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LGBT Themes, Stories And Characters On TV


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I've been catching up on last summer's Season 1 of Canadian comedy The Lake on Amazon Prime Video, as Season 2 drops today. Fun show, with Julia Stiles and Jordan Gavaris (Felix from Orphan Black) as step-siblings squabbling over ownership of a family lakeside cabin. A nicely diverse cast, including a sweet gay romance for Jordan's character and a gender-queer 10 year old, all in a beautiful setting, make for an enjoyable summer binge! I just hope Season 2 keeps up the campy, chill vibe set in the first season.

 

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17 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

nicely diverse cast, including a sweet gay romance for Jordan's character and a gender-queer 10 year old, all in a beautiful setting, make for an enjoyable summer binge! I just hope Season 2 keeps up the campy, chill vibe set in the first season.

I just finished the second season. Maybe it's a little less wacky compared to last season but I completely enjoyed it. It still completely nailed the summer vibe which is all that I'm looking for. 

And it even got gayer.

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Just watched the first episode of Season 1. I love it. Justin G is what makes it good, though. I think, without him, it would be terrible. And I guess that explains why so many tv shows and movies exactly like this seem completely unwatchable to me. Some things just wash down better with family. 

Thanks so much for cluing us in to this show's existence. It's the perfect thing for my procrastinating agenda for the day and the bitterness I was feeling over another show that blatantly minimized its queer content for no good reason.

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(edited)

Speaking of Canadian shows, CBC series Sort Of is a wonderful show about non-binary South Asian millennial living in Toronto, juggling their identity with their Pakistani family. It has won Best Comedy Series in the last two Canadian Screen Awards and has also won a Peabody Award. It is airing on CBC in Canada and Max in the US. Just a charming show about Sabi as they navigate their life.

 

Edited by argrow
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(edited)

With it being Pride weekend here in Toronto, a shout out to Miss Persona- a Canadian pre-school show that aired two LGBTQ- related episodes a few years ago.

In the first episode- Love Every Moment- Miss Persona attends her moms' wedding, and is the first same-sex wedding shown in the Canadian preschool realm. I can't find the episode online, but here's the song that is in that episode

And then, an episode where they went to a pride parade. Thankfully, the entire episode is on YouTube.

Happy Pride, everyone.

Edited by argrow
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On 2/27/2023 at 8:19 PM, giovannif7 said:

I don't know how far you've gotten into the series, but there's another episode where Herb's transgender issues are confronted in an even-more-personal storyline (in the Season 3 Vicki Von Vicki designer jeans episode). It's been years since I've seen those episodes, but I don't recall other regular characters reacting anywhere near as negatively as Herb in either storyline.

I watched that one last night and it wasn't great but it was probably pretty good for 1980. The transgender character was presented as a real person who explains basically that this is how she was born and seems comfortable with her life; instead of being presented as some kind of crazy person who is doing something wrong with her life. The only weird part was her attraction to Herb. A lot of that was played for laughs and the laugh track was going strong,  but I still think for 1980 that was probably pretty good. Especially since like you said a lot of the comedy was Herb's reaction and Herb is always a jackass.  I bet 20 years later that still would have been good as far as presentation of a trans character.

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Speaking of something that was fair for it’s day, I found this video about the Two and a Half Men episode where Charlie reunites with an old lover that came out as a trans man:


It shocks me to admit it: they DID handle it pretty well. I mean, yes, he’s played by a cisgender actor (Chris O’Donnell) but they still handled the subject pretty sensitively. Evelyn didn’t have any issues with him being trans, she was just horrified that her new boyfriend used to sleep with her son. And she was still able to get over that to keep dating him. So yeah, for once that show did do something right—of course this was back when it used to be passable before it turned into a complete shitshow, but still!

