1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

CBS President: Network Adding More Gay Characters to Its Shows

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Dan82, Jul 29, 2010.

  1. Dan82

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2009
    Messages:
    4,754
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Chicago IL
    http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/424117_tvgif28.html

     
  2. Bang Bang

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2010
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I heard about this. I'm glad CBS is changing. :slight_smile:
     
  3. Just Adam

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,435
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    My AV room
    i think this is going to be horrific...

    as a quick way to improve public appearance in their eyes they are going to slap gay figures ibnto shows where they don't belong and have no purpose probably just filling a comic stereotypical role about fashion and sex etc etc etc...

    how do i come to this conclusion simply as they are going to make a point on having gay people stand out in their shows, and how do gay people stand out by stereotypes...you take a stereotype away and unless you see someone just saying im gay then acting like others which is dull to the program maker or you see a full blown sex scene then you cant tell whose gay for them to boost their rating...

    so all cbs viewers look forward to pink glitter bleached hair and tight clothes coming your way soon >.>

    its like when tv makers try to get gay people into scripts on tv here it becomes a massive case of they're just going to say fabulous aren't they >.>


    in fact the only great bit of gay writing as it is is with the new sherlock holmes series on bbc1 where they kind of play with the idea that holmes is gay... where the landlady and restaurant owner all think john is dating sherlock... and sherlock is like women really aint my thing then after a funny tense moment goes im married to my work...

    its tongue in cheek with out any stereotype in sight...its the kind of writing i can never see happening nor if attempted being pulled off in the US.

    good luck tho :slight_smile: but i just think its going to go tits up ... as we say here.
     
  4. Bang Bang

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2010
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    ^ I totally get what you're saying. They might just throw in a few stereotypical comedic gay characters just to increase their ratings at whatnot. I really hope they don't though. It's about they actually included non-stereotypical LGBT characters in their programming and showed the real diversity.

    We'll just have to wait and see how it goes once the characters are in. If anything, be prepared to write a complaint. :slight_smile:
     
  5. Just Adam

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,435
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    My AV room

    haha dont get much cbs in uk lol

    but id still complain as id hear of it .

    and your right we will jsut have to wait and see.


    i jsut hope they learn from the past and dont take a show add a over teh top stereotype and turn something in to a will and grace wannabe :S * que sick*


    one of the most massive signs i wasnt straight in my youth watching that lol.
     
  6. Bang Bang

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2010
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    LOL! Hahahaha! Tell me about it!

    I loved Will and Grace though (hence, my username "Beaverhausen of Anastasia Beaverhausen a.k.a Karen Walker), no matter how stereotypical they got! :grin: However, Will and Grace is the only show allowed such thing.
     
  7. Zach1992

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2010
    Messages:
    974
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    New York (State, not city)
    Their injection of gay characters into As The World Turns is laughable. Luke & Noah were together for almost a year before they even permitted them to have sex & you only see them afterwards.

    Any other couple you would see them tearing off each others clothes 2 weeks into a relationship & only cutting just before they actually had sex.
     
  8. Just Adam

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,435
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    My AV room

    yes yes it is :grin:

    jack was so funny hehe


    oh dear i do miss that show. should buy them some time it actually pulled off a stereotype.
     
  9. Bang Bang

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2010
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Haven't seen the show, but that's kind of pathetic. I really hope they would change this and have an equal length of a sex scene for LGBT characters to the straight characters.

    But then again, this can be seen from a positive perspective. I mean, at least people will know (or think) that homosexuals aren't like horny savage beast. It shows that gay people too can be in a committed relationship. I haven't seen the show so maybe I'm speaking out of context. Pardon me, if I am.
     
  10. Chip

    Board Member Admin Team Advisor Full Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2008
    Messages:
    16,551
    Likes Received:
    4,750
    Location:
    northern CA
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Don't assume that this is just window dressing. Networks are slow to change, but you can bet your ass they did a TON of focus groups and research and so forth before making the announcement, and decided that portraying positive gay characters was what the majority of their viewers (and viewers they hope to attract) wanted. They've no doubt already thought through how many of the crazies will be falling out of the trees to complain and threaten boycotts and so forth... but those sort of tactics aren't working so well any more, and my guess is CBS has already thought this through.

    They are trying to go after a younger demographic, and younger people generally are more tolerant. My guess is they looked at what MTV Networks is doing (especially since I believe CBS is owned by Viacom, as is MTV) and decided they needed to make some change to stay relevant... as well as to keep their affiliate stations from defecting to the competition.
     
