In addition to making Thursdays less funny, Will & Grace's departure last season also made the airwaves less gay.

According to a study released this week by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, only 1.3 percent of the 679 lead and supporting characters on scripted broadcast TV these days are gay or lesbian characters, a 0.1 percent drop from last year.

To break it down, that makes nine gay characters in a lead or supporting role, one fewer than the 2005-06 season had. Seven of those nine are white males. (GLAAD also took on gender and racial inequality, counting 387 male characters and 292 female characters, with 75 percent of all characters being white.)

Not included in the 1.3 percent are five recurring characters. Incidentally, Waylon Smithers, Mr. Burns' adoring assistant on The Simpsons, is not included in GLAAD's findings (and several blogs are up in arms about it), although Marge's chain-smoking sister Patty is, in a recurring-character capacity.

Maybe Smithers' repressed status is keeping the man down, even though Springfield has cemented its gay-friendly status.

"When you look at prime time's dismal lack of LGBT characters--combined with the continuing under-representation of people of color, gay and straight alike--it's clear that the broadcast networks have a long way to go before they accurately reflect the diversity of their audience and our society," GLAAD President Neil Giuliano told the Los Angeles Daily News.

GLAAD analyzed 95 series on the 2006-07 schedules of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, the CW and the Fox-owned MyNetworkTV, which, like the CW, isn't officially up and running yet. (MyNetworkTV gets rolling on Sept. 5, while the CW kicks off Sept. 20 with the seventh season of America's Next Top Model.)

The proud few who have been outed by GLAAD include:

Lead characters: Kyle (Sean Maguire) on CBS' The Class; Johnny Miller (Taylor Handley) on the CW's Hidden Palms Supporting characters: Bryan Walker (Matthew Rhys) on ABC's Brothers and Sisters; Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom) on ABC's Desperate Housewives; Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) on NBC's ER; Harold (Garrett Swann) and Hans (Tony Tripoli) on MyNetworkTV's Fashion House; Jonathan (Jim Rash) on ABC's Help Me Help You; Oscar (Oscar Nu?ez) on NBC's The Office Recurring characters: Fred (Leslie Odom Jr.) on ABC's Big Day; Joe (Steven Bailey) on ABC's Grey's Anatomy; Patty Bouvier (voice of Julie Kavner) on Fox's The Simpsons; Marc (Michael Urie) on ABC's Ugly Betty; Kenny (Rami Malek) on Fox's The War at Home

Mainstream cable (FX, HBO, etc.) fared somewhat better, with GLAAD counting 25 regular LGBT characters on tap for the 2006-07 season (there are no bisexual or transgender characters in broadcast), per information the organization had compiled as of Aug. 18. Niche channels that target gay audiences such as Here and Logo were not included in the count.

Out of the broadcast networks studied, however, ABC had the best showing in overall diversity.

When asked about the character of Andrew on Desperate Housewives, creator Marc Cherry explained his philosophy to the Daily News: "I revealed he was a sociopath first, then I revealed he was gay. [Andrew] is perhaps the most empowered gay teen in the history of television. He's gay, and he doesn't care."

"The broadcast networks have a responsibility to replace Will & Grace," Giuliano said. "Not only is a show like this good TV, but it can foster acceptance, dialogue and respect--and it's the right thing to do. If the success of Will & Grace proved anything, it's that inclusion is good business."

Giuliano pinpointed the problem right there--good TV. We may have lost two gay lead characters, but would society really be better off if Crumbs and Out of Practice were still on the air?