Edited by Spartan Girl
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Happy for the progress in seeing so many male-male couples make the TVLine 2023 year-end list of "Most Dynamic 'Ships", including

Heartstopper - Nick and Charlie

Doom Patrol - Larry and Rama

Fellow Travelers - Hawk and Tim/'Skippy'

The Righteous Gemstones - Kelvin and Keefe

The Last of Us - Bill and Frank

Sadly, other couples from Fellow Travelers, Our Flag Means Death, Good Omens and others were not included, and there's a complete lack of lesbian couples mentioned, so there is still a lot of room for diverse growth. I'm choosing to see it as a positive trend toward increasing inclusion.

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So in the upcoming returning X-Men cartoon, X-Men '97, Morph will be non-binary. Makes sense for a character who can radically change their shape, right? Apparently some people are already up in arms about it. But do these people actually read the X-Men comics? Did they watch the old cartoon? See, the X-Men have always been stand-ins for oppressed minorities. The actual minorities have shifted over the years as creative teams, politics, and acceptance have changed, but that's the general gist of things.

It's my suspicion that some people go looking for minority representation to complain about, regardless of the source material.

Anyway, while the trailer doesn't grab me, I'm happy for other people to have nice things.

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(edited)

Spent the weekend bingeing Season 1 of "Prisma" on Prime Video - an Italian series from 2022 focused on a group of teens, including two 16 year old twins (seamlessly played by the same actor). The inclusive 8-episode series deal with issues including gender norms/fluidity, relationships and sexuality, physical disability, bullying, and self-harm in a relatively honest, non-sensational way. It's somewhat like a less-salacious (minimal nudity), less murdery version of the Spanish series Elite, but with a more realistic feel to it.

The 8 epiosdes of Season 2 of Prisma just dropped on Prime, which I'll be bingeing this coming weekend. If you don't mind subtitles, you might find it worth checking out for Pride month... here's the trailer for Season 1 (semi-helpful English subtitles are available for this video by turning on captions, then going into Settings and choosing "English").

 

Edited by giovannif7
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When he says he didn't say he doesn't believe in lesbians, and it turns out what he said was that

he can't believe lesbians aren't attracted to men

....

I laughed, but there really is an issue there. I hope we can start seeing shows that center lesbians the way we're seeing shows that center gay men and trans and non-binary people.

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I like the show because it's set in a world that really does exist, where there is a mix of terrible and great attitudes. The over-simplification of culture is a usual tv shortcut, but this show doesn't make it that easy. And it's still funny.

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I also like the mix of inside baseball and straight-queer culture clash. 

9 hours ago, Palimelon said:

Based on that trailer, it pokes fun at "wokeism"?

I wouldn't characterize it that way. 

It's more that it is set in a school where there are a mix of people who would be considered "woke" and less woke to various degrees, and how they each respond to issues or challenges that arise.

For example, the gay teacher kisses his boyfriend where students can see. He is then dealing with a complaint by a parent. How does he deal with the threat to his job? And how do various people in his life suggest he deal with it, support or not support him? It's not as simple as you might think. What do the students think about it, for that matter? 

Often, these topics are addressed as though they are theoretical, but in the show, he has practical concerns and who helps him or who doesn't is not only about their degrees of "wokeness" but also other concerns like loyalty, priorities, leverage, courage, etc.

That description makes it seem didactic and overly serious, but I actually thought it was way less dogmatic or "lesson driven" than most shows that include these kinds of situations.

 

Here's an example:

there's a phys ed teacher who is kind of rude, uses gay stereotypes, isn't what you'd think of as "woke". But he saves the gay teacher's job because he thinks the parent who complained is obnoxious, and he has access to her through their shared country club, where he threatens her. The gay teacher is horrified, says the action by the PE teacher was unprincipled, and the PE teacher says he thought the guy was going to lose his job, so he used his game strategy to make sure he got a chance to keep fighting another day, which he can do with whatever principles he wants since he's still in the school.

One thing I think is a strength of the show is that it shows how IRL people compromise all the time, by necessity, and that a lot of situations are not black and white. 

