Looking for gay characters or gay subtexts in tv shows from my childhood and beyond. For shows that premiered after 2020 (or with n*de photos of the male stars), see RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
A
Aaron
Stone: Superhero and android
Adam-12: Cops bonding before CHIPS
Adventure Time: Gay-positive cartoon series
The Adventures of Pete and Pete
Alf: From Melmac to West Hollywood
The A-List: Bingeworthy Lost meets Riverdale
Alex Rider: A teenage James Bond
Alice and Tommy: There's a new girl in town, with a teen idol son
All Hail King Julian: Mort is still into men's feet
All in the Family: The Gay Episode
Why we watched Amen in West Hollywood
American Horror Stories, Season 1: Horror anthology with a gay couple in one episode.
American Horror Stories, Season 2: All Men are Straight, Evil, and Fully Clothed
American Horror Story: A school for boys run by gay men
American Horror Story: Gay World
American Horror Story: The top ten gay hunks of New York
American Princess: My new favorite show, about workers in a Renaissance Faire
Andi Mack: Genderqueer teen and her gay-vague posse
Andy's Gang: Beefcake and bonding on 1950s childrens tv
The Andy Griffith Show: Looking for muscles
The Anita Bryant Spectacular: A Hate-Fest That Nobody Watched
Animaniacs: Heterosexist to the max
Are You Afraid of the Dark? retread: Are they afraid of beefcake?
Atlantis: The top 12 Greek myth mash-ups
B
Beaver Falls: Mac reveals his shameful secret. Hint: it's being gay.
Bella and the Bulldogs: Is Nickelodeon still stick in gay-subtext territory?
Best Worst Weekend: Best teencom ever
Bewitched, bewildered, and gay
Beyond Evil: Gay cops against a serial killer in Korea
The Big Bang Theory: 10 homophobic things
Big Mouth, Season 3: The hormone monsters become gay positive
Big Valley: Show me Tom Barkley's guts!
BJ and the Bear: A trucker named after a s*x act and his chimp sidekick
Black Summer: First days of a gay-free zombie apocalypse
Black Summer, Season 2: Bury your hunks
Blood and Water: Two guys kissing in Cape Town
Bloodhounds: Strong Gay Subtext among Korean Boxers
The Boarding School/Las Cumbres: Pallid goings-on in a boarding school//dungeon
The Bob Cummings Show: Bob and his "nephew" Chuck
Bob's Burgers: The Most Gay-Positive Animated Fox Show
Bojack Horseman: Hetero-romantic ace but no gay men
Boss Baby: Rugrats meets Dilbert
The Boys: An Amazon Prime superhero spoof. I'm just looking for the p*nises
Boy Meets World: Topanga isn't jealous of her boyfriend's boyfriend. Much
Breaking Bad: Everybody Loves Jesse
Brittania: Celts and Romans form alliances, have hidden agendas, listen to "Hurdy Gurdy Man"
Watching Brothers in West Hollywood
The Bugaloos: A male ladybug with biceps starts a rock band
Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures: Two Gay Surfer Couples
Bugs and Daffy: The gay Warner Brothers
Burns and Allen: Meredith Wilson is "not the marrying kind"
Bureau of Magical Things: Dumb title, cute teencom
Busting Loose: Spring 1977, on the brink of "busting loose"
C
The Carol Burnette Show: Looking for Muscles
Carter: Would you really watch Jerry O'Connell in anything?
Cartoon Couples You Thought Were Gay
Cartoon Muscle: Not just superheroes in Spandex
Cells at Work: Muscular blood cells fight bacilium monsters
Charlie's Angels: Yes, there was a gay connection
Control Z: Sordid secrets revealed in a Mexican high school. Is one about being gay?
Corner Gas, the Animated Series: Still not a lot goin' on
Cougar Town: Can a rich white hetero dude find love after age 40?
Cougar Town: The top hunks
Crack-Duck: A gay couple in a world of monsters
Crashing: A unique gay romance
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: The top 10 hunks
Crossing Swords: The gay wedding episode
Cheers: Where nobody knows your name if you're gay
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: The top 10 hunks
Chico and the Man: Anglo-Hispanic gay couple
Chip n Dale: Park Life. Is the gay subtext enhanced or erased?
