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Frasier: The Gayest Show on TV, or the Most Homophobic?


Avalon
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For its time it wasn't terrible. The storylines involving gay men often reached for extreme stereotypes (I'm thinking particularly of Patrick Stewart's character dating Frasier and Roz's 'latent' boyfriend), but compared to contemporary sitcoms - Friends springs to mind - they were treated with some degree of sensitivity. The 'opera queen' who pursues Martin is shown to be a vulnerable human being, worthy of compassion; Alastair, the opera producer, is a successful, very openly gay man, who feels free to pursue whomever he chooses; Frasier is shown to have gay friends and acquaintances. Given that Friends' only inclusion of homosexuality was either repulsion (the three guys hated for it to be implied that they might be gay), or some odd titillation with Carol, Ross's ex-wife, Frasier approached the subject with relative sensitivity.

Edited by escortrod
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Don't forget the delicious food critic Gil Chesterton! The only thing straight about "Frasier" was Eddie!

 

Kipp

The article mentions him:

 

"The retro, borderline homophobic storylines are particularly surprising when one realizes that David Hyde Pierce and Dan Butler (left) are both gay in real life, and John Mahoney and Edward Hibbert [Gil] are probably gay but not out. That's the entire male cast, except for Kelsey Grammer."

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It’s unfair to judge Frasier though the lens of time.

 

In its day it was very progressive....and more importantly...funny.

 

I’ve always loved one of the writers.....Joe Keenan

 

I adored his first two books.....Blue Heaven and Putting on the Ritz.

Then suddenly he disapppeard and I couldn’t find anything more he

had written anywhere. Imagine my surprise when I was watching Frasier

late one night and his name pops up in the credits as a writer for

the show. Given his writing style it was the obvious answer to my

quest....that was hidden in plain sight.

Edited by nycman
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One of my all time favorite TV laughs is when Frasier befriends new manager Tom, played by Eric Lutes, intending to set him up with Daphne. Unbeknownst to Frasier, Tom is gay, and believes Frasier is interested in dating him.

 

Niles finds out what's happening, and, off camera, tells Martin. Unseen, viewers just hear an incredible guffaw from Martin. Still cracks me up 20+ years later.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DNQe0gI9SZ4/TLYt33YLMyI/AAAAAAAAAe0/E5Hlc9ehr9M/s1600/matchmaker2.JPG

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The article mentions him:

"The retro, borderline homophobic storylines are particularly surprising when one realizes that David Hyde Pierce and Dan Butler (left) are both gay in real life, and John Mahoney and Edward Hibbert [Gil] are probably gay but not out. That's the entire male cast, except for Kelsey Grammer."

 

I thought that John Mahoney was but never knew for sure. He lived in Chicago (when he was not in LA) and was never associated with anyone in the theater press here.

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