The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV (53 page)

1.
The Naked Civil Servant
(PBS, 1979)

2.
P.O.V. (PBS, 1988-)

3.
“Cicely,”
Northern Exposure
(CBS-TV, 5/18/92)

4.
Silverlake Life: The View from Here
(PBS, 1993)

5.
Tales of the City
(PBS, 1994)

6.
Ellen
(ABC-TV, 1994-1998)

7.
The Celluloid Closet
(HBO, 1996)

8.
Will & Grace
(NBC-TV, 1998-)

9.
Queer as Folk
(Showtime, 2000-)

10.
The Laramie Project
(HBO, 2002)

1.
“Judging Books by Covers,”
All in the Family
(CBS-TV, 2/9/71) W: Burt Styler D: Norman Lear

2.
“Cousin Liz,”
All in the Family
(CBS-TV,10/9/77) *W: Bob Schiller, Bob Weiskopf *S: Barry Harmon, Harve Brosten D: Paul Bogart

3.
“The Gay Bar,”
Maude
(CBS-TV, 12/3/77) W: Thad Mumford, Michael Endler, William Davenport and Arthur Julian S: Thad Mumford and Michael Endler D: Hal Cooper

4.
“Isn’t it Romantic?”
The Golden Girls
(NBC-TV, 11/8/86) W: Jeffrey Duteil D: Terry Hughes

5.
“Can’t Help Loving That Man,” Roc (Fox Network, 10/19/91) W: Jeffrey Duteil D: Stan Lathan

6.
“The Outing,”
Seinfeld
(NBC-TV, 2/11/93) D: Larry Charles D: Tom Cherones

7.
“The Matchmaker,”
Frasier
(NBC-TV, 10/4/94) W: Joe Keenan *D: David Lee

8.
“The One With.the Lesbian Wedding,”
Friends
(NBC-‘TV, 1/18/96) W: Doty Abrams D: Thomas Schlamme

9.
“Everybody Loves Larry,”
The Larry Sanders Show
(HBO, 11/13/96) W: Peter Tolan D: Todd Holland

10.
“Homer’s Phobia,”
The Simpsons
(Fox Network, 2/16/97) W: Ron Hauge D: Mike B. Anderson

11.
“The Puppy Episode,”
Ellen
(ABC-TV, 4/30/97) *W: Mark Driscoll, Tracy Newman, Dava Savel, Jonathan Stark *S: Ellen DeGeneres *D: Gil Junger

12.
“Lows in the Mid-80’s,”
Will and Grace
(NBC-TV, 11/23/00) W. Jeff Greenstein D: James Burrows

1.
“Rites of Friendship,”
Family
(ABC-TV, 12/28/76) W: Gerry Day and Beth Leslie D: Glenn Jordan

2.
“Cop,”
Lou Grant
(CBS-TV, 9/1/79) *W: Seth Freeman *D: Roger Young

3.
“Strangers,”
thirtysomething
(ABC-TV, 11/7/89) W: Richard Kramer D: Peter O’Fallon

4.
“Cicely,”
Northern Exposure
(CBS-TV, 5/18/92) W: Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider D: Rob Thompson

5.
“Sugar and Spice,”
Picket Fences
(CBS-TV, 4/23/93) W: David E. Kelley D: Alan Myerson

6.
“Manhood,”
Law and Order
(NBC-TV, 5/12/93) W: Robert Nathan S: Walon Green and Robert Nathan D: Ed Sherin

7.
“Resolutions,”
My So-Called Life
(ABC-TV, 1/5/95) W: Ellen Herman D: Patrick R. Norris

8.
“Just One More Thing,”
Relativity
(WB Network, 9/28/96) W: Jason Katims D: Michael Watkins

9.
“...That is the Question,”
Dawson’s Creek
(WB Network, 2/17/99) W: Kevin Williamson and Greg Berlanti D: Greg Prange

10.
“In Excelsis Deo,”
The West Wing
(NBC-TV, 12/15/99) *W: Aaron Sorkin and Rick Cleveland D: Alex Graves

11.
“New Moon Rising,”
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer
(WB Network, 5/2/00) W: Marti Noxon D: James A. Contner

