Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 11:43:20 -0700 From: GLAAD Subject: GLAAD Says Primetime TV Lineup "Barely Realistic" INDEX: 1) MEDIA RELEASE -- GLAAD Says 1999-2000 Primetime TV Lineup "Barely Realist= ic" 2) GLAAD'S TV SCOREBOARD:WHAT'S ON TELEVISION THIS FALL MEDIA RELEASE--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Scott Seomin Entertainment Media Director Phone: (323) 658-6775, ext. 14 E-mail: seomin@glaad.org Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Says 1999-2000 Primetime TV Lineup "Barely Realistic" GAY PORTRAYALS - AT 2% - ARE TOO LOW LOS ANGELES, CA, MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 1999 - "The upcoming television season is barely realistic in the portrayals of lesbian and gay characters," says Scott Seomin, Entertainment Media Director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). "With few exceptions, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community portrayed in primetime is overwhelmingly white men who are gay-in-name-only." Although GLAAD lists a total of 28 lesbian, gay, or transgender characters on broadcast and cable networks for the 1999-2000 season on its website (http://www.glaad.org), the majority of these representations are small, recurring roles. Of the nine gay lead or supporting roles, all are male and just one is a person of color. "With over 540 lead or supporting characters on primetime this fall, the gay community encompasses less than 2% of total portrayals," says Seomin. "Lesbians have been relegated to small, marginal roles and gay people of color are almost nonexistent." There are bright spots, however, in the new television season for the lesbian and gay community. These include soap-opera actor Russell (Dan Montgomery) on the ABC drama Wasteland and the elderly gay couple Wally & Gus (voices of Tom Kenny and Nick Jameson) included in the WB animated series Mission Hill. "Characterizations like these promise to be more fully realized portrayals than we have previously seen," Seomin says. "Usually, the only indication of a character's sexual orientation has been in the form of a punch line at his, her-or someone's-expense. Gay characters rarely have had a romantic encounter while their straight counterparts hop between multiple dates or affairs. Wasteland and Mission Hill will break this artificiality." Returning shows, including the WB's Dawson's Creek, NBC's Will & Grace and ABC's Spin City also show promise in their gay character representations. "These are shows with integrity," notes Seomin, "but they need to further develop their gay characters. If Will Truman doesn't have a date on Will & Grace this season, then the network has failed to realistically deliver that sitcom's premise of the life of a gay man." GLAAD is appealing to the broadcast and cable networks to not only include more lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender representations on television, but also to have these representations be more diverse and more fully realized. "The advances that have been made for lesbians and gay men on television are great in increased awareness, but seem to have only gone so far in portraying more than one dimension," Seomin says. "How about acknowledging that a character can be defined in more context? Wearing a gay nametag should not be confused with identity." GLAAD, the nation's lesbian and gay media advocacy organization, is dedicated to promoting fair, accurate and inclusive representations of individuals and events in the media as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. -end- GLAAD'S TV SCOREBOARD WHAT'S ON TELEVISION THIS FALL UPDATED: 8.23.99 GLAAD's TV Scoreboard reflects lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (lgbt) characters on original broadcast and cable programming in primetime for the 1999-2000 television season. THE BREAKDOWN CURRENT NUMBER OF LEAD, SUPPORTING & RECURRING LGBT CHARACTERS ON BROADCAST TELEVISION: 25 CURRENT NUMBER OF LEAD, SUPPORTING & RECURRING LGBT CHARACTERS ON CABLE TELEVISION: 3 TOTAL =3D 28 BROADCAST NETWORK BREAKDOWN: NBC: 8 characters ABC: 6 characters =46OX: 5 character CBS: 3 characters The WB: 3 character UPN: 0 characters CABLE NETWORK BREAKDOWN: Showtime: 2 