Another example:

There is a "powder puff" event every year where the girls play football and the boys cheerlead. It is in danger of being cancelled and initially the gay teacher thinks it's because the gender police are objecting to boys in drag. But the boys ask him to help save it, they think it's fun. He doesn't want tog et involved afte almost losing his job over a homophobic complaint, but he goes to the principal with the plea from the boys. The principal says he's not the one who wants it canceled, it's the queer students [they have a very long acronym and don't say "queer" but that's my language] are the ones who are objecting. So the teacher aks them why and they say they are being mocked by the cheerleading, that it's insulting and a misrepresentation. This plot takes a few twists and turns and who is a hero or a villain does not unfold along the usual dogmatic lines. It has a happy ending, since it's a comedy, but it's not a rote treatment of the drag/anti-drag politics that most of the time is what we are fed by partisans.

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Ok so I have to mention Agatha All Along here, which has a variety of queer characters. 

There's Teen/William/Billy and his boyfriend Eddie who had a significant chunk of ep 6 exploring their story and how Eddie is supportive no matter the crazy stuff "William" is saying. Helps to live in the MCU I guess. He was first shown as having a boyfriend in ep 2 (on the phone) and so far it has been relatively natural and low key whilst also making it clear that whoever Teen is he loves Eddie and that his parents are supportive. 

Then there's the chaos of Agatha and Rio who are confirmed to be exes with a terrible break up. Obviously 

Spoiler

Rio being death and a cosmic entity

Means that even under ideal circumstances there's no real way they can be any kind of regular couple but Ep 5 showed us Rio sticking up for Agatha against her mother and whilst there's a lot of violence, snark and jokes it is being taken seriously by the writers (see also ep 4). 

I know it's not for everyone but I think the mix of taking LGBT themes seriously and also having queer characters making snarky jokes about being queer "Queer-ent" and "If you want a straight answer ask a straight lady!" is a big deal for Marvel who have otherwise been more tentative and tepid, even with gender fluid, pansexual Loki who was in love with himself. 

It's not perfect but with ep 7 it does seem to have even silenced those critics who were saying "no one cares". Paul Tassi from Forbes even wrote an article about Agatha defying those who thought it was just "another woke project" from the start, as though he hadn't been saying that the last week. 

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On 10/29/2024 at 8:43 AM, Featherhat said:

Ok so I have to mention Agatha All Along here, which has a variety of queer characters. 

There's Teen/William/Billy and his boyfriend Eddie who had a significant chunk of ep 6 exploring their story and how Eddie is supportive no matter the crazy stuff "William" is saying. Helps to live in the MCU I guess. He was first shown as having a boyfriend in ep 2 (on the phone) and so far it has been relatively natural and low key whilst also making it clear that whoever Teen is he loves Eddie and that his parents are supportive. 

Then there's the chaos of Agatha and Rio who are confirmed to be exes with a terrible break up. Obviously 

  Reveal spoiler

Rio being death and a cosmic entity

Means that even under ideal circumstances there's no real way they can be any kind of regular couple but Ep 5 showed us Rio sticking up for Agatha against her mother and whilst there's a lot of violence, snark and jokes it is being taken seriously by the writers (see also ep 4). 

I know it's not for everyone but I think the mix of taking LGBT themes seriously and also having queer characters making snarky jokes about being queer "Queer-ent" and "If you want a straight answer ask a straight lady!" is a big deal for Marvel who have otherwise been more tentative and tepid, even with gender fluid, pansexual Loki who was in love with himself. 

It's not perfect but with ep 7 it does seem to have even silenced those critics who were saying "no one cares". Paul Tassi from Forbes even wrote an article about Agatha defying those who thought it was just "another woke project" from the start, as though he hadn't been saying that the last week. 

I honestly do not think any of the main cast of characters is straight. They are at a minimum bi. But, I do hold the belief that any being that is centuries old is  not 100% straight. 

Edited by Ohiopirate02
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17 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I honestly do not think any of the main cast of characters is straight. They are at a minimum bi. But, I do hold the belief that any being that is centuries old is 100% straight. 

