Norman Lear on Gay Characters and 'All the Fay' - Variety

Contents:

• ‘ALL THE FAY’: INSI THE EARLY EPISO THAT CHALLENGED ARCHIE BUNKER’S VIEW OF GAY PEOPLE
• GAYT EPISO EVER: HOW ‘ALL THE FAY’ GAVE US OUR FIRST GAY S CHARACTER
• NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG
• GAY ON TV: IT’S ALL THE FAY
• HERE'S WHETHER MICHAEL IS GAY IN THE PROUD FAY: LOUR AND PROUR
• FAY GUY CHARACTER OUT AS GAY AND MARRI HIS BOYIEND
• NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG
• GAY ON TV: IT’S ALL THE FAY
• NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG
• WHEN WAS THE FIRST GAY TV SERI? EXPLORG THE HISTORY OF LGBT+ REPRENTATN ON THE SMALL SCREEN

‘ALL THE FAY’: INSI THE EARLY EPISO THAT CHALLENGED ARCHIE BUNKER’S VIEW OF GAY PEOPLE

One example is episo five, “Judgg Books by Covers, ” which prented an unexpected take on the subject of homosexualy — at a time that nobody was alg wh .

GAYT EPISO EVER: HOW ‘ALL THE FAY’ GAVE US OUR FIRST GAY S CHARACTER

The All the Fay wiki offers up this plot scriptn: “Archie thks he knows a homosexual when he se one and when Mike v his flamboyant photographer iend Roger (Anthony Geary) to the Bunker hoehold, Archie tomatilly assum that Mike’s iend is a “flamer. ” Retreatg to the safety of Kelcy’s Bar, Archie choos to spend time wh his “he-man” pals, notably his old arm-wrtlg crony Steve (Philip Carey), who, when hearg about Roger, reveals himself to be gay — which Archie never spected.

Televisn historian and thor Jim Colucci, who is currently -wrg wh Norman Lear a 50th-anniversary book voted to All the Fay, ments, “This was a brand new show g blazg out of the gate, bee if they were gog to tackle touchy issu 1971, gay reprentatn was certaly among the touchit.

Jim mentns that when he wrote his book Goln Girls Forever, he mented that the first regular gay character on televisn was the short-lived s The Corner Bar, which aired 1972. Gay liberatn and Stonewall had been 1969, so certaly was somethg the world was talkg about. And the gay muny had started to fd s very nascent voice, but wasn’t beg reprented mastream media and certaly not on televisn.

NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG

“Not only did they have gay reprentatn, but they also were breakg the harmful stereotyp that were the only thg that day and age people knew about gay people. In 1971 people probably thought all gay people were ty, feme, limp-wristed men wh lisps — jt all the stereotyp.

While any stereotype has some tth, what the episo took pas to show is that never tells you whether Roger, Mike’s iend who wears the ast and is very boistero, and ee talks wh his hands, is gay or not.

But what do show is that the macho man, the nfirmed bachelor who’s an arm wrtler and big and beefy, and a former play player, whom Archie idoliz and hangs out wh the bar all the time, has been gay all the years. “So there was jt so much that the show did, ” Jim pots out, “to give reprentatn to a gay character, which would have been ground breakg enough, but also showed multi-dimensns to what beg gay meant.

GAY ON TV: IT’S ALL THE FAY

Not only that, gave Ameri s first gay s character — and que likely, the first LGBT character on a show of any kd that was portrayed sensively and posively.

In short, if you’re an otherwise pop culture-savvy gay guy who’s never seen an episo of All the Fay, at least know about this one. On Febary 9, 1971, jt five episos to All the Fay’s first season, “Judgg Books by Covers” turned Archie Bunker’s anger toward gay men — or as he lls them many tim throughout the episo, fags. While the episo begs wh Archie fumg that he has to teract wh his dghter’s effemate male iend, he’s shocked later on to fd out that Steve (Philip Carey), the manly ex-football player who hangs out at the lol bar, is himself gay.

What’s remarkable about this episo is that most prev TV pictns of gay people were fairly negative. But give this episo of my podst, Gayt Episo Ever, a sp.

HERE'S WHETHER MICHAEL IS GAY IN THE PROUD FAY: LOUR AND PROUR

And if not, you’ll at least know the story of the first gay character to ever gut-star on a s. You n subscribe to Gayt Episo Ever on iTun, on Google Play and on Soundcloud. Wrer-producer Norman Lear 1971 created TV’s first sympathetic gay, Archie’s pal on “All the Fay.

