One of the first gay characters on TV was Billy Crystal's Jodie Dallas, on ABC's popular sitcom, SOAP. An openly gay man on TV in the late 1970s was not an easily accepted thing and the show created a lot of controversy in regards to its portrayal of a homosexual man (amongst other things).
While it was certainly a refreshing thing to see someone like Jodie on TV as far back as the 1970s, the show did receive a lot of criticism for the handling of some aspects of the character, which verged on stereotyping. For example, Jodie had the desire to have a sex change operation, and had story which claimed he wanted to change his sexual orientation. However, as seen on the video above, the show did have a lot of fun with the society's attitude in regards to homosexuals and often satirized the ignorance abounding all around us.
When the 80s hit, primetime got another gay character, this time in the form of Steven Carrington (played by Al Corley and, later, Jack Coleman) on the extremely popular primetime soap DYNASTY. Originally, Steven was a tortured young man, whose dreams and desires clashed with the expectations laid upon him, especially from his homophobic father. A particularly painful moment between Steven and Blake had the billionaire oil tycoon call his son a "fagott."
It was hard to take, honest family drama, and the show was devoted in its first season to telling Steven's story with as much commitment as possible. Through the course of the season, we saw the return of Steven's lover, Ted, and their slow road to reunion. Granted, the times being what they were, Steven and Ted barely had any physical contact and a hug between them was enough to spark Blake's fury, leading to an argument which ended up costing Ted's life.
The 80s melodrama is quite foreign to the more realistic style of today, but it is still gripping stuff. In later seasons, due to immense pressure by the broadcasting channel, DYNASTY was forced to water down Steven, initially portraying him as a confused bisexual man, who marries a woman and fathers a child, and later (when replaced by Jack Coleman) as a full-out straight man. Blake's homophobia was completely pushed aside and homogenized, while Steven's homosexuality was later revisited but dealt with in the most abstract, stereotypical, sometimes even demented way.
The 90s saw a slight increase in popular gay characters, on shows like MELROSE PLACE (a large cult hit) and, of course, WILL & GRACE.
Matt Fielding went through the usual barrage of drama and was well featured on the show; however, while his sexual orientation was never changed or miraculously healed, there were also never any scenes where he kissed his partner and certainly no love-making scenes. Emotion and love was expressed through rather sexless hugs.
Naturally, the late 90s saw the debut of something that, even now, is considered quite the surprise: A sitcom about two roommates; one straight female and one gay male. WILL & GRACE. The show also featured a second gay man, Jack.
The series was a resounding success (lasting for 8 seasons) and it garnered at least one Emmy for each of its four leads. However, its success did not come without fair amount of criticism, especially in regards to the often stereotypical handling of homosexual men and women. These concerns were definitely solid; after all, there was rarely an episode were some kind of stereotypical joke wasn't made. On the other hand, the sitcom was fairly slapstick and did not have much concern for heterosexual relationships either.
The 00s were the era were we saw a marked rise in gay characters and a much more relaxed and truthful representation of those characters' lives.
The clip above is from the show BROTHERS & SISTERS and the difference between this and the previous decades is quite clear. While no-one can claim that homosexuality is treated as freely, openly and honestly as heterosexuality, there is a considerable difference. Shows like GLEE, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS have exhibited gay couples and stories, slowly progressing towards a TV landscape with better representation.
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