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

Tropiano, Stephen. "The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV", Applause Books, 2002. We're Here, We're Queer, We're on TV Amos Lassen In 1997 television history was made. On April 30 of that year Ellen DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan came out and television was never the same. In "The Prime Time Closet" Stephen Tropiano gives us quite an in-depth look into homosexuality on the tube from the 1950's through 2001. He conveniently divides the book into four sections, one for each of the genres we see on TV--police/detective drama, medical drama, situation comedies, and drama. We see how homosexuality on TV mirrors society and its ignorance of the GLBT community. Tropiano writes in an entertaining manner using both camp and intelligence and he gives us a thorough study of gays and lesbians on the small screen. He analyzes where we have been and where we are going and his study is impressive. The book is accurate and thorough and Tropiano gives us both the positive and negative about the way gay life and people are seen on TV. He has done his research well and it is amazing to see how powerful television has been in showing how groups are seen. There are minor errors but they can easily overlooked when considering the entire work.

Having read Stephen Capsuto's book "Alternate Channels" I was eager to read this fairly recent work by Stephen Tropiano on gay and lesbian representation on the small screen. Both books are valuable and reliable resources but I think to compare both books against each other is a little unjust to both authors. Tropiano brings to light shows and episodes that Capsuto missed or forgot to mention for one reason or another and really picks up where Capsuto's earlier work leaves off.That being said I did have a few problems with this book.First, Tropiano categorizes representation by genre of show. For example, early homosexual image, law and cop shows, dramas, and sitcoms. While this is a unique style that works well, it sometimes hard for the reader to grasp the social significance of a show done in the 1950's when in the next paragraph he is talking about a more recent episode and show. A chronological style would have enabled the reader to see the social connotations and historical references better, I think. Author Tropiano does a good job of describing the episodes in detail (a little too good at times) giving the reader a full detailed summary of the individual episodes' plot with dialogue. Where I got frustrated as a reader was the fact that Tropianos goes on and on describing episode after episode; without ever giving his critical insight on why he thinks the episode(s) are significant. (Being a gay studies and popular culture critic myself this is also a familiar and dangerous trap that I have fallen into myself.)It is nit-picky but I noticed some very oblivious typos and mis-wording and I'm usually the last person to notice such references.Still all and all, this is highly valuable text for television and gay studies readers and scholars alike. There is no denying the depth of the research that was done here and for that I gladly applaud and say "Bravo!"

Stephen Tropiano's book is a ground breaking, scholarly book about a topic which has rarely received such meticulous attention. The book is well-written and a page turner. An enormous amount of research went into the book. Tropiano has created a definitive study of the history of homosexuality on television. One cannot help but be amazed at how powerful television was (and is) in defining how entire groups of people were seen ~ and judged. It was not too long ago that [homosexuals] were being defined as "a social problem" or "having an illness" on well-intentioned but blatantly off-based news programs and some of the first produced talk shows. I recommend this book highly to colleges, universities, and the general public.

I use the word 'faaaaabulous' for Stephen Tropiano's "The Prime Time closet" not to perpetuate a stereotypical gay word but as an homage to Tropiano's engaging, offbeat combination of camp and intelligence in presenting an incredibly accurate, exhaustive and, ultimately, extremely excellent study of the history of gays and lesbians on television. It is impressive enough that the author managed to gather hundreds of hours of television episodes and news programs (dating back to the 1950s) that featured gays and lesbians. But his analysis of where we've been, where we are and where we are going is so impressive that I'm sure it is just a matter of time before someone (hopefully Tropiano) takes this book and turns it into a historical documentary a la "The Celluloid Closet."Tropiano fittingly pays tribute to Celluloid's author, the late Vito Russo, in the book's introduction, and then, for lack of a better word, picks up his mantle and runs with it. This is a thorough, intelligent piece of work. It's important. It's funny. It's generally readable. And, most of all, it's ACCURATE.I'm of an age where I remember many of these episodes, yet never put them in the contextual order the author manages to. It is so clear to see that he is devoted to telling the truth about our representation - good and bad - and that he has dedicated what must have been years in order to bring this information to the general public. In fact, one of the most impressive things about this book to me is that it appeals to both gay and straight audiences, intellectuals and the general public, and men and women equally. In an age where we all seem to be ghettoized in our specific special interest groups, "Prime Time Closet" provides a bridge for all of us into the truth.Grouping TV history by genre - medical dramas - law and order dramas - tv movies and miniseries - and comedy - was a brilliant idea because the categories really do cover most of the high (and "low") points of what is and was out there. The choice to box some episodes (a la TV Guide closeups) was hysterical as were many of Tropiano's lists towards the back of the book rating different tv episodes (check out the list of TV Variety shows rated on the Kinsey scale of most gay ("As gay as it gets," "Look Mary, a show for us," to least gay, "a touch of pink," "don't ask, don't tell." ) What I also like is that unlike so many "gay" books, Tropiano doesn't get mired in the camp. He just uses it as an occassional way to spice things up. Make no mistake about it, this is an intellectual work, and an extremely impressive one at that. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.By the way, I read a previous review of a reader chastising Tropiano for not being accurate in several places and implying the book probably has many more mistakes his "eagle" eye didn't catch. Wrong!!! Tropiano is correct in stating that the episode of "Family" (Rites of Friendship) premiered Sept. 28, 1976 because it was the op

A summary from the book's author:The Prime Time Closet takes an informative and entertaining look at the history of homosexuality on television. It examines howTV has treated the subject of homosexuality and represented gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters on medical dramas,police and detective shows, legal dramas, prime time and daytime soaps, teen dramas, made-for-TV movies, mini-series, and situation comedies. The book contains an appendix listing gay-themed episodes and characters from the mid-1950's through the present day.