Gays in Primetime -- A Special Investigative Report: Part I

Political backlash?

But these remain mere “possibilities.” What is preventing “possibilities” from becoming actual gay characters appearing on network primetime? One assumption in the gay community is that network executives are constantly on guard against upsetting political groups, right-leaning “family values” organizations, or skittish advertisers, and that this keeps queer visibility off the networks.

Groundbreaking gay character, Kevin Walker on ABC’s Sunday night hit Brothers & Sisters is a critical part of that ensemble show, complete with his own very active romantic life, including up close and personal on-screen kissing. AfterElton.com asked McPherson: Were there any conversations or concerns regarding political/advertiser issues when it came to the Kevin Walker character?

“None.” said McPherson. When the specter of the problems that ABC’s Ellen faced a decade ago is raised, McPherson interrupts and states flatly, “We’re so far beyond that … There really aren’t those discussions anymore. It’s something that’s accepted, and part of what we are as a society, and part of what we are as a broadcaster.”

Indeed, the concept of political or advertiser backlash because of queer characters is an idea so off the radar for Silverman and Ostroff that they seem almost confused by the question. Silverman gives as an example the lesbian character on Knight Rider, describing the internal NBC reaction to a queer leading character on their most high-profile new show as “‘Oh, this is great!’ That was the only commentary about it.”

Matthew Rhys (left) and Sydney Tamiia Poitier

Ostroff referred to a pair of gay demons that recently debuted as characters on the new CW show Reaper, saying, “Nobody ever questioned it. Nobody even talked about it before they wrote it in. I mean it was like ‘See these characters are great!’”

In fact, the networks seem to have learned from the Ellen situation, realizing that such political denunciations have more bark than bite. Possibly the most high-profile network boycott of its kind was launched against ABC’s parent company Disney by leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Family Association (AFA), in part because of the lesbian character on Ellen. That boycott remained in place for almost a decade, and then was called off as a “success,” when in fact it had no real impact on ABC/Disney’s fortunes or actions.

In 2004, a similar AFA boycott targeted Procter & Gamble because of its advertising support of NBC Universal shows Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. By that time the networks had wised up, and the boycott calls were so ineffectual there were executives directly responsible for those shows who weren’t even aware a boycott was in place.

Reilly said the last time he was confronted with issues of this kind was six years ago as president of F/X when Julien Lowe, the complex gay character played by Michael Jace on The Shield, caused a stir. “We did on certain episodes actually have some advertiser concerns, and in certain instances advertiser pull-out … and we never blinked for a second,” said Reilly. “We just put it on.” And if such a situation arose at FOX would Reilly do the same? “No question.”

So what is the problem?

Reilly said his own observation from 20 years in the industry is that when concerns exist about gay characters, “it’s never” political or advertiser backlash, “it’s usually an issue of relatability.” Reilly stressed what an accepting and forward-leaning community he finds Hollywood to be, but said that “to the extent that a bias still exists – it’s that at times we are programming to quote, unquote, Middle America.” Sometimes, said Reilly, when it comes to fully drawn GLBT characters, the industry attitude can be “you’ve got to finesse that.”

“It was a big hurdle to do Will & Grace,” Reilly explained. “There was some presumption about ‘Would Middle America watch that?’ Well they did watch that because it was hysterical and well-done comedy.”

But Reilly said there is even more skepticism within the industry as to whether the audience will “want to watch the real Will & Grace, where now Will is not living with Grace, but Will is living with Bob, and they have a real dimensional life.” Reilly believes that’s where “a judgment call or concern” may be preventing those characters from being developed.

In fact, Tassler and Silverman, clearly gay-friendly in their interviews, to varying degrees both expressed this view of finessing. Tassler, while believing that gay families and gay romantic lives are “a place we must go,” also feels that “sometimes you have to make an audience comfortable if you’re going to show them something … they are perhaps not familiar with.” She explained that it’s best if an audience falls in love with the characters first, before going into “uncharted territory.”

When Silverman is asked what kind of conversations might have to take place if there were to be a gay lead on a tent pole show, he said it’s “always about a balance. … We need to make sure there are entry points for as much of the audience as possible.”

These attitudes may be savvy and practical, but they can send a mixed message to creators. And if aspects of a character’s life are initially played down, those characters often become less dimensional, less compelling to the audience, and are often the characters that fail to make an impact and stay on the air.