Network TV used to have an unwritten rule that there could only be one Asian American woman, if that, in a leading (or even prominent recurring) role on TV at a time. Or in a few-year span.

In the '90s it was Margaret Cho on All American Girl, followed by Ming-Na on ER, and Lucy Liu on Ally McBeal. Then at the turn of the century, it was Keiko Agena on Gilmore Girls, and Kristin Kreuk on Smallville, plus a few others sprinkled in now and then.

But a few years ago, something happened — more specifically, Lost and Grey's Anatomy happened, or maybe common sense just finally kicked in — and we began to get three or four Asian American women in regular roles on network TV shows. Then last season, it was five.

And the networks discovered something odd: people of color tuned in, and the white people didn't stop watching. In fact, ratings even went up on some of the shows. (Gee, maybe this whole diversity thing isn't such a bad idea, after all!)

Now, going into the 2007-08 season, we're looking at a record seven shows with prominent leading or supporting roles on primetime network TV (eight if The CW renews Smallville).

That's almost double the number of even a few years ago. Yes, it's still a pathetically small number, and there's still no Asian American equivalent to shows like Everybody Hates Chris or the upcoming Latino family drama Cane. But at least it's trending in the right direction — and it's six more than the number of lesbians we're going to get next season!

But on to the new roles.

First, Lucy Liu makes her triumphant return to television in Cashmere Mafia (ABC), a drama about career women in New York that we blogged about yesterday. Here's her official Cashmere headshot:

Next is Lipstick Jungle (NBC), a show with a similar premise that features Lindsay Price as Victory Ford, "a free-spirited designer who longs to make her dreams come true, and maybe find Mr. Right along the way."

Here's your first look at the Lipstick cast (that's Brooke Shields and Kim Raver with Price):

Lindsay is probably best known for playing Steve's girlfriend Janet on Beverly Hills 90210 in the late '90s, but you may also remember her as bisexual Jane on NBC's ill-fated British knock-off Coupling, which only aired one or two episodes before being yanked (okay, so maybe I'm the only one that remembers that, but here's an article I wrote in 2003 about her Coupling role, in case you're curious).

Then there's Journeyman (NBC), about "a newspaper reporter [who] inexplicably begins traveling back and forth in time, changing people's lives as he does", which co-stars Moon Bloodgood (Day Break) as the ex-fiance of the time-traveler:

Last but not least, newcomer Elizabeth Ho plays a defense attorney-turned-prosecutor in Women's Murder Club (ABC), a crime drama co-starring Ho, Angie Harmon, Laura Harris and Aubrey Dollar as "an all-female group of experts a medical examiner, a newspaper reporter and a young assistant district attorney" who "solve the latest homicides while unraveling the mysteries of their own turbulent romantic lives." (Maybe they can solve the mystery of why I still find Angie Harmon attractive despite her socially conservative politics.) Here's a photo of the new cast:

And of course, Grey's Anatomy's Sandra Oh, Bones' Michaela Conlin, and Lost's Yunjin Kim are all returning with their respective series next season:

Keiko Agena, who played Lane Kim for seven seasons on Gilmore Girls, will not be returning, but her storyline was so lame by the end I wanted to put her out of her (and my) misery. The short-lived Vanished took Ming-Na with it only a few months after it debuted last fall — but if Ming-Na has proven anything over the last 20 years, it's that she has more lives than all the stray cats in Manhattan.

And now, bring on the comments: which new character is most intriguing? Which would you most like to see have a lesbian affair? And who would win in a fight, Grey's Cristina or Bones' Angela? My money's on Angela, although Cristina would put up a good fight...