My personal favourite, Catherine Tate's Mrs. O'Leary's acceptance of her son being gay never fails to make me laugh every time I watch it, even if I've seen it since like, 4-5 months ago.

Ah, if only my mum was that accepting.

Though maybe it's better this way.

thanks snicks for the great blog post -- totally hysterical. I so have to get my hands on a copy of Consenting Adults. For one thing, I have a total Marlo Thomas fixation ever since Free To Be You and Me. (I actually met her at my first post-college job in publishing, when she was doing a book tour for a book about her father. I couldn't manage to get out any actual words and just grinned like a moron.) Also I have vague memories of watching it, and I think it might have been one of those movies that made me scared to come out to my parents and put it off even longer.

Those Nordies do like to march...

I never realised they re-cast John and the dad. Hadn't seen those ones before. I like the first John better though.

Future epitaph: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

 I like this bunch largely because I'm unfamiliar with them, so it's nice to get some different perspectives.  Strangely, I seem to remember a lot (a LOT) of NBC sitcoms with people coming out--well, over a 25-year block, it's not surprising.  I definitely recall gays on "Cheers" "Night Court" "My Name Is Earl" "Frasier" "Friends" and of course "Will and Grace" just to name a few. 

 One of my favorite coming-out episodes involved Joseph Gordon Leavitt on "That 70's Show" coming out to Eric (Topher Grace).  I really liked how nonchalant he was about the whole thing--more of a 90's attitude than a 70's one, perhaps, but still funny.  (And loved the kiss with Eric in the car.)

Thomas is a terrific dramatic actress--if you ever get a chance to see her in "Nobody's Child" or "The Lost Honor of Katharine Beck" you'll be blown away at how good she is.  And I remember she had some truly stellar scenes in "Consenting Adult," most of them very quiet, like when she initially reacts to Jeff's coming out (before breaking down while driving home), or reacting to her friend's chatter about imagining Jeff marrying her daughter.  And she and Martin Sheen really seem like a long-married couple.  I think she was up for a Golden Globe for this movie, along with Gena Rowlands in "An Early Frost."  I don't know what Barry Tubb is doing now, but he was exceptionally brave to take on this role, and the gay community owes him a thank-you for it.  (I think Talia Balsam, George Clooney's ex, was Jeff's sister in this movie, and also had a couple really good scenes with Thomas.)  By the way, if you get a chance to track down Laura Z. Hobson's largely autobiographical novel, it's worth the effort.

WHOA! I can't believe it's been 23 years since Consenting Adult aired. Man, do I feel old. I remember watching the film avidly when it was first on television; there simply wasn't much gay content on network television then. (Wait a minute, there still isn't---but I suppose the situation has improved over the past couple of decades.) I loved the film, and have always wanted to see it again, but have never had the opportunity; far as I know it was never released on video. I was hoping that Logo would air it sometime, but I don't think they ever did...

That trailer is a bit ridiculous, though; I don't quite remember the film as being so melodramatic! Now I really am curious to view this once more; anyone here have an "in" with those in charge of programming at Logo?

I'm like a superhero, with no powers or motivation...

John is played by the adorable Kevin Trainor who had a small role in Hellboy and more recently in the HBO special John Adams performing the part of younger son Charles Adams. Trainor has played gay in the role of Alan Cummings lover in the 2006 East End production of Bent. Hope we see lots more of him in the future.  More on that performance at www.curtainup.com/bent.html

"We were cold!" That line had me laughing for days.

 

If By Gay You Mean Totally Freaking Awesome, Then Yeah, I Guess It's Pretty Gay

--Des Ark