This paper presents a description of current research on the use of metal and hydrogel supported bilayer lipid membranes (s-BLMs and sb-BLMs) in the area of biosensor development. Simple and straight-forward experimental techniques for making these types of probes are given in some details. Emphasis is placed on the potential applications of these planar lipid bilayer-based probes. Among the topics covered include ion sensors, antigen-antibody interactions via electrical detection, probes for molecular species, supported BLMs doped with fullerenes and photoelectric effects in C-60-containing BLMs.