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
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The Magicians: Hogwarts plus Narnia plus Bi Guys
The Magicians: The Great C*ck of the Darking Wood
Malcolm in the Middle: Fank and Eric in the Middle
Marvel's Agents of Shield: lots of beefcake, one fleeting gay character
Mary and Rhoda and Gordie the Weatherman: Hip Urban Sitcoms
Max & Shred: Nickelodeon's Drake and Josh
Merli: Catalan boy studies philosophy, gets with cougars, displays his backside
The Mess You Leave Behind: N*de gay teenagers solve a Galician mystery
Mickey Mouse Club: Were any of the Mousketeers gay?
The Middle: Inclusivity Alert: A gay reference
Midnight Gospel: A Gay Teenager in the Afterlife
Mighty Med: Comic Book Fans with a Secret Life
A Million Little Things: A million little tearjerkers, one gay kid
Mr.
Belvedere: The bodybuilder and the nanny
Mr. Peabody and Sherman: Gay adoption and preteen heterosexism
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, with some gay neighbors
Mr. Young: Boy genius and buffed best friend take on high school
Monsters at Work: 20 Years after "Monsters, Inc.", Has LGBTQ Representation Increased?
Moone Boy: The Goldbergs with hormone monsters
Mortel: Gay-tease teenagers fight voodoo gods in Paris
Move to Heaven: Nobody really moves to heaven
Move to Heaven tackles a gay couple
The Muppet Show: a refuge for the "head cases"
My Mother the Car: "The idiots in Middle America will watch anything, so how about..."
My Secret Identity: Featuring Jerry O'Connell. No, it's not being gay
Mystery Island: A muscular Stephen Parr and the robot from Lost in Space
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Saturday morning with Joel and the Bots
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Nancy Drew: Riverdale rip-off without the guys in underwear
The Nanny: Why we watched in West Hollywood
New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The New People: Gay hippies after Stonewall
Nickelodeon Teen Hunks of the 1990s
The Norsemen: Do You Want a Simpering, Backstabbing, Cowardly Sissy-Man as Your Chieftain?
The Odd Couple: Don't you find, when love is blind, it's kind of odd?
Odd Squad: Any Gay Texts, Subtexts, or Beefcake in the Long-Running PBS Kids Show?
On My Block: Searching for the gay characters
Once Upon a Time Season 1 Beefcake
Once Upon a Time Season 4 Beefcake
Once Upon a Time Season 6 Beefcake
Once Upon a Time Season 7 Beefcake
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
One Hundred Things to do Before High School: Nickelodeon teencom with major hunkage
One Piece: Buddy Bonding During a Quest to Own Everything in the World
Orange is the New Black: The top 10 hunks
Orphan Black: Male n*des, gay characters, and clones
Out of This World and, sigh, Steve Burton
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Papa
Soltero: Telemundo teens on the beach
Patty Duke Show: Out of the heterosexual nuclear family box
Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers
Pee-wee's Playhouse: Did somebody say "Swish"?
Perry Mason: Practically everybody was gay
Pinky and the Brain: The same thing we do every night
Play by Play: girls are the meaning of life, yet again
The Politician: Gay-Light Sociopaths in a Hunk-Infested High School
Pose: 1990s Gay House subculture.
The Prisoner: We want in..formation
Quantum Leap Reboot: Hunky Scientist Gets Zapped into the Past
Q-Force: Swishy queen secret agents save the world from Kazakh spies.
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Raven's Home: Lesbian Couple, Gay Son, Both, or Neither?
Razzle Dazzle: TV Variety Shows of the 1970s
The Real O'Neals: The real bulges
The Real O'Neals: The real gay characters
Red
Dwarf: Four flamboyant guys roaming the galaxy
Regular Show: anything but heterosexist
Ren and Stimpy: Nickelodeon's disgusting gay couple
Reservation Dogs: Queer, nonbinary, and gay-vague teens on the Rez
Rick and Morty: More homophobic than Family Guy?
Riverdale: Archie's Pals and Gals face angst and dark secrets
RobiHachi: Gay-Subtext Buddies on a Planet of Musclemen, Chased by a Gay Stereotype
The Rockford Files: Buddy of the week needs help
The Rockford Files: When Jim Rockford went to bed with a guy
Room 104: Two Mormon missionaries come out, sort of
Roswell, New Mexico: At least the gay guys kiss
Rocky and Bullwinkle: A gay couple, fairy princes, and Boris Badenov
Round the Twist: Three Australian kids and a ghost
Rowan
and Martin's Laugh-In: It's a dangerous thing to confuse children with
angels
The Roy Rogers Show: Western for homophobes
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Sabrina the Teenage Witch, featuring Nate Richert's kielbasa
Salute Your Shorts: At least one of the campers was gay
Sam and Cat: The gayest show on teen tv
Saturday Morning in the 1970s, Part 1
Saturday Morning in the 1970s, Part 2
Saturday Morning Beefcake in the 1990s
Saturday
Night Live and the ambiguously gay Bill Murray
Schooled: Welcome Back Kotter, circa 1990
Scissor Seven: As gay as Chinese anime can get
Scrubs: Hunkiest Patients, Part 1
Scrubs: Hunkiest Patients, Part 2
Sea Hunt: Lloyd Bridges shows his biceps
Second Chance: Matthew Perry before Friends
Seinfeld: Twelve things I love and hate
The Sentinel: Male detective and male grad student fall in love
A Series of Unfortunate Events: As transphobic as ever
Sesame Street: A gay couple arrives (no, not Bert and Ernie)
Sesane Street: Gay content and muppets
The Shield: Cops in the 2000s display the homophobia of the 1950s
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters: Johnny Whitaker and his boyfriend encounter a blob
Simpsons Beefcake: Homer, Bart, and company bulk up on Deviant Art
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo: Flipper down under
Smallville:
Clark and Luther, men of steel
The homophobia of So You Think You Can Dance
Soap: The first gay human on tv
The Sopranos: Five things I liked, three that I disliked, and some Italian-American hunks
Space Cases: Star Trek: Voyager for kids
Spartacus: Gay subtexts, gay characters, and a wife
Speechless, Season 2: I am disgustipated.
