationship can only be on the periphery of the show; if the relationship wants to be in the foreground, then the average-weighted person has to be with a conventionally attractive person. (See: Schlubby Guys/Hot Chicks.) In that same vein, the network only wants to see gay people who are eunuchs - homosexuals who are the comic relief; the best friend. You can say they're in a relationship, but when it comes to actually showing them having the relationship - with kissing and making out and nakedness and everything - ABC got cold feet.

And then it turns out that they've decided to get rid of Melissa George's character's bisexuality? What is that? I can understand not wanting to rest on the cliché "sexual orientation" storyline - after all, "gay" or "bisexual" or "straight" is not a replacement for an actual personality. But this whole situation, for lack of a better word, stinks. It's a terrible move on behalf of the network, because while Grey's Anatomy certainly had faltered over the last couple of seasons, I was reluctant to leave it behind because of characters like Hahn and Callie, characters that made Seattle Grace a little more realistic and easier to enjoy. Now there's no reason for me to stay.

On the bright side, I now have an extra hour's worth of space on my DVR each week. Any suggestions?