Has TV finally come out of the closet?
If the 52nd Annual Emmy Awards was any indication, it appears that the boob tube has made strides of open-mindedness since Billy Crystal‘s gay days on “Soap” in the 1970s, or even Ellen DeGeneres‘ primetime coming-out party three years ago.
In case you didn’t hear, “Will & Grace,” an NBC sitcom about a gay man and a straight woman, took three Emmys including Oustanding Comedy Series. Cross-dressing comic Eddie Izzard won two awards for his HBO special, “Dressed to Kill,” and Vanessa Redgrave got an Emmy for her work in the lesbian-themed HBO flick “If These Walls Could Talk 2.”
Lots of Emmy statuettes — with their perfect female physique — were being handed out, prompting “Will & Grace” creator Max Mutchnick to joke, “Oh my God, she’s so beautiful. As a gay man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I finally met a girl I want to sleep with.”
So, what now? Are shows that openly depict homosexual characters a safe bet now, or do they bring the risk of ratings death? Will shows such as “Will & Grace” suffer a fate similar to “Ellen,” which dive-bombed after DeGeneres’ character announced her gayness?
Nah, say the pros.
Sean Hayes, Emmy winner as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for “Will & Grace,” told The Associated Press that the Emmy-winning show isn’t a “gay show” per se, thus it won’t put off viewers who aren’t into that.
“I think our motto is funny first, and anything that happens to follow that is great. We just want to make people laugh,” Hayes says.
“I think the doors are starting to open to these characters,” adds David Kohan, co-executive producer of “Will & Grace.” He notes that DeGeneres made the mistake of changing her character into a lesbian after the series was well established.
“She changed the character in the middle (of the series).” Audiences may have been more accepting, Kohan says, “if she started ‘out’ and stayed that way.”
The success of gay-themed shows proves that TV ain’t just for straight people anymore, says Scott Seomin of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “The way the gays and lesbians are perceived is significantly shaped by television.”
