TV Team Roundtable: How We Handle TV That Breaks Our Hearts (Or Makes Us Want to Break the TV)

Queer viewers are all very familiar with TV breaking our hearts and sending us into rage spirals. Sometimes it’s writers or showrunners tripping over tired cliches, or playing into harmful tropes; sometimes it’s writers and showrunners refusing to take responsibility for the fact that pop culture perceptions play an enormous — some would even argue the most influential — role in shaping public perceptions, and therefore politics and policy and just general quality of life for minorities in the world; sometimes it’s writers and showrunners simply refusing to listen. In this TV Team roundtable, Carmen Phillips, Natalie, Valerie Anne, Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Riese, and I are going to dig into how we handle the TV that lets us down, who’s getting it right, and what our breaking points are.

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Heather: Are you able to personally enjoy TV shows, even if they have problematic elements?

Riese: I wrote “absolutely yes” and then realized that, well, there are probably exceptions. I mean I hate the word “problematic” but I feel like every show at some point goes there, and there tends to be a significant disconnect between The Discourse and Hollywood. I prefer to focus on the truly important things, like what happened to Kat’s luggage when she went straight from a cab from the airport to an event and how auditions actually work at prestigious theater conservatories like the legendary NYADA. Like I know there’s been some backlash at The Handmaid’s Tale this season for how gratuitous the violence against women has become, but the show itself is just such a work of art I can’t stop watching. If the entire premise is messed up, like 13 Reasons Why, it’s hard for me to stick around. But, sometimes I still do. Every show that’s on for more than two seasons is gonna screw up.

Carmen: The violence in season two of The Handmaid’s Tale really broke me! I couldn’t get past it.

Natalie: As the saying goes, “all your faves are problematic,” so I’ve just come to accept that nearly every show I love will have some problematic element (or elements) in it. Shows are crafted within the minds of humans who, however well-intentioned, will have blind spots or just screw up sometimes. As a critic, or even just as a fan, you have to decide where your line is, how many “screw ups” you can oblige before you just walk away.

I watched UnREAL‘s first season and loved it, but by season two, the show had so exceeded the bounds of what I could abide that I had to stop watching. Conversely, for years now I’ve been bothered by Jane the Virgin’s treatment of Luisa’s character, but my discontent about that has been mitigated by everything else that show does right so I can justify continuing to watch.

Kayla: I super agree with the sentiment that all your faves are problematic. TV shows pretty much never entirely transcend the racist, patriarchal, heteronormative institutions that they’re made within. I have the same issue with the way Jane The Virgin treats Luisa, but there’s so much I love about the show that I would never jump ship over that either. Of course I want progress and I want the shows I love to constantly strive to do better, but I also think that a lot of the time, the line is just so personal for people. I can’t watch Game Of Thrones anymore, but I am not going to tell someone that they’re wrong to still watch it/enjoy it. Sure, I might engage them in some sort of critical conversation, but I’m a TV critic! That’s what I do!

Valerie Anne: I think it depends on the problematic elements? There are so many shows out there now that I feel comfortable being a bit more discerning with what I choose to watch. For me, comedies are the shows I’m most likely to drop because of problematic jokes — if a show things even low-key homophobia, racism, or fatphobia is funny, we’re probably not compatible. But if a show is doing a lot of things right and does one thing wrong, I’m more likely to forgive than not. I think I have an unwritten three-strike style rule.

It also depends on how a show talks about an issue behind the scenes; if a show is saying “we fucked up” or “we realize now we could have done that better,” I’m much more inclined to give it a second chance than if they shrug it off or don’t address it. And also, if done right, some things that are bad on paper still work for me. Like my current problematic fave, Killing Eve.

Carmen: I was struggling how to answer this question, there are just so many competing variables that go into whether I can watch something “problematic” or not, but I think Valerie really hit the nail on the head for me! If a show makes a major blunder and can acknowledge their mistake, I am much more inclined to stick with it and encourage them to grow. I keep thinking back to Orange is the New Black. Poussey’s death is unforgivable. There is no excusing that, but the fact that Jenji Kohan and the writers’ room doubled down on making excuses as to why her death was politically necessary was cruel. It ruined the show for me.

And also, I’m talking about large scale mess ups. Television microaggressions mostly roll off of my back. There’s always a bigger fish to fry, you know?

Heather:I reached a breaking point last year with the kind of social media activism that loudly and incessantly insists that writing or talking about TV shows that have problematic elements — even if you’re clear-eyed and articulate about them— is a betrayal to the community, that we should just shut out (and shut up about) all TV that wrongs us in any way. And the reason I couldn’t abide that any longer is that most TV critics are straight white cis men who aren’t even seeing these problematic storytelling elements; certainly they’re not naming them in their reviews and recaps. I think it’s my responsibility to participate in these conversations, to be smart and funny and engaging inside of them, because being shut out of that circle of criticism cuts me off from ever trying to make change. How do y’all feel about that as critics?

Riese: I agree, I think it’s absurd when people think us not writing about a show is like an important protest vote or something? Seriously, that’s not how TV criticism works! That’s how a personal Tumblr works.

Kayla: AGREED. I didn’t get too much backlash, but there were some folks on Twitter who were not happy with me for recapping The 100 for Vulture. To which I say: First of all, I have bills to pay??????????? Second, don’t you want to have a queer woman of color who understands the context of this show’s missteps contributing to the conversation?

Valerie Anne: I agree, we have to keep talking about things. Boycotting entire TV shows isn’t going to make as much of a difference as discussing it critically and publicly. Boycotting reads as “oh some people didn’t like this” whereas discussing it can lead to “oh I didn’t realize why that might be harmful” and actually help others make better choices in the future.

Natalie: I agree with all of you. Honestly, I’m kind of mystified that this kind of thinking still exists. Maybe if we were still in a time where we were starved for representation, I’d understand that need to be overprotective, but, for where we are now, this just feels tremendously self-defeating.

Marlene King (the showrunner of Pretty Little Liars) is probably a bad example, but for the sake of argument, let’s imagine that she was the type of showrunner who responded well to constructive criticism. Imagine that she, after killing Maya St. Germain, didn’t dismiss the backlash as upset ‘shippers. What if she seriously considered that she had, however inadvertently, employed these awful tropes? Tropes that are rooted in an effort to minimize the role of LGBT people and people of color. If she had taken this lesson from the criticism over killing Maya, maybe she’s a bit more vigilant about avoiding harmful tropes going forward – maybe the mess surrounding Cece Drake wouldn’t have happened.

My interest, both as a fan and as a critic, is to push writers towards creating more authentic representation and away from recycled tropes. I’m interested in taking a writer’s work seriously — I imagine they put a lot of work into it — and offering a critique from a well-intentioned place. I hope more writers and fans learn to take it that way.

Heather: This is a great example, Natalie! Most people don’t know that you and I went from kind of knowing each other a little in TV recap comments to becoming internet acquaintances to becoming coworkers and friends because when Maya died, I was recapping Pretty Little Liars as a freelancer for a different website, and I also wrote it off in what you helped me see was a deliberately obtuse and callous way. I will never forget the message you sent me about it. It was smart and generous, but also really honest. It changed everything about the way I thought about my job. As soon as I had the ability to hire TV writers myself, I came to get you. If you had just quit me and my writing back then and not engaged with me or urged me to be clearer-eyed, there’s a good chance neither you or I would be doing what we’re doing right now! You should never have had to do that labor on me, but you did, and it changed things for both of us.

Carmen: Oh my God! I don’t really have anything to add, but that is the cutest and the best story!! I love knowing how we all found each other in this world.

Heather: Are there times when you’re willing to forgive TV for its mistakes and let it back into your good graces? Or, like Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, is your good opinion once lost, lost forever?

Valerie Anne: My aforementioned three-strike rule works like this: I’ll forgive and not forget a few times, but once I do get to the point of fully quitting a show, I don’t think I could ever go back. Maybe that’s why it takes so much for me to actively quit a show, because I know it’s forever, and I want to make sure I’m really, really done with it. The character assassination and then the literal assassination of Leslie Shay on Chicago Fire hit me so hard that I never even watched other shows in the franchise. I dropped it right then and there and never looked back. So I think my answer is yes I’m willing to forgive, but once a show is lost to me, it’s lost forever.

Carmen: I’m the exact same way! It takes a lot a lot for me to quit a show, but once I’ve cut ties I can’t go back.

Natalie: In most situations, I leave open the possibility of forgiveness. But that forgiveness isn’t just be given, it has to be earned. Forgiveness comes through acknowledging the screw-up and/or making amends for it in future storytelling. Like Valerie said, there are also just sometimes when you’ve got to cut bait and run. Sometimes the mistake is so egregious that it can’t be forgiven, like UnREAL’s second season, or where I have zero confidence in the writers’ abilities to right their wrongs, as with the aforementioned Chicago Fire (I don’t care how many times they try to entice me with a Sarah Shahi guest appearance, I will not do it).

Heather: You know it’s bad when even Sarah Shahi can’t tempt a queer audience to come back! Can you think of any good examples of shows that let you down but that ultimately righted its wrongs? Or got enough stuff right to make up for their wrongs?

Riese: I think Transparent really evolved because Jill Solloway is very tapped into The Community and I think did a good amount of balancing listening to feedback with trusting their own instincts. But Transparent never really let me down, so to speak, aside from the obvious off set issues. I think its authenticity is part of why people felt close enough to it to notice some of its problems and raise them. Jill and (I think) several of their family members are trans and/or queer, so they were just very willing from the start to imagine a world of majority queer people, even on a show focused on one family, and that will win me over every time. (Everyone being queer!)

Beyond that, basically I just want, I guess, every show that I like to have a lesbian or bisexual character. So I’m pleased when that happens. Like Jane the Virgin kinda sidelined Luisa, but then they made up for it with the Petra/JR thing. Glow and Riverdale added queers and made some present characters more queer, which delighted me. Honorable choices, those shows!

But if I’m only mildly sold on the show anyhow and they kill or otherwise bury a queer female character, like The Arrangement did, I’m done.

Valerie Anne: One of the most obvious examples I can think of is when Arrow literally unburied their gay. Sara Lance came back to life and went on to become the badass bisexual of our dreams and leader of her own band of time-traveling misfits. Also Legends of Tomorrow itself started off rocky, but then pivoted to make Sara the lead instead of Rip Hunter. It was a bold, but necessary move and truly improved the show. And it’s too early to say for sure, but Supergirl may be righting its wrongs. The last few episodes of the season seemed to be directly addressing its biggest flaws and I have newfound hope for next season.

Natalie: As I mentioned in our last roundtable, I think The Bold Type really tried to address questions that the audience had (myself included) about the way that Kat was written. They owned up to their mistake and tried to address it in episode 202. While I thought that episode was terrible, the fact that they addressed it at all was a positive step. This week’s Bold Type episode, I thought, took a step beyond that. So, not only had they heard the criticism, but they really learned from it. I think that’s just the ideal situation and I hope that other writers and showrunners really learn from the example The Bold Type has set.

Grey’s Anatomy is another show that I let go of for several seasons, after the disappointment of watching Erica Hahn disappear in the Seattle Grace parking lot. I’d lost a character who I’d come to see part of myself in – and who gave me one favorite scenes of television, ever. She’d been ousted and replaced by a younger, perkier model. It just felt wrong to indulge in it, no matter how much I still loved Callie Torres. Eventually, I found my way back because it was clear they were still invested in telling Callie’s story and… well… they let Sara Ramirez sing on primetime TV.

Carmen: Let me just pop right back in here, because we can’t talk about Sara Ramirez in the Grey’s Anatomy musical episode without me showing up to squeal about it a little. It’s my bat signal. SQUEAL!!! SARA RAMIREZ IS SO TALENTED AND DESERVES EVERY GOOD THING IN THIS WORLD!! Yes, that was in all caps. I don’t care. She deserves EVERY GOOD THING. Okay, as you were.

Heather:I’m actually not very much of a come-back person, in real life or in TV life, but I think that’s because it takes me sooooo long to finally lose my patience with something or someone — like you gotta really push and push and push and push for me to snap — and once that finally happens, I’m like, “Okay, well, forget it FOREVER.”

Kayla: Haha, I almost always come back! What does that say about me!!!! I think the most extreme example is American Horror Story, which I have said I will “never watch again” probably at least seven times over the course of its run? And yet, I always come back. And not even because they fixed anything! Ryan Murphy just dangles Sarah Paulson in front of me, and I’m like SOLD. (The only season I didn’t finish was AHS: Hotel.) But as for shows that have kind of addressed previous problems, I agree that The Bold Type is making some strides. Grey’s Anatomy always brings me back, too, somehow.

Riese: Oh yeah, AHS. Freakshow and Hotel I both quit because the gore and the violence and the sexual assault was more than I could handle. But each season is its own beast so I usually give each new one a chance. Unless, say, it’s a season about a witch coven THAT SOMEHOW HAS NO QUEER FEMALE CHARACTERS IN IT.

Carmen: I’m probably going to yelled at in the comments for this, but I think Once Upon a Time finally got their act together in their last season. Not only did they fix the show’s glaring whiteness problem by casting an Afro-Latina actress, Dania Ramirez, as their new Cinderella and incorporating Princess Tiana into the show’s main cast, they also finally wrote a compelling main character gay romance. I could have watched five more seasons of Robin Hood and Alice of Wonderland falling love. They were adventurous and quirky and kind to each other. They were everything that the show had previously done so well with their successful straight romances, proving what I knew all along – the writers could do it, if they only had tried.

I know that a lot of Once’s queer fandom was #SwanQueen or bust, and I respect that. Also, the timing of when they fixed their problem reeks of “too little, too late.” There’s no getting around it. I don’t think it was ultimately enough to right their many seasons long legacy of wrong, but they did eventually get there. I think it’s an important asterisk on that show’s legacy.

Heather: What are your absolute TV deal breakers?

For me, if a male showrunner or writer talks over me to try to tell me or any other queer woman how it is, I’m out. I will never forget this one show creator emailing me to tell me how naive I was because he’d had a lesbian friend, okay, and according to her, lesbians do, in fact, die, and so that’s why this character died because it happens in real life and I was a child if I didn’t acknowledge mortality. I also agree with what Valerie said earlier about comedy. I don’t watch shows that make minorities the butt of their jokes, ever. Violence against women is also something I can’t deal with — which is a real pickle as a critic because prestige TV shows sure do like rape.

Riese: Not having lesbian or bisexual characters, first and FOREMOST. I mean, there’s a lot of shows I watch for queer storylines and if they stop having queer storylines, even if the queer character is still there, I often drop off. Also, consistently bad storytelling. Though I might not have a real deal breaker!

Valerie Anne: I don’t know if I have any hard and fast, “you do this you’re 100% out” deal breakers. Except for the types of jokes I mentioned before. I track my TV shows on Sidereel (nerd) and I do have a list called “half-heartedly quit for now” for shows that I’m just so far behind on that catching up feels like a chore because they stopped bringing me that excited joy of having a new episode of a show I love. And it’s not usually because of a thing they did; usually it’s things they DIDN’T do. Like Riese said, not having queer characters is one reason I might drift off a show. Also sorry/not sorry but Too Many Dudes is a non-starter for me.

Natalie: It’s hard for me to pinpoint just one thing; it’s one of those things that you just know instinctively when you see it. That said, I am growing increasingly tired of the male savior trope and of writers who subject their characters to awful fates just so other characters, and by extension, the audience, can learn something. Nope, nope, nope. I’m tired of it, and there’s too much good TV on for me to continue to subject myself to these god awful tropes.

Carmen: Ha! Would it be wrong for me to shout out Orange is the New Black here? Oh well, I’m gonna do it anyway!

Kayla: I’m not really sure I have a concrete deal breaker (other than just like, something that’s really terribly written?), but I do have limits when it comes to sexual violence. Two shows that I have successfully stopped watching are Game Of Thrones and UnREAL. I’m not sure what the latter could do to get me back, but as for GOT, the only way in hell I would watch the final season (and the seasons I’ve missed before it) is if all six of the final episodes were written AND directed by women, so… it’s never gonna happen.

Carmen: My biggest deal breaker by far is what I call “the sad, angry white male anti-hero.” I’ve never seen Breaking Bad or Mad Men and I have no interest thank you. (Wait, I have seen parts of Mad Men that related to Christina Hendricks or Elizabeth Moss, but that’s it.) I watched and loved The Sopranos and that was pretty much my fill of the entire genre. That means I miss a lot of “prestige” television, but guess what? I’m fine with that. I’d rather be told a thousand stories about women, and I schedule my television priorities accordingly. Also, I’m like so many other folks in this roundtable, I can’t abide strong violence against women. I’ve never seen Games of Thrones and I never will. While I think the work that they’re doing is important, it would take a lot for me to stomach going back to Handmaid’s Tale

Heather: What TV shows have let you down the most?

Riese: The L Word, obviously. My first love. You’re always gonna have a special spot in your heart for your first love and all the mixed-up feelings they gave you, and how they hurt you. It was the first show I watched and wrote about as a critic — I was surprisingly very uncritical of it before it became my “job.” Still, there’s so much I didn’t notice or criticize that I would now, although I also love it dearly, and always will.

Then, you know. You know! Glee.

And finally, Orange is the New Black. I loved it so much and there’s so much talent on that show, so many queer characters, so racially diverse. Killing Poussey how they did and for the reasons they did was just a really terrible move. It also further cast light on a lot of issues the show already had about race. I still watch it, but nobody else does anymore! We actually asked about what shows people watched on our reader survey last year, and included an option for “I used to but I don’t anymore” and 52% said they watched OITNB and 36% said they used to but not anymore! The next-highest “I used to watch this but don’t anymore” was Pretty Little Liars (28%), then Grey’s Anatomy (25%) (but I mean it’s been on for so long, it shouldn’t count), The Fosters (21%) and then nothing else was over 15%. So that’s a lot! How did I turn this into a data conversation?

Carmen: Riese! One of my favorite things about you is how you can turn any conversation into an Autostraddle Data Conversation! That’s one of your superpowers! (Also, I still watch every single show on that “Used To Watch List”, or at least I watched them until their final series finale. I really don’t break up with television easily. That’s something to know about me.)

Valerie Anne: There are a lot of shows that really let me down in the last season(s). Pretty Little Liars, Warehouse 13, Glee. One of my biggest heartbreaks was Once Upon a Time. The first season of that show was so fun and original and then slowly, but surely descended into garbage.

Heather: Riese, one of the most formative moments in my life as a critical thinker about TV was when you started writing about how messed up and also just factually inaccurate Max’s pregnancy storyline was on The L Word. We were definitely in a time, as a culture, when it was realllllly tricky to criticize the very few shows putting queer women on TV, but you were just like, “Okay. Enough. This is honestly dangerous at this point.” And you did it when you were just starting out; you didn’t have the clout and prestige you do today as the leader of Autostraddle.

For me, it’s Pretty Little Liars and Skins. My attachment to those shows was personal because I wrote about them, but more than that, I had so many conversations with the people who made those shows and I know for a fact the writers read so much of what I wrote, so the fact that they understood where they were messing up but continued to do so, it breaks my heart. Also I’ll echo what everyone has said about Orange Is the New Black. Killing Poussey was already egregious but what came after — both in PR and storytelling — was beyond the pale.

Carmen: I’ve name dropped them a thousand times, but I do not care, my answer to this question forever and always will be Orange is the New Black. If I think too long about it, I still can physical stomach pains over what they did to Poussey. And that was, like two years ago now? I’m still not over it and I probably never will be. We’ve written a lot about why those storytelling decisions were so awful, so I won’t rehash it all here (but feel free to read it for yourself: here, here, here, and here). I will love that cast forever and will support them in whatever they do, but Jenji Kohan is going to have one hell of a hill in getting me to watch one of her shows ever again. I still haven’t seen Glow.

I haven’t broken up with it yet, but Queen Sugar has made some awful decisions surrounding erasing Nova Bordelon’s sexuality in its second and third seasons. This one is more of a personal burn for me, because there are heartbreakingly few shows with a majority black cast and black audience to include a queer woman protagonist. Queen Sugar is breathtakingly directed and written, it can hold its own against any other prestige television show. But it gets very little media shine, because it’s a black production on OWN. I gave it my whole entire heart (my love for it was so epic that it became the show that got me this job on Autostraddle). It’s still all of those things, but the decision to have Nova not even reference her sexuality in the last two years is a very big pill that they keep expecting me to swallow.

Natalie: Yes, Carmen, PREACH! What Queen Sugar is doing with Nova has been the bitterest pill, especially since the character wasn’t queer in the source material and they specifically made her that way to create visibility for black queer women. Now, it’s gone. Ava, you just won a GLAAD Award, what are you doing?!

Heather: Who do you think is getting it right?

Riese: When it comes to shows w/queer characters? One Mississippi BEFORE IT WAS CANCELLED. Okay I won’t talk about other cancelled shows, I just remembered that one suddenly and my heart hurt. Currently: Vida, One Day at a Time, Fresh Off The Boat. I think Transparent does, mostly, although we all well, yes. Okay. High Maintenance! Don’t sleep on that show, y’all. Pose. Although I wish one of the women on the show was a lesbian or bisexual. Just saying. (It’s a Ryan Murphy show, so it’ll happen eventually. I really want Angel to be bi!) I feel like one thing you can count on, along with planets rotating around each other as they will, is Degrassi usually getting shit right.

Valerie Anne: It should surprise no one that the first show that came to mind for this is Wynonna Earp. The Bold Type is getting a lot of things right. Orphan Black got it right. Legends of Tomorrow. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. All the ones Riese mentioned. (And I want to specifically call out Fresh Off the Boat because I feel like not enough of you are watching that one and you SHOULD BE.) Have I mentioned Wynonna Earp? Because Wynonna Earp.

Kayla: I think Vida’s first season was goddamn near perfect. And I know we talk about it a lot here on Autostraddle but I wish it was being more talked about at large, and I really wish it would get awards play but I am worried that it won’t!!!! I second all the shows Riese and Valerie said but also want to throw Superstore into the mix!

Heather: I don’t think it’s any surprise that the shows getting it most right are doing so because of queer and trans women and women of color. One Day at a Time, Vida, Pose, Fresh Off the Boat, Master of None (specifically I am talking about the Thanksgiving episode, of course) and even Brooklyn Nine-Nine, because even though Stephanie Beatriz isn’t a writer, her real life coming out and then openness about her bisexuality is what compelled the writers to reach out to her to help them craft a coming out story for Rosa. You see that on Madam Secretary with Sara Ramirez too, right? These women who are out, who are dialed in, and who are ready to take responsibility for the fact that stories shape the public perception of minorities, and those perceptions have an enormous impact on our political and cultural realities.

Natalie: That’s a great point, Heather! I think all those writers’ room excel at telling complex, intersectional stories because so many of the writers’ lead lives that exist on those intersections. There’s an impulse among writers to believe that because they’re creative, they can imagine the stories of women, LGBT people or women of color – and 99 times out of 100, it just doesn’t work. As creative as Ryan Murphy is, he could never in his life have crafted the world Janet Mock and Our Lady J have built for the trans women on Pose. That show, Vida, One Day at a Time have all shown us that to tell authentic stories, we should empower writers who have lived the lives of our favorite characters.

