Matt Fielding

Last updated
Matt Fielding
Melrose Place character
Mattfielding2.jpg
Doug Savant as Matt Fielding in the opening credits of the pilot
Portrayed by Doug Savant
Duration1992–97
Seasons 1–6
First appearanceJuly 8, 1992
(Episode 1.01: "Pilot")
Last appearanceSeptember 8, 1997
(Episode 6.01: "A Brand New Day")
Created by Darren Star
In-universe information
Occupation Social worker and physician
ParentsMatthew Fielding, Sr.
Constance Fielding
BrothersLuke Fielding (deceased)
WifeKatya Petrova
(divorced; green card marriage)
StepdaughtersNikki Petrova
(stepdaughter, via Katya)
NiecesChelsea Fielding
(legal ward)

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 moved to San Francisco. He was later killed off-screen in a car crash.

Contents

In contrast to the promiscuous sexual behaviour and relationship issues that drove the stories for Melrose's heterosexual characters, Matt's storylines tended to be about subjects like gay bashing and workplace discrimination. Matt occasionally became romantically involved with another man but the character was never shown in any sexual situations. The one planned instance of Matt's kissing another man was edited to remove the kiss, with a reaction shot of another character substituted. Broadcaster Fox and series creator Darren Star feared backlash from social conservatives and advertisers should Matt engage in any sexual conduct. Critics questioned this decision throughout Matt's tenure on the series.

Although Matt was killed, Savant expressed interest in returning for the 2009 series revival but producers were not interested.

Fictional biography

Matt Fielding is a social worker at the L.A. Halfway House for Teens. He is also one of a group of friends who live together in the same West Hollywood apartment complex. Shortly after being gay bashed by three people, Matt is fired from his job at the halfway house for being gay. He sues the center and accepts a $10,000 settlement, which he donates to a gay legal defense fund.

Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro) helps Matt get a job as a social worker at Wilshire Memorial Hospital, a favor he makes Matt repay by faking the results of Michael's blood alcohol level test in the wake of Michael's automobile accident in which Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross) is critically injured and presumed dead. [1] While working at Wilshire Memorial, Matt meets Katya Petrova (Beata Pozniak), a Russian doctor who expresses a romantic interest in him. Matt does not reciprocate her feelings, but they enter into a green card marriage so Katya and her daughter Nikki (Mara Wilson) can stay in the United States. [2] Katya and her daughter return to Russia anyway a few months later.

Matt meets Jeffrey Lindley (Jason Beghe), a closeted lieutenant in the United States Navy. Matt encourages him to come out, which leads to Jeffrey's being transferred to the East Coast. Jeffrey returns later and he and Matt resume their relationship. [3] A few days later, Jeffrey reveals that he has tested positive for HIV. [4] After initially struggling, Matt decides to commit himself to the relationship. Jeffrey, however, decides they are better off simply being friends. [3]

When Matt is gay bashed a second time, a gay detective, John Rawlings (Tom Schanley), is assigned to the case and begins to become obsessive, eventually taking Matt and photographer friend Jo Reynolds (Daphne Zuniga) hostage. [5]

Following the end of his relationship with Jeffrey, Matt becomes involved with Dr. Paul Graham (David Beecroft) a married plastic surgeon. Paul murders his wife and frames Matt for the crime, temporarily landing Matt in jail. Matt clears himself by tricking Paul into admitting his guilt. [6] Exonerated of the murder charges, Matt once again faces discrimination when the chief of staff fires him from his social work job at the hospital. Matt wins his case following the doctor's homophobic outburst at a deposition. [7] He begins dating movie star Alan Ross (Lonnie Schuyler). Alan's refusal to come out leads Matt to take up with David Erikson, the man who replaced him as the hospital social worker. Matt and Alan break up when David tells Alan he and Matt had sex, and Alan marries a closeted lesbian actor. [8]

