MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SCREENING SERIES, THE: NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT: THE
HISTORY OF GAY AND LESBIAN IMAGES ON TELEVISION, PACKAGE 3: TIME TO ACT UP: CONTROVERSY AND OUTRAGE
Summary
(Package contents detailed below introductory essay.)
Once a forbidden subject that was suggested only in the
most coded of terms, homosexuality has become not only
an allowable topic on television -- as so neatly summed
up in the classic line from "Seinfeld" -- but a
ubiquitous part of it. With "'Not That There's Anything
Wrong With That': The History of Gay and Lesbian Images
on Television," the Museum presents a comprehensive
look at how gays and lesbians, in both drama and comedy
programming, have made the journey from invisibility to
mainstream prominence over the past forty years.
The series will look at daring early attempts to
approach the subject in such dramas as "N.Y.P.D." and
"Medical Center," which spoke against discrimination, as
well as more misguided portrayals including those on
"Marcus Welby, M.D." and the notorious "Flowers of Evil"
episode from "Police Woman." Once comedies like "All in
the Family" and "Maude" showed that stereotyping and
prejudice could be exposed and criticized with humor,
the 1970s saw the first efforts to add gay characters to
weekly series. This evolution is shown in scenes from
the long-forgotten "The Corner Bar," which featured the
first gay regular, albeit a stereotypical one; the
controversial "Hot L Baltimore," which included a gay
couple among its cast; and the popular "Soap," with
Billy Crystal as the first successfully integrated gay
character, Jodie Dallas.
Further milestones include: both the pilot, "Sidney
Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend," and an episode from the
series, "Love, Sidney," the latter notable because the
gay aspects of Tony Randall's character were virtually
eliminated in the transition by the nervous networks;
"Brothers," cable's first attempt at a sitcom with a gay
lead; "St. Elsewhere," with prime time's first episode
addressing homosexuality and the AIDS crisis; and Ryan
Phillippe as daytime's first gay teen, on "One Life to
Live."
Even as it became more common in the 1980s and '90s to
explore gay life, television found that advertisers and
the networks still imposed boundaries. Controversial
moments in the struggle to allow a same-sex kiss are
explored in the package "Kiss the Boy/Kiss the Girl,"
with scenes of censored and uncensored smooches. The
uproar over these sequences was instrumental in
encouraging writers to push the topic closer and closer
to the forefront until a genuine breakthrough came in
1997, when both comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her alter
ego, Ellen Morgan, came out, giving prime-time
television its first series headed by a gay character.
This led the way for "Will & Grace," with not one but
two gay main characters, and cable's "Queer as Folk" and
"The L Word," set predominantly in the gay and lesbian
community.
Package 3: "Time to Act Up: Controversy and Outrage"
Protests broke out over these two episodes: "Police
Woman" (1974), in which Pepper (Angie Dickinson) goes
undercover to catch killers who turn out to be lesbians,
and "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1973), in which the good
doctor (Robert Young) gives some questionable advice to
a patient (Mark Miller) struggling with his sexual
identity. (100 minutes)
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2003
- RUNNING TIME: 1:36:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:80841
- GENRE: Drama, police; Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police; Drama, medical; Homosexuality on television (See also: Gays and Lesbians)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Angie Dickinson
- Mark Miller
- Robert Young