Carmen: I’m calling it now, 2018 is the year of queer and trans women of color on TV! The list just keeps growing: Vida, One Day at a Time (who have both also put their money where they mouth is in terms of off-screen activism as well, so I will never stop singing their praises and doing whatever I can to keep them on air), but also Pose and as Heather mentioned even B99 and Madam Secretary. We are out there in the world, telling our stories, and every time it happens my heart bursts wide open all over again.

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We’d love to hear from our esteemed readers in the comments! No one knows queer TV better than you. How do you handle it when TV lets you down? Who has successfully turned it around? Who do you think is getting it right?

20 Happy Lesbian and Bisexual Romantic TV Storylines That’ll Warm Your Heart Right Up

The world sure does feel more on fire by the day, huh? If you’re like me, between being engaged with the news and being out there fighting the good fight, you need some downtime to recharge your brain and body with a little bit of goodness and hope. I do that with stories, especially teevee — and I thought, hey, you might like some recommendations to do that too. Below are 20 happy lesbian and bisexual storylines you can watch to power up your spirit with laughter and swooning.

Special thanks to Carmen, Natalie, Valerie Anne, Riese, and Sarah Sarwar for their encyclopedic knowledge of women kissing women on teevee. 

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Spencer and Ashley, South of Nowhere

Spashley! If anyone knows about surviving a long, hard walk through the metaphorical desert it’s Spashley! They premiered in 2005, when queer TV was a wasteland and the only thing gay women had to do was sit around and wait for season three of the The L Word to start. Theirs is a timeless lesbian coming of age story/queer love story that has a happy ending and, as a bonus, features a homophobic mom who rights her ways and ultimately even attends Pride with her daughter.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 101 “Secret Truths” // 105 “Girls Guide to Dating” // 110 “What Just Happened” // 203 “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” // 308 “Gay Pride”

Where to watch: Logotv.com

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Naomi and Emily, Skins (Series Three and Four)

Before you start Skins, HEED MY WARNING! You must stop after the series four finale. After the show ended, the creators rolled out a couple of made for TV movies and they are an abomination in literally every way; they absolutely are not canon; and you SHOULD NOT WATCH THEM! However, the second generation of real Skins features my favorite ever love story between shy, buttoned-up, blossoming lesbian Emily Fitch and her surly, self-destructive, self-righteous pal Naomi Campbell.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 306 “Naomi” // 309 “Katie and Emily” // 402 “Emily” // 408 “Everyone”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Waverly and Nicole, Wynonna Earp

The sparks between Waverly “Hermione Danger” Earp and Nicole “Hot Cop” Haught start flying in the pilot episode of Wynonna Earp and haven’t stopped yet. Waverly doesn’t even know she’s bisexual when the show starts, so her journey from confused-but-interested to climbing-Nicole-like-a-literal-tree is quite a treat. Both characters have their own storylines and grow as individuals, and they have a super-couple through-line where they grow together. They’re sweet, they’re sexy, and they get the exact same treatment as the straight couples on the show. Canada! So wild, so magical!

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 109 “Bury Me with My Guns On” // 112 “House of Memories” // 113 “I Walk the Line” // 202 “Shed Your Skin” // 211 “Gone as a Girl Can Get” // 212 “I Hope You Dance”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Maggie and Alex, Supergirl (Season Two)

I, personally, am a fan of Maggie and Alex’s storyline from start-to-finish because it’s really rare to see two queer women on broadcast TV get treated with the kind of care and respect Supergirl‘s writers took with these two. However, Floriana Lima, the actress who plays Maggie, wasn’t contracted through the entirety of the third season, so the two do eventually share a tearful goodbye; if you only want what’s happy, just follow them through season two. There you’ll find a beautiful, authentic coming out story; a glorious slow burn will-they/won’t-they; a teensy bit of longing heartache; and a sweeping soaring second kiss that’ll make you want to sing.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 206 “Changing” // 208 “Medusa” // 209 “Supergirl Lives” // 213 “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” // 219 “Alex” // 302 “Triggers” // 305 “Damage”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Cameron and Rhea, Take My Wife

Take My Wife is Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher playing fictional versions of their real life selves in the best queer comedy on TV ever. It’s smart and it’s hilarious and it’s romantic and it’s so very heckin’ gay. It’s even full of guest stars you know and love, like Jen Richards, Brittani Nichols, and Gaby Dunn. You will laugh, for sure, but the only tears you’ll cry will be good ones, and that’s a guarantee.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: All of them

Where to watch: iTunes, Starz.com

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Elena and Syd, One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time is one of the best comedies of the golden age of TV, and the whole show is absolutely worth your time. Rita Moreno and Justina Machado are transcendent in theirs role as a Cuban-American mother-daughter dynamic duo. Elena’s storyline is just icing on the cake. She comes out in season one, and finds love with a non-binary lesbian nerd named Syd who just gets her.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 110 “Sex Talk” // 113 “Quinces” // 203 “To Zir, With Love” // 205 “Locked Down” // 211 “Homecoming”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Tig and Kate, One Mississippi

There’s never been a show like One Mississippi, and especially season two, which features a middle-age masculine-of-center lesbian falling in love with a woman who doesn’t even know she’s gay yet. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and hopeless and want some well-earned laughs and the ability to believe love is not a lie, this one’s for you.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: All of them

Where to watch: Amazon

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Stef and Lena, The Fosters

The Fosters always spent more time on Stef and Lena’s kids than the queer adult audience wanted, but in between their high school shenanigans, Stef and Lena had one of the realest, rawest, most uplifting lesbian relationships in TV history. They got married multiple times, even.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 101 “Meet the Parents” // 110 “I Do” // 318 “Rehearsal” // 416 “The Long Haul” // 518 “Just Say Yes”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Kate and Emaline, Everything Sucks

Netflix’s 90s-era show was a breakout among young queer people (and, um, queer people in their late 30s too) but Netflix cancelled it after just one season. What a tender gay season it was, though!

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 105 “What the Hell’s a Zarginda” // 108 “I Just Wanna Be Anybody” // 110 “We Were Merely Freshmen”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Santana and Brittany, Glee

Glee was not without its glaring issues, but it remains one of the only shows on television to give its queer female couple a very happy ending. In between the now iconic throwaway line — “Sex isn’t dating; if it were, Santana and I would be dating” — and that #BrittanaWedding, there’s plenty of laughter and tears and songs and dances and a coming out story that ends up with a dude getting punched in the face. Lots to love, is what I’m saying.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 113 “Sectionals” // 215 “Sexy” // 313 “Heart” // 512 “100” // 603 “Jagged Little Tapestry” // 608 “A Wedding”

Bonus Brittana Songs: Me Against the Music, 202 “Brittney/Brittany” // Songbird, 219 “Rumours” // Rumour Has It/Someone Like You, 306 “Mash Off” // Hand in My Pocket/I Feel the Earth Move, 603 “Jagged Little Tapestry”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Marceline and Princess Bubblegum, Adventure Time

It seemed like subtext in the very beginning, but Adventure Time finally gave itself over to a canonical relationship between the ruler of the Candy Kingdom and her curmudgeonly vampire best friend. By the end, they’re promising to grow old together.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 310 “What Was Missing” // 529 “Sky Witch” // 702 “Varmints” // Season 7 “Stakes” Mini-Series // 1007 “Marcy & Hunson”

Bonus comic book mini-series: Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens

Where to watch: Hulu

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Petra and JR, Jane the Virgin (Season Four)

Jane the Virgin fans read Petra as bisexual for a good long while before the show’s writers decided why not? and gave her a woman love interest. Watching Petra physically melt into her kisses with Jane Ramos was fun, but watching the sure-footed Slytherin navigate real romantic feelings for the first time in a very long time was even better.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 410 “Chapter Seventy-Four” through 416 “Chapter Eighty-One”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Ruby and Sapphire, Steven Universe

Unlike other animated shows that hinted around at queerness, Steven Universe made it clear that Ruby and Sapphire were in lesbian love with each other as soon as they made it clear that Garnet was Ruby and Sapphire. They are the emotional anchor of Steven’s whole family, and the episodes when they’re unfused and interacting are some of the most romantic queer moments on TV, full stop.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 212 “Keystone Motel” // 221 “The Answer” // 415 “That Will Be All” // 519 “Now We’re Only Falling Apart”

Where to watch: Hulu

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Nomi and Amanita, Sense8

Sense8 was cancelled too soon, but the show’s writers knew they had something special with Nomi and Amanita’s romance; so much so that the two of them join Brittany and Santana as one of the only queer couples on TV to be sent off into the sunset with a big gay wedding.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: You kind of have to watch this whole show to get it, but the most swoon-worthy episode is the series finale.

Where to watch: Netflix

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Cosima and Delphine, Orphan Black

Cosima and Delphine’s relationship started out as just a little crush and a little crazy science and, well, some serious duplicitousness — and became the most moving, epic romance on the entire show. It seems like one or both of them are gonna be dead at the end of basically every season finale, so prepare yourself for that TV trickery. In fact, when the show revealed the Delphine actually was alive, I literally leapt from my couch and rushed the TV to press my nose against it. Plus Delphine and Cosima’s season four reunion features the best fan fiction trope: “naked body heat to stay alive!”

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 105 “Conditions of Existence” // 108 “Entangled Bank” // 202 “Governed by Sound Reason and True Religion” // 410 “From Dancing Mice to Psychopaths” // 505 “Ease For Idle Millionaires” // 510 “To Right the Wrongs of Many aka Happily Ever After”

Where to watch: Amazon, BBCAmerica.com

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Kat and Adena, The Bold Type

Kat and Adena’s story was one of the sweetest and most surprising things on TV last summer. It tackled an adult coming out as bisexual, Islamaphobia, the Trump administration, and U.S. immigration. This year, so far, it has tackled oral sex. The writers of The Bold Type have given Kat and Adena as much — more, really — care than any of the straight pairings on the show. As of this moment, they’re even still together!

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 104 ” If You Can’t Do It With Feeling” // 105 “No Feminism in the Champagne Room” // 109 “Before Tequila Sunrise” // 201 “Feminist Army” // 204 “OMG”

Where to watch: Hulu, Freeform

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Bette and Tina, The L Word (Seasons One, Five and Six At Your Own Risk)

Ah, Tibette. The L Word‘s supercouple. Loved and loathed by The L Word fandom in equal measure. They were committed to each other, they cheated on each other, they cheated with each other, and at the end of the day the rode off into the future together. Also, to this day, nothing competes with The L Word‘s lesbian sex scenes, and Bette and Tina are always second best at that. (Behind Carmen and Shane, obviously; I’m a shipper, not a monster.)

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 101 “Pilot” // 504 “Let’s Get This Party Started” // 506 “Lights! Camera! Action!” // 510 “Lifecycle”

Where to watch: Netflix

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Bo and Lauren, Lost Girl

Lost Girl was hit or miss in its final seasons, but Bo and Lauren never lost their sizzle. There’s an egregious Bury Your Gay in the final episode, but if you can fast forward past that or Eternal Sunshine it from your memory, you get the resolution of a five-season love triangle that concludes with the two women in each other’s arms.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 108 “Vexes” // 206 “It’s Better to Burn Out Than Fae Away” // 222 “Flesh and Blood” // 405 “Let the Dark Times Roll” // 507 “Here Comes the Night” // 512 “Judgment Fae” // 516 “Rise” //

Where to watch: Netflix

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Karolina and Nico, Marvel’s Runaways

Karolina and Nico’s relationship is a slow burn without too much screentime, but the scenes they do share are charged and intimate and so very relatable. Plus who doesn’t love that age-old story of the innocent, most popular girl in school falling in love with the tortured goth outcast.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: 106 “Metamorphosis” // 109 “Doomsday” // 110 “Hostile”

Where to watch: Hulu

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Sue and Mel, Great British Bake Off (Series One through Six)

Okay this isn’t technically a storyline and Sue and Mel aren’t technically a couple. They’re just professional partners! But Sue Perkins is one of the most famous lesbians in the UK and Great British Bake Off is hands-down the most feel-good show in the history of the world. Series four even stars queer superstar chef/bestselling writer/masterful tweeter Ruby Tandoh.

Most swoon-worthy episodes: Every moment of series one through six

Where to watch: Netflix

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Drop your favs in the comments with a list of best episodes if you have them!

Monday Roundtable: The Ships We’d Still Go Down With

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a group of queer women and nonbinary people can often, as a community and as individuals, trace some part of their gay coming into themselves and out into the world to a favorite ship (canon or not) that made them say, in the words of Willow Rosenberg, “Hello, gay now.” Even years or decades later, regardless of how much objectively better television has been produced, we carry them in our hearts. Here are ours; tell us yours?

(Before you head to the comments section with shock and outrage, you should know that this roundtable was written before Killing Eve aired.)

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Heather Hogan, Senior Editor: Helen and Nikki, Bad Girls

This was a hard choice for me! I made a spreadsheet! It came down to three couples! But if I’m being really real with myself it’s Governing Governor Helen Stewart and Larkhall inmate Nikki Wade — and I know that sounds kinda gross and definitely illegal but it’s not like the show ignored those complicated dynamics. Helen was tortured, okay, and she didn’t even kiss Nikki on the mouth at all until she wasn’t her jailer anymore! (And then I guess again at a different time when she kind of was still her jailer but then Nikki broke out of prison in a blonde wig and went to Helen’s house and Helen was like “…the fuck!” and she almost called the cops but then instead she whispered “Nicola…” and they totally did it.) (But then Nikki did go back to jail.) So there was the power imbalance and the personality difference and also Helen kept trying to be straight and Nikki was for sure Chaotic Neutral and Helen was for sure Lawful Good, but at the end of the day Nikki got out of jail and Helen chased her down and said, “Thomas is gorgeous, and he’s everything you would want in a man — but I want a woman.” And oooooh they smooched in the middle of the day in the middle of the street for a very long time. Also I’ve read somewhere between one million and two million Helen/Nikki fan fics and they are all so good.

Riese, Editor-in-Chief: Shane and Jenny, The L Word

I don’t know that I need to describe this at any greater length than I already did on April 1st, 2018, the best day of my life, when we trolled the entire internet by turning Autostraddle into a Shenny fansite and I wrote my first-ever fan-fic about my #1 ship, Shane and Jenny. But in sum: I truly believe that the most authentic versions of the characters of Shane and Jenny were MTB, and I believe that Season 6 was blasphemy and ruined so many things including that particular pairing. I think that they are uniquely capable of taking care of one another and helping the other deal with mental health issues and also accept each other for who they are and work with it instead of against it and I think also they would’ve had very hot sex. Okay the end.

Rachel, Managing Editor: Faith and Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I didn’t think I had “a ship,” but I was casually rewatching the graduation arc of Buffy recently, as one does, and when I got to the Buffy/Faith showdown I thought I was gonna need a goddamn fainting couch. I suddenly viscerally understood why people make entire blogs and 34-tweet threads about their favorite ships in fandom, because I had the urge to call people I haven’t talked to since high school and walk them through a powerpoint of why Faith and Buffy are meant to be together and anyone who disagrees is probably a war criminal. They understand each other in ways no one else ever will! Faith will never take any of Buffy’s self-centered shit the way all her friends do; Buffy knows enough about what Faith has been through and why she is the way she is that she can give Faith the genuine love and validation she so desperately wants and needs. Also it’s very hot when they’re trying to stab each other! What more can you ask for in a relationship.

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Staff Writer: Kalinda and Alicia, The Good Wife

If you whisper “Kalinda and Alicia were endgame” three times in a row, you will conjure me out of thin air. Go ahead, try it. I believe in the (doomed) love story of Kalinda and Alicia so passionately that I accidentally made my girlfriend believe that they were in a canon sexual relationship before she watched The Good Wife. She was disappointed to learn the truth, and I don’t blame her! I have seen The Good Wife from start to finish at least four times now and I am still shocked every time that they do not kiss ever. Look, I’m going to go ahead and out myself here and say that I enjoy a lot of trash ships in my life. I’ve been known to dabble in some Doctor Mechanic here, some SuperCat there (and by dabble, I mean stay up all night on fanfic benders on multiple occasions). If a show has a trash ship, I probably ship it. There is now a canon wlw ship at the heart of Riverdale, and yet I’m out here still asking strangers if they’d like to hear the good word of Betty/Cheryl. But Kalinda and Alicia, noncanon as they may be, are not trash! This ship is pure and it is good. And the only thing that really undercuts it (aside from their OBVIOUS ATTRACTION TO ONE ANOTHER remaining entirely subtextual) is the weird behind the scenes drama between Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi that made them literally not want to be in the same room as one another, which tbh, made me ship the characters even more? As hot as some of the women Kalinda made out with on the show were, none had the complex yet natural chemistry that Alicia has with her. NONE!

Carrie, Staff Writer: Spencer and Ashley, South of Nowhere

I was good and gay and out by the time South of Nowhere appeared on our screens, and therefore prepared to laugh my way through the first season’s attempts at relating to me. But damn it, dear reader, if Spencer and Ashley didn’t get me right in the heart anyway. Like many a cult teen favorite, SON kinda went off the from Season 2 and onward — but that first season still does it for me! It was ahead of its time, I think, in how it depicted Spencer’s more “traditional” coming out versus Ashley’s queerer sexuality (though they never used that word). It was also my first proper introduction to fandom and TV recaps and fanfic and the whole bit, though more as an observer than a creator.

True story: a couple years after SON went off the air, my college’s summer research program paid me (!) to do a study about the show’s impact on its LGBTQ+ viewership as illustrated by its online communities. Yes, I got funding to watch South of Nowhere and read message boards all summer. Liberal arts school! (It was legitimately a great project, not gonna lie.)

Abeni, Staff Writer: Harry and literally anyone else besides Ginny, Harry Potter series

OK, so I’ll admit I was a Harry/Hermione shipper when the series was coming out (I used to go to the bookstore and get the books at the midnight release, sometimes with costumes, so I was pretty into it) but I realized that their sibling-type relationship made more sense, and Ron and Hermione made sense, and looking back it was hinted throughout, and I think I they’re fun and cute together. But Harry and Ginny? I was completely floored when that plot point came out. It seemed shoe-horned in at the last minute and yeah, there were like, a couple hints, but what? It seemed really strange to me. Like, getting together with your best friend’s much-younger sister? By the last book weren’t they like, 18 and 14 or something? I haven’t read in a while, and maybe it’s not as problematic as I remember it, but still. Harry could have been with anyone else!

He could have been with that Quidditch captain girl, Angelina Johnson (who I just Googled and she married George? What?) I remember her getting very little “page-time,” but she was a boss. When I was a teen, I wanted him to be with Cho, but that kinda fell apart for obvious reasons. Or, wouldn’t it have been really interesting and poetic if Harry ended up with Neville?

My ship though is Luna Lovegood. She was smart, unconcerned with what people thought of her, brave, radical politically if I remember correctly, cute and sweet and quirky and charming. She was used to being an outsider, to having people have prejudgments about her, and didn’t think of Harry as “the boy who lived” or whoever but just as a dude. She treated him like a regular guy (unlike Ginny, who was like, crushing for a while and idolized him). And her mother died when she was young, and she and Harry have a moment after Sirius dies where they connect over this. I really feel like they get each other and Luna’s personality allows Harry to just be himself around her. Harry x Luna forever.

Natalie, Staff Writer: Annalise and Eve, How to Get Away With Murder

Well, that answer was pretty predictable wasn’t it? In posts, in the comments and on social media… my love for Annalise and Eve is a thing that anyone who knows anything about my pop culture diet knows about me. I won’t bore you by repeating it all again.

That said, I was wrong about one thing with regard to Annalise and Eve: through the first three seasons of How to Get Away With Murder, I never thought it possible for Annalise and Eve to end up together in the end… not because of Vanessa, the woman who whisks Eve away to the west coast, but because Annalise never saw herself as someone worthy of Eve’s love. HTGAWM never struck me as kind of show that’d allow Annalise to experience the kind of personal growth needed to overcome her traumas so I never really imagined them becoming more. But, then season four happened and, despite having the worst counselor ever and still having those stupid students around causing unending consternation, Annalise Keating came out the other side better… perhaps the healthiest we’ve ever seen her.

So go get your girl, Annalise Keating. Celebrate the love you now know you deserve… for me.

Alexis, Staff Writer: Kelly and Yorkie, Black Mirror: San Junipero

My friends, I still wanna get lost in San Junipero. I’m all about let me find you in ever possible universe so we can be together type love. The way Kelly looks at Yorkie like she hung the moon and stars, when Yorkie answers: “Oh. So many things.” to Kelly’s “What would you like to do that you’ve never done?” The idea that you can escape a hellish world to live in your heaven? It’s not perfect but it’s here and someone loves you and you love them and isn’t that miracle enough to call it paradise? Like, “Can you just… make this easy for me?” COME ON. Love being totally “fucking inconvenient”? Admitting you’re scared but doing it anyways? I could write books on this one episode and I still don’t think it’d be enough.

Valerie Anne, Staff Writer: NO, I WON’T PICK AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME

HOW DARE. I have been obsessed with TV my ENTIRE LIFE and have been shipping since long before I knew the term. I have a long list of ships that shaped me, from non-canon ships like Buffy and Faith to canon ships like Spashley from South of Nowhere. Cosima and Delphine changed the path of my career entirely, in the best way possible. Waverly Earp and Nicole Haught have brought me new friends I consider family. My heart will never be fully healed from what Eleanor and Max put me through on Black Sails. I can’t listen to Ellie Goulding’s Atlantis without wailing to the stars about Myka and HG. In fact, I have a whole “Fandom” folder in my Spotify for ship-related playlists and they all make me Emotional. I’ve cried just listening to Chyler Leigh TALK ABOUT Sanvers. I’ve written cross-fandom femslash fanfiction (#Fabrastings) I’ve shipped problematic ships (Quinn and Santana, Arizona and Dr. Peyton) and the obvious ships (Brittana, Calzona – I have layers). I’ve shipped ships long after I should have stopped shipping them (Emaya, #MAYALIVES), and long before they even started (Avalance). I ship ships I know will never happen (Emily and JJ, Criminal Minds) and ships I foolishly believe still could (Skimmons, Agents of Shield). I ship new ships (Petra and JR) and old ships (Willow and Tara) with similar vigor, and I even still hold ships on short-lived shows dear to me (Lucy and Mina, Dracula, RIP). Hell, every once in a while, I even ship STRAIGHT PEOPLE. (I can’t think of an example right now but I’m sure it’s true.) I’ve found a way to mention over a dozen ships in this one paragraph alone and I haven’t even BEGUN to scratch the surface of the fictional characters I have been emotionally invested in. I am basically a pirate at this point, I’ve been on so many ships, and I refuse — REFUSE — to pick one. Sorry.

Reneice Charles, Staff Writer: Janelle Monáe and Tessa Thompson

I know this is a TV thing but I don’t watch enough to participate that way so I’m extending the branch to music and going with the only ship there is imo, Janelle and Tessa. I feel like this is self explanatory. If not, Carmen made a whole damn entire timeline of their relationship where you can find all the receipts you need to realize that this is the best ship.

21 Times “Killing Eve” Depicted Lesbian Relationship Scenarios With Dead-On Accuracy

SPOILER ALERT: Contains info and screencaps from the finale.

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Last night we were all treated to the Season One finale of “Killing Eve,” a show about “Villanelle,” a queer psychopath assassin and Eve, the (probably also queer) sorta-detective who becomes obsessed with her in confusing ways. The program manages to employ just about every TV Trope we normally detest but does so in a way that has made us fall head-over-heels in love with it. Last night for a moment I thought the show was going to end itself with an actual lesbian sex scene, and then when Villanelle became suddenly aware of the knife I said to myself, “Ah! A much more authentic choice!”

