Who is to say Will & Grace
wasn't funny? The NBC sitcom was very funny, but its homo hijinks
weren't necessarily good for breaking down stereotypes for gay men
and lesbians.
But this fall, average, masculine, even
a bit dumpy gay men are set to invade the small screen.
The trend began last year, when NBC
premiered a gruff gay cop on its Thursday night drama Southland.
Training officer John Cooper (played by Michael Cudlitz) gave off a
gay vibe from the show's first frame, but producers made us hold our
breath until the season finale, where the tough-as-nails cop shared a
tender glance with Caesar under a cascade of Memorial Day fireworks.
Cooper, however, won't be the only gay
character putting life and limb on the line at NBC.
NBC's new drama about the lives of
first responders, Trauma, will feature openly gay paramedic
Tyler Briggs (played by Kevin Rankin). Trauma is set in San
Francisco.
Rankin told GregInHollywood.com
that Briggs' sexuality will come out early in the season. Rankin
said: “It's actually the Halloween episode, so we have the whole
San Francisco Halloween gay parade going on and I come out to my
partner on the show who is played by Derek Luke.”
ABC will introduce an ordinary gay male
couple raising a Vietnamese baby they have just adopted on Modern
Family. The couple, played by average-Joe Jesse Tyler
Ferguson (The Class) and teddy-bearish Eric Stonestreet (CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation), are far from the fabulousness of the
gay characters found on ABC's Ugly Betty.
Finally, hunky Caleb Brewer (played by
Victor Webster) smokes cigars, roots for the Los Angeles Lakers,
drinks scotch, and plays around with men on the CW's reboot of
Melrose Place. Brewer is the gay answer to Doctor McSteamy.
Gay Entertainment Report is a feature
of On Top Magazine and can reached at ontopmag@ontopmag.com.