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

Fuller said that he can’t say enough about ABC executives, and that “it’s never about gay or straight – it’s about what makes an interesting character.” Berlanti too said his experience with gay characters and ABC is “180 degrees” from his struggles on Dawson’s Creek at WB a decade ago. And Baitz said “the sophistication of the executives at ABC and Disney” was one of the things that went right in bringing the Kevin Walker character to air.

But Baitz concedes he has “no idea” what attitudes he might have confronted at other networks. And while Horta’s experience developing Ugly Betty leads him to believe “things have gotten to a point where it doesn’t matter” whether a character is straight or gay, he acknowledged, “Maybe ignorance is bliss. I mean, I am creating gay characters on a network that doesn’t have a problem with it.” Fuller, in fact, said that three years ago, he “definitely felt walking away from the FOX experience on Wonderfalls that they were not open to gay or lesbian characters.”

Additionally, there are different executive voices within each network, not all of whom are on the same page. Berlanti said that while there’s been a positive change at the top of the network entertainment divisions regarding GLBT characters, there’s also a “holdover” attitude among other executives from an earlier time - or from their own biases. Both Fuller and Kring said it was little over a year ago that a low-level executive at NBC cautioned them against having the character of Zach on Heroes be gay.

None of these interviews, however, turned up a clear, recent instance where an executive with real power disallowed a gay character or turned down a show because of a character’s sexuality. And all five current entertainment heads – at various networks and in various capacities during their careers - have not only allowed gay characters onto the air, most have been central to developing and even championing those characters.

Many of the creators believe that executive reactions may calibrate differently, depending on how high-profile the gay content is. They see a gay supporting character as something that might be a plus for executives and current programming strategies, while gay central leads, or multi-gay character casts would cause more network concerns.

Lawrence said if Friends, an upscale ensemble comedy, were pitched today “and Chandler was gay, I don’t think they’d have any issue whatsoever.” But if one is talking about a show where “a young gay man is exploring his romantic life, and struggling to find his way,” Lawrence believes that’s “an impossible sell.” And Fuller seemed to believe that a multi-gay character cast – while opening up dramatic options for those characters – would be seen by executives as having too much of an “indie-vibe.”

“Horseshit,” said Mutchnick to all those qualifications. “When interesting characters that are telling interesting stories are presented to network executives with experience - they take the show. Put it this way: I certainly don’t think they’re saying no to gay characters. The opposite is not true at all. They’d be more inclined to do it than not do it I believe at this point.”

A High Stakes Game

Mutchnick could be right, and in 2008 it may be safe waters for gay characters, even gay leads, and multi-gay character casts.

But if writers don’t perceive the Hollywood environment as open to these characters, they won’t create them. And considering the various challenges these characters face, it’s understandable that they might decide including a GLBT character is one headache they don’t need. Especially when they look at the enormous odds they’re already up against.

“It’s a high stakes game,” said Barclay, pointing out it’s only one of 75 pilots that actually get made and stay on the air. And Barclay believes “all the calculus” behind those numbers can scare writers from even imagining real, representative gay characters for a show they’re creating.

Berlanti feels many writers may “have been burned” trying to create GLBT characters in the past, and are therefore reluctant to try again when they look at those high stakes. Fuller, who has seen four different gay or lesbian characters be hampered or disappear completely in four different shows he’s been creatively involved with, admitted that approaching gay characters now, he can’t help but be “gun-shy.”

Barclay’s own pilot Hate ultimately didn’t make it on air because “test” audiences reported that they didn’t relate to the lead gay character. It’s an experience Barclay said has made him, too, hesitant to create another prominent gay character: “I don’t really know how to go back at it.”

Creamy Gay-Friendly Filling. Crunchy Gay-Free Coating.

But in a Hollywood atmosphere, as it is described in many of these interviews, where there are large proportions of gay executives, and gay agents, managers, directors, writers and every other imaginable position occupied by gay people, all comfortably out within the business, and it’s a natural part of the fabric of the industry - yet there are barely five substantial queer characters on all of network TV – there may be something more subtle and pervasive going on.

Lawrence and Schwahn, both straight, raise the issue of gay actors concealing their sexuality – a seemingly unrelated topic that comes up often in these interviews. And they see a similar set of assumptions at work regarding the dearth of GLBT characters.

“I have tons of gay friends who are actors … who aren’t out publicly,” confides Lawrence, “not a shame thing [but] because of the simple fact that they believe it limits them economically.” Schwahn also sees the choice of gay actors and their handlers to conceal as “a commerce-driven decision.” While emphasizing their temerity in even addressing the subject of publicly closeted gay actors Schwann said, “I’ve always felt they didn’t need to. I’ve always felt it was silly.” And Lawrence wonders if the limitations actors fear “would really never happen if they took the chance” to be out.

It’s a notable dichotomy that possibly the most gay-inclusive industry on the planet would also sport one of its most closeted professions. And it comes down to the fact that the actor is the face the industry shows to the audience. But this concept of the closet has been so absorbed by the Hollywood collective unconscious that it’s become an operating principle - with writers, producers, and programmers subliminally and automatically sifting away gay content, just as their gay actor friends and colleagues do, when it’s time to present to America.

How else do you explain Lost, a show with a seemingly progressive and gay-friendly creator, a central ensemble cast of 40 with every color of the human rainbow – and not a significant G, L, B or T in sight. “No gays on that plane,” said Barclay. “And it’s going to Australia.” (Two episodes ago one of Lost’s villains, one of the “others” and not part of the original 40, was revealed as gay. The character is now dead. One of the creators, J.J. Abrams, through his assistant requested a “raincheck” on an interview. We look forward to it.)

Fuller’s striking first response to the possibility of a mainly gay character cast is that only a gay audience would “relate to it.” He later recants. [In fact, the multi-gay character driven Queer as Folk, a wildly uneven cable show marketed exclusively to the gay community, had a majority female viewing audience, the vast majority of those being heterosexual women.]