Oh, yes I forgot to mention that Jen/Alice "Do I hate her or do I want her phone number?" "Same" convo. 

So yeah all or almost all of the cast being non straight seems true. 

I think What We Do In the Shadows is one of the only other current shows where all the main cast are queer. Are there any others I should be aware of? 

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22 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I honestly do not think any of the main cast of characters is straight. They are at a minimum bi. But, I do hold the belief that any being that is centuries old is 100% straight. 

Any being that is centuries old is likely to eventually move away from being 100% straight out of sheer boredom and wanting to try something different.

And then of course you have Nando and Lazlo from 'What we do in the shadows' who are most definitely not 100% straight and possibly never were. 

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28 minutes ago, Ceindreadh said:

Any being that is centuries old is likely to eventually move away from being 100% straight out of sheer boredom and wanting to try something different.

And then of course you have Nando and Lazlo from 'What we do in the shadows' who are most definitely not 100% straight and possibly never were. 

I'm so glad you understood what I was trying to say when I forgot a word (that not is rather important). Yeah, boredom plays a major factor in my thinking. And Nandor and Lazlo were definitely bisexual before becoming vampires.

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12 hours ago, Featherhat said:

I think What We Do In the Shadows is one of the only other current shows where all the main cast are queer. Are there any others I should be aware of? 

All the mains in Interview with a Vampire are queer. Playing again with the (mostly) centuries-old premise.

Edited by Irlandesa
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The episode of Brilliant Minds that airs in the US on Monday November 11th at 10PM on NBC (episode 7 - The Man From Grozny) aired in Canada last week, and has a strong, gay-positive focus. It's surprising, exquisitely sad, moving and beautiful, and actor Alex Ozerov-Meyer, who plays John Doe/Roman, is amazing. Don't miss it.

 

Edited by giovannif7
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The series is inspired by the life of the late and great Dr. Oliver Sacks. Look him up if you haven't, he had a very interesting and fascinating life, not to mention a very productive one, though not without some sadness. At least he finally found love late in his life, at the age of 77, though sadly he found out he had terminal cancer a few months after he finally decided to come out, at the age of 81.

He was the guy who wrote the book Awakenings on which the movie was based, with Robin Williams' character based on him as well.

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(edited)

Just started watching Clean Slate on Prime (or maybe Freevee? I’m not sure) and really liking it. This link is for the Media thread but there’s a full forum. 
 

Sorry the description didn’t show up in that link, let me try again   

Quote

Clean Slate is a Comedy TV Series streaming all 8 (half-hour) episodes on February 6, 2025 on Prime Video. The show follows Harry Slate, an old-school and outspoken car wash owner, who has a lot of soul searching to do when his estranged son, who left for New York as a teenager, temporarily moves back home to Mobile, Alabama as a proud, trans woman, Desiree. Harry and the people in town, especially in church, are forced to confront their own biases as Desiree works to repair her fraught relationship with her father. This also puts a strain on her relationship with the choir director, Desiree’s closeted gay best friend, Louis and Louis’ mother. 

 

Edited by SoMuchTV
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I was tracking a new show, it probably won't get a forum, I didn't even know that this forum existed until somebody linked something I posted.

Unconventional      February 11, 2025      Revry         9 episodes

Unconventionnal.jpg

Unconventional focuses on the queer lives of a brother, Noah Guillory and his sister, Margot Guillory. Noah Guillory is a thirty-something PhD student living with his husband of 10 years, Dan Charles,

unconventional-1-kit-williamson-james-bl

the two seem to have everything going for them — including an enviable desert home in the historic gay community of Palm Springs and a plan to adopt, but it’s clear that, after a decade of wedded bliss, both are questioning what they want out of their lives... especially after they experiment with opening things up to a third.

bgay-post-1200x700-px-9.jpg

Margot Guillory lives is the same community with her wife, Eliza Slate, they plan to have a child and the sperm donor is Margot’s brother Noah. Each of the nine episodes chronicles each month of Eliza's pregnancy. To further complicate matters, Noah and  Margot's conservative mother, Carolyn has just moved from Texas to California after an unexpected tragedy and inserts herself into their lives.

