No, this was not a failed knockoff of Animal House (although three such shows did surface in early 1979). Nor was it a late-90s/early-00s sitcom on UPN or WB. Brothers was the first sitcom produced for a pay-cable channel and one of the first shows to feature a gay lead character. There had been gays on TV shows prior to this, such as Billy Crystal's character Jodie on Soap, but Soap was an ensemble cast, and the series wasn't entirely about him. Here one of the three titular characters was gay, coming out in the premier episode on what was to have been his wedding day. His family then comes to accept his sexuality.
This show ended up at Showtime in the summer of 1984 after NBC turned it down (after screening the pilot) over concern on how to accurately play a homosexual. ABC also passed on the show. It would be more than a decade until both broadcast networks would each premier gay-centered sitcoms.
The three titular characters were the Waters brothers. Joe (Robert Walden, formerly of Lou Grant), was the middle one, an ex-football player who now ran a sports bar in Philadelphia. Lou (Brandon Maggart, father of musician Fiona Apple), a construction foreman, was the oldest one and the youngest, Cliff (Paul Regina), was the one who came out. Hallie Todd (daughter of Ann Morgan Guilbert of the Dick Van Dyke Show and The Nanny, and later co-star of Lizzie McGuire) was Joe's daughter, Penny. Donald Maltby (Philip Charles MacKenzie) was Cliff's best friend who was also gay. Mary Ann Pascal played Samantha, who later married Joe (they then had a baby). Robin Riker was Kelly, a waitress at the bar. One of Lou's children, daughter Louella, was occasionally seen later in the series. She was played by Yeardley Smith, today known as the voice of Lisa Simpson.
10 comments:
Hari OM
Thank you, Jamie, for the introduction to this show - I just watched this first part and am now ready to watch the rest! Living in Sydney, I counted a number of gay and lesbian folk among my friends and every one of them has a different story - yet all the same really - about coming out.
This show from my few minutes with it, was definitely a trailblazer; although to be fair, it is as prone as many early such attempts at cliches. That said, it appears well-acted and I do find myself, as I said, wanting to know what happened! YAM xx
B=Branches and Berries
I'm not familiar with this one.
Have a grand weekend.
Have a great weekend, Jamie :)
I recall watching "Soap" many years ago but here in the UK have not see Brothers.
Loved today's read and view.
Yvonne.
Yet another I don't know.
I may have seen one or two episodes because we didn't have cable either. Our neighbors did though and I spent a lot of time at their house.
This is a new one to me--never saw it or even heard about it. Back then I was on the road mostly living out of hotels where they usually had cable with premium stations, but I was usually watching MTV or CNN back then. And movies if they were on. But not TV series shows.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out Battle of the Bands
Same here that I'd not heard of this one. Sounds interesting though, and we did watch Soap and liked it. :)
Another one I didn't see, but if I had cable at that time, I was too poor to afford Showtime!
Never heard of this show. May be i will try catching it now. Is it only available on yOutube?
Anyway good day to u
Thanks for reading my posts!
Post a Comment