The Year in Gay Television: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Betty

Reality television continued to provide a powerful platform for gay visibility while daytime television not only saw the first gay teen romance and kiss on a soap opera, but daytime talk shows saw out actors including Neil Patrick Harris, T. R. Knight, Nathan Lane and Mario Cantone speaking forthrightly about their lives as gay men.

Drama: There is ABC and Then There is Everyone Else

When it comes to gay representation on television there is one clear winner: ABC. With shows like Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money and even Pushing Daisies (which, while boasting no gay characters, regularly features out actors in guest roles and a pretty darn gay sensibility), the network stands head and shoulders above its competition. It can be argued that there is no network in second or even third place, so bad is the news when it comes to NBC, CBS, Fox, and the CW.

So far this year Brothers & Sisters, created by out writer Jon Robin Baitz, has had more regularly occurring male gay characters on it than the other broadcast networks combined. Throw in Ugly Betty’s Marc St. James (Michael Urie) and his new boyfriend, Cliff (David Blue), and a rout becomes an out and out massacre. And it’s only on ABC that gay viewers will find any gay characters of depth and complexity including B&S’ Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys), Ugly Betty’s Marc as well as the transgender Carmelita (Candis Cayne) on Dirty Sexy Money.

Not all is perfect on ABC. While this season saw the much-anticipated arrival of Wisteria Lane’s first gay couple on Desperate Housewives, Bob (Tuc Watkins) and Lee (Kevin Rahm) haven’t had much to do other than install tacky fountains, argue with their neighbors and throw a Halloween party for the straight people. Fortunately, sociopathic teen Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) has exhibited some much-needed depth and maturity in recent episodes, which bodes well for his underused character.

GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) generously gives NBC’s ER credit for what we term “barely there” gay characters, in this case Chaz Pratt (Sam Jones III), a character that has appeared exactly once so far this season. GLAAD also briefly listed Javier, a secretary, as a gay character on the show, but he appeared in just one episode before vanishing.

Two other ABC dramas suffer from the “barely there” syndrome: Men in Trees and Grey’s Anatomy. On MIT Mario Cantone plays Terri Romano and Orlando Jones is George, the son of main character Buzz Washington. Terri has appeared in four episodes, George three, and that included a very brief “romance” between the two characters that is apparently going nowhere. (While they never kissed, at least they skated together; that’s something.)

Terri’s most recent appearance involved two straight characters getting married and he mostly appeared to be present to help the groomsman with his hair. How’s that for progress?

As for Joe the bartender on Grey’s Anatomy’s, his partner Walter was oh so briefly introduced last season along with a storyline about their adopting a child. However, Joe, Walter and their “storyline” seemed to have left the show along with Isaiah Washington.

On the teen-targeted CW network, a gay character was recently introduced in Blair Waldorf’s father on Gossip Girl. Given the already large cast, it’s hard to imagine his part will be particularly significant, especially since he lives in Paris with his boyfriend.

Network television did do a better job when it came to episodes of shows that featured stand-alone gay storylines. Last year CBS’s Cold Case set the standard with their “Forever Blue” episode about two gay cops in the 1960’s. Some of the highlights this year include Private Practice’s episode about a thirteen-year-old gay teen beaten up by the object of his affection, Life’s episode about a married gay couple, one of whom is murdered, and several episodes of Boston Legal that featured cases dealing with ex-gay ministries and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

As is the case almost across the board with gay characters, the situation is better on cable. One of the best shows for same-sex visibility is BBC America’s Torchwood, which features the bisexual Captain Jack as the lead. The show hasn’t shied away at all from same-sex content in its first season, featuring several same-sex storylines, romances, and pretty rocking kisses. Even better, Captain Jack is played by the out John Barrowman and word has it that the second season is just as gay-friendly.