In This Year - 2009

An overview of queer events that occurred in 2009.

Deltas compare against 2008

2009 in review

291 queer characters on air, 45 premieres, and 12 we lost.

2009 has 291 queer characters on air across 222 shows, up 21 from 2008. 45 series premiered and 31 wrapped, while we lost 12.

Sweet Blue Flowers
Sweet Blue Flowers
01

The shape of the year

Click a metric to explore it

222 shows this year

New 45 Continuing 146 Canceled 31

1999–2009

Characters on air

291 in 2009
1999 2009

By role type

Regular170
Recurring75
Guest47
  • In two or more shows 1
  • Debuting this year 132
  • Non-binary characters 1
All characters on air →

1999–2009

Characters we lost

31 in 2009
1999 2006 2009

1999–2009

Shows on air

222 in 2009
1999 2009

By country of origin

USA107
United Kingdom31
Japan28
Germany16
Canada7
Other38
All shows on air →

1999–2009

New shows

45 in 2009
1999 2008 2009

By format

TV Show41
Web Series3
Mini-Series1
All new shows →

1999–2009

Shows that ended

31 in 2009
1999 2009

Longest runs that ended

Guiding Light57
ER15
All Saints11
Without a Trace7
Battlestar Galactica (2004)6
bro'Town5
All canceled shows →

The 12 we lost

Full death statistics →

Placed on the calendar year, grouped by month.

2
2
2
2
02

Where it came from

Where the shows come from

All 222 shows on air, by country of origin.

USA107
United Kingdom31
Japan28
Germany16
Canada7
Other38
All countries →

Formats and roles

What kind of shows, and how central the characters are in them.

Formats

TV Show209
Web Series12
Mini-Series1

Roles

Regular170
Recurring75
Guest47
03

Standouts

Biggest premiere

Sweet Blue Flowers

A TV Show from Japan with 6 queer characters, the most of any new show this year.

Leading nation

USA

21 of this year's new shows come from USA, more than any other country.

Longest-running character we lost

Jenny Schecter

On air since 2004 on The L Word (for a total of 6 years), the longest tenure of anyone we lost this year.

Biggest ensemble

The L Word

24 queer characters on air at once, the largest cast of any show this year.

Ended this year

Guiding Light

On air 1952–2009, after 57 years it was the longest-running show to end this year.

Busiest actor

Archie Panjabi

Playing 2 queer roles on air this year.