FAY GUY CHARACTER OUT AS GAY AND MARRI HIS BOYIEND

” In ’75, “Hot L Baltimore” had the first gay uple as seri regulars. All the FayCast & crewUser reviewsTriviaEpiso aired Feb 9, 1971TV-PG26mArchie is irrated at Mike's offbeat iend, who drs and behav a way that leads him to mistakenly nclu he is a homosexual. Read allArchie is irrated at Mike's offbeat iend, who drs and behav a way that leads him to mistakenly nclu he is a homosexual.

But Archie soon learns that one of his bt iends is is irrated at Mike's offbeat iend, who drs and behav a way that leads him to mistakenly nclu he is a homosexual. ”The disproportnate amount of LGBTQ characters killed off on TV shows is ditive of what’s been emed the “bury your gays” trend.

Strappg, handsome ex-football player who, much to Archie's shock and dismay, reveals that he is gay. In the years sce All the Fay troduced the first gay character primetime TV, there's now Pose, an acclaimed FX drama featurg the most transgenr seri regulars ever.

NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG

The new acclaimed edy, created by and starrg O'Connell, is semi-tobgraphil and follows a gay man wh cerebral palsy.

The gay CP versn on ABC?! Any gay guy who don't feel they f the mold or that they're f enough — which, spoiler alert, is all gay men — n relate. CBS1971: All the FayAll the Fay ma LGBT history when troduced the first gay character primetime 1971, revealg that Archie Bunker's bar buddy Steve was gay.

The movie is noted for pictg homosexualy a sympathetic—read: normal—light. YouTube1975: Hot l BalmoreThe Norman Lear s starrg Jam Cromwell, Charlotte Rae and Conchata Ferrell had perhaps the first pictn of a gay uple on an Amerin TV seri. The character was divisive at the time—early plots had him wantg to bee a woman, he dated several women—but ultimately he was primetime TV's first gay dad.

GAY ON TV: IT’S ALL THE FAY

FOX1991: RocOne of Fox's first shows, Roc, was the first to have a gay weddg on TV. In a "very special episo, " Roc fds out his uncle is gay and has a partner.

1992: One Life to LiveIn 1992, the world met One Life to Live's Billy Douglas, played by a young Ryan Phillippe, the first gay teen character on daytime TV. ABC1994: My So-Called LifeWhile One Life to Live had s first gay teen 1992, primetime's first openly gay teen seri regular character me to My So-Called Life's Enrique "Rickie" Vasquez, played by Wilson Cz.

Pedro was openly gay and HIV-posive.

NORMAN LEAR ON GAY CHARACTERS, ‘ALL THE FAY’ AND BIG-SLE THKG

1997: Ellen"The Puppy Episo" of Ellen featured Ellen Man (Ellen DeGener) g out as gay, the same time the star me out on the ver of Time magaze, makg Ellen the first show to feature an openly lbian actrs playg an openly lbian character. WB1999: Dawson's CreekWhile lbian kiss beme a ratgs ploy for shows, TV's first "romantic" gay kiss didn't happen until 1999 on The WB.

CBS2007: As the World TurnsMen were kissg primetime long before daytime fally got on board, but the soaps ught up 2007 when As the World Turns featured the first-ever gay kiss between two male characters, Le Snyr (Van Hansis) and Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann). CBS2008: Rachel MaddowThe MSNBC anchor beme the first openly gay anchor of a primetime program on a major news Baer/FOX2009: GleeGlee, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falch and Ian Brennan, premier May of 2009. Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler's s followed a gay uple and their surrogate.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST GAY TV SERI? EXPLORG THE HISTORY OF LGBT+ REPRENTATN ON THE SMALL SCREEN

”At the time of the Broadway premiere of “The Children’s Hour, ” makg any reference to homosexualy on stage was illegal New York. 1975: Hot I BaltimoreAdaptg om an off-Broadway play by Lanford Wilson, Norman Lear created the s, “Hot l Baltimore, ” which featured the first gay uple to appear on U. Due to the show’s subject matter, and then-ntroversial characters (cludg two prostut and a gay uple named Gee and Gordon), was the first time ABC cid to display a warng at the openg of one of s shows, utng viewers about the mature them.

A homophobic Archie Bunker performs CPR on a woman who passed out the back out his taxib, only later to fd out the ctomer was fact a man drag. Played by the openly gay female impersonator Lori Shannon, the character Beverly LaSalle appears three episos of “All the Fay, ” eventually beg iends wh Edh.