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 12: KISS THE BOY/KISS THE GIRL
Summary
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 12: "Kiss the Boy/Kiss the Girl" Mariette Hartley and Lynn Redgrave have to make do with a compromised peck on the forehead in the movie "My Two Loves" (1986; segments); Amanda Donohoe expresses her feelings towards fellow lawyer Michele Greene on "L.A. Law" (1991; segments); darkness helps placate nervous network execs when two teenage girls experimented in "Picket Fences" (1993; segments); Doug Savant's long-anticipated first smooch is censored by some cautious editing in "Melrose Place" (1994; segments); Kerr Smith gives one unexpected kiss and has one reciprocated in these two episodes of "Dawson's Creek" (2000, 2001; segments); Roseanne and Mariel Hemingway lock lips in this controversial "Roseanne" (1994) episode; and Topher Grace finds out just how close new buddy Joseph Gordon-Levitt wants to be in "That '70s Show" (1999). (some segments closed-captioned; 110 minutes)
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2003
- RUNNING TIME: 1:45:01
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:82201
- GENRE: Comedy; Drama; Drama, legal
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama; Drama, legal; Homosexuality on television (See also: Gays and Lesbians)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Roseanne Barr
- Amanda Donohoe
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- Topher Grace
- Michele Greene
- Mariette Hartley
- Mariel Hemingway
- Lynn Redgrave
- Doug Savant
- Kerr Smith