CHIPS: The episode where Leif Garrett is in love with his agent
Clarence: The first gay kiss on children's tv
The Club: Dynasty, Ecstasy, and Gay-Positive Hunks
Columbo: The disheveled detective tackles a case in West Hollywood
The Consultant: Tawdry, Tasteless Homophobia
Corner Gas: Not a lot goin' on
Clickbait: Gay Representation on the "Non-Stop Thrill Ride" about a Kidnapped Family Man
Curon, Episode 1: A gayer, creepier "Locke and Key"
Curon, Episode 2: Even gayer and creepier
D
Danger Force: Trans and nonbinary representation
Danger Force: The gay dads episode
Danger Island: Jan-Michael Vincent's first boyfriends
Daybreak: A gay couple in a teen zombie apocalypse
Daniel Boone: He was a big man
Dark Shadows: Barnabas and Willie
Dark Shadows: David Collins, gay heir to the Collins dynasty.
Davey and Goliath: Gay Christian Allies
Degrassi: The Next Generation, with more gay plotlines
Degrassi: The New Class, with even more gay plotlines
Diary of a Future President: Bobby's Coming-Out Story, Part 1
Diary of a Future President: Bobby's Coming-Out Story, Part 2
Dickensian: The top 10 Dickensian hunks
The Dick Van Dyke Show: looking for muscle
A Different World: Angst and beefcake at college
Diff'rent Strokes: The "Bicycle Man" gay predator episode
Disenchantment: A gay-free heroic fantasy spoof
Disney Channel Gay Programming Blocks
Dog with a Blog: absurd homophobia on Nickelodeon
Dolly Parton's Heartstrings: The Gay Couple Two Doors Down
Doogie Kamealoha: A Fierce Doctor, a Gay Brother, and Lots of Hawaiian Hunks
Doogie Kamealoha queerbaiting update
The Doris Day Show: Gays next door in 1972
Downton Abbey: Two gay guys, maybe three, amid the Between-the-Wars glitz
Drake and Josh and Craig and Eric: yep, they were gay
The Drew Carey Show: Why was this my favorite program in 1999?
Ducktales Reboot: Gay dads appear, briefly, in one scene
The Dukes of Hazzard: Backwoods Adonis cousins and their Confederate Flag
E
EastSiders: 13 diverse hunks in Silverlake Light
Eerie Indiana: Omri Katz, paranormal investigator
Eight is Enough to fill our lives with schmaltz. But at least Grant Goodeve took his shirt off
Episodes: Matt LeBlanc discusses his p*nis
Even Stevens: Shia LaBeouf's gay subtext teencom
Everybody Hates Chris, but loves Tequan Richmond
F
F is for Family: Gay Characters and Beefcake, circa 1974
The Facts of Life: We all know that Jo was gay
Family Reunion: Is Mazzie gay...um, I mean musical?
Family Reunion: The coming out episode
Fangbone!: 3rd Grade Barbarian and Boyfriend Fight Monsters
Father, Dear Father: Gay-friendly Britcom without gays
Fear the Walking Dead: 24 dead hunks
The Feathered Serpent: Gay British Aztecs
The Flash: Gay characters and subtexts in a DC comics reboot
Fleabag: Britcom full of hunks and horrors, but no lesbians..wait...
Flipper: Bodybuilding teen, twink brother, gay dad, and a dolphin
Flipper: Sandy Ricks in trouble
The Flintstones: Bamm-Bamm's muscles
The Flintstones: Were Fred and Barney gay?
The Flying Nun and hunky casino owner Carlos
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Frank of Ireland: More than friends,less than boyfriends
Frasier: The gayest show on tv, or the most homophobic
Freaks and Geeks: Beefcake stars
Friends: A homophobic small-town Manhattan
Friends: More homophobia, and this time it's serious
Fringe: Ten beefcake stars of the paranormal Mulder/Scully series
From Muscle Beach to the Cimarron Strip: TV Westerns of the 1950
Fun Size: Nickelodeon S*x Comedy with Gay Characters
G
Ghostwriter; Urban teen muscle
Gilligan's Island: The Sequels
Ginny and Georgia, Episode 1.1: The Gilmore Girls, with more s*x and murder
Ginny and Georgia, Episode 2.1: Dozens of miscellaneous relatives at three Thanksgivings
The Girl in the Mirror: Amnesia, Demons, Mafiosi, and a Gay Couple in a Paranormal/Teen Angst Drama
Girl from Nowhere: Thai girl knows all your secrets, including the gay ones.
