The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV

by Stephen Tropiano

Television history was made on April 30, 1997, when comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her sitcom alter-ego Ellen Morgan, “came out” to her close friends and 36 million viewers. This groundbreaking episode represented a significant milestone in Amerian television. For the first time, a TV series centered around a lesbian character who was portrayed by an openly gay actor. The millions of viewers who tuned in that historic night were witnesses to a new era in television. THE PRIME TIME CLOSET offers an entertaining and in-depth glimpse into homosexuality on television from the 1950s through today. Divided into four sections, each devoted to a major television genre, this unique book explores how gay men and lesbians have been depicted in over three hundred television episodes and made-for-TV films. These include medical series, police/detective shows, situation comedies and TV dramas. THE PRIME TIME CLOSET also reveals how television's treatement of homosexuality has reflected and reinforced society's ignorance about and fear of gay men and lesbians. At the same time, it celebrates programs like Ellen and Will & Grace that have broken new ground in their sensitive and enlightened approach to homosexuality and gay-related themes. This book is witty and insightful, accessible and illuminating, a look into what has become an integral part of American media culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Tv, History, Lesbian, Historical, Queer

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Grace Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read a book like this for ages, but surprisingly they’re in short supply, especially considering how many books there are on gay representation in film.

The first two chapters of this book (on medical dramas and police procedural dramas, respectively) didn’t hold my interest as heavily as the last two chapters did (on prime time dramas and sitcoms). The last two chapters were super interesting, especially the one on sitcoms. It was really synthesised and thorough.

Considering the book was published in 2002, before you could just watch everything on the internet, the depth of the research is extremely impressive. I really wish there was some sort of sequel or second edition that talked about shows like ‘Drag Race’, ‘Glee’, ‘Schitt’s Creek’, etc.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Encyclopedia listing of every time a gay character appeared on TV before 1999.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is wide for its time, but shallow. Mostly it just briefly describes shows in a series of lists for each category, with a few shows or characters getting a little more detail. No great surprise that even within the limits of what was on TV, there was more emphasis on white men than anything else, but it was still interesting to see the progression of what was airing when.

One of my notes was "gonna make a homophobia bingo card. a drinking game would outright kill you, but bingo card would still be useful even today." Which is pretty accurate! It's great to see how much better some things are, and really fucking depressing to see how little change and/or backsliding there's been in many other areas.

[Siân · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's so dated now. No L Word, in ER Kerry Weaver has a baby with her partner, no Orange Is The New Black, but this book doesn't discuss any UK TV shows either... Dude Bad Girls. Best lesbian storyline you could want! Nikki and Helen!