Unable to keep up with his med school studies, Matt begins abusing prescription uppers (speed). When his drug addiction becomes known, he enters a rehabilitation facility and becomes romantically involved with rehab director Dan Hathaway (Greg Evigan). Matt breaks up with him because Dan is physically and emotionally abusive. [8]

Matt's niece Chelsea (Katie Wright) comes to live with him after her father dies, but her mother Denise (Nancy Lee Grahn) files a custody suit. Matt loses custody but Chelsea ends up living with him anyway when Denise decides she would be better off with him. [9] The two move to San Francisco where Matt takes a job working with AIDS patients. [10]

About a year later, word arrives at the apartment complex that Matt has been killed in a car accident. With his death, a diary surfaces, in which Matt had recorded the secrets told him by several residents of the complex. [11]

Development and criticism

Melrose Place was criticized for not featuring Matt and his love life as prominently as it did other characters. In the 90-minute series premiere, Matt got 90 seconds of screen time and would not appear more regularly until episode four, when he began serving as "the show's conscience", acting as a confidante to the show's heterosexual characters. [12] Several months after the series premiere, the network announced Matt's first story arc, the gay bashing arc. In response, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force representative Robert Bray said of the character, "I'm still waiting for the guy to have a gay identity... we're still waiting for something, anything to tell us that he's gay, because, you know, you're not really gay until you get political about it." [13] Series creator Darren Star, himself openly gay, acknowledged the criticism. "I think because [Matt] is gay, people are definitely more sensitive to the fact that we're not exploring him. My feeling from the beginning was, let's establish this character first as a person who's likable, part of this group, whose sexuality is not an issue." [13] While understanding that this aspect of the character could not remain undeveloped forever, Star expressed his hope that as people became more familiar with the character that resistance both among viewers and advertisers to Matt's having a sex life would lessen.

In the 1994 episode "Til Death Do Us Part", Matt is attracted to Rob (Ty Miller), a friend of neighbor Billy Campbell's (Andrew Shue), who returns his interest. As filmed, the episode included a kiss between the two men. As aired, Matt and Rob move toward each other in slow motion and, just before their lips meet, the scene shifts to a reaction shot of a shocked Billy watching them from his apartment before cutting back to the men separating. Fox, which had previously allowed two women to kiss in a 1990 episode of 21 Jump Street , [14] ordered the change. [1] The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a gay media watchdog organization, took out a full page ad in Variety a week before the episode was aired, urging Fox not to edit the kiss. [15] Fox executives were mindful of the controversy that had surrounded "Strangers", a 1989 episode of the ABC television series thirtysomething which showed two men in bed together after having had sex. The two did not come in physical contact with each other, but five of the show's regular sponsors still shunned the episode, costing the network approximately $1.5 million in advertising revenue. [16] Fox Entertainment Group president Sandy Grushow asserted that the network would have lost a million dollars in advertising revenue. "Our ratings aren't as high as some other networks'. We couldn't afford to take the financial hit." [17] In contrast, GLAAD cited "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a critically and financially successful episode of the series Rosanne which included a kiss between two women. [15]

In December 1994, gay-interest magazine The Advocate put Matt Fielding on its cover, asking "Why can't this man get laid?" Inside, Star reiterated the difficulty in developing Matt's sexual and romantic lives. "The nature of television and television advertising is such that we cannot permit Matt to have real physical relationships on-screen like the other characters. We walk on eggshells in terms of telling stories about his character. So we have to find ways of implying things about his love life by creating plots for him." [1] Co-executive producer Aaron Spelling, who had faced similar fights over gay-inclusiveness in productions like Dynasty and HeartBeat , concurred, saying, "We've not been allowed by the sales department to do things we want to do. To not be able to show two people kissing—it's 1994, for Christ's sake." [1] Actor Doug Savant expressed frustration with the limitations placed on the role, saying "While I would like Matt's character to have more teeth, he's definitely a good, ethical guy. Somebody has to wear the white hat in the show, and it may as well be the gay character." [1] Nonetheless, Savant was grateful for the opportunities the role afforded him. "It's been an incredibly interesting trip playing a gay character. It's opened my eyes to a lot of things....The fact that I've been able to make a difference in some people's lives makes it all worthwhile." [1]

