The End of an Era
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Brothers and Sisters, an hour-long drama on ABC, will feature an openly gay District attorney and father. However, while he has the potential to be an interesting, multi-dimensional gay man, the show has a large, ensemble cast and it remains to be seen whether the character will stand out -- or if the show will even survive.

CBS is trying out a show called The Class, about a group of former classmates reunited after last seeing each other in third grade. It will feature two gay characters, one seemingly positive... and the other not so much. One character will be openly gay, but the other is closeted, married, and described as having "fabulous" taste. The premise of the show sounds a little shaky to me, so I don't hold out much hope for its success.

Keeping up with the trend of closeted, married gay men, ABC contributes one more gay character with the Ted Danson sitcom Help Me Help You. According to AfterElton.com, the character embodies just about every gay stereotype known to man and is the butt of jokes since he's the only one who doesn't seem to know he is gay. Big jump forward in LGBT portrayal there, ABC.

As you may have noticed, all four new characters (and two of the returning gay characters) are gay males. Dr. Kerry Weaver on ER is now the only non-animated lesbian on all of network TV. That's a heavy load to carry for one reoccurring character.

With the smashing success of Will & Grace all those years ago, I honestly thought we'd be farther along by now. So what happened? There may be several things at work here. For a while, it was cool and edgy to have gay characters on your shows. In recent years, Hollywood has moved on to new trends as gays became a hot-button issue. Network executives are looking for safer fare that will appeal to the masses, leaving the more cutting-edge stuff to cable.
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