Paley Celebrates Pride: A Salute to LGBTQ+ Achievements in Television

12:30 pm

Kate & Allie: “Landlady”

Kate & Allie was a 1980s comedy about two single mothers, played by Susan St. James and Jane Curtin, setting up a household in Greenwich Village, considering themselves an alternative family. The women face a considerable rent increase when their landlady assumes a dual family living arrangement. Kate and Allie decide to challenge this violation by posing as a lesbian couple. But their plan backfires when their landlady introduces them to her girlfriend. The ending was a surprise to audiences forty years ago. As Steven Capsuto in Alternate Channels notes, “the episode ends with the two pairs agreeing that a family is defined by love alone. Kate and Allie’s friendship with the lesbian couple, now grounded in honesty, seems strong, and they all go off to a dance at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center.” (1984; CBS)

 
12:55 pm

Roseanne: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Thirty years ago, this episode of Roseanne became a cause célèbre, getting the entire country talking about “the lesbian kiss.” Comedian Roseanne Arnold challenged her network’s Standard and Practices Department by having her character visit a lesbian bar with friends and receive an impulsive kiss from a pal played by Mariel Hemingway. The network was worried about possible preemptions and boycotts, but Roseanne persisted, especially because of her commitment to the gay community. GLAAD took a full-page ad supporting the show and millions of Americans tuned in, and it was the week’s highest-rated show. (1994; ABC)

1:25 pm

My So-Called Life: “So-Called Angel”

The 1990s series My So-Called Life, starring Claire Danes, trailblazed new LGBTQ+ storytelling by featuring a three-dimensional gay high school student, Richie Vasquez (Wilson Cruz) with his own narrative arc. As media historian Steven Capsuto has noted, Richie “was the first gay teenage regular on an American television series, the first gay Latino regular, and probably the first gay regular played by an openly gay actor.” In this moving episode from thirty years ago, Richie is abused and kicked out of his own home because of his sexuality, winding up in an abandoned warehouse populated by runaway teenagers. (1994; ABC)

2:15 pm

Ellen: “The Puppy Episode”

Ellen DeGeneres as bookstore Ellen Morgan became the first lead character to come out in a comedy series, viewed by 42 million people on April 30, 1997. In this episode, Ellen comes to terms with her sexual orientation. She goes on a date with her old friend Richard, a television news reporter. She meets Richard’s producer, Susan (Laura Dern), and the two hit it off. As she describes her emotions to her therapist, she realizes she has feelings for Susan. Also, in April 1997, Ellen declared on the cover of Time Magazine that, “Yep, I’m Gay.” Tracey E. Gilchrist in The Advocate called Ellen’s announcement in ”The Puppy Episode”: “a watershed moment in pop culture, and every LGBT person since has benefited in some small way from her bravery.” (1997; ABC)

3:15 pm

Will & Grace: “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, He’s Kept Me in the Closet and I’m So Sad”

A groundbreaking series originally running from 1998–2006, Will & Grace has been widely applauded with acclaim for the way in which it improved the public’s view on the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, Will’s father, George (Sydney Pollack) is being given an award and comes to the city to visit his son. The two have a supportive and close relationship, so it came as a surprise to Will when he learns his father has told people he’s married to Grace. Feeling hurt and confused by his father’s actions, Will confronts him. Remorseful for how he has hurt his son, George’s acceptance speech turns into a public declaration of love for his son as he declares, “I’m the proud father of a proud gay man.” (2000; NBC)

3:40 pm

Modern Family: “The Wedding” Parts 1 & 2

Ten years after the first televised same-sex wedding on The Real World, this special two-part episode of Modern Family celebrates Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron Tucker’s (Eric Stonestreet) wedding. Each member of the Pritchett and Tucker families faces obstacles arriving at the wedding, which is threatened by a rapidly growing wildfire. While supportive of Mitchell and Cameron, Jay (Mitchell’s father) struggles to understand why they want to have a wedding, causing a rift between him and his son. After being forced to relocate the wedding twice due to unforeseen circumstances, the resolution comes from a surprising source. Mitch and Cam’s wedding has been celebrated as one of the best sitcom weddings in television history, broadcast eight months before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage. (2014; ABC)

4:45 pm

Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word

Ten years ago, Laverne Cox hosted and produced the groundbreaking special on MTV and LOGO, Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. This moving documentary looks at seven transgender youth from around the country and their determination to fearlessly live authentic lives.   The film explores the struggles of coming out, bullying, and anti-transgender violence, that Cox hoped “will send the message to other trans youth that it’s okay to be who you are.” Cox received a Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Special as executive producer making her the first trans women to receive the award. (2014; MTV and LOGO)