I'm a relative latecomer to Torchwood and I really can't say why. It's a spinoff, the first successful one as far as I know, of the venerable Doctor Who featuring John Barrowman (center) as the immortal--not to mention highly heteroflexible--Captain Jack Harkness. Thanks to the wonders of legal live streaming, I'm finally getting caught up.

For the uninitiated, probably the  best way to describe Torchwood would be to imagine the series Fringe but less aggressively creepy and with better writing and acting. The show is set in Cardiff, Wales, on a rift in time and space. All sorts of things, animal, vegetable, mineral and who the hell knows comes through the rift; Capt. Jack and his merry band have to protect Cardiff and the world from the consequences. The Torchwood Institute was set up by Queen Victoria in order to protect Britain from alien threats. Not surprisingly, producers Russell Davies and Julie Gardner bring the same sensibilities that inform the reinvigorated Doctor Who to its spinoff and they are on board to produce an American version of Torchwood.

In short, Torchwood represents everything that is missing from American broadcast television.  And therein lies the rub. The record for importing British series on to American television is mixed at best. We've gotten some classics--All In the Family, Sanford and Son, and The Office--but we've also gotten duds like Coupling. Not to mention the fact that Fox's record with its previous truly innovative science fiction series, Firefly, was poor. To say the least. I also have to wonder: is an American broadcast audience ready for a lead character who is aggressively bisexual, who makes out with men unashamedly, whose first reaction, when a female colleague walks in on such a session is, "There's always room for three!" Who is portrayed by an openly gay actor?

I would hate to see Torchwood go the way of Firefly, or get watered down into CSI: Supernatural. And it could so easily happen. Let's hope it doesn't.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how John Barrowman is received this spring during a run on Desperate Housewives. If he proves popular, hopefully it will mean Fox will take a chance on Torchwood. Starring Captain Jack in all his glory.