Study finds more gay, bisexual and transgender TV characters
26th September 2008
A study released this week by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) found that 2.6 percent of regular characters in scripted network TV shows this fall are gay, lesbian or bisexual.
The study, "Where We Are on TV," looks at the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) characters in scripted shows, focusing on characters who appear regularly on the show as opposed to guest stars or recurring characters who aren't in every episode.
The number was up significantly from 2007, when only 1.1 percent of characters were LGBT.
According to GLAAD's findings, there are a total of 616 regular characters in scripted programs on all the broadcast network TV shows. Sixteen are LGBT. There were seven in shows at the start of the 2007-08 season.
A complete list of characters can be found at www.glaad.org/eye/ontv/2008/broadcast.php.
Sunday is getting even more animated.
Fox already has its four animated sitcoms that night -- The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy and American Dad. They will all begin their new seasons Sunday, and will be joined by The Life & Times of Tim, a new HBO comedy starting Sunday at 11 p.m.
Tim tells the story of a guy who keeps getting into socially embarrassing situations, often after being talked into them by friends or co-workers. As he tries to get out of trouble, he invariably makes matters worse for himself.
The humor is somewhere between the conversational meandering of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and the cringe-inducing blunders of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the animation has a scribbled look akin to notepad doodles.
Viewers can watch one- or two-minute "Bonus Awkward Moments" online at hbo.com/tim.
The season premiere of The Simpsons at 8 p.m. Sunday is a milestone for the series, which is now in its 20th season. That's right, there are college students who have never known life without Homer and Bart. Twenty seasons ties The Simpsons with Gunsmoke as the longest-running scripted series in prime-time TV history.
The fall TV season already has its first hit.
90210, the CW Network's revamped version of the 1990s Fox series Beverly Hills, 90210, became the network's highest-rated series premiere among women 18-34, adults 13-34 and adults 18-49.
Subsequent episodes have continued to perform strongly. As a result, CW announced this week that it was giving the series a full-season pickup.
When the syndicated horror series Friday the 13th: The Series premiered in 1987, viewers were perplexed; was this based on the Friday the 13th movies or not?
The show bore no resemblance to the film series about killer Jason Voorhees. Instead, it told the story of a group of people searching the world for cursed artifacts. People who disliked the movies avoided the series because they thought it was part of Jason's saga, and Jason fans avoided it because it wasn't.
The first season came to DVD this week in a boxed set, which includes the original promotional presentation that sold the series.
One of last season's bright spots was Samantha Who?, a charming sitcom starring Christina Applegate as a woman with amnesia who was once selfish and mean-spirited. She is now trying to be a better person. The first season came to DVD this week in a two-disc set that also includes deleted scenes and bloopers. The second season will begin Oct. 13 on ABC.
Also new on DVD this week are the most recent seasons of other current shows: the second season of Brothers & Sisters, and the fourth seasons of Two and a Half Men, CSI: NY and Boston Legal, all timed to remind viewers to tune in to their new seasons.
Source: Journal Now