There was a time (Iím thinking 2002, 2003-ish) when I was hard pressed to find anything on television worth a one hour a week, 24-week commitment from me. Television had fallen on hard times, and with the exception of your occasional episode of Will & Grace, Alias on DVD and The Daily Show, Iíd lost interest. What a difference a few years makes. Though at the beginning of the 2006-2007 television season, GLAAD announced that we had actually lost gay and lesbian visibility in primetime programming, But as I scrolled through my TiVo to see what I needed to catch up on a couple of weeks ago, watching part two of a very special Brothers & Sisters, pissed because I didnít have a new Ugly Betty to laugh with, clinging to the edge of my seat as season four of nip/tuck came to a close, I realizedósometimes less is more, and some of this TV seasons best fleshed out and most interesting characters are gay and lesbian.
And The L Word hasnít even kicked off its fourth season yet.
But 2006 wasnít just about gays and lesbians on TVóit was about some of the gayest, campiest, most memorable moments in the history of televisionóhalf of them seeming to involve Rosie OíDonnell in some way shape or form. Itís been a long year, so youíll forgive me if I donít recap some of the highlights in any particular order. Most journalists have the foresight to keep a running tab of moments they want to remember come December all year long. I am not one of those journalists, so youíre stuck with taking a trip down memory lane that congealed on about mile two of my 45 minute treadmill sprint this morning.
God Bless the Gays Who Dare to Diva ó Dixie Carter, Vanessa Williams, Judith Light, Sally Field and Jane Curtin are just a few of the fine, fine actresses past Hollywoodís definition of a womanís prime who found meaty work on television this past year, and in most cases, the person who brought them back to the forefront was a gay.
Dixie popped up as Bree Van de Kampís hard drinking, pill popping, big bad momma in law on Desperate Housewivesótwenty some odd years after Marc Cherry came to Hollywood and got work as her assistant. The powers that be behind Brothers & Sisters put two and two together and realized that a two time Oscar winner like Sally Field deserves better than the occasional Osteoporosis commercial and a guest stint here and there on ERóor as I like to call it, Sybil, the 30th anniversary. Judith Light pops up now and then as a fresh out of rehab woman scorned on Ugly Betty, the same show that rescued Vanessa Williams from that awful South Beach and reminded us why sheís still, by far, our favorite former Miss America. Jane Curtinís luck didnít run quite as long, but I still think her work as a loony bin bound mom with a gay son in the Spring sitcom Crumbs was some of the best work of the year.
If any of you TV folk are reading this, perhaps I can tempt you with some more faces Iíd like to see back in primetime: Meredith Baxter, Phylicia Rashad, Rhea Pearlman, Jaclyn Smith, Delta Burke, Annie Pottsóand if anyone can come up with a truly brilliant role for Bonnie Franklin, the mom from One Day at a Time, I will worship at your altar.
Everythingís Coming Up Rosie ó First, my favorite moment of the yearóStar Jones bon voyage episode, which Rosie didnít even appear on and yet she still managed to wipe the floor with Star. Then, when Rosie finally did take over, she managed to offend everyone from Kelly Ripa to Donald Trump to an entire population of Asian people.
First up Kellyóand the more I think about it, Rosie really ripped Clay Aiken a new one in this stint too. Sure Kellyís quirky, campyÖ maybe sometimes a bit less informed than other TV personalities. But a homophobe? Rosie seemed to think so, calling the TV chatter out after she had a run in with Clay on TV. Kelly called in to The View to put Rosie in her place and seemed to have the support of most of Rosieís View co-stars. Just a The Real Worldfew weeks later, Rosie was at it again, slamming Donald Trump for giving boozing Miss USA Tara Connor a second chance. Donald too fired back, only he did it with a few more choice words than Kelly.
Finally, the ìching-chong-chingî heard round the wordÖ because I use that phrase to imitate the way Asian people speak all the time and never wondered if it could possibly be offensive. I love Rosieís candor and her ability to whatever she wants, when ever she wants, but perhaps sometimes, pull the parking brake and pull over to think before launching a tirade against the world, K Ro?
Reality Be Dammed ó Bruce Vilanch and Chastity Bono dropped a ton of weight, kicking off a truly interesting year for reality show stars. Davis on The Real World proved that just because youíre gay and hot doesnít mean we have to like you when he called two of his roomies the "N" word. Granted, he did it after one of them threatened to kill him in an alcohol induced rage, but still. Project Runway and Americaís Next Top Model once again brought us some of the gayest moments this year in TVóIs that bulemic looking twin model gay or confused? How many rhinestones did Kayne really need to attach to that couture jumpsuit?
But the yearís crowning achievement came from a former reality staróscore Reichen for landing the newly out Lance Bass. As of press time, weíre still not sure if theyíre working through their problems or sending text messages through their publicists, but it was certainly quite a coup to go from talk show on a now defunct and bankrupt public access cable network to sitting down with Billy Bush on Access Hollywood to discuss the plight of coming out in Hollywood today.
Plus, any chance we get to see Reichen shirtless is a good day for me.
Going Where TV Has Never Gone BeforeóFrom Jacqueline Bisset popping up as a psycho madam who runs an underground kidney sting and recruits a nubile Sanaa Lathan into slicing people open for her (yeah, I actually just said thatóand she did it all in the name of lesbian lust on nip/tuck) to All My Children boldly going where no soap has gone before--just after Thanksgiving, audiences were introduced to Zarf (Jeffrey Carlson), a male to female transgender British rockstar with a hankering for the purely Sapphic Bianca (Eden Riegel), even if we lost people in primetime, Iíd say a few shows took a bold few steps forward this year.
Not to mention, and I toss this out there because it was the highlight of my TV viewing year, some brilliant man at nip/tuck had the foresight to make Mario Lopez take off all of his clothing and hop in a shower with Julian McMahonÖ and gay men everywhere screamed praise to the good Lord above.
Casting Against Type ó Gay characters on TV aside, itís a pair of gay actors in roles TV execs would have never let them play a few years ago who really made the most progress for gays and lesbians in Hollywood this year.
Granted, Neil Patrick Harris came out after a season and change starring in How I Met Your Mother, but telling the world heís a happy, proud gay man had no effect on ratings for the CBS sitcom. If anything, the announcement drew more attention to the show, in which Neil plays a womanizing bachelor.
Taking that one further, check out openly gay Sarah Paulsonís work on Studio 60 and the Sunset Strip. Sarahís sort of quietly outóshe and Tony winner Cherry Jones have been together four years. But the public knows (I mean, they did kiss on national television when Jones stepped up to get her award), and even better, Sarahís playing a super conservative TV persona with harsh opinions on gay marriage. Ouch.
All told, some great strides this yearóand with almost all of these shows scheduled to return in 2007, something tells me weíve just seen the tip of the iceberg.
See ya next year!