Spellbinder: Shirtless teen in a Polish-Australian fantasy world
Spin and Marty: Summer camp boys in love
Star Trek, the Original Series: Chekhov and Sulu in love
Star Trek, Deep Space Nine: Where no heterosexual has gone before
Star Trek, Discovery: Any gay characters or beefcake?
Star Trek, Enterprise: Beyond homophobia
Star Trek, the Next Generation: The top 10 hunks
Star Trek, Voyager: The top 3 hunks
Strangers from Hell: When you don't know you're dead
Suddenly Susan: Biceps, Brooke Shields, and Pete the gay mail boy
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Superboy in
West Hollywood
Superman: A
World of Jimmy Olsons
Swinging Bachelor Detectives of the 1960s
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Tales of the City on Netflix: Not your grandfather's San Francisco
Taxi: Why I walked out on Tony Danza
Teen Angels of the 1960s and 1990s
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Which was gay?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Reboot: Mikey finds a boyfriend
Teen
Wolf: Which teen hunk is gay?
Tell Me a Story, and be sure to include biceps, backsides, shootings, and sleazoids.
That Girl: Will and Grace for the 1960s
Thermae Romae Novae: An Anime about Ancient Roman Bath Houses
They Had Faces Then: TV hunks before beefcake
Three's Company: Life is a ball again when a straight guy pretends to be gay
Three TV Hunks on a Cold Winter Night
Throb: How we watched tv in the 1990s
The Thundermans: Gay supervillains in training
The Tick: Ten things you should know about the superhero parody
Time Tunnel Reboot: Ruining the best gay couple of my childhood
Tiny Toon Adventures: Not what you think
Tiny Toons University: The toons go to college, learn drag techniques from Bugs Bunny
The Tomorrow People: British Sci-Fi with clones and short-shorts
The Tonight Show: The gay snark of Johnny Carson
Totalitarian TV: Underdog and Friends
Trailer Park Boys: Gay characters in the Canadian hood
Trailer Park Boys: The animated series
Trapper John MD fights homophobia, sort of
The Tripods: John Christopher's teen dystopia finds a home on British tv
True Jackson VP: The first gay character on teen tv
Twin Peaks: The Owls are not what they seem
Two Broke Girls: Gay showrunner, homophobic mess
UFO and the shirtless SHADO warriors
Ugly Betty: The heterosexual gay kid
Ultimate Spider-Man: The ten ultimate hunks
Ultra Violet and Black Scorpion: Retro Teencom Selling Gay-as-Problem, Single-as-Miserable Myths
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: 14 hunks
The Uncanny Counter; A gay-subtext Buffy the Vampire Slayer from Korea
Under the Dome: Beefcake and bonding.
Undone: If I see one more chicken-peck kiss...
Unfabulous: The mostly unfabulous adventures of a middle school heterosexual
The Unlisted: Come for the Australian-Indian culture, stay for the gay subtexts
Veronica's Closet: How not to play a gay character
Victor and Valentino: Gay half-brothers fight Mayan monsters
Victorious: Almost a gay victory
Villains of Valley View: Classic Disney teencom about a family with secrets
Violetta: Ten teen hunks on one Disney channel soap opera
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Wahlburgers: Four
seasons, no underwear
The Walking Dead: Gay people unwelcome at the end of the world
The Walking Dead: The World Beyond: Five disappointments and genocide
The Waltons: The gay connection
The War at Home: A homophobic gay ally
Wayland Flowers and Madame: TV's first drag queen puppet
We Got It Made: 1980s sitcom with gay actor Tom Villard
Weird City: Dylan O'Brien and Ed O'Neil fall in love
Welcome to Derry: "It" prequel with interesting monsters, Cold War paranoia, 1960s racism, and "bury your gays."What happened to the Asian Beefcake?
What happened to the Black Beefcake?
Will and Grace: 13 things I hate and nothing that I love
Will and Grace Reboot: Not awful
With Love: A close-knit Hispanic family celebrates holidays. With gay and trans characters.
The Windsors: Royal gossip and beefcake
The Witcher: Top 10 Dead Hunks
WKRP in Cincinnati: Doctor Johnny Fever wants you
WKRP in Cincinnati: Homophobia alert: Les on the ledge
Wrecked (2022): Gay guy and his lesbian bff solve a mystery on a cruise ship. With a homicidal duck
The X-Files: Heterosexuals believe
You Can't Do That on Television
Young Royals: The Prince of Sweden falls in love with a scholarship boy