The episode’s final scenes really tapped into some realistic relationship dynamics that I found oddly fitting for 2018, The Year of Everybody’s Breakup, but of course the show’s ability to expose these glaring truths has been evident from the start. If you thought we had questions for Phoebe Waller-Bridge in 2017, watch out 2018!

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1. When you leave a piece of clothing at your ex’s house so you’ll have an excuse to go back

2. When your ex keeps that piece of clothing at her house for 10+ years just in case you come back for it

3. When your friends are trying to help you break up with your terrible girlfriend ’cause you deserve better…

…but you’re not sure if you can do it

4. When you think obsessively about mundane, kinda sweet and, more often than not, emotionally inappropriate aspects of your crush’s personality

5. When she thinks about you too

6. Your first date after a bad breakup

7. When you’re terrified of genuine emotional intimacy

8. When she threatens to break up with you if you don’t go to therapy and process your issues with genuine emotional intimacy

9. When you try to get info on your crush from a mutual cis straight male friend

10. When you find yourself oddly aroused instead of appropriately terrified by aspects of her personality that are very clear red flags

11. When it turns out that weird lady in your building who you think is homophobic has been watching you all this time, just as you suspected

12. When you try to explain the emotional impact of your most recent ex-girlfriend to a barely-interested neutral third party

13. When you’re about to date a Shane because you’re certain you understand her in a unique and important way that will inspire her to deviate from her established track record of being a very bad girlfriend

14. When your hands still smell like her the next day

15. When you hook up with a straight girl

16. When you come out

17. When you’re nervous as hell and she’s 100% DTF

18. When you see the ex you thought you’d never see again

19. When the breakup of your eight month relationship takes eight weeks to play itself out

19. When you finally get the guts to end your f*cked up relationship and then she says one sort of sweet thing

21. When you were like ten minutes away from from achieving much-needed closure on your f*cked-up relationship

Reboots, Retreads and Returns: An Early Look at Fall TV

Last week was quite the the week in television. First, the bloodletting: the cancellation of 25+ shows on the major networks, with 19 of those cancellations happening in the span of just 24 hours. Then come upfronts, the networks’ first opportunity to present their fall line-ups, including all their new projects, to prospective advertisers. The line-ups offer us the first glimpse at which pilots made the cut and which ones we get to lament (probably) never seeing on the small screen. There was a lot, but just in case you missed something — and if you’re looking for the gay it was easy to miss, there was so little of it — I’ve got you covered.

ABC

ABC seems to have found their brand and is, stubbornly, sticking to it, so not much has changed for the fall. The network’s only pick-ups look like retreads of shows that we’ve already seen before. Whiskey Cavalier? A repackaged version of The Catch. Grand Hotel? Jane the Virgin if we spent all our time at the Marbella. The Kids Are Alright? The Real O’Neals, with a lead character that’s too young to start any off-screen hi-jinks.

There were only two real surprises for me, among ABC’s upfront offerings: first, the schedule change for Fresh Off the Boat and Speechless to Friday nights. The move puts Nicole and her tuxedo wearing posse opposite the newly revived Last Man Standing on FOX, which is just more reason to add Fresh Off the Boat to your list of must-watch shows. The second surprise came in the form of a renewal for the newest Shondaland property, For the People. The charming series about attorneys in the Southern District of New York, which features a queer character (Kate Littlejohn) and queer actors among the cast (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Caitlin Stasey), has struggled in the ratings — the show that held its timeslot previously, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World had better ratings and was cancelled — and pretty much everyone, myself included, thought it would be cancelled. Hopefully the show’s first season pops up on Netflix so it can grow its audience during the summer.

Meanwhile, ABC missed the opportunity to pick-up some intriguing pilots like the Kylie Bunbury-led reboot of Get Christie Love (#StillMadAboutPitch) or Robin Roberts and Regina King’s sisterly drama, The Finest. How does ABC say no to Robin Roberts, the host of their morning show and one of the most beloved women in the world? The network also passed on one of my most anticipated shows, The Greatest American Hero from Fresh Off the Boat‘s Nahnatchka Khan. We could’ve had an Indian-American woman as a superhero (!!) but, apparently, the network’s gunshy about getting back into the superhero game after the failure of Inhumans and Agent Carter.

In addition to presenting the schedule for the network, ABC also offered a glimpse into what fans can expect on Freeform in the fall. The polyamorous horror mermaid series, Siren, earned a 16-episode second season, while Freeform added Besties, a new project from Kenya Barris (grown-ish), and The Perfectionists, the Pretty Little Liars spin-off, to its fall line-up.

So, Mona’s still Mona and Alison is not with her wife and children? OKAY.

CBS

CBS is trying, y’all. After continually being hammered by the members of the Television Critics Association for the lack of diversity in its fall schedule, the network seems to be making an effort at making the nation’s most watched network more reflective of the nation that watches it. All six of the network’s new fall shows have female and/or people of color as leads. Even if none of the shows look that interesting to me — it’s CBS afterall — the network is clearly making an effort at diversifying.

Is there any gay? Not as far as I can tell but S.W.A.T., which won a second season renewal, took its time in revealing Chris Alonso as its resident bisexual badass, so I’m hoping CBS’s new fall fare takes a similar tact. That said, while we may not have any confirmed gays, we do have the glorious return of Missy Peregrym to our TVs…and with a Rookie Blue reunion with her training officer, no less:

Angus the Manny as a white supremacist? That’s what happens when Pam Grier breaks up with you, I guess…it’s all just downhill from there.

I was disappointed to see Gloria Calderon Kellett’s (One Day at a Time) new series, History of Them, not get picked up at CBS, though she reports that the show’s still being shopped around to networks. Also, a little sad, but not really surprised, to see the Cagney and Lacy reboot not get picked up, as the show would’ve been the first post-Grey’s Anatomy work for Sarah Drew. I’m still waiting for word on Pandas in New York, a show with the potential to offer groundbreaking representation for Indian-American families a la The Cosby Show.

FOX

The biggest news from FOX came from two cancellations — Brooklyn 99 and Lucifer — and one of its pickups, Last Man Standing. Thankfully, 31 hours after its cancellation at FOX, B-99 earned a rare reprieve: NBC picked the show up for a 16-episode sixth season. It’s a perfect fit, as the show now returns to its owner — Universal Television, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal — shares a home with the other comedies of its creator Mike Schur (The Good Place and the forthcoming Abby’s). Rosa Diaz will live to gawk at women for another season.

The loss of Lucifer along withThe Mick at FOX means that we’re down two ladies — Maze and Sabrina, respectfully — in the LGBT representation department…a loss that reverberates even more, given that FOX’s new fall slate skews heavily male (only Proven Innocent boasts a female lead) and, from what I can tell, heavily straight. AND THEY HAD JUST GIVEN SABRINA A GIRLFRIEND! The Lucifer cancellation was more of a surprise for me — once a show’s been on for three seasons, the fourth season is usually a virtual certainty, as a fourth season usually means a syndication deal, and networks are able to recoup more of their investment. I’m mystified that Gotham earned a fifth season, while Lucifer and The Mick end their runs.

Ilene Chaiken’s new project, No Apologies, wasn’t picked up for the fall but, after some retooling, is still in contention to appear on FOX’s midseason schedule. How can FOX pass on a pilot that features Joey Potter Katie Holmes in her return to television? I hope it works out for Ilene, if for no other reason than to ensure that she’s far too busy to have any involvement whatsoever in The L Word reboot.

NBC

One of the more frustrating aspects of pilot season/upfronts is seeing who is afforded second or third chances and who can’t even get one. Ryan Eggold, who I’m sure is a lovely man, started his tenure with NBC on the show Blacklist and the executives at the network were so enamored with him, they gave him his own spin-off, Blacklist: Redemption (which I watched only because it featured Annalise’s girlfriend Famke Janssen). Redemption fails after one season but, since the network is convinced that Eggold is a draw, he rejoins the cast of Blacklist until — spoiler alert! — his character dies. But fear not, because if you didn’t like Ryan Eggold as a covert operative, surely, you’ll love him as a doctor on NBC’s new fall program, New Amsterdam.

Compare that to the biggest surprise of the pilot pick-ups: NBC’s failure to order L.A.’s Finest, the Bad Boys spin-off featuring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, to series. Eggold, who has already failed as a lead for an NBC show, gets another shot at helming a show, but Union, who helmed a successful show on BET for four seasons and who just turned a low budget, slapdash movie (Breaking In) into a success, does not. Thankfully, L.A.’s Finest is still being shopped elsewhere and may still see the light of day, but still…it’s so absurd?! But I digress…

Aside from the Brooklyn 99 pick-up, which won’t debut on NBC until midseason, the network’s new shows don’t feature any readily apparent LGBT representation. Still, though, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for at least one LGBT character on New Amsterdam or the other midseason newbie, The Village.

CW

The CW is expanding: for the first time since 2009, the network will return to competition with other broadcast networks by putting original programming back on its Sunday schedule, starting with the debut of Supergirl‘s fourth season and the reboot of the cult classic, Charmed. The reboot, which has been met with skepticism from some of the show’s original cast (to put it mildly), features three Latina sisters and this time one of them is a lesbian!

https://youtu.be/loWpbevW9xg

To bolster the network’s standing with advertisers, the CW has brought all their superhero shows back for the fall season, instead of holding one or more for a midseason debut, as they usually do. Legends of Tomorrow, with new series regular, Jes Macallan, helms the network’s Monday night line-up, while Black Lightning‘s Nafessa Pierce returns to Tuesday nights.

But perhaps the biggest news from the CW’s DC Universe is the announcement that Batwoman (AKA Kate Kane) will be part of this year’s crossover event. The character, first introduced in 1956, was reimagined in 2010 in The New 52 series as a Jewish lesbian. It’ll be interesting to see how/if Batwoman’s sexuality and history with Alex Danvers’ former flame, Maggie Sawyer, comes into play in the crossover event.

The CW cancelled Life Sentence and Valor, both of which featured LGBT characters, however intermittently, but granted a reprieve for the critically acclaimed, though ratings challenged, series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Valencia and Beth will live to sing another day! Likewise, we’ll get to see more of Petra and JR (and hopefully, Rose and Luisa) as Jane the Virgin returns for its fifth and final season…though the CW is holding Jane and two of its other new shows, In the Dark and Roswell, New Mexico for midseason.

Spring/Summer 2018 TV Preview: All the Lesbian and Bisexual and Trans Women TV Characters Your Heart Requires

The time has come to talk about spring and summer teevee! Okay, the time has kind of passed to talk about spring teevee, but not by too much — all of these shows that started in spring are still airing! It’s been a pretty okay year for LGBTQ women on television so far. Very few deaths, historically speaking, and a decent amount of kissing and some critically acclaimed series filled out with queer women. Summer is always an exciting time for us because it’s when the genre shows rain down in full force and we’ve always had the most representation in sci-fi and fantasy. This spring and summer, though, there’s plenty of non-supernatural dramas too. Below is every show we know about that has a premiere date. We’ll keep this list updated as new premiere dates are announced, and you can bookmark this page or reference it from the Arts & Entertainment Menu at the top of your Autostraddle Website Page.

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April 2018 Queer TV Show Premieres

It’s true, these shows have already begun — but they weren’t in our winter preview, and we want to make sure they’re on your radar!

Star, Wednesday March 29th (Fox) – Season Two

Star’s a soap opera about low income, teen girls of color reaching for the music superstar dreams. It has had an impressive slate of black QTPOC representation in front of and behind the camera — including Amiyah Scott as Cotton Brown, becoming the first trans actress to play a trans woman in a regular network TV role, and out actor Miss Lawrence as Miss Bruce. It also stars Queen Latifah and is produced by out gay producer Lee Daniels. One of the show’s lead protagonists is Simone Davis, a biracial, bisexual teen who’s in and out of foster care. She’s got an unbreakable spirit and determination to go after her goals. It wouldn’t be fair not to warn you that (SPOILER ALERT) Star buried one of its gays last winter. I still find the musical soap enjoyable, but it’s something to keep in mind. — Carmen

Siren, Thursday March 29th (Freeform) – Season One

A murder mermaid temporarily shed her tail and popped onto land for a while, learning the way humans do things and then tossing them aside to do what she wants. And sometimes that thing includes kissing a girl. The girl has a boyfriend but the boyfriend is into the mermaid too so we might have our first-ever man-woman-mermaid throuple situation heading our way on Freeform in this ten-episode series. — Valerie Anne

Famous in Love, Wednesday April 4th (Freeform) – Season Two

Bisexual actress Alexis is the star of her own reality television show this season, which means regularly negotiating the temptation to ruin the lives of everybody she knows and cares about in order to amass fame and the veneer of success! What an inspirational character for us all. — Riese

Imposters, Thursday April 5th (Bravo) – Season Two

The Bumblers, including our fave, Jules Langmore, are riding high after exacting revenge on the ex that betrayed them all but things quickly go sour and the trio are forced to regroup in Mexico. Season Two promises to delve more into Jules’ backstory, including introducing us to her sister, Poppy (Rachel Skarsten). — Natalie

Killing Eve, Sunday April 8th (BBC America) – Season One

Sandra Oh has finally booked the post-Grey’s Anatomy leading role she deserves, playing Eve, a spy tracking down a notorious bisexual assassin named Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Their obsession with each other is laced with sexual attraction. And even though it’s a spy thriller, Phoebe Waller-Bridge infuses this dark world with bits of unexpected humor that Oh and Comer bring out masterfully. Killing Eve is the sexy, queer spy thriller I’ve long craved. — Kayla (warning: due to the genre of this show, steady yourself for some gays to get buried.)

Supergirl, Monday April 16th (The CW) – Season Three

Supergirl took a hiatus to sort some stuff out and I’m really hoping that means great things for the back half of this season. Our resident lesbian, Alex, is still getting over her ex-girlfriend Maggie, so I doubt she’ll have any kind of lady love until Season Four, but hopefully the show continues to focus on her relationship with Kara, and remember that the show actually is about Supergirl, not her boring ex-boyfriend. Also if Alex wanted to go on a few bad Tinder dates just for giggles I’d be fine with that, too. — Valerie Anne

Westworld, Sunday April 22nd (HBO) – Season Two

When asked about exploring Dolores’s sexuality, Evan Rachel Wood said her character is “not either a man or a woman” and, furthermore, “All I can say is, yes, there’s going to be something. I wasn’t disappointed. I was like, ‘Yay,’ but that’s all I can say.” It is very difficult to describe Westworld at all in a little paragraph in a teevee preview — because LOL I barely understand what’s going on half the time. Still it’s some of the most exciting television on television these days, even if all the queer stuff has been either deeply buried/implied or very surface level. — Riese

Into the Badlands, Sunday April 22nd (AMC) – Season Two

Season Two came back both with and without a bang. That is to say, Tilda isn’t sporting her classic bang look anymore, but it’s because she needs her hair slicked back — the better to murder men with, my dear. It looks like she’ll be slaying enemies alongside her girl Odessa this season while she works out her mommy issues. We’ll also meet a new character who really upped the murder game; she has potential to really shake things up. — Valerie

The 100, Tuesday April 24th (The CW) – Season Five

I’ll be honest: It doesn’t matter how we do or do not write about this show, someone will get mad at us because we did or did not write about this show. So, here are the facts: The 100 still boasts a badaass bisexual leading character. The 100 also unrepentantly murdered a lesbian character that set off a chain reaction of activism that changed the landscape of queer TV forever. Whatever your relationship is to this show, it’s valid. We’re not telling you what to believe. What we’re telling you is that The 100, unlike Lexa, continues to exist.

The Handmaid’s Tale, Wednesday April 25th (Hulu) – Season Two

This show remains hella dark and chock-full of queer women — one of whom (Moira, played by Samira Wiley) has escaped to Canada where she’s dealing with Gilead-inspired trauma and another (Emily, played by Alexis Bledel) who has been sent to The Colonies to dig up nuclear waste until she dies! You can read my review of it here. — Riese

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May 2018 Queer TV Show Premieres

Dear White People, Friday May 4th (Netflix) – Season Two

The black queer women supporting characters of Dear White People’s first season were super underwhelming, which personally hurts me because one of them was played by Nia Long — one of my oldest childhood crushes. Dear White People‘s based on the cult classic satire indie film of the same name about being a black student in a predominantly white university. The original film was produced by Lena Waithe and brought to screen by out gay writer/director/producer Justin Simien. Simien also helms the Netflix series and, according to the trailer, we can at least expect a Lena Waithe cameo in the second season! In her brief clip, she says “black lesbians” real slow and felt so good to my ears, I rewound it three times. — Carmen

Vida, Sunday May 6th (Starz) – Season One

I am so excited for you all to fall in love with Vida! Vida is about two Chicana sisters returning to their old neighborhood in East LA after their mother’s death. One of the sisters is queer. Both sisters are surprised to find out that, upon her death, their mother was married to a woman. Out non-binary actor Ser Anzoategui plays the butch lesbian widow. The show’s produced by an out queer Chicana, Tanya Saracho, and has a predominately queer Latinx writers room. It’s sooo, soo good y’all. It’s on Starz, which I know is not a cable channel that’s easily accessible for everyone, but I promise you that it’s going to be worth the effort to seek out! We’re going to be talking more about Vida in the upcoming weeks and helping you all find ways to support it — because we want you to have nice things!! And this is a really nice thing. — Carmen

Sweetbitter, Sunday May 6th (Starz) – Season One

Sweetbitter is the story of Tess, a 22-year-old who flees her old life for a new one in Manhattan where she immediately snags a job at an exclusive restaurant. Set in 2006, Tess serves an upscale clientele, hangs at an industry dive bar, learns a lot about food and wine and, mostly, learns a lot about people. One of her new friends is Ari, played by Eden Epstein, described as “a backwaiter by day and an adventurous lesbian and DJ by night.” The book was pretty good (although I was partial to it, having also been a young New York aspirant in 2006 and having waited tables in the city), perhaps the series will be even better! — Riese

13 Reasons Why, Friday May 18th (Netflix) – Season Two

I found Season One to be really f*cked up on just about every level including basic storytelling, and allegedly creators are taking this feedback into account with Season Two, which will shift its focus from Hannah’s suicide to a sexual assault trial. According to Netflix, “Liberty High prepares to go on trial, but someone will stop at nothing to keep the truth surrounding Hannah’s death concealed. A series of ominous Polaroids lead Clay and his classmates to uncover a sickening secret and a conspiracy to cover it up.” Furthermore, “Jessica’s recovery will also be explored as Yorkey looks to examine what it’s like to go from being a victim of sexual assault to being a survivor of sex assault.” Lesbian character Courtney Crimson will continue her role and sexually fluid Hannah will remain front-and-center.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Friday May 25th (Amazon Prime) – Season One

The classic 1975 novel about three schoolgirls who vanish from Appleyard College for Young ladies on Valentine’s Day 1900 has been adapted before — Peter Weir’s 1975 film “certainly picked up on the erotic subtext” of the story, but the new Foxtel series “takes the sexual undercurrents rippling among the residents of Appleyard College and the local townsfolk and makes them a tad more obvious.” Somehow, a wooden dildo is involved. Regardless, we’re in. — Riese

Queen Sugar, Tuesday May 29th (OWN) – Season Three

Details are scant about what to expect from season three of Queen Sugar but with a focus on the “journey of fatherhood,” we anticipate Nova Bordelon exploring her unresolved issues with her late father, Ernest. We’re also keeping hope alive that 20gayteen brings Nova a girlfriend. — Natalie

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June 2018 Queer TV Show Premieres

Humans, Tuesday June 5th (AMC) – Season 3

Here’s what we know about Season Three of Humans: “One year after the dawn of consciousness, a decimated and oppressed Synth population fights to survive in a world that hates and fears them. In a divided Britain, Synths and Humans struggle to broker an uneasy peace, but when fractures within the Synth community itself start to appear, all hope of stability is threatened.” Pansexual synth Niska will be back, but her girlfriend Astrid isn’t showing up on IMDB as part of Season Three. I hope she finds somebody else to be queer with. — Riese

Pose, Sunday June 3rd (FX) – Season One

There has never been a show like Ryan Murphy’s Pose on TV. Ever. It boasts 50+ LGBTQ characters and the largest number of trans series regulars in American TV history. MJ Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar and Angelica Ross are all playing trans characters, and Janet Mock and Our Lady J are producing and have both been in in the writers room. You’re about to learn a whole lot about ’80s ball culture! — Heather

The Fosters, Monday June 4th (Freeform) – Finale Event

After five seasons, the Adams Fosters clan are ready to say their final goodbye. The three episode finale mini series takes place roughly four years in the future from the main body of the show. All of the Adams Fosters children have graduated from either high school or college and the entire family is coming together to celebrate Brandon’s wedding. I don’t care about Brandon Adams Foster, ever, and the trailer for the finale does little to assuage my worries. However, The Fosters really stuck the landing of their final season. They brought back heart to their storytelling and refocused their central energy on Stef and Lena. It’s enough that to have regained my trust going into summer. — Carmen

Younger, Tuesday June 5th (TV Land) – Season 5

This is a good show and I don’t care if you believe me! Yes, there’s a straight love triangle at the center. And no, resident lesbian Maggie doesn’t get as much screentime as she should. But each season gets better and better at developing her character and bringing her into the fold and the real story here is women and their careers and their friendships. The last time we saw Maggie, she was in Ireland bedding the mother of the bride of her best friend Liza’s ex-boyfriend. She also has an on-again/off-again thing with Hilary Duff’s pansexual best friend, Lauren. — Heather

Sense8, Friday June 8th (Netflix) – Finale

AHEM: “Personal lives are pushed aside as the cluster, their sidekicks, and some unexpected allies band together for a rescue mission and BPO take-down in order to protect the future of all Sensates.” — Riese

Claws, Sunday June 10th (TNT) – Season Two

Quiet Ann and the ladies of Nail Artisans of Manatee County are back using their salon to launder money for the mob, only this time, it’s for a female-led Russian mafia. As the ladies are asked to do more, they realize their own capability — they’re criminals and they are good at it — and start to think that, maybe, it’s time they became their own bosses. — Natalie

The Bold Type, Tuesday June 12th (Freeform) – Season Two

This show ended up being one of summer’s sweetest treats last year, and I can’t wait for more romance between bisexual social media maven Kat Edison and lesbian artist and activist Adena El Amin — including, apparently, a big meet-the-parents moment. I am ready to laugh, cry, and yearn for all of Jacqueline Carlyle’s power wardrobe. — Kayla

G.L.O.W., Friday June 29th (Netflix) – Season Two

When G.L.O.W. returns for its second season we will FINALLY get what we craved throughout its homoerotic first season: Yolanda, a lesbian wrestler played by Shakira Barrera. — Riese

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July 2018 Queer TV Show Premieres

Heathers, Tuesday July 10th (Paramount) -Season One

UPDATE 6/5: THIS SHOW HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY FOREVER CANCELLED AND WILL NEVER AIR

The initial debut of this program was critically panned, and consequently withdrawn allegedly on account of the Parkland shooting. If they haven’t changed anything about the show since their first go-around, we’ll probably hate it.

