Oct 31, 2003   | COMMENTS     

BETWEEN SADDAM HUSSEIN and Satan as lovers, gay school teacher Mr. Garrison and, of course, Big Gay Al, “South Park,” the television program and the fictional town in the animated series on Comedy Central, has always been fairly gay. It’s “gay” in the homosexual sense, not gay like when Cartman says, “You guys are so gay.”

“South Park” outdid itself last Wednesday when the first 30-minute episode of a slate of new shows made being gay the new cool trend in town.

Always with the quirky cartoon’s figurative finger on the pulse of pop culture, the show stole the “gay is good” vibe that has been sweeping across the country ever since “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” became a ratings success, the U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex sexual intimacy OK, and gays won the right to marry in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and British Columbia).

In one of the show’s funniest moments, as all of South Park’s townsfolk are trying to outdo each other and be the “gayest,” Mr. Garrison retorted: “If straight people are gonna steal our culture, then us real gays are just gonna have to step it up a notch!”

THIS LED ME to thinking about a recent announcement about the casting on ABC’s sitcom “Less Than Perfect.” TV Guide reports that the show has cast Joanna Kerns (the mother on “Growing Pains”) and Valerie Harper (the feisty star of “Rhoda”) as lesbian moms of the character played by Andy Dick.

They tried to get Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless of “Cagney & Lacey” fame to star in the show but Daly, who recently won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Maxine Gray on “Judging Amy,” apparently declined.

Casting Kerns and Harper as lesbians is reminiscent of when Sally Struthers (of “All in the Family” fame) and Debbie Allen (the dance instructor on “Fame”) played lesbian moms on Lifetime’s “The Division.”

ALL OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS seem to demonstrate that being gay is the new cool thing in TV-land. And with a little sprinkling of fairy dust, what would happen if many more shows embraced positive gay themes.

On “Judging Amy,” guest star Rosie O’Donnell would reprise her role as a stern judge while trying to woo Judge Gray (Amy Brenneman) for behind-the-bench visits.

On “Tarzan,” Jane would leave the title character for the jungle man’s aunt (the lovely Lucy Lawless) and the heartbroken Tarzan (ex-underwear model Travis Fimmell) would go skulking off alone.

As for “Trading Spaces,” there is nothing that anyone could do to make this show any gayer, especially after a recent episode featured a gay couple, their lesbian neighbors, and an impromptu visit by a Divine-esque drag queen.

Even reruns of “The Brady Bunch” would have to be revamped. Mike (the late gay actor Robert Reed) and Carol (Florence Henderson) would finally tell the kids that they got married to be each other’s beards. They would explain that the reason Alice (Ann B. Davis) lives in the house is because she’s shackin’ up with Mrs. Brady; and Sam the Butcher is really Mike’s leather-loving boyfriend.

Gay viewers have suspected what’s really going on for years. Finally, it’s cool to let everyone else in on the joke.
Thank you, “South Park,” for making gay cool again.