Return

According to Savant's wife and Melrose Place co-star Laura Leighton, Savant was interested in discussing the possibility of returning to the role in the 2009 series revival. However, having already brought Leighton's character Sydney Andrews back from the dead for the new series, producers were uninterested in doing the same with a second character. [18]

In other media

Doug Savant playing Matt Fielding appears as a character in the 2015 Lifetime Television film The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story . He is portrayed by Joseph John Coleman. [19]

Reception

Charlie Mason and Dustin Cushman from Soaps She Knows put Matt on their list of "Daytime's Groundbreaking LGBTQ+ Characters and Couples", writing, "The LGBTQ+ community had to settle for the mere presence of Doug Savant's openly gay Matt Fielding as representation on the primetime soap in the 1990s. While every other character was allowed to leap from one lover to the next, Matt's one lip lock (with future Chicago P.D. star Jason Beghe) was edited out for fear of advertiser backlash against the idea that yes, gay people exist and — gasp — sometimes even kiss!" [20]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bull, Chris (1994-12-27). "Acting gay". The Advocate . pp. 44–9. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  2. ↑ "Flirting With Disaster". Melrose Place . Season 2. Episode 7. 1993-10-20. Fox.
  3. 1 2 Miller, p. 287
  4. ↑ "In Living Color: A Look Back at Memorable AIDS-Related TV Moments". HIV Plus. Here. November 2004. p. 23. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  5. ↑ "Breakfast at Tiffany's, Dinner at Eight". Melrose Place . Season 3. Episode 21. 1995-02-20. Fox.
  6. ↑ "Blind Ambition". Melrose Place . Season 4. Episode 3. 1995-09-20. Fox.
  7. ↑ "The Jane Mutiny". Melrose Place . Season 4. Episode 6. 1995-10-09. Fox.
  8. 1 2 Miller, p. 288
  9. ↑ "Who's Afraid of Amanda Woodward, pt. 2". Melrose Place . Season 5. Episode 33. 1997-05-19. Fox.
  10. ↑ "Brand New Day". Melrose Place . Season 6. Episode 1. 1997-09-08. Fox.
  11. ↑ "The World According to Matt". Melrose Place . Season 7. Episode 8. 1998-09-14. Fox.
  12. ↑ Capsuto, p. 282
  13. 1 2 Cerrone, Daniel (1992-10-28). "'Melrose Place' to tackle gay bashing". The St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida: Los Angeles Times. p. 5D. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  14. ↑ "A Change of Heart". 21 Jump Street . Season 4. Episode 14. 1990-01-15. Fox.
  15. 1 2 Capsuto, p. 338
  16. ↑ Becker, p. 138
  17. ↑ quoted in Capsuto, p. 338
  18. ↑ Voss, Brandon (2009-09-08). "The Bitch is Back". The Advocate . Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  19. ↑ Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story Had a Weird Definition of Drama
  20. ↑ Cushman, Dustin; Mason, Charlie (June 9, 2023). "Daytime's Groundbreaking LGBTQ+ Characters and Couples [Photos]". Soaps She Knows . SHE Media . Retrieved June 22, 2024.

Related Research Articles

<i>Melrose Place</i> American prime time soap opera (1992–1999)

Melrose Place is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in West Hollywood, California. The show was created by Darren Star for Fox and executive produced by Aaron Spelling for his company, Spelling Television. It was the second series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. Season one and season two were broadcast on Wednesday at 9 pm, after Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1994, for its third-season and for the rest of its run, the show moved to Monday at 8 p.m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Show</span> American actor

Grant Show is an American actor. He is best known for his role on Melrose Place as Jake Hanson, which he played from 1992 to 1997. From 2017 to 2022, he portrayed Blake Carrington in the soap opera reboot Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Savant</span> American film and television actor

Douglas Peter Savant is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Matt Fielding in the Fox prime time soap opera Melrose Place (1992–97), Tom Scavo in ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–12), and as Sgt. O'Neal in Godzilla (1998).

