I have to nfs that I never thought Barney Miller was a show for me. A child of the '80s, I would nstantly see on the syndited afternoon TV schle, but bee of s lack of aliens, puppets, or nja turtl I never gave a moment’s thought. Of urse, that’s before I learned about the show’s subversive gay backstory. Barney Miller buted 1975 as a mid-season replacement after ABC axed a whole...
Contents:
- THAT GAY EPISO: ‘BARNEY MILLER’ GETS THE WRONG LGHS OUT OF A GAY EXTORTN PLOT
- HOW BARNEY MILLER’S GAYS DEFEATED ABC’S NETWORK CENSORS
- 10 MILTONE MOMENTS GAY TV HISTORY
THAT GAY EPISO: ‘BARNEY MILLER’ GETS THE WRONG LGHS OUT OF A GAY EXTORTN PLOT
* gay couple on barney miller *
Wh That Gay Episo, I want to be able to look back at LGBTQ rep televisn and see a straight le of progrs om the villas of the ’50s to Ellen DeGener’ heroic g out 1997. Characters the ’70s e out and ’s no big al, but guys the ’90s are terrified of beg mistaken for gay. In between there are exampl of hysteril gay panic and sual reprentatn.
After spendg a few stallments the years leadg up to Ellen’s game-changg (and show-endg) cisn, I wanted to vis the more open-md ’70s–the when The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show troduced gay characters wh a re that puts Friends to shame. That diversy extend past havg the Ain-Amerin Ron Glass, Japane-Amerin Jack Soo, and Puerto Rin Gregory Sierra the regular st; Barney Miller also featured recurrg gay characters that appeared all the way om the show’s send to s last episo. Barney Miller didn’t have the gay-of-the-week problem that so many ss had.
It’s trouble tim two, and they’re both drsed like gay crayons. “Disvery” don’t tiptoe around the gay stuff.
HOW BARNEY MILLER’S GAYS DEFEATED ABC’S NETWORK CENSORS
Disvery: Directed by Lee Bernhardi. Wh Hal Ln, Barbara Barrie, Abe Vigoda, Max Gail. Marty claims that a member of the precct is harassg the gay muny. The precct puters have rerd Fish as ad." data-id="ma * gay couple on barney miller *
Marty and Darryl e to the precct (which Darryl lls “enemy terrory”) to report that a man is extortg gay men by posg as a police officer.
Gay men and police officers most likely had a straed relatnship 1975. Barney Miller had two gay recurrg characters? “Wojo” Wojciehowicz (Max Gail) beg aggrsively homophobic?
Him thkg that beg gay is may be a “psychologil phenomenon that’s ticked off by anythg”? Marty and Darryl are basilly s versns of my personal gay hero, Pl Lyn and Charl Nelson Reilly (okay, they’re a ltle more Liberace than Lyn, but still).
10 MILTONE MOMENTS GAY TV HISTORY
Consirg how vert or closeted gay characters were treated later the ’80s, ’s rehg to see a pair of ’70s queens dolled up a salmon rdigan and powr blue leisure su and owng . The problem is that, as far as I n tell, none of the actors or wrers volved were gay. That’s not a al breaker, and Barney Miller -creator Danny Arnold worked closely wh the Gay Media Task Force (which sounds like the Saturday morng rtoon that I need).