(Warning, Simpsons and Desperate Housewives spoilers below the jump)
I know there are two diaries way down about tonight's Simpson's episode. But I didn't see any about tonight's excellent Desperate Housewives episode, an airing that I think is more significant.
I'm amused especially given that Sunday night is "family night" and DH follows the family-friendly, cryface-filled Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
So Patty came out on the Simpsons in an episode that gave ammo to both sides of the gay marriage debate. Fox of course hyped the heck out of the show, which is a cultural institution and deservedly so. But since they hyped it, and have hyped the "someone is gay!" twist for a few months, the bulk of viewers tuned in expecting this plotline, and so virulently anti-gay folks could simply not tune in.
Well, contrast this with tonight's Desperate Housewives episode. DH is No. 3 in the ratings behind only CSI and American Idol, averaging about 23 million viewers an outing. People expect it to be a bit steamy, what with S&M and statuatory rape among other things having been plot points. Tonight, though, came an out-of-nowhere twist.
(If you've already seen the eppie, you can skip the boxed grafs)
The episode starts with card-carrying Republican Bree -- who owns five guns, reads the Bible often, has a portrait of Reagan on the hallway wall and met her (cheating) husband Rex at a Young Republicans meeting in college -- discovering an unused condom in the laundry hamper. She assumes Rex is cheating again, but he denies it and fingers their 16-year-old son Andrew, who previously has smoked pot and driven drunk, hitting an old woman in the process (a crime his parents willfully covered up).
But after she confronts her son ("You are always hanging out with that Lisa girl!") it turns out it's not his condom, but Bree's daughter's, who is planning to soon have sex even though she is president of the high school abstinence club. Thus does the episode make sexuality an initial focus but throw the spotlight off of Andrew.
Elsewhere, model Gabrielle, who has been sleeping with a 17-year-old gardener, is being harrassed by the gardener's friend Justin. Justin threatens to tell Gabby's husband about her affair unless she sleeps with him, too. Here comes the first twist: the reason is, Justin fears he is gay -- he has a "buddy" he messes around with who he thinks he is getting feelings for -- and he doesn't want to do a tesst run on a girl from school in case he can't perform. Gabby winds up forgiving him, then kisses him full on the lips -- after which he says, yep, I sure am gay.
Fast forward to the episode's end, when another housewife, Susan, has gone dashing to her nieghbor's house, where a high school pool party is taking place. She's searching for her wayward daughter, but the daughter is long gone -- in fact, the party is basically over. Susan runs onto the back deck and sees two figures in the back of the pool, making out. She assumes it's her daughter and the party's host, a nutty guy named Zach of whom she disapproves. She yells at the pair, and they both duck under water.
"Come up! Come up!" she yells, "You can't stay down forever!" She then notices a pair of swim trunks on the ground by the pool, which sets her off even more.
Well, then Justin pops up out of the water, gasping for breath. Susan looks confused. "Is that my daughter in there with you?" she asks. Justin shakes his head.
A second head pops up, gasping for breath. And lo and behold, it's Andrew! Susan is stunned. "I'm not -- I'm not gay!" Andrew stammers, treading water. Susan scoots on out of there as the male lovers exchange nervous glances.
So, on TV's top watercooler show, which is written by a conservative gay man, the troubled child of the show's leading lady, who kisses the ground Reagan walked on, is secretly gay. OUTRAGE!!!!
Since this show is, however fantastical, a live action series and the gay character appears on most episodes (whereas Patty on the Simpsons is more marginal) the DH plotline will likely have more of an impact in the media than the Simpsons' one.
What will the likes of James Dobson think of this, if Spongebob annoyed him? Will this storyline cost the show sponsors? Ratings? Will it be boycotted? Will we see protests like those that have befallen Million Dollar Baby,which was accused of misleading marketing? After all, this plot twist really came out of nowhere. While it's nice to see a gay storyline, is it bad that the character involved is a near-murderer himself? And will Marcia Cross, who plays Bree and has been the subject of gay rumors herself, be feeling awkward much?
Inevitably the show will have to deal with Bree finding out and how she responds and reacts, which may come down the road a bit -- I'm sure we will see Andrew struggling with his sexuality, especially if Justin really does have feelings for him. And since the show's creator and head writer is a gay Republican, and his gay character hails from a conservative family, surely he will have some things to say via his show regarding the Log Cabin end of things and how his party views homosexuals.
The question is, nearly 10 years after Ellen -- and following that controversial Matt Shepard special -- will ABC continue to let him?