TMC
03-05-2022, 09:50 PM
https://www.looper.com/787990/times-80s-tv-shows-outraged-fans/
Love, Sidney's gay protagonist offends the so-called 'Moral Majority'
https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/times-80s-tv-shows-outraged-fans/love-sidneys-gay-protagonist-offends-the-so-called-moral-majority-1646411482.webp
Today's audiences tend to remember a few major milestones in LGBTQ+ representation on TV, especially Ellen's coming out moment and the 1998 debut of "Will & Grace." Until the late 1990s, queer characters were largely deployed as comic relief or cautionary tales. But in 1981, a short-lived series called "Love, Sidney" dared to become the first sitcom ever to revolve around a gay man (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/10/28/a-subtle-sidney/5bb4a866-11d6-4af1-9682-6f3e7753c492/) (albeit a fairly closeted one).
"Love, Sidney" was a continuation of the TV movie "Sidney Shorr, A Girl's Best Friend" that aired on NBC and starred Tony Randall and Swoozie Kurtz. In the show, Randall's Sidney lives with Kurtz's single mother Laurie Morgan and her young daughter Patti, and the three form a happy non-traditional family. Sidney is a well-to-do working illustrator with a swanky apartment, and is treated with much more dignity than was typical for gay characters at the time.
Though the show was generally well received by critics, its premise caught the attention of the Moral Majority, the conservative political action committee (http://www.wiu.edu/cas/history/wihr/pdfs/Banwart-MoralMajorityVol5.pdf) founded by Jerry Falwell. They objected to what they deemed a "positive portrayal of homosexuality" and threatened to bombard "Love, Sidney" with complaint letters in hopes of getting it taken off the air. The show's creators did tone down the explicitness with which Sidney's sexuality was discussed and depicted, but in the end, despite the Moral Majority's performative public response, only four complaint letters (http://www.wiu.edu/cas/history/wihr/pdfs/Banwart-MoralMajorityVol5.pdf) were actually received, according to the show's star.
Love, Sidney's gay protagonist offends the so-called 'Moral Majority'
https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/times-80s-tv-shows-outraged-fans/love-sidneys-gay-protagonist-offends-the-so-called-moral-majority-1646411482.webp
Today's audiences tend to remember a few major milestones in LGBTQ+ representation on TV, especially Ellen's coming out moment and the 1998 debut of "Will & Grace." Until the late 1990s, queer characters were largely deployed as comic relief or cautionary tales. But in 1981, a short-lived series called "Love, Sidney" dared to become the first sitcom ever to revolve around a gay man (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/10/28/a-subtle-sidney/5bb4a866-11d6-4af1-9682-6f3e7753c492/) (albeit a fairly closeted one).
"Love, Sidney" was a continuation of the TV movie "Sidney Shorr, A Girl's Best Friend" that aired on NBC and starred Tony Randall and Swoozie Kurtz. In the show, Randall's Sidney lives with Kurtz's single mother Laurie Morgan and her young daughter Patti, and the three form a happy non-traditional family. Sidney is a well-to-do working illustrator with a swanky apartment, and is treated with much more dignity than was typical for gay characters at the time.
Though the show was generally well received by critics, its premise caught the attention of the Moral Majority, the conservative political action committee (http://www.wiu.edu/cas/history/wihr/pdfs/Banwart-MoralMajorityVol5.pdf) founded by Jerry Falwell. They objected to what they deemed a "positive portrayal of homosexuality" and threatened to bombard "Love, Sidney" with complaint letters in hopes of getting it taken off the air. The show's creators did tone down the explicitness with which Sidney's sexuality was discussed and depicted, but in the end, despite the Moral Majority's performative public response, only four complaint letters (http://www.wiu.edu/cas/history/wihr/pdfs/Banwart-MoralMajorityVol5.pdf) were actually received, according to the show's star.