  11. Bang Bang

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2010
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Yeah, that's true. I'm sure they must have done some research before they announced that they're going to bring in some LGBT characters into their shows. I mean, they must have, that's why they decided to bring them in.

    If they are aiming at the younger demographic, I hope they can accurately portray some positive LGBT role models for younger audiences.
     
  12. LostandFound

    LostandFound Guest

    One of the reasons I was so confused when I was younger was because the only gay people I saw were characters on television. These characters were always gay for comedic value and heavily stereotyped (very camp, into fashion and interior design, etc.). While I have nothing against people who are camp (or into fashion/interior design) when I was younger I always doubted my sexuality because while I believed myself to be attracted to men, I had absolutely nothing in common with any of the gay people I saw on television. I was very confused.

    So, I really hope CBS doesn't go down that route. Throw in gay characters because now pretty much every family and social group knows at least one gay person and it is reality.
     
  13. Just Adam

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,435
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    My AV room
    thing is they aint doing this because they decided they wanted to do this and appeal more to the wider audience representing the population better...

    they are doing this in direct response to a poor public rating...they are a business and rely not just on quality programming but public image if they have bad image for human rights etc they will lose support from actors makers, sponsors etc...

    i think to say they done masses of focus groups to come to this conclusion is wrong, they made this announcement as a sort of rush job to make it clear things will improve to stop and loss in support. blocking a leak for example.

    they will now do some focus work but if theres any failing or small shows and soaps etc they do they will just throw an lgbt person in there somewhere...problem is it will suffer feeling rushed. :frowning2:

    sort of Heroes with claire... she was always into the guys...dodgy guys.. and ratings fall suddenly lesbian story arc >.> that felt rushed and unrealistic in the context of the character.

    oh well...

    ----------


    same for a long time
    (*hug*)(*hug*)(*hug*)
     
  14. Meropspusillus

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2008
    Messages:
    597
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    New Mexico
    I know you didn't mean it like that, but under any other circumstances I'd think that was pretty homophobic. Yes, I don't like the abundance of stereotypes on TV, but gay characters work in any situation...mainly because TV is about people, and a good number of people are gay.
     
  15. Just Adam

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,435
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    My AV room
    well i cant say we belong as i dont identify as gay and i cant say you as the person reading it may not be gay.

    and and as for not belonging i mean in the sense a serious drama and suddenly someone coming on all giddy and camp and suddenly rainbows everywhere..

    going on the fact networks only manage stereotypes.

    but if you read all my posts you will find i made the distinction that yes funny enough gay people are yes people and you cant tell the difference unless the persons being asked or showing a sex scene so they will have to make it more obvious in the only way they know how to show people look we put gay people in shows now be happy.

    i don't know about you but i don't want reality shows and dramas or documentaries having people being over the top to ' act gay ' as it were.

    but whatever if you think im homophobic so be it.
     
  16. Meropspusillus

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2008
    Messages:
    597
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    New Mexico
    I didn't say you were homophobic...I said your comment could easily be interpreted as such. I understand your point that stereotypical characters often do more harm than good and all that, and perhaps you could make an argument that you don't want to see stereotypical gay characters in the media anymore, but I can't think of any show where a gay "wouldn't belong" as long as the show was about people.
     
  17. Chip

    Board Member Admin Team Advisor Full Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2008
    Messages:
    16,551
    Likes Received:
    4,750
    Location:
    northern CA
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Viacom has been analyzing viewer behavior and looking at all sorts of demographics for decades, back when their primary business was syndicating reruns of sitcoms to networks. These people NEVER do anything without analysis, particularly if it is a global strategy across an entire network.

    Launching a new show is a little bit different; they can't reveal too much or their idea will get stolen. But they can anonymously do focus groups on people's perception of gay characters without revealing anything to anyone. This is NOT a sudden off-the-cuff plan for window dressing; they would have had to work with the producers and creators of all the affected shows.

    They've had the crappy rating for a while. This wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction to something. They've done an analysis and figured out that it makes business sense to add more gay characters to attract the demographic they want, and they apparently don't care about the demographic they will lose (which is mostly the PolyGrip and Metamucil audience, along with the people who only watch Pat Robertson anyway, so they'll never watch CBS to begin with).

    Believe me, this is carefully thought out. I think it's a very positive development.
     
  18. LostandFound

    LostandFound Guest

    One of the main "others" in Lost was gay. Being gay did absolutely nothing for his character development and he wasn't stereotyped in any way. After his 'outing' episode many people wondered why he was gay (since it didn't do anything for plot or character development) but it was brilliant because I think the Lost producers said something like he was gay because people are gay.