List of pre–Stonewall riots American television episodes with LGBT themes
Episodes

List of pre–Stonewall riots American television episodes with LGBT themes

Section Title: Episodes
Table Section Text: None

Year	Series	Network or station	Episode	Synopsis

November 5, 1951	I Love Lucy	CBS	"Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her"	Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) is mistakenly under the impression that her husband, Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) will murder her to have affairs with several women and "Theodore." In reality, Theodore is a dog to be in Ricky's show.

1954	Max Liebman Presents	NBC	"Lady in the Dark"	Russell Paxton (Carleton Carpenter), a staff photographer, oohs and aahs over an attractive male movie star just like the office girls do.

1954	Confidential File	KTTV Syndicated	"Homosexuals and the Problems They Present"	Host Paul Coates was praised in Variety following the first episode for his tasteful treatment of the topic.

1955	Confidential File	KTTV Syndicated	"Homosexuals Who Stalk and Molest Our Children"

1956	The Open Mind	WRCA	"Introduction to the Problem of Homosexuality"	Local talk show produced in New York City. The episodes covered topics including whether homosexuality should be treated as a criminal or a medical matter, nature vs.

1956	The Open Mind	WRCA	"Homosexuality: A Psychological Approach"

1957	The Open Mind	WRCA	"Male and Female in American Society"

1957	Confession	WFAA-TV	Local program produced out of Dallas; a 1957 episode featured an interview with a transvestite.

1958	—	WTVS	Are Homosexuals Criminal?	Local program produced in Detroit, Michigan.

1958	Showcase	WABD WNTA-TV	Untitled	A general discussion of male homosexuality. Hurst planned a second show for the following day on lesbians but moments before going on the air WABD management ordered her panel not to discuss the topic.

1959	Showcase	WABD WNTA-TV	Untitled	Another introductory discussion of the topic of homosexuality.

1959	Showcase	WABD WNTA-TV	"Problems of the Teenager Who Doesn't Fit"	Homosexual youth. Showcase was cancelled shortly after this episode aired, in April 1959, although it is unclear whether it was this episode that led to the cancellation.

1959	Showcase	WABD WNTA-TV	Untitled	Discussion of psychological and sociological aspects of homosexuality.

1961	The Asphalt Jungle	ABC	"The Sniper"	Miss Brant (Virginia Christine) is a repressed lesbian who shoots girls on lovers' lane for making themselves available to boys.

1961	—	KQED, later syndicated to NET stations	The Rejected	The first television documentary about homosexuality.

1962	Confidential File	KTTV Syndicated	Title unrecorded	Covering the 1962 convention of the Daughters of Bilitis and aired after Confidential File became syndicated nationally, this is probably the first national broadcast that specifically covered lesbianism.

1962	Argument	KTTV	"Society and the Homosexual"	One of the few talk show entries that included a discussion of lesbianism, including an actual lesbian panelist.

1963	The Eleventh Hour	NBC	"What Did She Mean By Good Luck?"	High-strung actress Hallie Lambert (Kathryn Hays) is diagnosed by her psychiatrist with "lesbian tendencies". She believes her director Marya Stone (Beverly Garland) hates her, but her psychiatrist realizes that Lambert is actually in love with Stone and channeling her confusion into hostility.

1963	Channing	ABC	"The Last Testament of Buddy Crown"	Buddy drowns while trying to swim across a lake. His father (David Wayne) believed Buddy was homosexual and Buddy was taunted by his peers for being different, although the episode does not specifically identify Buddy as having been gay.

1963	Off the Cuff	WBKB	"Homosexuality and Lesbianism"	Local talk show produced in Chicago.

1964	Kup's Show	WBKB	Title unrecorded	Host Irv Kupcinet devoted an episode to a conference held by the Chicago chapter of the Mattachine Society.

1964	The Les Crane Show	WABC-TV	Title unrecorded	Host Les Crane interviewed gay activist Randy Wicker, who also took telephone calls from viewers.

1965	—	NET	"Every Tenth Man"	An episode of the CBC Television series Other Voices syndicated to the United States. Information on this broadcast is minimal but it is known to have included an appearance by sexologist Albert Ellis.

1965	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	NBC	"An Unlocked Window"	A transvestite strangles nurses to death. The killer was portrayed by professional female impersonator T. C. Jones.

1966	FYI	WTVJ	"The Homosexual"	Locally produced program that came out "against the homosexual child molester and toward the parent who never thought it could happen to his or her son".

1967	The David Susskind Show	Syndicated	"Are Homosexuals Sick?"	Susskind did indeed believe that homosexuals were mentally ill but also believed that they should be treated with compassion and not punished for it.

1967	CBS Reports	CBS	"CBS Reports: The Homosexuals"	The first network documentary about homosexuality, aired March 7, 1967. Gay men were interviewed in shadow and from behind potted plants.

1967	N.Y.P.D.	ABC	"Shakedown"	Police track down a blackmail ring targeting closeted gay men. Homophile leader Charles Spad (John Harkins) is most likely the first self-identified gay character on broadcast television.

1967	The Joe Pyne Show	Syndicated	Title unrecorded	Pyne interviewed couple and early gay rights activists Harry Hay and John Burnside.

1968	CBS Playhouse	CBS	"Secrets"	A mother (Eileen Heckart) is on trial for murdering her gay son and a man (Arthur Hill) refuses to say why he cannot serve on the jury.

1968	Judd, for the Defense	ABC	"Weep the Hunter Home"	A father (Harold Gould) fears that his son's best friend (Peter Jason) is a homosexual and that he is trying to turn his son (Richard Dreyfuss) gay.

1969	The Bold Ones: The Lawyers	NBC	"Shriek of Silence"	Barry Goram (Morgan Sterne) murders gubernatorial candidate and long-time friend Stephen Patterson (Craig Stevens) after Patterson discovers Goram is gay and fires him from his campaign staff.

1969	N.Y.P.D.	ABC	"Everybody Loved Him"	A successful film producer is murdered by a closeted and psychotic elevator operator (Walter McGinn).

Sentence(s)

The "Society and the Homosexual" in 1962 from the Argument had a discussion of lesbianism.

final_sentence: The "Society and the Homosexual" in 1962 from the Argument had a discussion of lesbianism.