Soap is an American sitcom television series that originally ran on ABC from September 13, 1977, until April 20, 1981. The show was created as a nighttime parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show's story was presented in a serial format, and featured melodramatic plotlines including alien abduction, demonic possession, extramarital affairs, murder, kidnapping, unknown diseases, amnesia, cults, organized crime warfare, a communist revolution and teacher-student relationships. In 2007, it was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME", and in 2010, the Tates and the Campbells ranked at number 17 in TV Guide's list of "TV's Top Families".
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to May 4, 1976. It starred Robert Young as the title character, a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, who made house calls and was on a first-name basis with many of his patients; James Brolin as his partner Steven Kiley, a younger doctor; and Elena Verdugo as Consuelo Lopez, Welby and Kiley's dedicated and caring nurse/office manager.
Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery are fictional characters from the American daytime drama All My Children. Commonly referred to by the portmanteau "Lianca", they were the first lesbian couple on an American soap opera. Lena was portrayed by Olga Sosnovska, and Bianca was portrayed by Eden Riegel. Lena and Bianca's romance "quickly became a hit with viewers" and regularly surpassed older more established heterosexual couples for the number 1 spot on Internet and soap opera magazine readers' polls. The characters are the first to share a same-sex kiss in American soap opera history.
"The Homosexuals" is a 1967 episode of the documentary television series CBS Reports. The hour-long broadcast featured a discussion of a number of topics related to homosexuality and homosexuals. Mike Wallace anchored the episode, which aired on March 7, 1967. Although this was the first network documentary dealing with the topic of homosexuality, it was not the first televised in the United States. That was The Rejected, produced and aired in 1961 on KQED, a public television station in San Francisco.
The "lesbian kiss episode" is a subgenre of the media portrayal of lesbianism in American television media, created in the 1990s. Beginning in February 1991 with a kiss on the American L.A. Law series' episode "He's a Crowd" between C.J. Lamb and Abby Perkins, David E. Kelley, who wrote the episode in question, went on to use the trope in at least two of his other shows. Subsequent television series included an episode in which a seemingly heterosexual female character engages in a kiss with a possibly lesbian or bisexual character. In most instances, the potential of a relationship between the women does not survive past the episode and the lesbian or suspected lesbian never appears again.
The Rejected is a made-for-television documentary film about homosexuality, produced for KQED in San Francisco by John W. Reavis. Notable as the first documentary program on homosexuality broadcast on American television, KQED first aired the film on September 11, 1961. Later syndicated to National Educational Television (NET) stations across the United States, it received positive critical reviews.
"The Outrage" is a 1974 episode of Marcus Welby, M.D., a long-running American medical drama on ABC. The episode tells the story of a teenage boy who is raped by his male teacher. The episode, which originally aired October 8, 1974, sparked controversy and anger for its equation of homosexuality to pedophilia. "The Outrage" was targeted for protests by LGBT rights groups and several network affiliates refused to broadcast it.
"The Other Martin Loring" is a 1973 episode of Marcus Welby, M.D., an American medical drama that aired on ABC. It tells the story of a middle-aged man facing several health issues, which seem to stem from his repression of his homosexuality. The episode aired on February 20, 1973, and was met with concern and protests from LGBT rights activists for its equating of homosexuality and illness.
Matthew Fielding, Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series Melrose Place, portrayed by Doug Savant. Matt was an openly gay man working as a social worker in Los Angeles. Initially Matt was not the focus of ongoing storylines, a situation that would not substantially change until the series became a serial drama in its second season. Matt Fielding appeared as a regular character from 1992 until 1997, when he was killed off-screen in a car crash.
"Flowers of Evil" is a 1974 episode of the American police procedural television series Police Woman. The episode features Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson going undercover at a nursing home to investigate a murder. She uncovers a trio of lesbians who are robbing and murdering their elderly residents. The episode, the eighth of the first season, originally aired on November 8, 1974.
"He's a Crowd" is a 1991 episode of the American legal drama L.A. Law. In it, attorney Michael Kuzak defends a man with multiple personalities accused of murder, attorney Rosalind Shays helps her lover Leland McKenzie help a client, attorney Arnie Becker's divorce proceeds and attorneys Abby Perkins and C.J. Lamb work together to raise Abby's profile at the firm and find themselves sharing an intimate moment. It is the 12th episode of season 5 and was written by David E. Kelley.
In the 1990s, more LGBTQ characters began to be depicted in animated series than in any of the years before. The depiction of LGBTQ characters changed significantly compared to previous decades. Some of the most prominent Western animated series during this decade which featured LGBTQ characters were South Park, King of the Hill, Futurama, and The Ambiguously Gay Duo. The representation in 1990s series would also influence series in the 2000s.