Hyperion Bay is an American drama television series that ran for one season on The WB from September 21, 1998 to March 8, 1999. The series was partially filmed in Humboldt County, California, in the cities of Trinidad, Eureka, Ferndale, and Loleta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Beghe</span> American film and television actor (born 1960)

Jason Deneen Beghe is an American actor. Since 2014, he has starred in the NBC TV series Chicago P.D. as Sergeant Hank Voight. He is also known for starring in the 1988 George A. Romero film Monkey Shines, playing Demi Moore's love interest in G.I. Jane, appearing as a police officer in the film Thelma & Louise, starring opposite Moira Kelly in the television series To Have & to Hold, and having recurring roles on Picket Fences, Melrose Place, Chicago Hope, American Dreams, Cane, and Californication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Puppy Episode</span> 22nd and 23rd episodes of the 4th season of Ellen

"The Puppy Episode" is a two-part episode of the American situation comedy television series Ellen. The episode details lead character Ellen Morgan's realization that she is a lesbian and her coming out. It was the 22nd and 23rd episode of the series's 4th season. The episode was written by series star Ellen DeGeneres with Mark Driscoll, Tracy Newman, Dava Savel and Jonathan Stark and directed by Gil Junger. It originally aired on ABC on April 30, 1997. The title was used as a code name for Ellen's coming out so as to keep the episode under wraps.

"December Bride" is the eleventh episode of the eighth season of the situation comedy television series Roseanne. The episode was written by William Lucas Walker and directed by Gail Mancuso, and originally aired on ABC on December 12, 1995. The episode revolves around the wedding of recurring character Leon Carp. Roseanne volunteers to plan his wedding to his boyfriend, but goes against his wishes to create her own vision of a gay wedding.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zap (action)</span> Protest acts in the 1970s by the US LGBT

A zap is a form of political direct action that came into use in the 1970s in the United States. Popularized by the early gay liberation group Gay Activists Alliance, a zap was a raucous public demonstration designed to embarrass a public figure or celebrity while calling the attention of both gays and straights to issues of gay rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">He's a Crowd</span> 12th episode of the 5th season of L.A. Law

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodie Dallas</span> Fictional character from the US sitcom "Soap"

Jodie Dallas is a fictional character from the 1977 American sitcom Soap. He was played by Billy Crystal. The son of central character Mary Campbell, Jodie works as a television commercial director. Jodie was among the first gay characters on American television. Despite being gay, Jodie fathered a child through a one-night stand, and many of his storylines throughout the series centered on his involvement with women. Jodie had relationships with two other women but maintained throughout the series that he was still gay. The series ended with Jodie, as the result of hypnotherapy, believing he was an elderly Jewish man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Men on…</span> Television comedy sketch

"Men on ..." is the umbrella title for a series of comedy sketches that appeared in episodes of the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. The sketch featured two gay cultural critics, Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merriweather, commenting on aspects of popular culture, including movies, art and television.

<i>Melrose Place</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of Melrose Place, an American television series, premiered on Fox on July 8, 1992. The season one finale aired on May 26, 1993, after 32 episodes.

<i>Melrose Place</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of Melrose Place, an American television series, premiered on Fox on September 8, 1993. The season two finale aired on May 18, 1994, after 32 episodes.

For many years, LGBT representation has increased on animated series and animated films. In the 1990s, LGBT characters were depicted in animated series like South Park, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and The Simpsons. In the early 2000s, LGBT representation increased in Western animation, culminating in GLAAD's "Where We Are in TV" report in 2005, even as representation was disparate. In the 2000s, series like Queer Duck, The Oblongs, The Venture Bros., Drawn Together, and Archer aired. It would not be until the advent of shows like Steven Universe, The Legend of Korra, and Adventure Time in the 2010s, that LGBT characters in animation would gain more of a prominent role, leading to shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power in 2018 and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts in 2020, along with other series in the 2020s.

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.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.