12.
“Fag,”
Popular
(WB Network, 3/9/01) W: Deidre Strohm D: Elodie Keene

13.
“Familia,”
Six Feet Under
(HBO, 6/24/01) W: Laurence Andries D: Lisa Cholodenko

1.
That Certain Summer
(ABC-TV, 1972) W: Lamont Johnson D: Richard Levinson and William Link

2.
The Naked Civil Servant
(PBS, 1975) W: Philip Mackie D: Jack Gold

3.
A Question of Love
(ABC-TV, 1978) W: William Blinn D: Jerry Thorpe

4.
Brideshead Revisited
(PBS, 1982) W: John Mortimer D: Michael Lindsay-Hogg/Charles Sturridge

5.
Citizen Cohn
(HBO, 1992) W: Nicolas von Hoffman D: Frank Pierson

6.
Tales of the City
(PBS, 1993) W: Richard Kramer D: Alastair Reid

7.
And the Band Played
(HBO,1993) W: Arnold Schulman D: Roger Spottiswoode

8.
Any Mother’s Son
(Lifetime, 1997) W: David Burton Morris D: Bruce Harmon

9.
If These Walls Could Talk II
(HBO, 2000) W: Jane Anderson (“1961”), Anne Heche (”2000”), Alex and Sylvia Sichel (“1972”) D: Jane Anderson (”1961”), Martha Coolidge (“1972”), Anne Heche (”2000”)

10.
The Laramie Project
(HBO, 2002) W: Moises Kaufman, Stephen Belber, Leigh Fondakowski, Amanda Gronich, Jeffrey LaHoste, John McAdams, Andy Paris, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Kelli Simpkins, Stephen Wangh D: Moises Kaufman

1.
Before Stonewall
(PBS, 1984) Produced by Robert Rosenberg, John Scagliotti, and Greta Schiller

2.
P.O.V. (PBS, 1988-)

3.
Common Threads
:
Stories from the Quilt
(HBO, 1989) D: Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman

4.
Absolutely Positive
(PBS, 1991) D: Peter Adair

5.
Tongues Untied
(PBS, 1991) D: Marlon Riggs

6.
The Real World
:
San Francisco
(MTV, 1994) Created by Mary Ellis-Bunim and Jonathan Murray

7.
Coming Out Under Fire
(PBS, 1994) D: Arthur Dong

8.
The Celluloid Closet
(HBO, 1995) D: Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman

9.
Paragraph
175 (HBO, 1999) Produced and Directed by Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman)

10.
Southern Comfort
(HBO, 2001) D: Kate Davis

1.
The Truth About Alex
(HBO, 1986)

2.
“What If I’m Gay?” CBS
Schoolbreak Special
(CBS-TV, 1987)

3.
De Grassi Junior High
(PBS,1987-1989);
De Grassi High
(PBS,1990-1991)

4.
“Other Mothers,”
CBS Schoolbreak Special
(CBS-TV, 1993)

5.
More Than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter
(HBO, 1994)

6.
My So-Called Life
(ABC-TV, 1994)

7.
Dawson’s Creek
(WB Network, 1998-)

8.
The Sissy Duckling
(HBO, 1999)

9.
American High
(Fox Network/PBS, 2000-2001)

10.
The Truth About Jane
(Lifetime, 2000)

1.
And the Band Played On
(HBO, 1993)

2.
Andre’s Mother
(PBS, 1990)

3.
As Is
(Showtime, 1986)

4.
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
(HBO, 1999)

5.
“Killing All the Right People,”
Designing Women
(CBS-TV,10/5/87)

6.
“For Peter’s Sake,”
Dream On
(HBO, 6/20/92)

7.
An Early Frost
(NBC-TV,1985)

8.
Life Goes On
(Season 4) (ABC-TV, 1992-1993)

9.
“Steve Burdick,”
Lifestories
(NBC-TV, 12/18/90)

10.
Silverlake Life: The View From Here
(PBS, 1993)

1.
IKEA (1994): A gay male couple pick out a dining room table.

2.
Nike (1995): Features HIV+ gay runner, Ric Munoz.

3.
Volkswagen (1997): A VW, a smelly chair, and 2 guys we assume to be gay...“ Da, Da, Da.”

4.
Olivia Cruises (1997): “Vacations for Women” ad withtwo women on a ship.

5.
Virgin Cola (1998): Ad depicting two men getting married on the beach features an affectionate kiss.

6.
GLSEN (1999): Powerful public service announcement show on MTV for the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network featuring kids shouting out “fag,” “queer,” etc. Matthew Shepard’s mother, Judy Shepard, who states “The next time you use words like these, think about what they really mean.”

