The Development of Love Relationships Within the Standard TV Sitcom and the

For 25 years now, gay and lesbian characters have been appearing here and there on prime-time television. It all started when Billy Crystal debuted as Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap in 1977, playing a gay member of a troubled family. The history of gay characters on television has gone through several phases. They range from the 1950s when there really weren't any to the recent "Ellen" era. Still till this day there has not been a successful show that depicts a long-term love relationship between same sex partners.

Love relationships, as shown on the standard TV sitcom, have become more realistic over the decades since television's inception. But perhaps love relationships have been glossed over since television began. From its beginnings in the late forties and early fifties to present day, television has offered us a mirror of everyday life that, presumably, represented the typical American family. In recent years, it has developed into a more realistic representation to appeal to a broader spectrum then in its past.

essential TV family was, of course, the Ricardo's on I Love Lucy. This shows format established a pattern that is still being used today. One member of the couple, usually the star of the show, is always scheming or plotting how to get out of a certain situation, while the other plays "straight man"' to make a foil for the star's Antics and word play. The antics of "Lucy Ricardo"' were so absurd as to take on a cartoonist quality. Any arguments with Ricky, her husband, centered on Lucy trying to get him to let her into his nightclub act or her budget. While entertaining, this is certainly not the sort of problem most couples would have. As to their love life, except for a modest kiss or embrace now and then any sexual reference was strictly taboo. Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds. Lucille Ball who played "Lucy Ricardo"' was actually pregnant with her own child when her famous TV son, "Little Ricky", was born. The TV show managed to get through the entire pregnancy without once mentioning the word "pregnant"' in the script. This changed to some extent in the 1960s, but not as much as one might have expected in that turbulent decade. Despite the sexual revolution that was taking place elsewhere, television was, for the most part, still a very conservative place.

One of the few shows that portrayed a really passionate relationship between a man and wife was The Addams Family. "Gomez Addams", portrayed by John Astin, was passionately in love with his wife, "Mortisha". If "Tish" uttered anything in French, Gomez would go wild and start kissing her arm. In one episode, a rumble was heard upstairs and a double bed, occupied by Gomez and Mortisha, c

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)