Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

After decades of silence on the subject of homosexuality, television in the 1990s saw a striking increase in programming that incorporated and, in many cases, centered on gay material. In shows including Friends, Seinfeld, Party of Five, Homicide, Suddenly Susan, The Commish, Ellen, Will & Grace, and others, gay characters were introduced, references to homosexuality became commonplace, and issues of gay and lesbian relationships were explored, often in explicit detail.

In Gay TV and Straight America, Ron Becker draws on a wide range of political and cultural indicators to explain this sudden upsurge of gay material on prime-time network television. Bringing together analysis of relevant Supreme Court rulings, media coverage of gay rights battles, debates about multiculturalism, concerns over political correctness, and much more, Becker's assessment helps us understand how and why televised gayness was constructed by a specific culture of tastemakers during the decade.

On one hand the evidence points to network business strategies that embraced gay material as a valuable tool for targeting a quality audience of well-educated, upscale adults looking for something "edgy" to watch. But, Becker also argues that the increase of gay material in the public eye creates growing mainstream anxiety in reaction to the seemingly civil public conversation about equal rights.

In today's cultural climate where controversies rage over issues of gay marriage yet millions of viewers tune in weekly to programs like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this book offers valuable insight to the complex condition of America's sexual politics.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Becker (Miami Univ., OH) opens this explanation of the spike in gay visibility on television beginning in the mid-1990s by distinguishing "straight panic" from homosexual panic. Identifying straight panic as a by-product of multiculturalism that destabilizes straights' perceptions of their heterosexuality, the author argues that this perception of instability coincided with a shift in the marketing strategies for television. As they lost control over programming to cable's multiplicity of channels, the "big three" networks shifted their target audience from a multigenerational demographic to one more narrowly defined. Primarily, they emphasized attracting 18- to 45-year-olds, whom they regarded as the consumers who spent most money. Because they defined this group as more liberal and better educated, they also believed its members were attracted by edgier programming--for example, sitcoms that allow a heterosexual audience to understand its relationship with gays more clearly without feeling that its heterosexuality is threatened. This title includes 35 illustrations, 35 pages of notes, a 12-page index, and an appendix listing gay-themed television episodes between 1992 and 1998. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. J. J. Marchesani Pennsylvania State University, McKeesport Campus