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‘RIVERDALE’ STAR KERR SMH ON TV’S FIRST GAY KISS: ‘IT WAS TENSE’
But bis troducg viewers to an arguably excciatg ma character, the WB show also gave viewers one of the most inic moments televisn history back 2000: primetime TV’s first “passnate” gay kiss.Nearly 20 years later, Kerr Smh, who played Jack McPhee on the teen drama, reflected on the impact of that kiss an terview wh Too Fab."We were the first on to do that,” Smh told the entertament blog. The storyle ends heartbreak — Ethan has got back together wh his ex-boyiend and don’t reciprote Jack’s feelgs — but history was ma nohels.Before “Dawson’s Creek,” Will and Jack kissed on NBC’s “Will and Grace” to prott the fact that they had never seen two gay men kiss on televisn, and a few other shows, cludg “LA Law” and “Relativy” featured two women kissg.
In the 1996 “Friends” episo “The One Wh the Lbian Weddg,” for stance, the seri did not show San and Carol kissg at their own weddg ceremony.As a rult, McPhee said he felt a “huge” rponsibily to play Jack thentilly after Kev Williamson, the creator of “Dawson’s Creek,” approached him wh the storyl of Jack’s g out and the kiss.While Jack dated Joey (Katie Holm) earlier episos, Smh said Williamson “always had the tentn of makg one of his characters gay.”“He was still the closet at that pot too, and every character 'Dawson's Creek' is an extensn of Kev Williamson," Smh told Too Fab.Greg Berlanti, the openly gay wrer, producer and director behd hs, such as “Chillg Adventur of Sabra” and “You,” mostly wrote Jack’s character arc, acrdg to Smh.“It was an tense experience and I remember llg everybody I rpected and said, 'Hey should I do this?'” Smh relled. Honey, a new strict school prcipal, while Berlanti executive produc the show.“Riverdale” also clus a gay character, Kev (Casey Cott), whom Smh likened to Jack on “Dawson’s Creek.” Kev, too, ma history as the first openly gay character Archie Comics history.When to LGBTQ televisn reprentatn, however, there’s still room for improvement, acrdg to LGBTQ advot.