characters HBO: 1 character CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: Gay Men: 22 characters Lesbians: 5 characters Transgender: 1 character Bisexuals: 0 character BROADCAST NETWORKS ABC-TV NEW =85 Oh, Grow Up is an ensemble comedy featuring Ford (John Ducey), who separates from his wife when he realizes that he is gay. LEAD =85 Wasteland is an one-hour drama from Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson. The gay character, Russell (Dan Montgomery), is a closeted soap-opera star. LEAD =85 Then Came You, a sitcom about a newly single woman in her thirties who has a romance with a 24-year-old, will include her gay friend Phillip (Jack Kenny). RECURRING RETURNING =85 The Drew Carey Show includes Drew's heterosexual cross-dressing brother Steve (John Carroll Lynch), who is dating Drew's nemesis, the voluptuous Mimi. RECURRING =85 NYPD Blue includes gay receptionist John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup). SUPPORT= ING =85 Spin City features Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman), the gay Director of Minority Affairs. SUPPORTING Network Tally: 6 CBS-TV NEW Of the six new shows this fall, none include lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters. RETURNING =85 Nash Bridges, starring Don Johnson, includes Nash's lesbian sister Stace= y (Angela Dorhmann) and gay receptionist Pepe (Patrick Fischler). RECURRING/ RECURRING =85 Chicago Hope will feature gay and anal-retentive assistant Andy (Todd Louiso). RECURRING Network Tally: 3 NBC-TV NEW Of the seven new shows premiering this fall, none include lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters. RETURNING =85 Will & Grace, primetime's first show to premier with an openly gay character, includes gay attorney Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and his fabulous friend Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes). LEAD/ SUPPORTING =85 ER includes gay nurse Yosh Takata (Gedde Watanabe). RECURRING =85 Friends includes the recurring roles of Ross' lesbian ex-wife Carol Wylick (Jane Sibbett) and her spouse Susan Bunch (Jessica Hecht). RECURRING/ RECURRING =85 Suddenly Susan includes Pete (Bill Stevenson), the gay mailroom clerk an= d his husband Hank (Fred Stoller). RECURRING/ RECURRING =85 The Profiler features gay computer pro George Fraley (Peter Frechette). SUPPORTING Network Tally: 8 =46OX TV NEW =85 Action, a sitcom starring Jay Mohr, includes the character Stuart (Jack Plotnick), a gay film development executive, and Bobby (Lee Arenberg), a gay-but-closeted-and-married studio president. SUPPORTING/ RECURRING RETURNING =85 Beverly Hills, 90210 includes Samantha Sanders (Christina Belford), the lesbian mother of Steve (Ian Ziering). RECURRING =85 The Simpsons' features gay power plant assistant Waylon Smithers (voice of Harry Shearer), who will return to kiss up to his boss, Mr. Burns. RECURRING =85 Family Guy, an animated series, features Latin American Mr. Weed (voice of Carlos Alazraqui), Peter Griffin's boss. RECURRING Network Tally: 5 THE WB NEW =85 Mission Hill is an animated sitcom focusing on twentysomething roommates adjusting to change when a kid brother moves in. The big-city series includes a sixty-something gay couple, Wally (voice of Tom Kenny) and Gus (voice of Nick Jameson), who live next door. RECURRING/ RECURRING RETURNING =85 Dawson's Creek includes the gay character Jack (Kerr Smith), who will join the Capeside High School football team on the teen drama. SUPPORTING Network Tally: 3 UPN Unfortunately, UPN features no lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters this fall. Network Tally: 0 CABLE NETWORKS The following are currently airing first-run episodes throughout the fall. HBO =85 Sex and the City's Stanford (Willie Garson) is Carrie's (Sarah Jessica Parker) gay friend. RECURRING Network Tally: 1 SHOWTIME =85 Beggars and Choosers: Tuc Watkins portraying gay network executive Malcolm Laffley. SUPPORTING =85 Rude Awakenings: Rain Pryor portrays Jackie, Sherilyn Fenn's lesbian friend. SUPPORTING Network Tally: 2 -end- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~= ~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~= ~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.