Girl Meets World: Teencom with Actual, Real Gay Characters
The Golden Girls: Homophobic favorite of gay fans, for some reason
The Good Place: Afterlife beefcake and bonding
The Good Place: Chidi takes off his shirt
The Great North: Bears, Moose, Bigfoot, and a Gay Son in the Alaskan Wilderness
The Greatest American Hero, believe it or not
Green Acres: Gay siblings on 1960s tv
The Green Hornet: Batman light
Grim
Adventures of Billy and Mandy: Nergal and Irwin, gay couple
Grown-ish: Black-ish girls go to college, make bi friends
H
Hannah Montana and the Real Dan Booko
Hard Times of RJ Berger: A teencom where size matters
Hart to Hart: Hairy-Chested Robert Wagner and His Wife Solve Glitzy 1980s Murders
Hart to Hart: "Murder is a Drag": Jonathan and Jennifer Don't Solve a Murder, Max Does Drag
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Is there any LGBT representation in the 2021 Netflix reboot?
Head of the Class: The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
Heartbreak High: Lots of Hookup Secrets at an Australian High School
Henry Danger: A gay subtext classic
The Herculoids: Domo, grown up and tied up
Here's Lucy: The gay-positive episode
Hey, Dad...!: Australia's Growing Pains
High Chapparal: Billy Blue and the bulging Manolito
High Heat: Do They Mean the Fire, or the N*ked Men?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Always bring a towel
The Hogan Family: Which heartthrob was your favorite, Jason, Jeremy, or Danny?
The Hollow: Adam is gay! He even says the word!
Hollywood: Henry Willson, Scotty Bowers, Rock Hudson: The Gang's All Here
Home and Away: Gay subtext soap opera from Australia that I watched in France
Home Economics: Gay and straight siblings bicker over money
H.R. Pufnstuf: The Dragon and the Witch compete over Jimmy's...um...flute
Huge in France: Watch it for the beefcake
Husbands, Wives, and Lovers: Feeling very grown-up and sort of dirty
I
I Didn't Do It: Disney Channel teencom with underwear models
ICarly: Gay villains and bisexual brothers
I Heart Arlo: Gay alligator boy in the big city
I Know What You Did Last Summer (tv): Some gay teases.
I'm Dickens...He's Fenster: Early 1960s buddy-bonding
Imposters: Gay subtexts during a long con
The Invaders: The Gay Menace from outer space
It's A Man's World: A gay threesome from the 1960s
It's About Time: Astronauts and cave men
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Mac finds his Pride
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Why you should be watching Always Sunny
It's Gary Shandling's Show: Was Garry the world's greatest comic, bi, both, or neither?
It's Your Move: Jason Bateman as a teen con artist
J
Jackass: The Gayest Show on TV
The Jeffersons: We're movin' on up
Jellystone: Closeting, transphobia, and Yogi Bear
John from Cincinnati, Part 1: Former Surfing Great Gets a Boyfriend
John from Cincinnati, Part 2: Surfing Has Nothing to Do With It
Jonny Quest: Gay in the 1960s, hetero in the 1980s
Just Shoot Me: Why we watched in West Hollywood
K
Katts and Dog: Andrew Bednarski gets tied up
Kenan
and Kel: Nickelodeon gay teen duo
Kickin' It: Jack and Jerry, a modern romance
Kid Cosmic: Is Stuck Chuck gay?
Kim's Convenience: Korean-Canadian family runs a convenience store
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Farther Toward Gay Inclusivity than Any Other Cartoon
Kyle XY: Chromosomal heterosexual clone
L
La Brea: More plot holes than Lost, but not as much beefcake
Land of the Lost: Yet another teenager trapped far from home, with Sleestaks
The Land of Ziggy Zaggy: Dad thought that I liked girls because I wanted to watch
Lanigan's Rabbi: Rabbi-cop buddy bonding
Laramie: Brokeback Mountain for the 1950s
The Last Kids on Earth: All straight.
The Last of Us: Top 10 dour hunks
Laverne and Shirley: Why didn't they just come out?
Letterkenny: On a scale of one to America, how homophobic is small-town Canada?
Lidsville: Butch Patrick's bubble bathz's Boys 1: Jon Provost
Little House on the Prairie: hunks face fire, flood, disease, disaster, murder, and angst
The Life of Riley: Bullying boys into girl-craziness
Loaded: Overloaded Britcom, but with a gay romance
The Lodge: British Teencom with Lots of Songs about Becoming a Star, and a Star Coming Out
The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Lost in Space: Was Dr. Smith gay?
Lost in Space: Is the new series worth a trip?
Love Boat/Fantasy Island: Love won't hurt anymore
Love, American Style: I will defend your right to shine
Love, Sidney: Tony Randall plays...um...you know
The Lucy Show: Los Angeles as home
Luis Miguel: TV Series about the Latin Singing Sensation Doesn't Skimp on the Gay Subtexts





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