Harlots, Wednesday July 11th (Hulu) – Season Two

We return to my favorite show ever about sex workers to find the city’s top madams in an even more dramatic feud than they were in Season One —Violet’s future in peril, her religious fundamentalist gal pal doing what she can to save her, and a new judge determined to rid his city of what he perceives to be “vice.” Liv Tyler joins the cast as Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam, a wealthy woman with zero personal freedom who has mad sexual tension with Charlotte Wells. — Riese

UnREAL, Monday July 16th (Hulu) – Season 4

Traci Thoms returns as Fiona, a power lesbian television executive, in the very uneven final season of this “Bachelor” send-up. Your favorite lesbian, Faith, does a one-episode guest spot as a therapist brought in to mediate a conflict between several contestants.

Wynonna Earp, Friday July 20th (SyFy) – Season 3

Season 2 was full of goo, babies, time warps, demons, and so many ladies kissing. It answered a lot of questions, and asked a whole lot more. Season 3 promises more mystery (Mama Earp?!), drama (a cult?!!), and, of course, quality queer content. At a recent panel, when asked about the gayness of Season Three, Emily Andras said, “What’s the straightest show you can think of? I feel like Season 3 makes Season 2 look like that straight show.” Yee haw. — Valerie Anne

Killjoys, Friday July 20th (SyFy) – Season 4

With Lost Girl’s Michelle Lovretta behind the wheel, it wasn’t really a surprise, but definitely a welcome turn when the main big bad of Season 3 ended up in a relationship with another running antagonist. Aneela and Delle Seyah are a unique pairing, to be sure, but they’ve made it clear that they’d risk just about anything for each other. Their fates were inextricably linked with Dutch, Johnny and D’av’s in the Season 3 finale, so I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of these murder girlfriends. — Valerie Anne

Orange is the New Black, Friday July 27th (Neflix) – Season 6

Season 6 of OITNB promises, somehow, that it will get even darker than previous seasons as inmates are shipped out of Litchfield following the riot and sent to other prisons. We follow the women who end up in Max, where they try to negotiate a new set of prison gangs, divided by block, and an investigation into what happened during the riot that puts Taystee in a precarious legal position. Adrienne Moore, who plays Black Cindy, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Toward the end of season five, there were some people that were agreeing to stick together, and there were some people that were looking out for themselves. We’ll see the repercussions of those decisions in this next season.”

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August 2018 Queer TV Show Premieres

Insatiable, Friday August 10th (Netflix) – Season One

The coming out story of this pretty much universally panned series is apparently its only redeeming factor!

The House of Flowers, Friday August 10th (Netflix) – Season One

A Spanish-language comedy-drama program about a dysfunctional high-class Mexican family that owns a prestigious flower shop. Juan Pablo Medina plays María José, a transgender woman who has a child with her ex-wife, Paulina, who is still carrying a torch for María.

The Sinner, August 15th (USA) – Season 2

This anthology series returns with a new case and a mostly new cast for Season 2, including Natalie Paul as Heather Novak, a black lesbian detective put on the case of a boy who murders his parents for very unclear reasons in very strange circumstances.

Mr. Mercedes, Wednesday August 22nd (Audience) – Season 2

Breeda Wool will be returning as techie lesbian Lou Linklatter, according to Den of Geek. As the first season drew from Stephen King’s book of the same name, Season Two will be drawing from a few follow-up novels. — Riese

Gay Hairplay: Top 11 Times a Girl Touched Another Girl’s Hair on TV and Film

Lesbian and bisexual gal pals caressing each other’s hair on TV and in movies has gotten a bad rap, probably because that’s what most fictional queer women have historically done instead of kissing on the mouth. But times are changing and women are actually having sex onscreen and when I was watching Marvel’s Runaways I was reminded that hairplay, when done right, can make a little gay heart hammer right out of its chest. It’s tender and flirty and intimate and it almost always betrays deep longing or leads to full-on smooching. And it turns out other people love this thing too! Staff Writers Valerie Anne, Kayla, and Carmen Phillips helped me assemble this list of the top 11 times a girl touched another girl’s hair on TV and in movies.

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Gail and Holly, Rookie Blue

This is just Gail getting herself a soft butch haircut from the girl she’s in love with before that girl sliiides right down into the bathtub to make out with her face.

Yorkie and Kelly, Black Mirror “San Junipero”

“Please make this easy for me” is one of the sexiest things I have ever heard anyone say on television, and Kelly thinks so too. She caresses Yorkie’s hair and then immediately asks her to get into her car and go home with her.

Poussey, Orange Is the New Black

Carmen Phillips: “Does it count if the fictional lesbian in question is using her hair to flirt with me? Because what other reason would there be for Poussey doing this? Poussey knew what she was doing.”

Karma and Amy, Faking It

This moment in Faking It‘s second season, after Amy and Karma got thrown from their mechanical bull and Karma pulled Amy to her feet and sweetly, gently, fondly fixed her hair — it’s the one time I thought for absolute sure that Karma wasn’t kidding around, that she felt it too. (Amy thought it even more than I did.)

Carol and Therese, Carol

Up until Waterloo, Carol hadn’t deliberately touched Therese. They shared a close and coy moment with President McKinley but on New Year’s Eve she just walked right out of the bathroom, took a swig of beer, caressed Therese’s hair, gazed at her in the mirror, and then went right ahead and untied that robe.

Billie Jean and Marilyn, Battle of the Sexes

I’ve never felt weird watching a sex scene in a crowded movie theater, but watching Marilyn cut Billie Jean’s hair made me feel like crawling out of my own skin. It was so deeply intimate and sexy and sweet and also like watching someone get born. I still get shivers when I think about it, which may also be because this scene was filmed like an ASMR video on purpose.

Karolina and Nico, Marvel’s Runaways

After getting ready with Nico — in the same mirror! —Karolina reached up to help fix her hair and was buzzing with so much gayness by then I’m surprised she didn’t explode into a shower of rainbow glitter, even with her magic bracelet.

Naomi and Emily, Skins

This is one of my all-time favorite TV moments. After pushing and pushing and pushing Emily away, Naomi woke up beside her and before she even realized what she was doing she reached out to caress Emily’s hair. And then she woke up for real and bolted out of her bedroom like her pants were on fire. (But not Skins Fire; that doesn’t even exist.)

Shane and Cherie Jaffe, The L Word

When Shane touched Cherie Jaffe’s hair and asked her how she wanted it styled, Cherie simply said, “something different.” And by different she meant: GAY. Shane never did cut her hair but they did plenty of scissoring.

Root and Shaw, Person of Interest

Look, just because someone is caressing your hair so they can reach around with their other hand and remove a brain implant from behind your ear with a razor blade doesn’t mean they’re not also caressing your hair because they love you.

Stef and Lena, The Fosters

Lena was surprised when Stef chopped off her hair, and Stef was nervous to show it to her, but she did it because she was tired of the words “dyke” and “butch” having power over her and Lena got that and thought Stef looked sexier than ever. Lena tugged her new hair, played with it sweetly, and then dragged her wife right off to bed.

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What’d I miss? Let me see those GIFs!

2017’s 18 Best Episodes of Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV

One of the most exciting things about TV this year was that there were whole entire episodes that explored queer themes and the queer lives of queer characters. It was more than crumbs and Very Special moments. These were entire TV episodes that paid off queer storylines that had been building, or approached lesbian and bisexual and trans stuff in ways we’ve never really seen on-screen, or expanded queer storytelling into genres where it’d been lacking, or utilized new TV platforms in queer ways. Pretty dang exciting stuff! Here are 18 of the best episodes of LGBTQ TV in 2017.

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Our Favorite Episodes of Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV In 2017

Master of None Episode 208, “Thanksgiving“

Heather Hogan: Some people — the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, for example — might even say it was the best TV episode of the entire year, gay or not. (Me too. I also would say that.)

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The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 103, “Late”

Heather Hogan: We spend a lot of time talking about how we’ve had enough violence against and murder of gay TV characters, but there was something almost essential about the way The Handmaid’s Tale expanded on the queer narrative of the book and forced us to witness the torture against “gender traitors.” This was the story and the show for 2017, in all its unapologetic brutality.

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The Bold Type Episode 105, “No Feminism in the Champagne Room”

Kayla: “Kat finds genuine empowerment and awakening on her bike. As the instructor calls out platitudes, the words take on more meaning by scoring Jane, Sutton, and Kat confronting their individual obstacles of the episode. The affirmations resonate in particular with Kat, who realizes she wants to overcome her fears and take a leap with Adena. She cries, smiles, laughs, as she comes to terms with her own desires, and Aisha Dee is resplendent in the scene. Of course The Bold Type would take a setting used commonly for mockery and derision and turn it into a place of healing and self-realization. This show wants its characters and viewers to feel good.”

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I Love Dick Episode 105, “A Short History Of Weird Girls”

Riese: “I Love Dick” consistently pushes the boundaries of its format, melding elements of live theater, experimental video and performance art into compact televised capsules, consistently catching you off-guard by slicing obsessive interior monologues into public scenes. “A Short History of Weird Girls” is the apex of this style. It removes us from the present narrative to deliver character histories focused entirely on sexual comings-of-age from narrators we rarely hear such stories from — a self-described hypersexual awkward Jewish girl with cystic acne, a Latina butch cowgirl, a Black girl who worshipped Michael J Fox but also was in love with her mother. These are weird women. Devon’s formative interest in Dick is different than Chris’s. She doesn’t desire the man, but rather the effect he has on women, his swagger, his entitlement to female attention — and something else, too, the awkward racial and class dynamics between the landowner and the immigrants who work the land for him. Plus we get flashbacks to an actual baby butch, and tender college makeout scenes, and relateable, pure heartbreak. Like Master of None’s “Thanksgiving,” “A Short History of Weird Girls” slips the generally untold story of a queer masculine-of-center woman of color into a show that’s already kinda niche, but not nearly as niche as those sweet minutes.

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One Day At A Time Episode 113, “Quinces”

Yvonne: “My all time favorite part of the show was the last episode which leads up to Elena’s quinceanera. Throughout the episode, Lydia keeps tailoring Elena’s fancy dress for her big day. Even though Elena says she loves it, Lydia doesn’t believe she’s in love with her dress. Elena admits that she doesn’t feel totally comfortable in it like she does when she wears ties, fedoras and jackets. Apparently, Lydia finally gets the final wardrobe adjustment right because when Elena sees it she’s in tears and even though I didn’t see what she’s gonna wear, I’m in tears too. When Elena walks out for her big reveal, she’s wearing a glitzy, fabulous femme white suit. I busted out crying again, my friends, because her abuela made her a gay little suit. It’s more than just Elena stepping out in this beautiful suit, it symbolizes Elena’s coming out in more ways than one — as a young lady who is comfortable with who she is and with a family who’s by her side no matter what.”

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Wynonna Earp Episode 202, “Shed Your Skin”

Valerie Anne: “It’s not A-frame kissing with parkas on, it’s not blurry kisses near some candles in the woods. Nope. It’s a bright room and a clear lens, an unbuttoned shirt and a belt undone. At this point Nicole stops Waverly — with effort, like dragging your feet in the sand to stop a swing — and asks if she’s sure. Waverly says yes right away. She smiles and giggles a little nervously. “The best sex is makeup sex, right?” (Making Nicole go full Paige McCullers head dip.) And listen I know this is silly but hearing adults say the word sex when they’re talking about the sex they’re about to sex is very refreshing! And of course, consent is sexy. So they exchange, “I like yous” and Nicole lifts Waverly’s chin right up. And they kiss and they kiss and then the tol redhead picks up her smol girlfriend and places her gently down on the bed in a beautiful sweeping motion that looked like something out of a ballet.”

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Madam Secretary Episode 407, “North to the Future”

Carmen Phillips: “It’s a beautiful tribute of recognition. A moment of that I think we’ve all felt at one time or another. We are just going about our days, and then you look up and something has shifted. You see a glimmer of something that reminds you of your most authentic self. It’s rare for queer women, or women of color. Its even more rare for folks who are butch or genderqueer or masculine-of-center. When those moments happen, we are forced to take stock.

We had one of those moments last month, when Madam Secratary introduced Kat Sandoval in her suit and tie, with her own version of a ring of keys, her just perfect pocket chain, in a photo heard throughout the queer world. We were gifted with another one of those moments last night, when Kat Sandoval came alive on screen in all of her dapper butch, nerdy, avocado farming, policy savant glory.

To be seen. Really seen. It’s a simple, but undeniably power thing.”

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Brooklyn 99 Episode 509, “Game Night”

Rachel: “After being kind of outed by Boyle’s nosiness in the previous episode, Rosa decides to intentionally come out to her coworkers and, later, her parents. It’s established that while Rosa’s coming out to others is new, coming out to herself is not — she tells Amy she’s known she was bi since seventh grade. It’s notable how much this arc is focused on sexual orientation as a character trait rather than a plot point — the focus is never on Rosa’s relationship with this new woman (although I do want to know more about that!) but the fact that bisexuality is an important part of Rosa’s identity and always has been, something that’s refreshing to see. Parts of Rosa’s coming out are probably pretty relatable to all queer people, like Amy asking “when did you know?,” Boyle’s awkward overcompensating allyship, and the implication that Hitchcock was going to say something gross and sexualizing if given the chance. Especially in her interactions with her parents, though, Rosa’s coming out arc feels specifically and uniquely bisexual in a way I’m not sure I’ve seen on television before.”

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Doctor Who Episode 10×1, “The Pilot” (before we knew what was gonna happen next)

Heather Davidson: “I’m 23 now, and the Doctor Who universe is more queer than ever. Class‘s Charlie Smith can live with his boyfriend while River Song talks about her wives and Bill Potts flirts with every other girl she sees. It’s not perfect – hell, the very exchange in which Bill first outs herself ends in a horrible fatphobic joke – but with Bill as the Doctor’s companion, the representation of humanity on a show that began when homosexuality was illegal in Britain is now a working class, lesbian woman of colour. Bill Potts is part of an explosion in LGBTQ representation in family and young adult focused media over the last few years; on the BBC alone, queer and trans youth can see themselves reflected in shows from Just a Girl to Clique. However, that representation is rarely diverse and frequently challenged – the broadcaster was forced to defend Just a Girl after accusations that it was “encouraging children to change their gender”. And LQBTQ stories everywhere, particularly for lesbian and bisexual women, are still so often made to end in tragedy. Slowly, though, more and more people are beginning to understand the importance of including good, meaningful queer representation in their work. Things are getting better.”

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Fresh Off The Boat Episode 406, “A League of Her Own”

Heather Hogan: It’s a rare and wonderful thing to get to watch a Very Special Coming Out Episode that’s never been done before. It’s even more rare and wonderful when it makes you laugh and cry with it’s authenticity and good intentions. Nicole joining the Denim Turtles’ softball team, Jessica taking over coaching duties, Nicole’s dad’s flubbed reaction and recovery when he realized she’s gay: It was a perfect 22 minutes of TV.

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Doubt Episode 104, “Clean Burn”

Natalie: “Nervous about her new kinda-boyfriend, Cameron (Laverne Cox) does what every other woman who’s ever been nervous about dating someone new does: she calls her girlfriends. Those girlfriends are two other trans women played by actual trans women (Angelica Ross and Jen Richards) and, suddenly, a normal conversation between three friends feels monumental. Beyond the tremendous step forward this scene represented for trans women, there was also part of me that wanted to pull up a chair to that table and share high-fives with Jen Richards and Angelica Ross, because the moment felt so familiar. It was the conversation I had with my friends when I considered getting into my first interracial relationship or the first time I thought about dating a woman who had previously identified as straight. It’s a conversation that Aziz Ansari’s character, Dev, has on his first date with Sona (Pallavi Sastry) on Master of None — when does dating one too many of one type of person cross the line into fetishizing? Anyone who’s ever been othered has had some version of that conversation and it’s a reminder of our shared humanity.”

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Danger & Eggs Episode 113, “Chosen Family”

Mey: “My favorite character in the entire show is a young girl named Zadie, played by teen trans activist Jazz Jennings. First of all this kid is an adorable and precocious, recently-out trans girl who gets on stage at Pride (yeah, that’s right, this show has an entire episode that takes place at a Pride day celebration) with a cute haircut and equally cute dress and sings a song about her first day at school as the real her. Plus she’s super smart and explains chosen families to Phillip. This episode, ‘Chosen Family,’ serves as the season finale and is one of the best and most important episodes of any kids show I’ve ever seen. It’s super queer, super sweet and full of love.”

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Halt and Catch Fire Episode 406, “A Connection Is Made”

Riese: “A Connection Is Made” is when Haley really steps into her own as a character, despite being present in some iteration since the series’ start. Particularly I think of the lunch scene with Joe, when Haley’s explaining to him what she likes about the then-new internet. It seemed boring at first, but eventually she realized it was also a space to be your authentic self. Joe’s interest is its own kind of rapture, it’s penetrating and flattering all at once, but Haley’s almost unfazed by it, because she’s a teenager and she’s good at her job so of course. When the waitress Haley’s obviously crushing on drops in to geek out over Bratmobile with Haley, Joe — who is bisexual, which posits him consistently as an outsider nobody can clock at first glance — sees exactly what’s happening here. And maybe in some way, grasps in that moment the power of the internet, too. Joe later sticks up for Haley to Gordon when he wants her off Comet until her grades get better, and in his care to avoid outing her ends up rupturing his friendship with her father. Everybody here is looking for their safest space, after all, be it real or virtual or a real space building a virtual space, and Haley is one mere episode away from acquiring an alternative lifestyle haircut.

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Loud House Episode 215, “L is for Love”

Valerie Anne: “There’s a little girl out there who watched this, who will continue to see more and more cartoons with storylines like this, who will grow up to be like Wonder Woman in the patriarch’s world. No matter how evolved our culture becomes, there will always be people who try to tell her she’s wrong for liking girls. But her foundation of self was built on Saturday mornings when she was seven years old. Built on characters like Luna, whose entire family helped her get ready for what they thought was a date with a girl. She’ll barely hear the noise. It’ll be bullets pinging off her wrist cuffs. Instead of thinking ‘I can’t have a crush on a girl,’ she’ll say, ‘I’m like Ruby and Sapphire. I’m like Luna Loud.'”

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Degrassi: Next Class Episode 406, “Facts Only”

Riese: “Never had I ever seen an episode of television attempt to tell the story of a teenager  realizing that they are non-binary. I’ve read and heard and seen a lot of personal narratives, but there’s something special and different about how those stories are crafted in fictional visual storytelling. Apparently, Degrassi writers decided to tell this story after visiting a local high school’s queer-straight alliance to get ideas from their experiences. (This episode also contains within its walls a catastrophic boy/girl/girl threesome that later reveals itself to be part of Esme’s rising mental breakdown, but for a few minutes of “Facts Only,” the whole situation was new enough to still feel like it could be something more and also something very queer for Frankie and Esme, and I was pretty stoked about that ’cause I love a bad girl / good girl high school matchup I’ll tell you what!)

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DC Crisis of Infinite Earths Crossover

Heather Hogan: Having the two queer women on Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl fight together and drink together and sleep together during DC’s biggest TV event of the year is something I’m still not over. It’s not just that Alex and Sara hooked up; they had a story that helped Alex grow as a person and a lesbian! Their story was centered during a TV event in an industry that has historically been dominated by white men (and the dead women who fuel their manpain).

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Transparent Episode 409, “They Is On The Way”

Riese: “This season more than any other resonated with me as a Jewish lesbian, poking and prodding at our cultural neuroses and political contradictions. Judith Light killed it this year as her overbearing Jewish mother was forced to take a messy personal inventory she’d hoped to avoid all her life, as familiar as it was painful and traumatic. As a people, we often refuse to leave well enough alone or to let each other be, which often leads to catastrophe at worst and hurt feelings at best, but this season the world turned its vigilant curious eye upon Shelly in a way that enabled actual revelation and beauty. Nowhere does that happen as much as it happens when the family hits up the Dead Sea in “They Is On The Way.” I cried through the whole damn thing.

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One Mississippi Episode 206, “I’m Alive”

Heather Hogan: The entire second season of One Mississippi was a marvel, but the episode where Kate finally accepted that she and Tig are more than just a good team of platonic gal pals was a payoff for the record books. It was sweet and funny and sexy and I still swoon just thinking about Kate’s little coming out/I’m in love with you speech.

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Honorable Mention For a Webseries Episode: Strangers Episode 106, “Getaway”

Heather Hogan: Who really knows where our TV will be coming from in five years. Maybe Facebook? The company unveiled Facebook Watch this year, and already analysts are predicting it will become more popular than YouTube. One of Watch’s original series’, Strangers, was a collaborative project with Refinery29 and it was gay as all get out. In fact, it was gayer in six episodes that most shows with queer characters are in their entire lifetimes. “Getaway” saw the main character, Isobel, and her first girlfriend enjoy all the swelling scores, well-lit sex scenes, and swoony kisses that are so common for straight couples but still so very lacking in the canon of queer representation.

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The 17 Most Romantic Lesbian and Bisexual TV Moments of 2017

A lot more women than usual kissed each other on our teeves this year! Some of them even did so with the lights on! But those weren’t the only swoon-y things that we watched (over and over and over again) in 2017. There were songs and bike races and hot air balloon rides and promises of forever and allusions to some of the most romantic tropes and movies of all times. These were some of the 16 most romantic lesbian and bisexual things of the year.

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Marceline sings a new song for Princess Bubblegum, Adventure Time

Heather: On the way to Marci’s house with her dad, Finn and Jake said “maybe” she has a girlfriend, and then when they showed up she was lounging around in Princess Bubblegum’s sweater from the “Stakes” mini-series. Off they went to Marceline’s solo concert where she sang her most — her only? — romantic song ever, “Slow Dance With You.” Quite a journey with PB from “I’m Just Your Problem.”

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Niska and Astrid fall in love against all odds, Humans

Valerie: “Nika and Astrid’s issues weren’t what you would expect — it wasn’t a Synth/human scandal, it wasn’t a woman/woman scandal. It was Niska running away from her feelings (which had more to do with feelings being new than anything else) and Astrid not letting her. It was a surprising happy place amid the carnage, and even though so many people — humans and Synths alike — didn’t survive the season, our lady-loving ladies miraculously did.”

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Alex and Maggie’s first morning after, Supergirl

Heather: After fighting their feelings for each other for months (and a lifetime of Alex fighting her feelings for girls), Maggie and Alex had sex for the first time and woke up the next morning dappled in sunlight, dressed in each other’s clothes, smooching contentment and disbelief. To be honest I kind of couldn’t believe it was happening either.

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Tessa and Mariah’s first kiss, The Young and the Restless

Natalie: “The racing heart, the long conversations that are never, ever long enough, the regret of any day spent apart. Mariah feels all of that, she just doesn’t feel it for Devon. It is not a small thing for Y&R to cast Mariah’s love for Tessa in the same mold as one of the show’s great supercouples, Nick and Sharon. It’s a normalizing force for a conservative audience that might not view a same-sex story that way.”

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Kat and Adena’s Before Sunrise escapades, The Bold Type

Heather: Kat and Adena are my favorite TV couple of 2017 and while they have plenty of swoon-y moments to choose from, their blanket fort escapades in the airport the night before Adena was deported were my favorite. Even the title of the episode was drawn from Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, one of the most romantic movies of all time. I was willing to suspends all my disbelief for this episode, including Kat and Adena having uninterrupted sex in the airport lounge, a full night of sleep in each other’s arms, and Kat not giving Adena her first class ticket when she decided to stay in NYC.

