The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV by Stephen Tropiano
Authors: Stephen Tropiano
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course, patients. Some of the same issues, such as homophobia and sexual confusion among teenagers, continued to be addressed. However, beginning in the mid-1980s, medical dramas started to reflect some of the changes in society’s attitudes toward homosexuality.
The shift in attitudes is first evident in a 1984 episode of St. Elsewhere entitled “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” When a reputable medical researcher named Dr. Christine Holtz (Caroline McWilliams) visits St. Eligius, Dr. Cavanero (Cynthia Sikes) invites her to stay with her. Dr. Holtz later comes out to Dr. Cavanero, who is extremely uncomfortable around her lesbian houseguest. When she shares Dr. Holtz’s secret with members of the hospital staff, the rumor rapidly makes its way around the corridors. People even begin to talk about Dr. Cavanero, who, as one character puts it, “never really had a relationship with a man.”
Dr. Holtz hears about the rumor from one of her patients, Mr. Millstein (Harold Gould), who believes lesbians don’t really exist (“it’s just media hype”), though he does have a nephew who “can’t even tell the Celtics from the Bruins.” Mr. Millstein claims he doesn’t care if the doctor who saved his life is a lesbian, but when Dr. Holtz admits it’s true, he doesn’t believe her.
That night, she confronts Dr. Cavanero about betraying her confidence. She says she assumed it wasn’t a secret, but when she shares her true feelings about Dr. Holtz’s sexuality, it’s clear she did have an ulterior motive:
DR. CAVANERO: What you do is perverted. Sex between two women is unnatural...Ever since you told me you were gay, I don’t know how to treat you. I was taught women shouldn’t have those feelings and if you do, it’s wrong. It’s just wrong.
Although the writers try to redeem Dr. Cavanero by having her apologize, they thankfully resist trying to make us believe she is suddenly cured of her homophobia:
DR. CAVANERO: Chris, I stayed up thinking last night. I’m sorry.
DR. HOLTZ: People don’t change overnight. Listen, I don’t try to hide the fact that I’m a lesbian, but it’s not the first thing I tell people. Especially colleagues. It’s hard enough being accepted in this profession as a woman, let alone as a gay woman. All I wanted was to be friends. And you made that friendship suspect. Automatically assumed I was interested in you romantically.
DR. CAVANERO : I hope we can still be that. 68
AIDS EPISODES, TV-MOVIES, AND SPECIALS
Andre’s Mother (PBS)
March 7, 1990
Written by Terrence McNally
Directed by Deborah Reinisch
A presentation of American Playhouse, this first-rate drama from gay playwright McNally explores a gay man (Richard Thomas) and his deceased lover’s mother (Sada Thompson), both trying to come to terms with Andre’s death. Thomas and Thompson are superb, as is McNally’s script, making it one of the best original AIDS dramas produced for television.
“Steve Burdick”
Lifestories (NBC-TV)
December 18, 1990
Written by Richard Gollance
Directed by Aaron Lipstadt
D.W. Moffet, who co-starred in An Early Frost, stars as Steve Burdick, a closeted news anchor who breaks down on the air the day his lover dies of AIDS. After revealing to the public he is HIV positive, Steve decides to do a series of first-person news reports on the disease. Loosely based on San Francisco newscaster Paul Wynne, who died of AIDS in 1990, “Steve Burdick” is a touching story that exposes the media’s failure to provide adequate and necessary coverage of the disease.
Our Sons (ABC-TV)
May 19, 1991
Written by William Hanley
Suggested by the documentary
Too Little, Too Late
Directed by John Erman
While it would seem like every gay boy’s fantasy to have Julie Andrews or Ann-Margret as their mother, this made-for-TV film is a disappointment. Andrews plays a successful businesswoman who never bonded with her gay son, James (Hugh Grant). His live-in lover, Donald (Zeljko
The shift in attitudes is first evident in a 1984 episode of St. Elsewhere entitled “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” When a reputable medical researcher named Dr. Christine Holtz (Caroline McWilliams) visits St. Eligius, Dr. Cavanero (Cynthia Sikes) invites her to stay with her. Dr. Holtz later comes out to Dr. Cavanero, who is extremely uncomfortable around her lesbian houseguest. When she shares Dr. Holtz’s secret with members of the hospital staff, the rumor rapidly makes its way around the corridors. People even begin to talk about Dr. Cavanero, who, as one character puts it, “never really had a relationship with a man.”
Dr. Holtz hears about the rumor from one of her patients, Mr. Millstein (Harold Gould), who believes lesbians don’t really exist (“it’s just media hype”), though he does have a nephew who “can’t even tell the Celtics from the Bruins.” Mr. Millstein claims he doesn’t care if the doctor who saved his life is a lesbian, but when Dr. Holtz admits it’s true, he doesn’t believe her.
That night, she confronts Dr. Cavanero about betraying her confidence. She says she assumed it wasn’t a secret, but when she shares her true feelings about Dr. Holtz’s sexuality, it’s clear she did have an ulterior motive:
DR. CAVANERO: What you do is perverted. Sex between two women is unnatural...Ever since you told me you were gay, I don’t know how to treat you. I was taught women shouldn’t have those feelings and if you do, it’s wrong. It’s just wrong.
Although the writers try to redeem Dr. Cavanero by having her apologize, they thankfully resist trying to make us believe she is suddenly cured of her homophobia:
DR. CAVANERO: Chris, I stayed up thinking last night. I’m sorry.
DR. HOLTZ: People don’t change overnight. Listen, I don’t try to hide the fact that I’m a lesbian, but it’s not the first thing I tell people. Especially colleagues. It’s hard enough being accepted in this profession as a woman, let alone as a gay woman. All I wanted was to be friends. And you made that friendship suspect. Automatically assumed I was interested in you romantically.
DR. CAVANERO : I hope we can still be that. 68
AIDS EPISODES, TV-MOVIES, AND SPECIALS
Andre’s Mother (PBS)
March 7, 1990
Written by Terrence McNally
Directed by Deborah Reinisch
A presentation of American Playhouse, this first-rate drama from gay playwright McNally explores a gay man (Richard Thomas) and his deceased lover’s mother (Sada Thompson), both trying to come to terms with Andre’s death. Thomas and Thompson are superb, as is McNally’s script, making it one of the best original AIDS dramas produced for television.
“Steve Burdick”
Lifestories (NBC-TV)
December 18, 1990
Written by Richard Gollance
Directed by Aaron Lipstadt
D.W. Moffet, who co-starred in An Early Frost, stars as Steve Burdick, a closeted news anchor who breaks down on the air the day his lover dies of AIDS. After revealing to the public he is HIV positive, Steve decides to do a series of first-person news reports on the disease. Loosely based on San Francisco newscaster Paul Wynne, who died of AIDS in 1990, “Steve Burdick” is a touching story that exposes the media’s failure to provide adequate and necessary coverage of the disease.
Our Sons (ABC-TV)
May 19, 1991
Written by William Hanley
Suggested by the documentary
Too Little, Too Late
Directed by John Erman
While it would seem like every gay boy’s fantasy to have Julie Andrews or Ann-Margret as their mother, this made-for-TV film is a disappointment. Andrews plays a successful businesswoman who never bonded with her gay son, James (Hugh Grant). His live-in lover, Donald (Zeljko
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