The series, which premiered September 14th and airs on Sundays at 10pm, is an interesting but disorienting blend of fiction and documentary--actors playing political consulants interact with real politicians and political consultants, some of whom are playing themselves and others who are playing fictionalized versions of themselves.

The epicenter of the show is the (fictional) political consultant firm run by Mary Mary Matalin and James Carville (playing fictionalized versions of themselves). Among the associates at the firm is a woman named Maggie, played by Mary McCormack (who played a lesbian in the indie film Broken Hearts Club, but is best known for her roles in the TV show Murder One and in films like Private Parts, K-Pax, and Mystery Alaska).

Maggie is a smart, ambitious, articulate and hard-working woman who is very effective at her job; she's also an anxious, ruthless, opportunistic workaholic with few friends and even fewer girlfriends.

K Street is primarily about the characters' professional lives, but bits and pieces of their personal lives creep into each episode. In the first episode, Maggie has a brief cell phone conversation with someone who can't meet up with her that night as planned. In the second episode, Maggie is frustrated that this person is not returning her calls, and then she runs into that person on the street--who turns out to be a woman named Gail (Talia Balsam). Maggie curses Gail out for not returning her phone calls, and after Maggie departs, Gail's lunch companion asks Gail if Maggie is an ex-girlfriend, and Gail responds cryptically "I wouldn't say that." At the end of the episode, Maggie leaves Gail an apologetic voicemail.

In the third episode, a lawyer-friend of Gail's shows up at Maggie's office to unofficially tell her that the phone calls and messages need to stop, or next time he visits it will be on official business (i.e. with a restraining order). Maggie is devastated, clearly caught off-guard by the implication that she's a stalker. At the end of the episode, Maggie tells fellow associate Tommy Flanagan (John Slattery) over drinks "I've been dumped." When Tommy asks what she's going to do, she replies "Nothing. What can I do? I'm just going to forget about it."

Given that this is an ensemble series and the focus is government politics more than interpersonal ones, Maggie's sexuality is likely to remain only a piece of background information (unless she continues her obsession with Gail, or she gets involved with someone else in a way that effects her work). But simply knowing she's gay adds an interesting dimension to McCormack's character, and saves Maggie from being just another single straight woman who has put her career ahead of her personal life. (Instead, she's just another bisexual woman who has put her career ahead of her personal life--but that's a nice change from the recent glut of lesbian TV characters whose entire storyline is focused on having children).

Maggie is also one of the few Republican lesbian characters ever to grace a television series, and while she's not exactly a role model for morality, she's not a stereotype of an "evil Republican," either; the writers humanize her enough to keep her from becoming a caricature. Maggie doesn't appear to be any more ethically challenged than anyone else on the show, and her personal life is just as screwed up as the heterosexual characters', which is a refreshing change from the current trend on television towards making the lesbian character the moral center of the series.

K Street's documentary-style format presents some challenges, however, that can prevent viewers from being able to fully appreciate the show's rich characters and storylines. There are a lot of back-of-the-head shots, shaky camera movement, sound problems, and people interrupting and talking over each other just like they do in real life. The problem is that real life doesn't necessarily make for good TV (as the reality TV craze has proven), and after a few minutes of watching K Street you may find yourself longing for the good 'ol days of scripted dialogue and scenes that have actually been rehearsed.

On the other hand, there is a fresh, anything-might-happen feel to K Street, and this, combined with the show's timeliness (each episode is filmed only a week before it airs) and air of authenticity is likely to keep many people watching despite the frequent difficulty in understanding what's going on at any given moment. So far, the show has maintained respectable (if not excellent) ratings (averaging 2.4 million viewers over the first three episodes), and may pick up more viewers from word-of-mouth buzz as the series heads towards its November 19th finale.

This show is clearly not for everyone--too many viewers will watch one episode and decide not to tune back in out of sheer diziness. But for those interested in politics who are willing to work a little harder than they're accustomed to when watching TV, K Street provides an intriguing and different look at what goes on inside the Beltway.

And for viewers who are frustrated with the poor quality of lesbian and bisexual characters on network TV this season, K Street's Maggie is at least a refreshing alternative.