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Gail and Erica Get Married, The Last Man On Earth

Riese: Gail and Erica’s relationship was initially written off as a thing they did before realizing they weren’t the only human beings left on earth, but eventually after three seasons of other pursuits, their union revealed itself to be the truest and most honest thing either had ever known.

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Paige and Emily’s last bike race, Pretty Little Liars

Heather: This was some hardcore Paily fanservice and, let me tell you, for suffering through the last few seasons of this show, we deserved it. Bikes? Check. Musical montage? Check. Camera swirling kissing? Check. It wasn’t going to last and everyone knew it, but for a shining moment everything was right in Rosewood again.

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Odessa asks Tilda to run away with her, Into the Badlands

Valerie: “I’ve mentioned before that too often kisses between two women are cast entirely in shadow, or are a quick peck in the middle of a camera transition. But not here, not now. The camera loves them and the music swells lovingly and the light glows softly as they kiss and kiss and kiss. Meanwhile I am pressing my hands to my face so hard my eyeballs almost pop out of my head. Everything’s fine. EVERYTHING’S FINE.”

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Tig and Stephanie’s whole storyline, One Mississippi

Heather: Look, do not fall in love with a straight girl. But if you do make sure it’s your soul mate. I know, I know, Stephanie’s not straight, but she sure thought she was for a long time, even though me and you and Tig knew she was very much in love with another woman and therefore was not straight. When she finally confessed it, Tig said, “…but?” And Stephanie said, “No, but. Just … and.” And I for one have still not recovered.

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Zoë and Rasha’s first kiss, Degrassi: The Next Class

Riese: There were so many fraught elements to this union — Rasha, a Muslim Syrian refugee, was scared to come out to her host family, which included their classmate Goldie, and Zoe didn’t know if Rasha was gay or not, and they were both just generally young and nervous and insecure. When their first actual date gets so complicated it ends up ending before it begins, Rasha fears their union is doomed, telling Zoe it’s okay if she’d like to call it off, after all, Zoe is fearless and beautiful and can have any girl she wants! Zoe is like, wait, YOU ESCAPED ACTUAL WAR JUST TO BE ON “DEGRASSI THE NEXT CLASS” AND YOU’RE CALLING ME FEARLESS? Then Rasha kisses her. I didn’t want to be afraid anymore, she says, as melodic acoustic hipster music swelled and the light hits their faces just so. Young love, y’all. Sweet and against all odds and despite all closets and obstacles and fears, there we have it.

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Cosima and Delphine’s clone-saving mission, Orphan Black

Heather: Delphine sacrificed everything for Cosima, and to keep her promise to keep Cosima’s sestras safe — and the whole time everyone kept expecting her to reveal that she the ultimate bad guy. Well, not only did that turn out to be untrue, we actually got to watch her and Cosima join forces and work together to save the day. The episode also included their sexiest makeout and Cosima in this tux.

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Waverly and Nicole fall in love in a parallel dimension, Wynonna Earp

Heather: Two women falling in love in alternate universes where they’re with completely different people and don’t even know each other is what fan fiction dreams are made of. If Waverly and Nicole had had to take off their clothes to share their body heat to stay alive in this episode, it would have been the most romantic moment in all history on any space-time continuum.

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Lyria asked Eretria to be her queen, The Shannara Chronicles

Heather: In another year one or both of them would be dead, but not now! And even better, when Lyria was asking Eretria to be her queen she said they deserved a happy ending. “People like us,” she said. (Like you and like me!) They’re not together yet because Eretria has to get a handle on her darkness, but their sweet, slow kiss goodbye felt more like a pause. And it didn’t end with anyone getting shot with a stray bullet.

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Stef and Lena’s Notebook-style makeout, The Fosters

Heather: Stef and Lena have gotten married so many times now and every new time it’s better than the last. This most recent one, especially, because it started raining and all their million kids and their guests rushed inside but they just stood out in it open-mouthed kissing each other and promising forever.

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Amelia and Violet’s second kiss, Harlots

Riese: Amelia had been raised by her evangelist mother to see sex itself as evil, let alone women having sex for money, let alone falling in love with a woman who has sex for money and then kissing her on the mouth! So when Violet kissed Amelia after a gradual sexual tension build, it wasn’t surprising that Amelia immediately freaked out — which made Amelia’s return to Violet, and her eager kiss, that much sweeter.

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Nomi and Amanita get engaged, Sense 8

Sense8 was cancelled way too soon, but in the season two finale, Nomi and Amanita did get engaged! Jamie Clayton’s post-season interview with The Hollywood Reporter was almost as beautiful as the on-screen moment. “It’s just another testament to the strength of their relationship and how they’re on the same page. That’s the beauty of love. Even if you take two different roads, if you end up at the same place, that’s the most important part about love,” she said.

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Honorable Mention Even Though They’re Not Technically Gay: Grace and Frankie take a hot air balloon ride, Grace & Frankie

Riese and Erin: “When Frankie tells Grace she might be moving to Santa Fe, everything gets much gayer very quickly. Everything gays right out of control. Every word spoken is a word unspoken, and also a word that could easily precede the words “you have to stay because I am in love with you.”

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As always these are the individual opinions of our writers and editors and we’d love to hear your additions, preferably bolded and in all caps with as many exclamation points as possible!!!!

Autostraddle’s Favorite and Least Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans Women TV Characters of 2017

2017 was the best of times and the worst of times. LOL JK it was the absolute worst of times. One of the only consistent reprieves from the perpetually horrifying and demoralizing news cycle was queer TV. There was a lot of it this year. Maybe more than ever before. And not just a handful of characters on a handful of teen shows. Lesbian and bisexual characters were everywhere: lighting up prestige TV, anchoring critically acclaimed streaming shows, filling in the cast on broadcast networks. Riese will be breaking the whole thing down soon, but until then, here are our TV writers’ favorite and least favorite lesbian, bisexual, and trans women TV characters of the year.

None of these write-ups are the Official Position of Autostraddle on any of these shows or characters; they are the individual opinions of our TV writers. 

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FAVORITE

Riese, Editor-in-Chief

Devon, I Love Dick

Everything I knew about the Jill Soloway project “I Love Dick” suggested this was a very heterosexual affair. Like, the premise is this woman who goes to an artists colony in Marfa with her husband and falls so deeply in obsessive love with Dick (Kevin Bacon) that it consumes and nearly destroys her. But! Nobody told me about Devon, the butch Latinx artist and aspiring playwright living in the trailer behind the house where Chris and her husband are staying. Devon is a dreamy romantic, a dedicated artist with a compelling backstory and a unique perspective on the world. Also, she takes her shirt off a lot and I love her.

Niska, Humans

“[Thing] learns to love” is a trope as old as time — the beast, the android, the hermit — and it’s always heterosexual! But in the second Season of Humans, a sci-fi show that is basically another take on the “what if androids could feel” genre, Niska escapes the brothel where, as a “synth,” she’s been basically imprisoned and forced to work, and eventually lands in Berlin, where she falls in love with a girl. But Niska is so otherwise intriguing, too, and I think Humans is the most underrated show of the year, so there.

Svetlana and Veronica, Shameless

I should’ve done this last year but I wasn’t caught up yet, so this is my late-add, and they’re both still on the show even if they’re not in a thruple anymore, so, it’s still valid. Sometimes I read AV Club recaps and all the commenters are straight cis men who found that whole storyline totally absurd which like, okay thanks STRAIGHT CIS MEN what do you know about poly queers anyhow!?!! But I screamed through the whole entire thing (so did Erin, me and Erin screamed together). It was so fun and hot and fresh! Plus, they’re just incredibly smart hilarious capable alpha bitches who run shit and I’ve always loved that about both of them.

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Rachel, Managing Editor

Rosa Diaz, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

In the haze of late 2017, Rosa’s still-recent coming out arc still feels like it was a dream or a maybe light hallucination experienced while staring into the fluorescent lights in line at the DMV. And yet it was, apparently, after months and months of fan daydreaming and Stephanie Beatriz coming out herself, a real thing that occurred! I wrote about this a bit when it happened, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coming-out storyline that so specifically and authentically engaged with uniquely bisexual experiences; it was heartbreaking and affirming to see my own anxieties and experiences reflected on screen. I also loved how this revelation about Rosa’s identity deepens and complicates the writing of her character — she’s always been incredibly private and reluctant to share anything even remotely personal with others, and when we see how her worst fears of losing the modicum of closeness she has with her parents are realized because she shares something about with herself, Rosa as a person makes so much more sense. It meant so much to get to see two hyper-independent and closed-off characters in Rosa Diaz and Raymond Holt, whose personalities and affect have been heavily informed by their queerness and repercussions for it, get to bond and be a little vulnerable together over identity. I’m so excited for the future of bisexual Rosa Diaz, who will not die on our televisions!!!

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Heather Hogan, Senior Editor

Tig, One Mississippi

One Mississippi‘s second season was my second favorite thing on TV this year. I can’t say why any better than Riese did in her review. I love comedies that are rooted in something deeply sad, where the characters we learn and love find reasons to laugh even though they’re trudging through life’s bleakest moments and darkest days. (Which is why my first favorite thing on TV this year was Grace and Frankie which apparently wasn’t canonically gay, so.) Tig Notaro is a masculine-of-center middle-aged lesbian, which is something we never get to see on TV for starters, and we get to see her navigate falling in love and actually getting the girl. The series is so heartbreaking and it’s so sweet and it filled me with so much hope, which was a real feat for any piece of art in 2017.

Nicole, Fresh Off the Boat

Last summer The Hollywood Reporter talked to openly gay Fresh Off the Boat showrunner Nahnatchka Khan about telling stories networks usually shy away from. She said, “You want to do the material justice and the area justice but you also want to make it funny, you always want to not be preachy.” I thought about that a lot as I was watching Nicole’s coming out story unfold this season because Khan just kept doing it such justice in exactly the way she wanted. I know a lot of my attachment to this story comes from the fact that I was actually Nicole’s age in 1997, so all the callbacks to the gay stuff going on at the time, and the pop culture touchstones, make me nostalgic and allow me to imagine a world where I could have come out to my friends and family and plotted a date with the cute barista when I was in high school. But also it’s just really great TV. All of Nicole’s coming out moments are cute and hilarious, and her coming out episode — which takes place when she joins the local lesbian bar’s softball team — is one of the best I’ve ever seen. But it didn’t stop there! In last week’s Titanic-themed Christmas episode she fell for a girl and her friends helped her get the girl’s number. When they smiled their tender gayby smiles at each while Jessica crooned “My Heart Will Go On” my heart grew three sizes, and also I choke-laughed.

Denise, Master of None

“Thanksgiving” was my favorite episode of TV in 2017. It’s smart and it’s romantic and, of course, the whole thing is just revolutionary. To see a black masculine-of-center lesbian character played by the black masculine-of-center lesbian who wrote the episode and know she ended up accepting an Emmy Award in a full tux for it is — well, it’s basically the opposite of how nearly everything else in 2017 made me feel. I’ve probably watched “Thanksgiving” ten times, and I’ll keep going back to it for years to come. It will become go-to holiday viewing for me, and I’ll always remember the way it launched Lena Waithe into superstardom. And how she turned around and proposed to her IRL girlfriend on Thanksgiving!

Alex Danvers, Supergirl

Alex Danvers is the only character on my best-of list who wasn’t conceived and written by a queer woman, but I’m choosing her because she’s cultural progress personified. Five years ago, there’s no way a network superhero TV show would’ve written Alex as a lesbian. At best they would have given her three episodes to fall for and kiss another girl and then never mention it again and GLAAD would have been forced to keep counting her on their Where We Are on TV report. Two years ago, if the actress who was playing Alex’s love interested decided to leave the show, she’d have been dead on-screen faster than you can say Schechter (and probably Alex would have gone back to dating men or not dating at all). Supergirl‘s writers have taken such care with Alex. They didn’t just tell a coming out story. Or a falling in love story. They’re telling a queer life story, and it feels more real to me than anything that ever happened on The L Word. Alex and Maggie’s break-up was heartbreaking, for sure, but it was written tenderly and without tripping over any tropes or creating any unnecessary villains. Alex’s drunken leap into the bed with Sara Lance in the Crisis of Infinite Earth crossover was also legit, and so was the part where Alex woke up heartsick over Maggie, still, but with a new queer pal to lean on.

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Natalie, Staff Writer

Elena Alvarez,One Day at a Time

Television has a habit of linking coming out with romance, as if your identity isn’t your own without someone else there to affirm it, and while that might make for great TV — who doesn’t love a love story, after all — the conflation of those two things has always struck me as a bit problematic. I didn’t expect One Day at a Time, the reboot of the 1970s Norman Lear multi-cam sitcom, to be the show challenged that convention, but it did.

When Elena comes out to her family, it’s about her. It’s not about some girl that’s waiting in the wings, equally smitten with her — though, in Season Two, that should totally happen because she’s adorable — it’s about Elena and this realization she’s come to about herself. Coming out is the moment we turn quiet revelations — borne, in Elena’s case, from countless hours of binge watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, staring longingly at Kristen Stewart and kissing the wrong people — into public pronouncements and One Day at a Time gives Elena the space to own that moment.

The show, guided in part by two queer writers, allows Elena’s coming out to be a season-long triumph, not a byproduct of feelings she has for someone else, but a product of her fully accepting and loving herself. That version of coming out is the reality of so many people — there’s no Maya or Maggie or Adena spurning them towards acceptance and admission, there’s only them, owning their truth — and I was so grateful to see that version of the story told.

Cameron Wirth, Doubt

In and of itself, there is nothing remarkable about the love story, Doubt crafts for Cameron Wirth. Gorgeous defense attorney falls in love with a charming prosecutor with boyish good looks? Been there, done that.

But then, you add the fact that Cameron Wirth is a trans woman, that she’s a trans woman being played by an actual trans woman, that she’s a black trans woman, that she’s a black trans woman with trans girlfriends also played by actual trans women, and all of a sudden, the mundane becomes extraordinary. And the fact that all of this is happening in primetime on the most watched and (arguably) most conservative and least diverse network on television? Well, that’s a damn miracle.

When the first season (and only) season of Doubt concluded, I described Cameron Wirth’s story as a fairytale, a beacon of hope for trans women — and trans women of color, in particular — at a time when hope was in short supply.

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Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Staff Writer

Adena El Amin, The Bold Type

The Bold Type allowed Adena’s life as a Muslim, lesbian, feminist artist be complicated without making it tragic. She challenges Kat in really beautiful ways, but she stands on her own as a character, too. And as a mere surface-level detail: Nikohl Boosheri and Aisha Dee are just really good at on-screen kissing.

Rosa Diaz, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

We’re only at the beginning of Rosa’s bisexual journey, but I can’t wait to see how it all plays out throughout the rest of the season. I couldn’t not say something about her in this list, because it truly feels like we have all been not-so-patiently waiting for the moment when she says “I’m bi” for the entirety of the show’s existence. I’m so happy she says it outright. Sometimes, there’s power in naming something.

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Valerie Anne, TV Writer and Social Media Co-Editor

Waverly Earp, Wynonna Earp

Waverly Earp was my favorite new character last year, and this year in Wynonna Earp’s second season, my love for her continued to grow. She is the perfect combination of strength and kindness, fear and passion, brains and heart. She went through Some Shit™ this year but it’s been such a gift to watch her fight and cheer and sing and make mistakes and learn and grow and love. (Shout out to Nicole, Rosita, and Shae, the other badass queer women in Waverly’s life.)

Alex Danvers, Supergirl

Speaking of people who have been through Some Shit™…I know the show itself has had its ups and downs, but I have loved watching Alex’s journey. She came out last year, and this year she fell in love, got engaged, got her whole heart broken, fell into bed with Sara Lance, and started to put the pieces of her heart back together in one of those relatable and honest storylines I’ve seen on TV in my adult life. I look forward to seeing where Alex’s journey takes us.

Sara Lance, Legends of Tomorrow

When Legends of Tomorrow started, I thought it would be this throwaway show I watched for the rare glimpse of Caity Lotz punching a dude. And during Season 1, it mostly was. But this year, the back half of Season 2 and the first half of Season 3, this wonderful shift happened. They realized Sara Lance should be in charge, and the whole tone of the show changed. Caity Lotz has grown as an actor so much since she started back in Season 2 of Arrow, and Sara Lance has gone from preppy rich girl to traumatized assassin to badass vigilante to feral zombie to the captain of a time-traveling band of weirdos hell-bent on saving the world. It’s so wonderful to watch, and the show itself is so fun and wonderful and never ever shies away from Sara’s bisexuality.

Cosima Niehaus, Orphan Black

I loved a lot of TV this year, but I would be remiss if I didn’t take this final opportunity to give love to Orphan Black for giving me what will probably remain one of my all-time favorite queer characters for the rest of my life. Cosima once said, “My sexuality isn’t the most interesting thing about me,” and she continued to prove that time and time again. Her relationship with Delphine is the only romantic pairing that survived the series, and hell, SHE survived the series, against all odds.

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Carmen, Staff Writer

Mary Charles “M-Chuck” Calloway, Survivor’s Remorse

I’m including M-Chuck, but this is basically a “Lifetime Achievement” award. Survivor’s Remorse was cancelled this fall, making 2017 her last opportunity to be included in a year-end list. That’s incredibly unfair! M-Chuck is hilarious, and in full ownership of herself, and a joy who brightens up the screen. Survivor’s Remorse aired in relatively short seasons; it’s hard to pinpoint a singular one as her “best” work. But taken collectively, they created a multi-layered character who uses sex and comedy as her armor, but also had her own haunting traumas and the world’s biggest, deepest heart. I’d sincerely argue that M-Chuck is one of the most well-rounded, best written lesbian characters in television history. Actress Erica Ash’s embodiment of her was a sight to behold. I’m going to miss her dearly.

Elena Alvarez, One Day at a Time

Looking around this roundup, Elena is definitely (and deservedly) the MVP of this year’s list; I won’t take up your time once again explaining her brilliance. I will say that as a former teen Latina feminist, raised by my Latina single mother, in a Caribbean Latinx household (though Puerto Rican, not Cuban)- watching Elena and her family last season was a singular experience not like any other I’ve had.

I made the commitment to watch One Day At A Time with my now 60-year-old mom, so I didn’t get to binge it like many others in the Autostraddle community. We went at her pace. And we went through so many boxes of tissues. We’d take breaks, talk, laugh, and then cry some more. It was intimate, but also gave us perspective. We saw ourselves, and I think we saw bits of each other, too. That’s probably a strange endorsement for a sitcom, but there you have it. Spending that time with my mother, watching this story unfold, is one of my most cherished memories of 2017. It reached beyond television.

Anyway, Elena Alvarez is a freakin’ superhero among teenagers. Get ready, she’ll be back on our screens when the new season of One Day At A Time drops on January 26th!

Cotton Brown, Star

Cotton is a trans woman on television like few that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing — particularly on network tv. Yes, she’s poor and she’s black and in many ways disenfranchised, but she’s also self-determined, ruthless, unapologetic, and lets no man stand in her way. Star is a chaotic love letter to young women, especially young women of color, who are unafraid to do the ugly work required to make their dreams come to life. I sometimes think I’m the only one watching, but I don’t mind banging the drums! The first season in particular was delightfully juicy hot mess of a soap opera and Cotton is an antihero I love rooting for. She’ll do whatever it takes to survive. I admire her strength, her steely resolve, her bravery, her grit. When it comes to peeling back those layers, actress Amiyah Scott puts in hard character work and really shines. Cotton hasn’t been utilized as much as I’d like in Star’s second season. But we’re less than halfway through, and I’m hopeful that her arc is ramping up for a strong finish! She deserves it.

Ofglen, The Handmaid’s Tale

Ofglen is the resistance. The Handmaid’s Tale was a nightmare of a television show to watch. I don’t mean that in terms of quality — the show is obviously exquisite — I mean it’s literally made up of the stuff from my nightmares. I am still surprised that I made it through to the end. But amidst all of the horror, Ofglen was a beacon. She was not merely placeholder for the torture that these women, and particularly queer women, were put through (though Oh My God there was also that). She was also a bright reminder the feral strength of women’s spirit. I had no idea that Alexis Bledel had this in her. When I look back at 2017 in television, it’s Ofglen’s wild, defiant eyes that burn back it me. She reminds me that I am no one’s property other than my own. It’s better rather go down fighting — always fighting — then lay down at all.

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Mey, Trans Editor

Davina, Transparent

Each year Transparent has done a great job of highlighting some of its trans characters played by trans actors. In past seasons we’ve seen Hari Nef and Trace Lysette shine, and this year, like in Season One, it was Davina’s turn. Davina is an HIV-positive Latina played by legendary trans actor Alexandra Billings. We got to see her deal with her abusive boyfriend, reminisce about her past in the ballroom scene, talk about her regrets and she had a groundbreaking nude scene. She’s one of the best actors in a show full of great actors and we got to see her really shine this year.

Waverly Earp, Wynonna Earp

I had gotten behind on this show, but thanks to my girlfriends I got back into it. Waverly is amazing. She’s so precious and tender and bright and fun and wonderful and she looks amazing in a cheerleader uniform, she looks great waving some sticks around, she looks great even when she’s messing up the whole universe by helping an evil witch just in order to save her girlfriend. I wanna be like Waverly.

Rosa Diaz, Brooklyn 99

I started watching this show when it first premiered and since way back then, every queer woman in the fandom has wanted for Rosa Diaz to be bi. This call from the fandom only got a thousand times louder when Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Rosa, came out as bi. Rosa is a beautiful, badass, leather-clad Latina who manages to be eternally charming even when she’s speaking in a monotone voice about how she hates everything. And recently she came out to fellow detective Charles Boyles as bi, and told him that she’s dating a woman. This was what we were waiting for. This is what we were hoping for. This is what we were cheering for.

Elena, One Day at a Time

This was such a freaking great Latina-specific coming out story. It’s not just about “how do I tell my family I’m dating a girl, what if they reject me?” it’s also about “how will my die-hard Catholic abuela react?” “what do I do about my date for my quinceañera?” “what do I do about the dress I’m supposed to wear for my quinceañera?” This was the type of coming out narrative that queer Latinx teens can relate to, and that they need to have in order to be able to see this kind of possibility for themselves. When she walks out in that suit, I cried. Plus, I love the Autostraddle shoutout.

NEXT PAGE: Our least favorite characters

Winter 2017/2018 TV Preview: Some Lesbian and Bisexual Content for Y’all

This has been such a wild year for lesbian, bisexual, queer and otherwise-identified female characters on television that we’ve barely been able to keep up! I’ve got such a long list of teevee shows I haven’t even talked to you about yet, like I Love Dick and Humans and — listen, now I have a whole new batch of shows to talk to you about.

Putting together a television preview like this probably seems pretty straightforward, but it actually takes a few days of digging and obsessive research — only about half the shows with queer characters advertise that fact ahead of time. The rest of the work involves reading descriptions of every new show and then using my psychic lesbian television powers to determine which deserve a deep-dive because something about the show suggests that lesbians or bisexuals could be involved. I can’t talk about the deep dive without sounding like a total lunatic and also revealing certain trade secrets, but, that’s just a little FYI for ya.