The four explores the complexities of starting an unconventional family while trying to keep their tight-knit bond alive in a chaotic world as the series delves into the realities of modern queer life, from the highs to the heartbreaks.

MV5BMGY0NDNjMzYtZTUzNC00OTc3LTg5YzMtMmE1

MV5BOTA0ODg5MzItOTI4Ni00MGU1LTg4ZGEtY2Mw

James Bland as Dan Charles, Noah's husband of 10 years 
    
Kit Williamson as Noah Guillory, gay 30 something, brother of Margot, a PhD student   
    
Aubrey Shea as Margot Guillory, gay 30 something, sister of Noah 
    
Briana Venskus as Eliza Slate, Margot's wife, pregnant from sperm provided by Noah
    
Beau Bridges as Wayne Guillory, father of Margot and Noah
    
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Carolyn Guillory, conservative mother of Margot and Noah,  moved from Texas to California after an unexpected tragedy     
    
Kathy Griffin as Noah’s PhD advisor
    
Tuc Watkins as Eliza’s obstetrician
    
Jenna Ushkowitz an adoption agent

Constantine Rousouli as a romantic interloper of Noah and Dan
    
Beth Grant
    
Tim Russ
    
James Urbaniak
    
Angela Elayne Gibbs
    
Willam Belli
    
Miranda Bailey
    
Quei Tann
    
Stephen Guarino
    
Laith Ashley
    
Chaunte Wayans
    
John Halbach
    
Brooke Seguin

GjH-dKvX0AASWq_?format=jpg&name=large

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On 2/8/2025 at 4:40 AM, AnimeMania said:

I was tracking a new show, it probably won't get a forum, I didn't even know that this forum existed until somebody linked something I posted.

Unconventional      February 11, 2025      Revry         9 episodes

Unconventionnal.jpg

Unconventional focuses on the queer lives of a brother, Noah Guillory and his sister, Margot Guillory. Noah Guillory is a thirty-something PhD student living with his husband of 10 years, Dan Charles,

unconventional-1-kit-williamson-james-bl

the two seem to have everything going for them — including an enviable desert home in the historic gay community of Palm Springs and a plan to adopt, but it’s clear that, after a decade of wedded bliss, both are questioning what they want out of their lives... especially after they experiment with opening things up to a third.

bgay-post-1200x700-px-9.jpg

Margot Guillory lives is the same community with her wife, Eliza Slate, they plan to have a child and the sperm donor is Margot’s brother Noah. Each of the nine episodes chronicles each month of Eliza's pregnancy. To further complicate matters, Noah and  Margot's conservative mother, Carolyn has just moved from Texas to California after an unexpected tragedy and inserts herself into their lives.

The four explores the complexities of starting an unconventional family while trying to keep their tight-knit bond alive in a chaotic world as the series delves into the realities of modern queer life, from the highs to the heartbreaks.

MV5BMGY0NDNjMzYtZTUzNC00OTc3LTg5YzMtMmE1

MV5BOTA0ODg5MzItOTI4Ni00MGU1LTg4ZGEtY2Mw

James Bland as Dan Charles, Noah's husband of 10 years 
    
Kit Williamson as Noah Guillory, gay 30 something, brother of Margot, a PhD student   
    
Aubrey Shea as Margot Guillory, gay 30 something, sister of Noah 
    
Briana Venskus as Eliza Slate, Margot's wife, pregnant from sperm provided by Noah
    
Beau Bridges as Wayne Guillory, father of Margot and Noah
    
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Carolyn Guillory, conservative mother of Margot and Noah,  moved from Texas to California after an unexpected tragedy     
    
Kathy Griffin as Noah’s PhD advisor
    
Tuc Watkins as Eliza’s obstetrician
    
Jenna Ushkowitz an adoption agent

Constantine Rousouli as a romantic interloper of Noah and Dan
    
Beth Grant
    
Tim Russ
    
James Urbaniak
    
Angela Elayne Gibbs
    
Willam Belli
    
Miranda Bailey
    
Quei Tann
    
Stephen Guarino
    
Laith Ashley
    
Chaunte Wayans
    
John Halbach
    
Brooke Seguin

GjH-dKvX0AASWq_?format=jpg&name=large

Where can you watch this?

