When we think of TV during the heyday of Friends, we usually think about scores of other sitcoms about white twentysomethings, because that’s what most of the wannabes were. There are some notable examples that did more, however, and I’m offering you this clip from the 1995-1996 Fox sitcom The Crew as an example of it doing classic sitcom mix-em-ups but with a more diverse cast. It’s the episode we’re coving on this week’s installment of my LGBTQ TV podcast, Gayest Episode Ever.
The Crew Was Fox\u2019s Queer-Inclusive Alternative to Friends \u2014 Gayest Episode Ever
This show was not conceived of as an anti-Friends, but it really works as a response to Friends, because it does some things Friends never really tried to. Two of the five sexy young people in the opening credits are black, one of those black characters is the lead character, and one of the white characters is queer. Which is a lot more than you’d see on The Single Guys, Caroline in the City or Suddenly Susan.
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It’s a very Fox take on this sort of show, and even if it only lasted a season, I think the people who made it deserve a little respect for bothering to make a show that looks a little more like real life than what was reflected elsewhere on mid-90s TV. Also, this particular episode has an explicitly bi character, which don’t come along often in this era.
This is the kind of stuff I love covering on Gayest Episode Ever, because sometimes there’s actually a lot to be said about the TV that’s less remembered today.
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