Still, sometimes there are no clues about queer characters or minimal info available about the show and therefore that show doesn’t make it into the preview — this happened in the fall with Netflix’s Mindhunter, which turned out to have a lesbian main character (whose lesbianism was referenced exactly once). Other times, the show intentionally withholds information for maximum impact, like Nicole coming out on Fresh Off the Boat.

So, this is what we know for now, but rest assured our eyes will remained peeled, locked and loaded as we head into what we hope will be another mostly-good year of lesbian, bisexual and queer representation on television. February and March premiere dates are still being determined and new shows are being announced every day.

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New Winter 2017/2018 TV Shows With Lesbian Characters and/or Bisexual Characters

Marvel’s Runaways — November 21st, Hulu

Even if the lesbian parts have yet to really summon themselves to the surface of this show, it’s still a damn good story with a captivating group of protagonists. Therefore Kayla’s been writing about it right here on Autostraddle for y’all.

Godless — November 22nd, Netflix

After 83 men are killed in the town of La Belle, New Mexico, the former mayor’s widow, Mary Agnes McNue (Meritt Weaver) takes control of the whole damn place. She also starts wearing men’s clothing and begins a relationship with Callie Dunne (Tess Frazer), a schoolteacher and former sex worker! According to Queerty, “the two have the most passionate and compelling relationship in the series.”

She’s Gotta Have It — November 23rd, Netflix

You should definitely read Alaina and Carmen’s upcoming piece about this before giving it a watch, but in this reboot of Spike Lee’s groundbreaking film, Nola Darling identifies as a polyamorous pansexual and one of her partners ia a lesbian Mom named Opal Gilstrap!

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — November 29, Amazon Prime

In this period piece Alex Borstein plays the androgynous pants-wearing lesbian (I mean, right?) bartender who sees the titular Mrs. Maisel’s budding talent as a stand-up comedian and signs on to manage her act. Your Jewish grandmother will love this show, I wish mine was still alive so we could watch it together.

Easy — December 1st, Netflix

The first season of “Easy” included a lesbian episode and guess what, the second season does too! Kiersey Clemons and Jacqueline Toboni are back, playing “a mixed-race pair of bohemian lesbian creative types… who aren’t quite as free of bourgeois neuroses as they want to think.” They also show up two other times in the season.

Grown-ish — January 2nd, Freeform

Black-ish daughter Zoey Johnson is off to college with her very own teevee show, Grown-ish! One of her new besties, Nomi Segal, is a proud bisexual who will for sure be dating some ladies and it’s gonna be great.

The Chi — January 7th, Showtime

Lena Waithe’s much-anticipated series set on Chicago’s southside focuses on “an interconnected group of working class African-Americans who remind us that no matter what, the human spirit is strong and hope never dies.” There are at least two minor lesbian characters in the program but regardless y’all — Lena Waithe!

Phillip K Dick’s Electric Dreams — January 12th, Amazon

Episode 5 of this anthology series based on some Phillip K Dick stories features Anna Paquin playing a lesbian cop living in a future where cars fly. She’s struggling to cope with memories of an event where many of her fellow police officers were killed, so her wife gets her a virtual reality holiday! What fun.

Black Lightning — January 16th, The CW

DC’s first African-American superhero comes out of superhero retirement to save his daughters from their increasingly crime-ridden community — and his daughter, Anissa Pierce (Nafeesa Williams) will have a thing with bisexual bartender Grace Choi, played by Chantal Thuy! This is so many wonderful things happening at once and I can say for the first time in my damn life that I’ll be tuning into a superhero show from the moment it debuts.

Counterpart — January 21, Starz

Starz is really pulling out all the stops to ensure you don’t cancel your subscription despite their cancellation of Survivor’s Remorse. Counterpart, a high-concept sci-fi thriller about a government agent who discovers his employer is guarding a crossing into a parallel dimension, will star Sara Serraiocco as Baldwin, a “mysterious assassin.” She’s got short hair and a sharp shot and hooks up with a girl in the trailer!

Life Sentence — TBD, Freeform

This mid-season replacement stars Aria from Pretty Little Liars as a girl who thought she was going to die but then found out she wasn’t going to die after all. And then it turns out that her Mom is having a relationship with another lady because life is just damn full of surprises. Also this is a very similar plot to the plot of Chasing Life, right? I didn’t watch it, I was just force-fed a lot of previews. Regardless, this was supposed to be a mid-season replacement last year but really truly is gonna happen this year and will undoubtedly be exactly as mediocre as it sounds.

Heathers — TBD, Paramount Network

Due at some point in mid-March, this reboot re-casts the famed Heathers of the iconic ’80s film — a group of conventionally beautiful popular mainstream straight cis white women who terrorized their less conventionally blessed classmates — as misfits. The three primary Heathers include an amab genderqueer person and a black lesbian. How on earth will this work? We’ll find out!

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Shows That Don’t Definitely Have Queer Women TV Characters But Also Kinda Do Or Maybe Should or IDK, I Feel Like They Will

9-1-1 — January 2nd

This is a Falchuck/Murphy project, but it’s a bit of a departure from their usual fare and it’s a small cast, so there’s no guarantee of a queer character. However, I think we can agree on the strong butch vibes radiating from the above screenshot. 9-1-1 is a procedural that “explores the high-pressure experiences of police, paramedics and firefighters who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations” and stars include your girlfriends Angela Bassett and Connie Britton, as well as Nate from Six Feet Under (RIP).

The Good Place — January 4th

Has Eleanor made enough references to finding women attractive for us to call her bisexual? This debate will re-ignite in January, gird your loins!

Wayward Sisters — January 18th, The CW

This “backdoor pilot,” apparently the result of a fan campaign for Supernatural to wake up and write stories about women, will enter Supernatural from the rear on January 18th. I know next to nothing about this franchise besides that they killed all their lesbians, but I assume there will be rioting if a show focused entirely on the female inhabitants of a certain universe does not include some girl-on-girl culture. Also “backdoor pilot?” You guys. What! I only became aware of this phrase recently and I have a few questions.

Grace and Frankie – January 19th, Netflix

Last season was the most intense for Grace and Frankie’s allegedly platonic and not apparently lesbian yet totally gay relationship, and this season Lisa Kudrow will join the cast. It seems unlikely that Grace and Frankie will ever become the girlfriends they are destined to be or that we’ll get a lesbian character because of the show’s Gay Husbands premise, BUT COME ON. Also the show will take a “deep dive into Brianna’s love life.” Hopefully that deep dive will be a clam dive.

American Woman (Paramount) — January TBD

Another feature from the new prestige-TV-oriented Paramount Network, this series covers the early days of the ’70s feminist movement and its sexual revolution as felt by its most privileged members: rich white women in Beverly Hills! Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari star in the show Silverstone describes as “oozing” with sex and also oozing with burning bras. There’s gotta be some lesbian action in here or else I call bullshit on the whole production!  DO IT FOR MOMMI.

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When Does [Show With Lesbian/Bisexual/Queer/Trans Character] Come Back in 2018?

Call the Midwife (PBS) comes back December 25th, 2017

Valor (The CW) comes back January 1st, 2018

Madam Secretary (CBS) comes back January 7th, 2018

The Fosters (Freeform) comes back January 9th, 2018

Supergirl (The CW) comes back January 15th, 2018

Riverdale (The CW) comes back January 17th, 2018

Portlandia (IFC) comes back January 18th, 2018

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) coes back January 18th, 2018

How To Get Away With Murder (ABC) comes back January 18th, 2018

Arrow (The CW) comes back January 18, 2018

One Day At A Time (Netflix) comes back on January 26th, 2018

Jane the Virgin (The CW) comes back on January 26th, 2018

Riverdale’s 13 Top (Gayest) Cheryl Blossom Moments

All I want for Christmas is canonically queer Cheryl Blossom. And the gods at CW are maybe possibly granting my wish? Between the #SignificantLook Cheryl gives Toni Topaz at the street race and the suggestion in the most recent episode that Cheryl has an intense, obsessive crush on Josie, Riverdale has been dropping hints that Cheryl might blossom into a canonically queer character. And given how much criticism the show has gotten for its blatantly queerbaity kiss in the premiere, it’d be exceptionally dumb for the writers to make the same mistake twice. Right? RIGHT? The show has already made vast improvements in developing Kevin Keller and there’s at least one out bisexual character on the show now (Moose is probably bisexual, too). I’m putting this out in the universe so that it might manifest. Something queer this way comes.

For the uninitiated, Riverdale is a CW series now in its second season that takes all of the characters from the beloved Archie comics and drops them into a glam-gothic murder mystery. As Heather Hogan so eloquently puts it: “Riverdale is like if Twin Peaks and Gossip Girl had a baby who was raised by its lesbian aunt in Vancouver in a house filled with porcelain dolls.”

Cheryl Blossom is the show’s fire queen. Every line that comes out of her mouth is literary gold. She wears a literal HBIC shirt just to remind you that she is, indeed, the head bitch in charge of every space she enters. She has survived fire and ice, and no one seems to fully understand her because she simply burns too brightly for anyone to look at her directly. She’s a hero and a villain all at once. Her insults are written and delivered in perfect dactylic hexameter. Okay, so that last one isn’t true, but for some reason it brings me great joy to imagine it is, so please let me have this.

As we wait to see what the future holds for season two Cheryl, let us reflect on some of her best (and gayest) moments on the show so far.

When she was in the mood for chaos

I’m pretty sure Cheryl Blossom is the patron saint of chaos.

The time she gave Betty a makeover (and then accused her sister of murder)

You, willfully ignorant: Cheryl was only getting close to Betty in order to get info on Polly.
Me, an intellectual: She didn’t have to get THAT PHYSICALLY CLOSE to her to execute that plan!

Her dramatic funeral entrance

Some might argue that funerals are not the time nor place for a dramatic entrance, but they would be incorrect. Cheryl Blossom understands the value of an extremely extra entrance. And shocking your family with an outfit choice is Queer Culture.

The time Veronica just casually played with her hair before her dramatic funeral entrance

Um?!

Her sleepover with Veronica

In season one, after Veronica and Cheryl decide that fighting each other in a bad bitch death-match will only lead to their mutual destruction, they agree to give friendship a try. Cheryl tells Veronica that she can extend an olive branch by coming to a sleepover. Cheryl implies that there will be other people at this sleepover, but when Veronica arrives, she learns it’s a sleepover for two. And then they sit together on her bed, which looks like that, in their lingerie.

Every time she starts a fire and/or accessorizes with a candelabra

The first thing Cheryl Blossom sets on fire is the trash can containing the football team’s misogynistic “playbook” after Veronica and Dark Betty bring down Chuck. The second thing Cheryl Blossom sets on fire is her own goddamn house. Both scenes are instantly iconic. Who just like carries a candelabra around as a statement piece? Cheryl Blossom, that’s who.

The time Betty blackmailed her

So this is more of a Betty moment than a Cheryl moment, but why does Cheryl seem so INTO Betty blackmailing her? Also, she’s shirtless the whole time because everyone on Riverdale is allergic to shirts. Is this a chill time to say that Cheryl and Dark Betty should hook up? Is this a chill time to say I wouldn’t mind being strangled by Cheryl’s hair?

The time she dressed like Sherlock Holmes to lead a search for Polly

This outfit! Also, Cheryl Blossom invented dramatic entrances.

When she calls out gay tropes

As a Professional Gay™, one of my unofficial ongoing jobs includes calling out problematic tropes, and apparently Cheryl likes to call out tropes, too. When Kevin asks in the pilot if cheerleading is still a thing, Cheryl snaps back “is being the gay best friend still a thing?” Then she rolls her eyes at Betty and Veronica’s dumb kiss at cheerleading tryouts: “Faux lesbian kissing hasn’t been taboo since 1994.” Cheryl Blossom sounds like me yelling about bad queer tropes to someone I just met in a bar.

Her dance battle with Veronica

https://youtu.be/mrXEmPnn3nU

Everyone knows that dance offs, as with the ribbon dance at the end of Cadet Kelly, are an elaborate form of lesbian foreplay. By the way, Betty looks Cheryl up and down at 0:27. Please don’t ask me how many times I have watched this scene.

The time she gave her homecoming date Polly a makeover

Why is Cheryl always doing the Cooper sisters’ makeup for them? SOMEONE enjoys getting very close to Cooper faces. Also, need I remind you that earlier in the episode, Cheryl dramatically stops the Scooby gang in the middle of lunch to announce to them that she’s bringing Polly to homecoming as her date and that they are running for homecoming court as co-queens? If Cheryl’s mom hadn’t intervened by drugging Polly (yikes!), I’m convinced we would have seen them slow dance together at homecoming.

Her Grease-inspired flirtation with Toni Topaz

Cheryl and Toni, the Southside Serpent who recently came out as bisexual, have only had one interaction so far, but sparks instantly fly. Cheryl makes meaningful eye contact with Toni, and we all know that meaningful eye contact is Queer Culture. You know what else is Queer Culture? Grease. Cheryl calls Toni “Cha Cha” during their quick exchange, and as someone who had a Grease-themed sixth birthday party and wrote an illustrated novelization of Grease in third grade, I became so overwhelmed that I had to lie down on the floor. Madelaine Petsch and Vanessa Morgan are best friends in real life and have said they are super down for their characters to date, to which I emphatically reply: SAME!

The time she drew fanart of herself and Josie

Okay, to be honest, Cheryl low-key tormenting Josie in the most recent episode of Riverdale is a little confusing! Especially since she’s seemingly doing it to show Josie how much she cares about her? She sends her a pig’s heart. I have a lot of questions! Cheryl Blossom works in mysterious ways! One thing I do know is that Cheryl drawing this picture of her and Josie while she listens to a song by Josie is very gay! I’m not sure if Cheryl wants to murder or make out with Josie, and that’s pretty much Cheryl Blossom in a nutshell.

Grey’s Anatomy’s 30 Gayest Moments To Celebrate Its 300th Episode

300 episodes: As of this very day, that’s how long Grey’s Anatomy has been on air. This evening, the show will join a very small and exclusive club. It will also become the first female produced and lead television show to hold such an honor.

During its time on air Grey’s has given its queer female audience more than a few memories. There have been three queer women regulars on Grey’s Anatomy; Callie, Arizona, and for two seasons in the middle, Leah. The show also produced four queer women reoccurring characters; Penny, Eliza, Carina and Erica. That’s seven women who helped open some minds and make a more realistic representation of the world. Taken together, they make up the largest cohort of its kind in network television history. Grey’s Anatomy also gave us the largest and most celebrated gay wedding on a network television drama to date, and the most heart-wrenching lesbian divorce this side of Bette and Tina. Not to even mention, of course, the longest running queer character on network television!

Sometimes, simply being there in the long haul matters. It counts. Even when it gets boring and overlooked because you always know you can depend on it. Come Thursday, you can always get your fix. There are always another episode waiting for you in your Netflix queue. Grey’s has been that comfort blanket for a lot of us. I want to hightlight that familiarity and say: thank you.

There’s a lot to celebrate! Let’s take a little winding trip down memory lane. Indulge in a little nostalgia, if you will. Without further adeu, here are my Completely Un-Scientific Ranking of Grey’s Anatomy’s 30 Greatest Gay and Trans Moments over the last 300 hours of our lives together:

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30. Penny existed. And no, I’m still not ready to talk about it. (Season 12)

Oh “Perfect Penny”.

I am sure that there are some Penny Blake fans out there. I am not here to rain on your parade. She made the list, okay?? That’s what I have to give her. Plus, let’s look at it like this: Callie moving herself and Sofia cross-country, stalling her career and isolating herself from her friends in the process, over a woman she’s been dating for just a few months, is essentially U-Hauling on steroids.

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29. “You Can’t be Kind of a Lesbian” (Episode 5.07 “Rise Up”)

I’m not going to say that this type of biphobia doesn’t exist within queer women’s communities. It does.That why I’m including it in the list.

But man, this hurts.

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28. Callie Dancing in her Underwear, Part 1 (Episode 3.02 “I Am A Tree”) and Part 2 (Episode 10.5 “I Bet It Stung”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t40WvDP9Ao

Oh wait… there’s more…

Sexy? YES! Specifically gay? If we are counting my feelings watching these scenes, then also Yes.

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27. This Quiet, Subtle Moment from the Sweetest Old Lesbian Couple (Episode 7.05 “Almost Grown”)

Joanne: A trainee? Cutting into Ellie’s brain? No.
Derek: I know it sounds like a leap, but these doctors study and assist for years. At some point, we have to let them operate. It’s how we make new surgeons.
Joanne: Let them learn on someone else.
Ellie: Who? Someone who’s too scared to interrogate the doctors? They have to learn on someone, might as well be an old lady.
Joanne: You’re my old lady. This should be my call.
Ellie: You’re a teacher, Joanne. Let the kids learn.
Joanne: [to Derek] She’s my life. She has been my life for 40 years. Do you hear me?

Cue the waterworks. I know that for a lot of people, this less than a minute of dialogue will barely register as a blip. But whenever I see this scene, my heart leaps. Ellie has been Joanne’s entire world for 40 years, and no one bats an eye.These are the type of small moments of recognition that I wish were normalized across all of television.

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26. This Young Trans Couple Came to Wreck Your Hearts (Episode 9.14 “The Face of Change”)

Brian and Jess first met at a transgender support group in Seattle. Jess was taken away by Brian from the first moment she saw him, but never thought he’d notice her. Brian tells her that would’ve been impossible. Today is Brian’s top surgery; he’s been saving up forever for it. Brian’s father shows up at the last minute. He becomes violent, misgendering his son and blaming Jess for things that are nobody’s fault. Because there is no “fault” in being trans, it’s natural as breathing air.

Jess remains firm, she will be there for Brian throughout his surgery. She’s his family now. Brian comes through just fine, and his father isn’t there when he wakes up, but Jess is. She’s still holding his hand. She never left.

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25. Arizona’s Brother Tim Couldn’t Wait To Dance So Hard At Her Wedding (Episode 7.20 “White Wedding”)

But he died serving in the army. He didn’t get to live to see it. I’m not crying! You’re crying!

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24. Callie Worries that She’s “Not a Good Enough” Lesbian (Episode 7.05 “Almost Grown”)

Callie: She’s a much better lesbian. I mean, I was sort of a late bloomer in that area, but she’s got this whole circle of lesbian friends, you know? It’s just like, like this subculture. And, uh, I’m always just… I’m always just a little bit left out, Just a little bit talked down to because I have a long history of enjoying sex with men, which I don’t think is something I have to apologize for.

You are damn right that you have nothing to apologize for. You are doing great, sweetie!

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23. Leah “I’m All About that Kinsey Scale Life, Yo!” Murphy (Episode 10.06 “Map of You”)

May we all be lucky enough to slide over to Arizona’s way one day.

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24. Callie Torres Just Wants to Have Pizza and Beer in Bed with Her Wife, OK? And Have Lots and Lots of Sex. (Episode 8.06 “Poker Face”)

Listen, I’m not saying that this scene started a lot of my personal fantasies and taught me some things about myself. But I’m also not not saying it, if you know what I mean.

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23. Dr. Webber is the World’s Greatest Wingman, We Should Have Known it All Along (Episode 12.07 “Something Against You”)

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20. Rosalind Warren Makes Her Debut (Episode 11.02 “The Great Pretender”)

This episode is somewhat of a mixed bag. On the positive side of things, we are introduced to a trans character directly related to a series regular, Dr. Ben Warren. We also get to watch Dr. Miranda Bailey model good allyship and demonstrate best practices of how to cope with a family member’s coming out. That’s incredibly important to have on one of the most watched nights of television.

On the other hand, Rosalind is played by a cis male actor, which only furthers the malicious and incorrect stereotype that trans women aren’t really “women”. Also, after this episode Rosalind isn’t mentioned again until SEASON 14! There was so much potential for Rosalind’s future on the show, but Grey’s didn’t commit to making the jump.

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19. Calzona Shower Sex (episode 6.11 “Blink”)

Need I say more?

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18. Callie Runs from her Queerness, Declares She’s a “Huge Fan of Penis” (Episode 4.13 “Piece of My Heart”)

Sometimes it takes our best friends to help us see ourselves clearly. Addison certainly was that person for Callie, asking “Do you speak the Vagina Monologues now?”

And sometimes, when we see ourselves for the first real time, we run as fast as we can in the opposite direction. It happens. This is a judgement free zone.

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17. Eliza Minnick has game. Arizona Robbins has better game. (Episode 13.09 “You Haven’t Done Nothin”)

Point. Set. Match.

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16. Callie Needs Rules for “Exploring the Motherland” (Episode 5.04 “Brave New World”)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaawkard. The most awkward first date I have ever seen. Which also means it’s also the most realistic first date I’ve ever seen.

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15. Alexandra Billings is Brilliant in Every Role She Takes On, Her Episode of Grey’s Anatomy is No Different (Episode 3.07 “Where the Boys Are”)

Donna (Alexandra Billings) and her wife Vicky are in for Donna’s gender affirmation surgery. Donna’s pre-op labs show that she has breast cancer. Her hormones are essentially feeding the tumor. If she continues with the treatment she will most certainly die.

Donna continues with the surgery anyway. She would rather die as herself than live another moment as somebody else. Vicky worries, and almost leaves, but ultimately returns to her side. Where was she going to go, she wonders. Donna is her very best friend.

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14. Grey’s tackles “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (Episode 4.14 “The Becoming”)

Todd and Darren share a love that dare not speak its name.

Yes, “soldiers in love” is trite and cliché. But I dare you to watch this and not cry. I DARE YOU.

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13. Seriously, Everything About Dr. Carina DeLuca (Season 14)

https://youtu.be/EHjuuCTrMZE?t=55s

I cannot believe that in its 14^th season, Grey’s Anatomy is still bestowing us with such gifts. The show is arguably bolder, funnier, and more feminist than it ever was before (and that’s saying a lot!). No character demonstrates that narrative growth better than Dr. Orgasm DeLuca

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12. Arizona Robbins is the Shane McCutcheon of Grey Sloan Memorial (Episode 8.18 “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”)

https://youtu.be/0zVw-AvB_fE?t=2m10s

Arizona: Her. And Her. Hmm, and her? Over by the soda machine? Yeah, twice.
Callie: Ok, that’s Noelle. She’s not even gay.
Arizona: Well, she was that night.

WELL. SHE. WAS. THAT. NIGHT.

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11. L-E-G-E-N-D-A-R-Y (Episode 12.01 “Sledgehammer”)

Being a Shane sometimes has its own drawbacks, ya know?

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10. Wilson Cruz Visits to Fight the Good Fight Against DOMA (Episode 7.12 “Start Me Up”)

Kyle: This was supposed to be the best day of our lives. You think I’m silly, I know. With the horses and the bagpipes. So does he. We don’t get marriage in Washington. We get domestic partnerships. We get to go to city hall, stand in line, and sign some papers. So call me crazy, but I just wanted the big day that everybody else gets.

And I fought for it. I organized rallies. I stood in the cold outside the statehouse. I had some neanderthal throw hot coffee on me. I fought for a wedding. And waited. And they still said no.

So when we got tired of waiting, and Brady and I went to go sign the papers, I wanted it to be special. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me. And I wanted it to feel like that, not like some trip to the DMV. I wanted it to be special.

Amen.

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 9. Leah Murphy Turns Out to be a Category 10 Clinger (Season 10)

Some of you will argue with this being ranked so high, but if Leah’s 0-100 approach to love isn’t the gayest thing you’ve seen on television, I truly don’t know what is.

