Can you believe it has been 20 years since Gays on Television were never the same again? When Ellen Degeneres' LEAD Character came out on 'Ellen' on April 30, 1997 it opened the door to more lead gay characters on television. Talk about ballsy. Called “The Puppy Episode”, the show garnered 42 million viewers and marked the first gay leading primetime character in television history. Despite speculation that advertisers would try to pull away from the controversy, the only corporate sponsor to cancel was Chrysler, and only for the single episode.
“For me this has been the most freeing experience because people can’t hurt me anymore," said Degeneres in a 1997 Time magazine interview. "I don’t have to worry about somebody saying something about me, or a reporter trying to find out information. Literally, as soon as I made this decision, I lost weight. My skin has cleared up. I don’t have anything to be scared of, which I think outweighs whatever else happens in my career.”
Although there was the requisite backlash — Jerry Falwell called her "Ellen Degenerate" (to which Ellen replied ""Really? He called me that? I've been getting that since the fourth grade.") — the show went on another season (Ellen won her first EMMY for writing) before the Louisiana native moved on to her Multi-Emmy-winning Ellen Degeneres Show.
Without Ellen, there wouldn't be Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family and Glee. This wee we salute the 18th anniversary of Gay visibility on Television.
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