Just binged a 6 episode French series from 2024 (available on MHz Choice through Prime Video), All This I Will Give to You (oringinal French title: Tout cela je te le donnerai). After his husband dies in an "accidental" rollover crash, a Parisian writer must deal with his grief as well as the husband's highly dysfunctional family after he inherits the family wine estate. He teams up with an old-school retiring police detective to uncover the secrets, lies and coverups from the past and present. Interesting characters, fine acting, gorgeous scenery and a storyline filled with twists and turns - well worth checking out!

 

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On 3/16/2025 at 3:16 PM, giovannif7 said:

Just binged a 6 episode French series from 2024 (available on MHz Choice through Prime Video), All This I Will Give to You (oringinal French title: Tout cela je te le donnerai). After his husband dies in an "accidental" rollover crash, a Parisian writer must deal with his grief as well as the husband's highly dysfunctional family after he inherits the family wine estate. He teams up with an old-school retiring police detective to uncover the secrets, lies and coverups from the past and present. Interesting characters, fine acting, gorgeous scenery and a storyline filled with twists and turns - well worth checking out!

 

I don't know whether I should post this under Pet Peeves, but I'm really irritated that even though I have (and of course pay for) Prime, there is an additional premium for this.  WTH?  I'm mad because it looks right up my alley, but I'm sick of being charged more and more and more.

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1 hour ago, Ancaster said:

I don't know whether I should post this under Pet Peeves, but I'm really irritated that even though I have (and of course pay for) Prime, there is an additional premium for this.  WTH?  I'm mad because it looks right up my alley, but I'm sick of being charged more and more and more.

It's because the service that offers it is MHZ not Prime.  It's an independent streaming service like Apple TV+ or [not HBO] Max or Britbox or Paramount+.

As a convenience, Prime and the service provider, MHZ in this case, have come to an agreement that allows you to subscribe to the channel through Amazon Prime so all the streaming channels you subscribe to are all in one place under your Prime account and Amazon will process the billing for the services too.  I think Hulu and YouTube TV have similar agreements .  It's good fo smaller services because they get better visibility but even bigger ones, like Apple TV + are available through Amazon's interface. 

I subscribe to a number of services that way but MHZ is one I subscribe to annually through their website.  It's cheaper that way than Amazon's monthly option. That said, it's easier to cancel via Amazon.

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(edited)
1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

It's because the service that offers it is MHZ not Prime.  It's an independent streaming service like Apple TV+ or [not HBO] Max or Britbox or Paramount+.

As a convenience, Prime and the service provider, MHZ in this case, have come to an agreement that allows you to subscribe to the channel through Amazon Prime so all the streaming channels you subscribe to are all in one place under your Prime account and Amazon will process the billing for the services too.  I think Hulu and YouTube TV have similar agreements .  It's good fo smaller services because they get better visibility but even bigger ones, like Apple TV + are available through Amazon's interface. 

I subscribe to a number of services that way but MHZ is one I subscribe to annually through their website.  It's cheaper that way than Amazon's monthly option. That said, it's easier to cancel via Amazon.

So basically bait and switch, all the while disguised "As a convenience"?

Edited by Ancaster
(edited)
1 hour ago, Ancaster said:

So basically bait and switch, all the while disguised "As a convenience"?

That's not how I'd describe it, no.  They're just separate services and always have been.  It's no different than if you saw them on Hulu, Tubi or through your cable company. 

Them being discoverable on Amazon just tells you that there's something you might want to watch and where you can get it.

You don't actually need to subscribe to Prime to subscribe to these other services. 

Edited by Irlandesa
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