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8. Calzona’s First “I Love You” (Episode 6.08 “Invest in Love”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6py2BM_9oY

It was quiet, shy even. It played over the closing credits. Nevertheless, it was an “I love you” heard ‘round the world.

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7. Arizona Robbins: Lesbian-ic. (episode 12.12 “My Next Life”)

You can see her gayness from space.

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6. The B in There Doesn’t Just Stand for Badass! (Episode 11.05 “Bend and Break”)

Bisexual Badass Callie Torres, played by actual Bisexual Badass Sara Ramirez. Bless.

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5. This Little Ball of Perfection Right Here. (Episode 12.16 “When It Hurts So Bad”)

https://youtu.be/K_f1Ylvlqd4?t=37s

Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres. For the record.

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4. “You Can’t Pray Away the Gay!”  (Episode 6.05 “Invasion”)

Mr. Torres: Leviticus: Thou shall not lie with a man as one lies with a female, it is an abomination
Callie: Oh, don’t do that daddy! Don’t quote the bible at me!
Mr. Torres: The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and the sin is exceedingly grave.
Callie: Jesus: A new commandment that I give unto you, that you love one another.
Mr. Torres: Romans: but we know that laws–
Callie: Jesus: he, who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone…
Mr. Torres: So you admit it’s a sin?
Callie: Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy! Jesus: blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God! Jesus: blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! Jesus is my savior daddy, not you! And Jesus would be ashamed of you for judging me! He would be ashamed of you for turning your back on me. He would be ashamed.

… Is there a more classic moment in all of Grey’s Anatomy history?

I think not.

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3. The Entirety of Episode 12.01 “Sledgehammer.” Yes, really. The entire episode.

I wish that I could quote all 43 minutes of this episode to you directly. It’s an absolute love letter to the young queer women who have been such a backbone of the Grey’s Anatomy fandom.

Jess and Alia are high school girlfriends in love. They arrive at Grey Sloan Memorial after a mutual suicide attempt, and it’s gut wrenching from the very first moment you see them. Jess thinks that dying is the only way they will be able to stay together (I really wish that Romeo and Juliet came with trigger warnings for young readers). The girls are bullied at school, Alia is afraid to come out to her Muslim father, and Jess’ right-wing parents are sending her to a Gay Conversion Camp. It’s awful and bleak.

But, Callie sits with Jess and rubs her head. She tells her that she’s bisexual. That it will get better one day. Oh, and then Maggie punches out Jess’ homophobic mom! Arizona cheers her on, of course. And then Alia’s father turns out to be the warmest teddy bear who loves his daughter and only wants her happiness! And then Jess and Alia get a happy ending of sorts!

You will cry everyone of your gay feelings into a popcorn bowl until snot is sniveling down your nose and your eyes are red and puffy.

Just… do yourself the favor of firing up your Netflix queue and re-watching this one.

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2. Callie and Arizona’s Wedding (Episode 7.20 “White Wedding”)

The only one of its kind in all of network television.

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1. “You Are Glasses” (Episode 5.06 “Life During Wartime”)

No explanation needed. Ten years later, and many a queer woman can still quote this monologue directly from memory. Let’s do it one more time, together, for old time’s sake:

Erica: When I was a kid, I would get these headaches, and I went to the doctor, and they said that I needed glasses. I get the glasses, and I put them on, and I’m in the car on the way home, and suddenly I yell. Because the big green blobs that I had been staring at my whole life, they weren’t big green blobs. They were leaves on trees. And I didn’t even know I was missing the leaves. I didn’t even know that leaves existed, and then…leaves! You, [Callie Torres] are glasses.

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Did I miss any of your favorites? I’m sure I did! I’m sorry in advance. (You’ll notice that I skipped a lot of seasons 9-12, or as I like to call them Calzona: The Dark Years). Do you disagree with my completely made up ratings system? I look forward to hearing you passionately tell me your thoughts in the comment section!

Happy 300^th, Grey’s Anatomy. You’ve had your ups and you’ve had your downs, but through it all you have been steadfast. You’ve been there. And for that, we thank you.

Monday Roundtable: TV Shows We’re Watching to Escape This Nightmare World

The world is a hellscape! It’s like every five seconds there’s more bad news: natural disasters, mass shootings, fires, powerful men getting away with sexual harassment, climate change, our government taking away more of our rights, white supremacist rallies. We live in a horrifying world and it can really take a toll on us. That’s why we turn to TV sometimes. TV shows let us escape the nightmare reality we’re all existing in these days and into a different world unlike our own.

What are you watching?

Riese, Editor-in-Chief

The Good Place

The Good Place is a sitcom about the afterlife, and the good place is where you get to go if you’re good and the bad place is where you go if you’re bad. It’s more complicated than that in practice, but it’s hard to tell you exactly how without giving away some things you’ve gotta learn along with the show, so I won’t, which means there’s not really much I can tell you about it besides that it’s smart and funny and feels entirely divorced from reality except when going for those little barbs (“Fun fact! Christopher Columbus is in The Bad Place because of all the raping, slave trade, and genocide!”) that inform you the writers of this show are with it more or less. It’s a racially diverse cast with nary a trope to be found. This show is fresh, you know? It reminds me of absolutely nothing I’ve seen before. Visually, The Good Place pops — it’s all bright yellows, sky blues, grassy greens, royal reds. So when I think about watching it that’s what I think about, is all the colors, and the main town that looks like a theme park before all the guests arrive, and Veronica Mars and the woman who just wants some cocaine, but in a funny way. You’ll see.

Alaina, Staff Writer

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the greatest show on television. Like, it’s total fiction and that’s why I love it. It takes place in an alternate reality where the police are good and cops learn from their mistakes. There is no president in the world of this show, or at least not one that gets discussed in anyway that reminds me of politics. Brooklyn Nine-Nine exists in a utopia. It’s also, frankly, the funniest show on television right now and that’s in large part due to the two women of color on the cast. I am a person who gets anxious watching a show more than once but I have put on Brooklyn Nine-Nine for four hours straight and laughed out loud the whole time. It’s so innocent and nice, and I mean I just love it. Plus every season is on Hulu, so when you get sad, you can just watch a playlist of every Halloween episode to feel better.

Erin, Staff Writer

Crashing

Crashing, a 2016 Netflix Original, is a British comedy about a group of 20-somethings communally living in an old hospital wing turned into rundown flats that was created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is also the show’s star. Waller-Bridge is also the creator, writer, and star of Fleabag, which is one of the best portrayals of dark comedy I’ve ever seen, and inspiration for this normal post. Most British comedies are so smart and funny and quick and filled to the brim with lines so perfect they make me want to lie down that they make me feel anxious in how incredibly unfunny and garbage-brained I feel in comparison, and so I tend to stay away from them if I want to bring peace into my life, but Crashing is a more accessible version of those comedies. It’s still smart and funny and quick and filled to the brim with lines so perfect they make me want to lie down, but just not in way that makes me want give away all of my possessions so I can climb to the top of a mountain to remain for the rest of my days. Like in Fleabag, Waller-Bridge’s character in Crashing knows better but doesn’t, takes a very laissez faire approach to her shortcomings, and her most defining attribute seems to be a commitment to indulgence. This is supposed to position our protagonist as the anti-hero, but in a time where hedonism seems like the most rational way out of this, it’s nothing but respect for MY president.

Carrie, Staff Writer

Parks and Recreation

Confession time: I had never watched Parks and Rec before the election. And I know it’s a little on the nose, but Leslie Knope really is the best medicine. The building that stands in for Pawnee City Hall is about ten minutes from my house; it’s actually where I dropped off my mail-in ballot. So I started watching in part to build positive memories of that place, instead of forever having it be where my dreams went to die and I didn’t even know it. But I’d also long known that it’s a must-watch for ambitious women who like to laugh. To my fellow latecomers out there: it lives up to the hype.

Watching Leslie fight to better her world, especially against the backdrop of a location I know well in real life, has had an embarrassingly restorative impact on me. I know real politics is a different ballgame — which is why I’ve also been watching a ton of PBS in the past year — but seeing Pawnee’s good guys rack up wins large and small has inspired me to go out and be one of those good guys in the real world. I’m far more cynical than Leslie Knope would ever allow. But she reminds me that there is, even now, real value in being smart and working hard.

Alexis, Staff Writer

Bob’s Burgers

Bob’s Burgers is an animated sitcom about restaurant cook and owner, Bob Belcher, his wife, Linda, and their kids: Tina, Gene and Louise. Following them on different adventures such as keeping the restaurant open, Bob topping his competitor (not sexually, I don’t think), Jimmy Pesto, getting through middle school with the least amount of emotional scarring possible, or stopping an evil criminal from killing everyone (you know the usual), this is one of my absolute favorite shows in the world.

Every time I go to watch this show, I mean to watch one episode and end up watching at least five. It’s one of those shows that you can keep on in the background of whatever you’re doing, but you’ll probably ditch the work to know what else the Belchers will get into. The animation gets stronger every season. The newest season started a few weeks ago and the season premiere had sixty-two fan artists draw the whole episode!

Everyone in this family genuinely loves each other, even when they don’t always understand each other, and always look out for one another (“What’s our motto?! From the womb to the tomb!”). With a love like that at the center of this show, I can’t think of any other place I’d rather escape to.

Molly P, Staff Writer

Justified

Honestly, I’ve usually got this Appalachian crime drama on on the background while I’m putzing around with my phone or whatever. But when I do tune back in, it’s great because there’s Timothy Olyphant being walked around by his cowboy boots, excellent acting from Margo Martindale and Walter Goggins. Something about people threatening other people in sweet Southern accents and apparently after having perused a thesaurus (everyone is extremely folksy and long-winded) is so comforting to me. And the show, while not great about how it treats certain aspects of marginalized populations (especially sex workers), is oddly male-gazey toward the men and it’s awesome. It’s violent, though.

Natalie, Staff Writer

Jane the Virgin

I spent the worst part of the Bush years, camped out in front of my television, watching and re-watching episodes of The West Wing. Convinced I was living through the worst administration of my lifetime (boy, was I wrong), I escaped to a world where I could imagine Josiah “Jed” Bartlet as my president. Somehow, though, West Wing feels woefully insufficient for this moment, so instead, I’m opting for comedies to get me through this hellscape.

But I’m watching a specific subset of comedies: progressive minded shows that center underrepresented communities. Basically, if there’s a comedy about a community that’s going to be fucked over by this administration, I’m probably watching it. Sometimes (read: all the time), we’ve gotta laugh to keep from crying. There are so many shows keeping me sane right now —Speechless, Superstore, Survivor’s Remorse, black-ish — but I want to highlight one of my favorites, Jane the Virgin.

I discovered Jane the Virgin a little late. Lured by Gina Rodriguez’s Golden Globes acceptance speech, I binged the show’s first season and fell in love with the characters and knew that it was a world I wanted to inhabit. Three seasons later, Jane the Virgin remains the show I fell in love with then: producing some of the most feminist and consistently well-written stories on television.

I love Jane…Rodriguez infuses her with the same earnestness and zeal that drew me to her at the Golden Globes. In the hands of anyone else, Jane, the Virgin could have been insufferable, but Jennie Urman’s words and Rodriguez’s delivery charm me every. single. time.

I love the show for recognizing that despite it’s name, the most important relationships in Jane’s life isn’t with whomever her love interest might be. It’s Jane’s connection to Alba and Xiomara that enriches her life and gives the show its heart. And Rogelio…I dare you to watch him and not break out in riotous laughter.

Also? There’s something about seeing and supporting so many Puerto Rican actresses at this particular moment that feels a bit like resistance.

Mey, Trans Editor

Law & Order: SVU

So, I definitely was going to write about The Good Place and when I saw that was taken I thought “Oh, I can write about Brooklyn 99” only to see that was taken too. Those are the shows I watch when I want to feel good about the world in a happy and light way. But there’s another show I watch that helps me escape from this nightmare world in an equally important, but very different way: Law & Order: SVU. Now, hear me out. I love this show because while we live in a world where 90% of rapes go unpunished, all of our favorite industries are filled with celebrated sexual predators and our freaking president is a literal rapist, I get to watch this show and see people who remind me of Harvey Weinstein, of the men who cat-call me, of the president, and I get to see them being punished. SVU is my favorite fantasy show where society actually hates sexual predators and wants to see them lose their jobs and positions of power and entitlement. I get to see the beautiful and strong Olivia Benson take them down and support their victims. It’s cathartic. It gives me strength. It fills me with righteous anger to go back out into the real world and face all of the bullshit that is rape culture and male entitlement and the patriarchy.

Carolyn, NSFW Editor and Literary Editor

Mad Men

I don’t want to watch new things when I need to escape; I want to rewatch old things over and over and over, because when I don’t know what’s going to happen in my life or the world I might as well know what’s going to happen on a show.

I’m into rewatching Mad Men for a few reasons: it’s aesthetically pleasing; my queer kinky brain chooses to read some of the interactions that are otherwise somewhat-to-very fucked up as queer, consensual, and kinda hot; and Christina Hendricks’s voice flows like honey. I’m not saying it’s a problematic fave. I’m not even saying it’s good. So many identities are erased. Almost all of the characters are terrible people and the main values I share with them are workaholism and excellent hair. But sometimes when things fall apart, it can be nice to see things fall apart somewhere entirely different, again and again and again.

(Also Alaina already wrote about Brooklyn Nine-Nine.)

Reneice, Staff Writer

Chewing Gum

Listen. This show is awkward af, and it touches my soul in a very special place. I watch it and am either in physical pain from the awkwardness or laughing so hard I’m crying and I just feel like those are great places to be and things to be able to feel given that life as black queer woman right now is painful and exhausting. I think I gravitate to this and the other shows I enjoy (anything on black and sexy tv, anything by Shonda, basically anything with black women leads) specifically because this is an approachable, way too relatable black woman character just living life and existing in a way that isn’t defined by pain and strife and oppression and I just NEED that outlet. I can’t relax and check out watching shows full of white people made by white people for white people while I’m spending my days actively trying to make the world less dominated by white people and culture. I need shows that accommodate ME, and Chewing Gum fits the bill. And again, it makes me laugh so so much.

Rachel, Managing Editor

Criminal Minds

Okay, bear with me: if you are a longtime listener you may already know that I’ve seen every episode of Criminal Minds, and add to this the knowledge that currently I am located in the suburbs, and everyone in the suburbs has cable, and several times a week ION will marathon Criminal Minds for the entire day. The consistency of this is the most comforting thing that’s happened to me in months. Procedurals have always been comforting to me in a certain respect — as Alaina noted about Brooklyn 99, even when they’re ostensibly “reality tv,” they are basically fantasy programming depicting a world where there are Bad Guys and also Good Guys who always make sure they face appropriate consequences for their actions but also aren’t violent organized enforcers of a state agenda, etc. Even just the opening music of Forensic Files is basically the same as taking 1.5 Xanax for some reason that I don’t want to think about too hard.

Criminal Minds has all of that in addition to being absolutely fucking bonkers. It transcends “unrealistic” to rise to a new plane that is nothing less than art. From the logistics of law enforcement to the crimes involved to how normal people’s lives even work, nothing about this show makes sense. Do you know how hard it is to be concerned with your petty day-to-day problems like responding to text messages from well-meaning friends or how untenable the mere concept of your inbox has become when you’re asking yourself “wait, is this the episode with the guy who taxidermies human beings or the murderer who only kills people in ways methodologically consistent with Dante’s Inferno?” It’s hard! Is this the healthiest coping mechanism? Who cares! Is Emily Prentiss my television girlfriend who’s very busy with Interpol all the time but also tells me my hair smells good and always remembers my breakfast order? She sure is!

Yvonne, Senior Editor

Riverdale

One day I had to do like six loads of laundry and fold tons of clothes so I wanted something to watch while I worked. I chose Riverdale and to my sweet sweet surprise, I enjoyed every last minute of it. Riverdale has all the things I like in a TV show: teenage drama, a murder mystery and lesbians. Ok, ok, officially there aren’t any lesbian characters on Riverdale but I’m totally into the show because I ship Betty and Veronica. It didn’t help that they kissed briefly in the first episode as a stint for a cheerleading tryout. (Sounds gay, but it wasn’t.)

Riverdale is my TV escape because this show is so far from reality! A big part of why Riverdale is a perfect escape because it’s visually stunning and so unreal: the impeccable aesthetic of Betty, Veronica and Cheryl’s wardrobe, the intentional juxtaposition of bright neon colors and dark hues in the diner scenes, the picturesque scenery of the town itself. Then there are things that are so uncharacteristic for a teen to do! I don’t think there’s a real life Cheryl Blossom anywhere in this world because teenagers aren’t always that well-dressed and made up no matter how rich they are and I don’t think all the money in the world could buy Veronica the world-view of a 40-year-old woman. Riverdale also sneakily incorporates musical numbers into its episodes which are definitely my guilty pleasure, especially if it’s performed by Josie and the Pussycats. You see what I mean? It’s a show that can do it all. I don’t even question it, I’m just like yes, yes, ok take me away, Riverdale.

Heather Hogan, Senior Editor

The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls is, irrefutably, the greatest TV show of all time. My sister and I watched it every Friday when we were kids, because our parents weren’t paying attention. And then when I was in college I watched it on Nick at Nite every night on Nickelodeon. And now I watch it on Hulu. I’ll bet I’ve seen every episode at least 20 times each. Obviously when I was younger I didn’t understand how revolutionary this show was, and what’s wild is that it’s still as subversive today as it was in the ’80s. Four single older women living together, not apologizing for their active sex lives, leaning on and loving each other most of all. And also just so many Issues. The Golden Girls took on gay stuff multiple times (always making the gay characters the winners of the story). They talked about stuff like subsidized and socialized healthcare, nuclear weapons, climate change, and on and on. It’s a liberal dream and a conservative nightmare. It’s also still just really, really funny. These four women, together, are timeless.

11 Intentionally or Incidentally Homoerotic Haircut Scenes from Cinema, Ranked

I have always found getting my haircut to be profoundly intimate. Running into a former hairdresser, for me, feels almost exactly like running into an ex. In fact, I once hid behind a car so a former hairdresser would not see me. I firmly believe hair salons are rife with homoerotic subtext.

So, when I saw Battle Of The Sexes in theaters, which has not one but TWO sensual haircutting scenes, I felt extremely seen. Billie Jean King ends up secretly dating her hairdresser, bringing one of my fantasies to life! I’ve played tennis all my life, and Billie Jean King has long been a personal hero of mine, so I went to the movie expecting to have fun watching a cinematic retelling of Billie Jean King destroying a chauvinist pig. What I did not expect was that a haircutting scene would be more thrilling than the famed tennis match itself. When Marilyn first clips Billie Jean’s hair, it’s sexy, intimate, beautiful. Everyone else just sort of fades away. I didn’t blink. I didn’t want to miss a millisecond.

When a character gets their hair cut on screen in a movie, it usually signifies a major turning point. Most haircuts in movies come after trauma or as a form of punishment or as part of a makeover sequence. Cinematic haircuts are dramatic, transformative, liberating. They are not, typically, sensual. And that’s ridiculous! I demand more sensual haircuts in movies! We need better haircut representation!

In honor of Battle Of The Sexes, here are 11 other haircut scenes that acknowledge — some intentionally, but most incidentally — the sensual nature of haircuts.

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11. Sliding Doors (1998)

I am convinced Anna and Helen are in love in their timeline of Sliding Doors. I’m sorry, but if your friend looks at you like this when you’re getting your hair cut, they are in love with you:

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10. Co-Ed Call Girl (1996)

This is a very bad made-for-TV movie starring Tori Spelling, but I just want to reiterate my point above: If your friend goes with you to get your haircut and makes eye contact with you the entire time, they probably want to sleep with you.

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9. The Game Is Over (1966)

This scene is mostly just sexy because Jane Fonda is looking hot and speaking French. There isn’t a direct shot of the hairdresser’s face, but there are several close-ups of her hands, which, gay.

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8. Catwoman (2004)

Gotta love a good self-cut! And Halle Berry’s self-cut sequence in Catwoman is the best thing about 2004’s Catwoman. She also uses… two pairs of scissors? Which I can only assume is meant to be a scissoring metaphor.

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7. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Was Kathy Baker told specifically to act like she was having sex in this scene?

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6. Felicity season two (2000)

I realize that this is an example from television, and I realize that it’s also a very controversial scene in the Felicity fandom. But in all the thinkpieces I’ve read about the haircut that supposedly altered the course of the show, I’ve never seen anyone talk about how dang intimate the camerawork in this scene is. We only see the hairdresser in silhouette, but all the close-up shots of Felicity’s hair (and that one weirdly sexual shot of her flexing bare feet) imbue the scene with sensuality. Side note: Do… do I have a haircut kink?

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5. The L Word Season One (2004)

While we’re on the television train, I’d be remiss not to mention notorious lesbian hairdresser Shane McCutcheon. When Shane cuts Cherie Jaffe’s hair for the first time, she actually asks her “what do you want?” — the same loaded, flirty question Marilyn asks Billie Jean in Battle Of The Sexes. Notably, I don’t think we ever see Shane actually cutting Cherie’s hair. She’s always just playing with it, and I’m okay with that.

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4. Haircut (1995)

This is a Portuguese movie that’s literally called Haircut!!!!! The main character cuts all her hair off (to shock her husband-to-be or something?) and appears to be very close with her hairdresser!

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3. Go Fish (1994)

https://youtu.be/VFqZ_Z_sJp8

In this black-and-white indie film, queer woman Ely gets her long hair cut into a soft butch short style, and I mostly just really love the unconventional visual style of the film.

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2. Gigola (2010)

In the very beginning of this movie, the protagonist receives a haircut from her lover/school headmistress before embarking on a new life in the lesbian underground scene in 1960s Paris………… ummm I’m not making any of this up.

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1. Kommt Mausi raus?! (1995)

https://youtu.be/EsRpjHhUcyg

Here it is! The only film that comes close to topping Battle Of The Sexes in the battle for most erotic haircut scene. This is a German lesbian coming-of-age film, and in it, one woman gives another woman a haircut while they’re both naked in a bathtub?! As, like, foreplay?!

These Were Our Favorite Lesbian and Bisexual TV Shows This Summer

It’s been a summer, huh? Everywhere we turn, the horrors of a Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress just keep coming at us. A lot of you and a lot of our writers found a couple of hours a reprieve in the warm embrace of queer TV. There were some real surprises this season! In fact, it was one of the best seasons for really solid writing for lesbian and bisexual TV characters in recent memory. Here are our favorite shows. We’d love to hear yours in the comments.

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Heather Hogan, Senior Editor

I really loved this second season of Wynonna Earp. I love how sweet Waverly and Nicole are with each other. I’ve never seen an on-screen pregnancy handled with such care and badassery as Melanie Scrofano’s. Waverly and Wynonna, they just get me right in my heart parts every time because I love my sister like that too. (I wish it were a little less gross but that’s because I have a child’s tolerance for blood and gore.) I also thought The Fosters got mostly back on track. Introducing Stef’s former high school best friend/crush was a dynamic I didn’t expect and it played out in a really satisfying way. The show is still too frenetic and overstuffed, but this summer was much better than the last few. Queen Sugar, and especially Carmen Phillips’ writing about Queen Sugar really, really moved me.

