Etheridge
earned national headlines in 1993 when she came out publicly, but
she has been in the news in the last few years primarily for her
recent marriage to actress Tammy
Lynn Michaels (The L Word,
Popular) and the success of
her latest album, Lucky.
Aside
from a few cameos on shows like Ellen, Etheridge has
stayed away from acting—until now. In addition to this sitcom,
she has signed on to play a transgender man in the upcoming film
Southern Comfort, which co-stars Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek,
and Alan Cumming.
To
say the news of this sitcom is a surprising development
for lesbian and bisexual TV viewers is an understatement.
Lesbian
characters have not exactly been embraced by network television
in the last few years—in fact, there is only one regular
lesbian character on network TV this season (ER's Kerry
Weaver). ABC's
last sitcom starring an openly gay woman playing an openly gay
woman (Ellen) ended on a less-than-positive note in 1998
after its star came out, and the only other sitcom to star an
out lesbian (also played by Ellen
DeGeneres) was CBS' The Ellen Show in 2001, which
met a quick demise after its lackluster debut.
Of
course, a script commitment
does not guarantee the series will ever air, as demonstrated by
UPN's lesbian detective series Nikki
and Nora, which never made it past the pilot stage this
season.
But
ABC landed the Etheridge sitcom after a "bidding war,"
according to The Hollywood Reporter, and
the project has some industry heavyweights attached: 20th Century
Fox TV and Brad Grey TV are jointly developing the project; the
script will be written by Linda Wallem (That 70's Show);
and Wallem and Brad Grey (who has produced multiple TV shows like
The Sopranos and Just Shoot Me, as well as films
like The Wedding Singer and the upcoming remake of Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp) will co-executive
produce.
The
premise itself is a very "safe" way to present
lesbianism to the masses—by pairing Etheridge's character
with a straight man (rather than another woman), and focusing
most of the jokes on the comic squabbles and misunderstandings
between the two as they raise a child, the writers will be able
to both minimize fears around gay parenting and desexualize the
lesbian (as the writers have done to Will on Will and Grace).
Not exactly what lesbians are longing to see on the small screen,
but probably the least likely to offend Straight America.
Regardless
of the outcome, the trend is clearly moving in
the right direction: a few years ago, the idea of ABC, or any
network, developing another sitcom about an out lesbian, played
by an out lesbian, seemed extremely unlikely—about as unlikely
as a cable station developing an hour-long drama about lesbians.
So while the premise of the sitcom may not be ideal, it's a start.