7.
John Hancock Financial Services (2000): A lesbian couple in an immigration with their adopted Asian infant child.

8.
Miller Lite (2001): Woman sends drink over to cute guy in bar. Too bad he’s gay.

1.
Norman Lear (
All in the Family, Maude
)

2.
David E. Kelly (
L.A. Law, The Practice
)

3.
Linda Bloodworth Thomason and Harry Thomason (
Designing Women, Hearts Afire
)

4.
Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
(The Celluloid Closet, Common Threads, Paragraph 175
)

5.
Susan Harris (
Soap, The Golden Girls
)

6.
Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (
thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, Relativity
)

7.
Ron Cowen and Dan Lipman
(Sisters, An Early Frost, Queer as Folk
)

8.
Max Mutchnick and David Kohan (
Will
&
Grace
)

9.
Aaron Spelling (
Dynasty, Beverly Hills,
90210;
Melrose Place
)

10.
Kevin Bright, David Crane, Marta Kaufman
(Dream On, Friends, Veronica
’
s Closet
)

1.
Robert Morse as Truman Capote,
Tru
(PBS, 1982)

2.
Cleavon Little as Tony Larkin, “Stand By Your Man,”
Dear John
(NBC-TV, 1989)

3.
David Clennon as Peter Brewer, “For Peter’s Sake,”
Dream On
(HBO, 6/20/92)

4.
Glen Close as Margarethe Cammermeyer,
Serving in Silence
(NBC-TV, 1995)

5.
Tom Hulce as Peter Patrone,
The Heidi Chronicles
(TNT, 1995)

6.
Judy Davis as Diane,
Serving in Silence
(NBC-TV, 1995)

7.
Diana Rigg as Mrs. Danvers,
Rebecca
(PBS, 1995)

8.
John Larroquette as Joey Herric, “Betrayal,”
The Practice
(ABC-TV, 9/23/97)

9.
Emma Thompson as herself, “Emma,”
Ellen
(ABC-TV, 11/19/97)

10.
Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland,
Will
&
Grace
(NBC-TV, 1998-1999 season)

11.
Eric McCormack as Will Truman,
Will
&
Grace
(NBC-TV, 1999-2000 season)

12.
Vanessa Redgrave as Edith Tree, “1962,”
If These Walls Could Talk
2 (HBO, 2000)

1.
Mitchell Anderson as Ross Werkman,
Party of Five
(Fox Network, 1994-1997, 1999-2000)

2.
Michael Boatman as Carter Heywood,
Spin City
(ABC-TV, 1996- )

3.
Patrick Bristow as Peter Barnes,
Ellen
(ABC-TV, 1994- )

4.
Wilson Cruz as Rickie Vasquez,
My So
-
Called Life
(ABC-TV, 1994)

5.
Alyson Hanigan as Willow Rosenberg,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
(WB Network, 1997-)

6.
Laura Innes as Dr. Kerry Weaver, ER (NBC-TV, 1995- )

7.
Ellen Muth as Jane,
The Truth About Jane
(Lifetime, 2000)

8.
Lois Nettleton, “Isn’t it Romantic?”
The Golden Girls
(NBC-TV, 11/8/86)

9.
Peter Paige as Emmet Honeycutt,
Queer as Folk
(Showtime, 2000- )

10.
Kerr Smith as Jack McPhee,
Dawson
’
s Creek
(WB Network, 1998- )

11.
Gail Strickland as Marilyn McGrath,
Heartbeat
(ABC-TV, 1988-1989)

12.
Tuc Watkins as Malcolm Laffley,
Beggars and Choosers
(Showtime, 1999-2000)