The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV by Stephen Tropiano Read Free Book Online

because we didn’t get to talk to anybody. They thought we were crazy — and to a certain extent we were. But we were also justifiably paranoid.” 40 Six members who refused to leave peacefully were arrested, but charges were later dropped when a judge ruled an ABC security guard had failed to identify himself properly to the protesters as someone authorized to toss them off the premises. 41
    In response to the protest, a spokesperson for ABC described the episode, which aired as scheduled, as:
    a sensitive and understanding dramatic presentation of the problems of a particular individual faced with a personal, emotional, and physical situation...It depicts a married man who, faced with divorce and alcoholic and diabetic problems, is concerned that he has homosexual tendencies and goes to Dr. Welby for advice. 42
    When the episode aired in February of 1973, the network reportedly did eliminate Martin’s description of his homosexuality as something “degrading and loathsome” that made his “whole life a cheap and hollow fraud.” 43 Although the deletions were made for the first-run telecast, the syndicated version of the episode, still running today in some markets, contains both statements.
    The following year, Marcus Welby, M.D. was again a hotbed of controversy when it devoted an episode to the subject of child molestation. In “The Outrage,” Ted Blakely (Sean Kelly) is sexually molested by his teacher, Bill Swanson (Edward Winter) while on a camping trip with his science class. Ted tries to hide the incident from his mother, Marian (Marla Adams), but when she finds blood on his bed sheets, she rushes her son to Dr. Welby. He examines the bruises and lacerations all over the teenager’s body, but, ashamed and scared, Ted refuses to tell Dr. Welby what happened.
    As Dr. Welby informs Marian her son has been molested, Ted slips out of the doctor’s office and returns to school. When Mr. Swanson discovers Ted is dropping his science class, he confronts him in the gymnasium locker room. “Oh, I was afraid of this,” Swanson says. “I was afraid you’d take it all wrong. Life is complicated.” He touches his student gently on the shoulder, but when Ted pushes him away, the teacher warns him to keep quiet:
    SWANSON: Blakely, I thought you were ready to be a man. But I was wrong. I’ll tell you this. You are ready to keep your mouth shut. Or else — because if you talk — do I have to draw pictures for you to know what other people are going to think about you? Huh? People are not that kind, Blakely. 44
    Ted agrees to keep quiet, but vows to kill his teacher if he ever touches him again.
    Meanwhile, Dr. Welby explains the situation to Ted’s father George (Edward Power) and stepmother Leah (Gretchen Corbett). Advised to offer his son emotional support, George admits he never bonded with the kid and has always been “tongue-tied” talking to him. When Ted sees his father, he bursts into tears. George comforts him, but then asks accusingly, “Wasn’t there something you could have done?” The guilt-ridden Ted becomes hysterical and locks himself in the bathroom.
    On top of his fragile emotional state, Ted is diagnosed with acute peritonitis, requiring surgery to repair the internal injuries from the assault. Dr. Welby is equally concerned about his patient’s mental health, but Ted’s parents are so shocked and disgusted they offer little help. George admits he doesn’t even have “the guts” to listen to the details of his son’s assault.
    Sergeant Buchanan (Patrick Wayne, the Duke’s son), who is assigned to the case, knows what George is really worried about and assures him “there is nothing homosexual about this. It’s a case of violent child molestation. ” Buchanan characterizes the assailant as a married, middle-aged guy with a “crummy marriage and a crummier sex-life” suffering from severe mental problems. He also makes it clear the incident is not legally considered rape because,