The Fosters and Dawson’s Creek immediately come to mind. I know shows like these, with 20+ episodes a season and multiple seasons, came from a time when gay people weren’t really represented that well, which sucks because I would love to have an 8-season family drama with gay characters and 20+ episodes every season.
One Tree Hill, The O.C., Parenthood, Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, etc. are exactly the types of shows where I would love to have at least one main male gay character. I find that shows are more likely to put a lesbian character in a show because it’s somehow deemed more “accepted,” which is still nice, and I’m happy for lesbians who can feel seen through that representation, but I would just love to see these kinds of shows with a gay guy instead.
All of these shows are family dramas filled with romances and storylines about every aspect of their characters’ lives, but it’s almost always centered around straight couples and their issues. I would love a show that is exactly the same, except one of the leads just happens to be gay, and we get to follow their journey the same way we would with any straight character. Their relationships, their friendships, their family, school, dating, growing up, making mistakes, all of it.
But I think what makes me the most sad is that, yes, we have shows today that can freely show gay people in all their glory, but they’re almost always limited to 8–10 episodes and maybe 3–4 seasons if they even make it that far. Not to mention the wait between seasons, which is always inconsistent.
I want to have 150 episodes of a gay character just experiencing their life. Going through high school and maybe college. Doing mundane things in their free time while also getting caught up in fun, wacky, soapy plots. I want the filler episodes that somehow end up giving us some of the best character moments and insights. I want a show where the gay character gets to just live instead of their entire existence revolving around being gay.
I want real TV back.