My heart, however, belongs to The Bold Type. Never in all my life have I been as surprised by a TV show as I was by this one. And never, with the exception of goddamn motherfucking Skins, has a show had such an impact on me. The problem for me in the beginning was the way Freeform promoted it like “If you love Pretty Little Liars, you’re gonna super love The Bold Type!” Because friends, by the time those commercials started airing, I hated Pretty Little Liars — and the myriad ways I felt betrayed by that show filled me up with so much cynicism and frustration I was prepared to never give my heart to another TV series again. Not only is The Bold Type not like Pretty Little Liars; it hurdles the queer and feminist bar I set for Pretty Little Liars like … it wasn’t a hurdle at all. Like it was the bare minimum. A little twig on the ground and who’s gonna trip over a little twig?

The Bold Type was relentless in dragging Donald Trump. No tip-toeing. The writers clearly and rightly hate him; Jacqueline wouldn’t even say his name. “That man,” she hissed when talking about him. But the criticism didn’t stop at in-episode swipes and jokes. The entire first season grounds its romantic emotion in a storyline between two queer women of color, one of whom is a Muslim immigrant. It’s one thing to write cheeky political dialogue into your show. It is entirely another to build a season-long narrative that defies the stereotypes that build the propaganda that’s used to persecute and oppress the minorities being targeted by a political party. Kat and Adena’s narrative is a clear and conscious decision to to use story — the most powerful thing in the world — to provide hope to those who need it and to fight back against those whose fears inform their bigotry. How often do we even get to see a woman of color in a relationship with another woman of color on TV? They are not an accident. They were made, on purpose, for this exact moment in time.

And that would be enough, but they were more than the idea of a good thing. Aisha Dee made Kat’s journey transcendent. By the time she was pedaling that SoulCycle bike and crying about being really truly in love for the first time in her life and trying to summon the courage to go after her girl I was so head over heels for her and Adena I sobbed like a little baby. But in a good way! Every week this show made me cry in a good way! It made me feel hope in a time when hope is the hardest thing to come by.

I could go on and on about this. The Bold Type is why I love stories. I needed it this summer. I actually needed it. It sustained my soul. And Jacqueline: Oh, I want to be her and drink whiskey with her.

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Kayla, Staff Writer

I sort of have a feeling this whole roundtable will just turn into a lot of screaming about The Bold Type in, ahem, bold type. This summer has offered a lot of gems, like Wynonna Earp and Insecure. But The Bold Type stands out as one of the most surprising shows of the summer. It’s fun and sexy on the surface but complex and dark just underneath, and the finale is centered on one of the best executed sexual assault storylines I’ve ever seen on television. I’m sadder about the first season of The Bold Type ending than I am about the actual season of summer ending.

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Dufrau, Contributor

I flinched away from The Bold Type so hard for the first few episodes. There has always been this beautiful foundation, obviously, in the friendship of the main characters. And a continuously startling steadiness in the way Jacqueline pushes and pulls them all, professionally. They all look so ready to be tropes in the promos, but they never are. But every week the show tackles something so timely and on the nose that I get Glee flashbacks and I find myself checking behind the curtains for a Will Schuester trying to bust a rhyme and burst the bubble of hope I feel when I look at these young women doing so well at existing.

But then every week it proves me wrong in my cynicism, and that’s never been more true than in the season finale. They addressed sexual assault in a way I have never seen it handled before on television. It wasn’t used as an explanation or excuse for behavior, it wasn’t used to make a character more sympathetic or to challenge our perception of their “strength.” It was, like everything on this show, about chosen family and creating safe spaces for each other. It was Jacqueline trusting Jane to tell her story (and even when she was nitpicking it, she still trusted her enough to assign it to her in the first place.) It was Jacqueline trusting Jane, Kat and Sutton with even knowing her story at all. It was Jacqueline giving Jane’s story the personal touch she always demands from others, even knowing Jane had one foot out the door. It was the contrast, unspoken, of a workplace where Jacqueline had not been safe, to this empire she’s built where these young women can take risks and fail and succeed and hopefully pull the next generation up behind them.

I am infinitely aware of the fact that almost every professional opportunity or advancement I’ve been lucky enough to find has come, often in large part but always at least with help, from women who have wanted to see me succeed. Women who have found some measure of success for themselves and have gone out of their way to give me a boost. And that’s what I saw in this episode, and in this season. I saw women using what power they had to elevate each other. And it snuck right up on me and made me cry.

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Nora, Fashion & Beauty Editor

I’ve stood by my assertion late last year that Insecure was the one thing that could possibly redeem 2016, and the show’s second season has vindicated me so far. Insecure has it all— fully formed, fallible, sometimes forgiving, actual human-like characters; a focus on female friendships (Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji’s is real); an incredible soundtrack; and all the fashion a girl could ask for (costume designer Ayanna James uses the show as a platform for boosting black-owned brands). It’s tough to choose a single favorite character (I alternately adore and can’t stand a number of them, which I think is a sign of skillful writing) but I was really glad to see more of Natasha Rothwell as Kelli this season, also. Hopefully next one, in addition to her continued performance as a plus-size woman aware of her sexual power and unafraid to ask for what she wants, she’ll get a career/family/other type of storyline, too. And, you know, more queer characters would obviously be a good thing.

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Riese, Editor-in-Chief

I am a dark soul and therefore I must select The Handmaid’s Tale, a visually stunning dystopia that did not provide me with as much Samira Wiley as OITNB has provided for the past few summers, but it was absolutely better than nothing. However I realize it’s more of a Spring show than a Summer show, so I guess I could also fall in line and pick The Bold Type. Furthermore, the first half of the first season of Daytime Divas was pretty kickass.

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Valerie Anne, Social Media Co-Editor and TV Writer

I feel like I SHOULD talk about The Bold Type because I do love it and I’ve never seen friendship between adult women portrayed so beautifully and realistically on my TV and Kat is perfect and Sutton makes me guffaw and Jacqueline is mommi, and it’s definitely no secret that I’m borderline obsessed with Wynonna Earp, but I still have to pick Wynonna Earp if we’re going favorite of the summer. Stronger somehow in its second season, Wynonna Earp takes all the feminist badassery of the sci-fi I grew up loving and adds a modern and unique twist. It’s hilarious and smart and emotional and it has a queer couple right at the heart of it. I swear I did watch and love other shows this summer (Killjoys! Stitchers! Insecure! The Night Shift! Heck I even mostly liked The Defenders!) but Wynonna Earp truly stood out to me this year. (Though Orphan Black‘s finale was the best series finale of a show I’ve seen in a good long time… I LOVE A LOT OF TV OKAY?!)

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Carmen, Contributor

Oh c’mon! This summer had some of the most positive TV watching experiences that I can remember in a long time. Focusing on one show would almost be unfair. So, with that in mind, and in honor of Back To School season which is already upon us- Here are some high school style superlatives to take us out:

Class Favorite: The Bold Type

Ok, let’s get this out of the way first. I don’t think ANY of us truly saw The Bold Type coming. It swept in like a brush fire and walked away- as far as I’m concerned- the sleeper hit of summer.

The Bold Type came into my life right when I’m in a lot of scary professional transition and trying to figure my out shit after my original life plan didn’t quite work as expected. I’ve drawn so much from Jane, Kat, and Sutton’s bravery (“I’m Nora Ephron, Bitch!”). The show’s light, but definitely not without levity, take on feminism and community and the workplace has tunneled deep into my heart.

After watching the first episode, I thought to myself: “OMG. It’s like The Devil Wears Prada and The Babysitter’s Club Movie had a baby.” And in that moment I knew, I was already in love.

Most Improved Player: The Fosters

If you walked away from The Fosters in the past few years, I absolutely do not blame you.

But, I also want to inform you that the show you originally fell in love with is desperately trying to find itself again. After some tough talking to from her mothers, Callie is finally starting to value and care for herself. The Moms got MULTIPLE main storyline episodes! Add to that, Mariana joining a Teen Latina Roller Derby league, an incredibly timely storyline about campus protests against white supremacy, and an intimate look at a family affected by DACA immigration policy— it’s safe to sayThe Fosters is back where it belongs.

Most Likely to Stay With You Long After You Watch It: Queen Sugar

Queen Sugar continues to be one of the most important pieces of feminist art on television. I don’t just mean that in relationship to the phenomenal, detailed acting portrayals in front of the camera. The show’s 100% directed by women, with a focus on hiring queer women and women of color. The writing staff is majority women, and women of color, as well. When we talk about the importance of having representation, Queen Sugar is a model of what that reality can look like.

I still miss Nova’s girlfriend, but in her absence Queen Sugar’s second season has gifted us with one of the best Black Lives Matters storylines I’ve seen thus far, incredibly important conversations about women’s mental health, and one of the strongest depictions of the adult sibling relationships on television.

Best Dressed: Insecure

Nora has already covered this particular aspect of Issa Rae’s breakout HBO hit in much better detail than I could, but I absolutely had to give my co-sign.

There is not an outfit or hairstyle worn by Issa this season that I haven’t immediately lusted after for my own wardrobe. I have, more than once this summer, paused the tv to google what she was wearing as it was happening. Insecure’s costume, hair, and make-up departments must be the hardest working people in show business. It’s off the charts.

Most Likely to Cheer You Up: Younger

Yes, there are times when Younger definitely veers towards corny, and sometimes the self-effacing “Oh jeez, millennials!” jokes can be a bit much. But, it’s also earnest and loving and centers female friendships in all of the best ways.

The best “bad day cure” that I have found this summer involves pouring the biggest glass of rosé that I can find and binging two or three episodes in a row. If you swap the rosé for a crisp glass of red, I think this self-care strategy should be able to carry you right through fall as well.

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Rachel, Managing Editor

It would not really be exaggerating to say The Bold Type has been my entire summer. It’s been a weird and transitional season, and I started it not caring much about this show I kept reading mentions of and that Heather had told us about. It sounded a little young for me and watching stuff about media sometimes drives me crazy because, as Riese put it, “I cannot control my jealousy for their extravagant magazine life.” I had heard something about two girls people were shipping, but I assumed it was a subtext thing that would just be frustrating because of course, right?

But a friend convinced me to try catching up on it and when I did I watched the first four episodes all in one night. All the magazine stuff I had thought would drive me crazy was, in fact, ridiculous; some characters (*cough* JANE SLOAN) I could just never really warm up to. But honestly watching the Kadena arc healed my heart and then broke it again in the best way, in ways I hadn’t expected. There were things that weren’t perfect, for sure — the writing on Kat definitely had her falling into the tiresome trope of “I’m not really queer; it’s just this one person,” which was frustrating for me. But something about Kat and the way her world got turned upside down resonated with me in a way nothing had before.

On paper her storyline looks a little stock, a little eye-rolling; girl meets girl and feels something she hasn’t before, and goes through self-discovery while freaking out internally and leaving the other girl in the lurch more than once in a pretty shitty way. In my humble opinion, though, it was more than that in execution. In part that was because Aisha Dee’s perfect face and genuine acting chops could make a high school production of South Pacific Tony-worthy. (I’m obsessed with her now; it’s fine I’m fine.) But it also works because Kat’s freakouts aren’t really about her sexual orientation or Adena’s gender; they’re about how terrified she is of how strongly she feels, how unprepared she was to want someone that much. She isn’t having a crisis over being queer; she’s queer and having a crisis over how scary it is to be genuinely all in on someone. I’m so, so over storylines about girls who toy with other women’s hearts because there are no stakes for them or they decide “this just isn’t me,” but this didn’t feel that way to me. Instead, it was clear the stakes were enormously high; it felt like genuine terror, the fear of not being sure if you can rise to the challenge of what you’re feeling.

Even though our lives don’t look all that similar, Kat and her fears and her choices felt like a kind of representation I hadn’t had before; I saw me at 17, me at 23, and in some ways me now. Kat’s arc is absolutely about coming out to yourself and others, but builds on that to be a larger arc about being brave enough to be vulnerable and to risk trying to have what and who you really want — something I hadn’t known I really needed to see a queer girl figuring out.

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Yvonne, Senior Editor

I read a blurb about The Bold Type in Cosmo before it premiered and decided I would watch it because it was about women who worked at a magazine. I’m a sucker for TV shows and movies centered around journalists and set in newsrooms or at magazines. The noble depictions of the media industry are usually dramas about men working tirelessly on a grueling investigation to find out the truth while the not-so noble depictions are usually rom-coms starring women who work at women’s magazines and writing vapid fluff. Tbh I thought the Bold Type was gonna be like the latter but I was fully surprised when I watched the first episode earlier this summer and it delivered far more complex storylines and characters than any silly rom-com ever has. It was fresh, it was funny, it was feminist and it was very in the now. Also there was gay stuff in it!

The Bold Type quickly became such a relief to watch over the course of my summer. This summer has been really weird and transitional for me. I’ve been thinking about my career goals, what I want out of life, and what I’m gonna do to achieve it — all while this goddamn country feels like it’s about to burn down to the ground any minute now. It’s thrown me off balance and has made me feel like I have no idea what I’m doing but also like I’m about to jump off a cliff and do a bunch of cool shit. I hope.

As much as I think Jane is annoying af and the least likeable character on the show, I think I cringe more when I watch her because I see myself in her. I feel uncomfortable because she exemplifies my worst qualities. She’s uptight and a perfectionist and her insecurities get in the way of her potential as a great reporter. I just want to shake her and be like OMG, SHUT UP!

Much like a really on point horoscope, every episode of The Bold Type was exactly what I needed to hear each week. Whether it came directly from Jacqueline, or was a life lesson via a SoulCycle class, I totally needed to hear it too. I was learning alongside Jane, Sutton and Kat. The show somehow always had really great advice for me while I questioned myself and my journey. I enjoyed every last minute of The Bold Type and hope it delivers more fun, more gay stuff and more advice in the second season.

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Editor’s note: Insecure is not a queer show, which we know, but we talk about it all the time amongst ourselves and so it somehow seemed normal for it to be on this list. We realize it’s not a queer show, even though it should be. 

Fall 2017 TV Preview: Some Lesbian and Bisexual Characters for You

by Riese & Heather

Pumpkin spice is in the air and you know what that means: It’s time for fall TV. After Lexa’s death on The 100 and the waves of lesbian and bisexual TV character deaths that followed, summer TV rebounded in a pretty satisfying way this year. Wynonna Earp, The Bold Type, Orphan Black, Doubt, Stitchers, The Handmaid’s Tale, Master of None; even The Fosters has gotten back on track. But now it’s time to say goodbye and look toward the tempestuous embrace of traditional network TV. The news out of the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour wasn’t great. There seem to be very few new shows with queer TV characters this year. There are some returning favorites, though, and just a handful of fresh offerings. Here’s where and when you’ll find them.

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Sundays

Survivor’s Remorse, Season 4 (Showtime) – August 20th, 10 PM

Survivor’s Remorse is one of the most consistently excellent shows on TV, but it doesn’t get a lot of press or social media love because it always airs between summer and fall TV schedules, and it does so on Starz, which isn’t easy to access if you don’t have a hardcore traditional cable package. The show’s lesbian character is M-Chuck; she’s the sister of Survivor’s main character, Cam, a professional basketball player who lives with and takes care of his family. The show ended season three with M-Chuck on her way to Boston to find out the truth behind the rape that led to her conception. She’s working through that, now, in the first few episodes of season four. This show is funny and smart and relentless in its realness, shifting tone from comedy to drama and back again multiple times a season.

Top Of The Lake: China Girl, Season 2 (Sundance) – September 10th, 9 PM

The second season of this eerie British import continues to star Elizabeth Moss as Robin, who is basically what has become its own female detective trope (slightly reckless, incredibly determined, single or in unstable relationships, sometimes drinks too much, cares deeply about the case, is condescended to by men) and this season Nicole Kidman joins the cast as Julia Edwards, the adoptive mother of the baby Robin gave up as a teenager, who is having an affair with a female teacher at Mary’s school.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 8 (HBO) – October 1st, 10pm

Apparently Julie Goldman will be guesting on at least one episode this season as “Julie,” which is probably, you know, Julie Goldman, and as you likely know, Julie Goldman is a proud butch lez who’ll bring some real proud butch lez emotions to this show about white men who think they are very funny!

The Walking Dead Season 8 (AMC) – October 22nd, 9 PM

Lesbian character Tara is still alive on this show, which is basically all I have to say about it. Her girlfriend Denise died and she found out at the end of last season that the motherfucker who killed her didn’t even mean to (stray arrows in the eyeball, it happens to everyone!) and now she’s nursing another gravely wounded friend back to health. Tara’s not around too much, but when she is Stef always has big dreams for her creating her own little zombie-free Themyscira and living out her days in queer bliss surrounded by other living gay women.

Shameless Season 8 (Showtime) – November 5th, 9 PM

Season 8 of Shameless will introduce Nessa, “a tough, smart lesbian who lives in Fiona’s newly purchased apartment building.” Nessa will be played by Jessica Szhor and will “develop a strong relationship with Fiona.” It looks like my faves, lesbian Svetlana and bisexual Veronica, will be back, although I imagine their romance is over, which is sad. Some websites on the internet are attempting to torture me with teases like, “Nessa and Fiona are set to become best friends that may or may not result in passionate love,” despite the fact that we already went down the “could Fiona go both ways?” path in Season Two with Jasmine Hollander and also there was a big missed opportunity with Angela in Season Five. Just saying. Also Regina King is directing this season!

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Mondays

Supergirl Season 3 (The CW) – October 9th, 8 PM

Alex Danvers’s Season 2 Supergirl storylines were so good. Just so good. She came out to her mom, to Kara, to her friends/co-workers. She fell in love. She almost died but didn’t die, and never gave up on living with her very last breath. There were so many ways to swoon it was honestly hard to keep up. In the off-season, we learned that Floriana Lima, who plays Maggie Sawyer, has stepped down as a series regular, which most everyone assumed meant she was going to get shot in the face, but nope! Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg told Entertainment Weekly she’s absolutely not going to die. She’ll be in the first five episodes, at least — “It’s some of the most emotional stuff we’ve ever done,” Kreisberg promises — and the door will be open for her to come back. Alex isn’t going anywhere!

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Tuesday

American Horror Story: Cult, Season 7 of AHS franchise (FX) – September 5th, 10 PM

As discussed, this season of American Horror Story is loosely centered on a Michigan lesbian played by Sarah Paulson who is horrified by the election of Donald Trump and starts seeing evil clowns everywhere while her partner, played by Allison Pill, tries to keep her own shit together. According to Variety, Evan Peters plays “a series of cult leaders” including Charles Manson, Jim Jones, David Koresh and Andy Warhol. Lena Dunham has a guest role as Valerie Solanis, the legendary author of the notorious SCUM Manifesto (SCUM stands for “Society for Cutting Up Men,” obvs) memorialized in the film I Shot Andy Warhol. (‘Cause she shot Andy Warhol.) Emma Roberts plays “a Michigan newscaster who is promoted above Adina Porter’s character ‘simply because she’s much more superficial and willing to do what it takes to survive.'” Murphy insists, “It’s not about Trump, it’s not about Clinton. It’s about somebody with the wherewithal to put their finger up to the wind and see that that’s what happening and using that to rise up and form power. And use people’s vulnerabilities about how they’re feeling afraid… and they feel like the world is on fire.” It feels highly likely that we will end up adding more characters to the #buryyourgays list this year due to this particular program.

Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) – October 10th, 9 PM

As the captain of the Waverider, Sara Lance was basically the lead character in Legends of Tomorrow‘s second season. Not bad for a bisexual woman who only came back to life after fans made their voices heard loud and clear when Arrow murdered her! Sara also did some really solid time-traveling making out, first with Betty McRae and then with then with Guinevere in Camelot. At San Diego Comic-Con, EP Marc Guggenheim told fans Sara is getting a new love interest in Season 3: “It’s definitely time for Sara to settle down, or at least have a relationship that’s more than a roll in the hay. It’s hard when you’re traveling through time.” He also said it’s time to “reestablish Sara’s bisexuality,” and since she’s only been smooching women since Nyssa showed up on Arrow all those years ago, it seems likely that “reestablishment” means a male love interest.

Marvel’s Runaways (Hulu) – November 21st, Streaming

Karolina Dean has been a lesbian for a long time in Marvel’s written universe, and now she’s going to be a lesbian in the cinematic one! I don’t want to spoil her coming out arc for you; it’s very dramatic! But I do want to tell you exactly how gay she is: She absorbs the sun’s energy and radiates it back out into the world as a rainbow. The Runaways are runaways because they want to fight the evil forces in the universe and all their parents are monsters. The show boasts a legitimately diverse cast and looks like a lot of fun.

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Wednesday

Broad City Season 4 (Comedy Central) – September 13th, 10:30 PM

FINALLY FINALLY ILANA AND ABBY ARE BACK. This season Ilana will be searching the planet for the orgasms she’s been unable to have since the election of Donald Trump, which will inevitably involve hooking up with other ladies, right? Also, look out for a guest spot from Wanda Sykes!

Star Season 2 (Fox) – September 27th, 9:00 PM

Star slipped under our radar in Season 1 but I watched it all a couple of weeks ago and was actually blown away by it. Trans model/actress Amiyah Scott plays Cotton, a self-described “hustler” who works as both a dancer and a stylist at her mother’s salon in Atlanta. Her mother is played by Queen Latifah. Their relationship is tempestuous. Cotton’s storyline hits a lot of the same ol’ beats (to have surgery or not to have surgery, etc.) but it doesn’t center on them. Cotton is funny and smart and beloved and her complicated motivations and relationship with her mom inform all of her decisions. There’s also a gender non-conforming character named Miss Bruce (played by Miss Lawrence), who was a breakout star in Season 1 and has been upped to a regular for Season 2.

American Housewife Season 2 (ABC) – September 27th, 9:30 PM

Katie is the main character on American Housewife and sometimes she has second breakfast with her two best friends, one of whom is a lesbian named Angela. That’s all Angela does. She’s a sounding board for Katie and her problems and we only find out about her life through throwaway lines of dialogue. We don’t ever actually see her life. She’s got an ex-wife whom we met once. They hate each other’s guts. That’s really it. Middle America loves this show and there’s a black lesbian from time-to-time which is something!

Riverdale Season 2 (The CW) – October 11th, 8:00 PM

Riverdale’s adding a new character, Toni Topaz, and she will indeed be a bisexual lady. There’s also been hints that Cheryl Blossom will explore her own sexual fluidity this season. Whatever happens, you’ll hear about it on Tumblr for sure.

The Shannara Chronicles (Spike) – October 11th, 8:00 PM

Eretria revealed that she’s bisexual in Season 1 of The Shannara Chronicles but it didn’t really go anywhere, but according to the most recent trailer, it’s going somewhere (gay!) in season two! Here’s a bit of TV trivia for you from Valerie Anne: Shannara‘s new queer gal is played by Vanessa Morgan who is also going to be the bisexual Toni Topaz on Riverdale and also played the bisexual Bird on Finding Carter.

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Thursday

Gotham Season 4 (Fox) – September 21st, 8:00 PM

Gotham definitely killed Barbara last season. Electrocuted by her own girlfriend. Which, you know, happens when you’re both troped-up bisexual psychopaths. But then at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Nashville, David Mazouz (who plays young Master Bruce) seemed to indicate that she’s still alive? I don’t know, man. This show is not good with its women. It lost me when it banished Rene Montoya and every episode since then has gotten worse and worse w/r/t good queer rep.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 (ABC) – September 28th, 8:00 PM

Our beloved Arizona Robbins had a pretty controversial relationship on Season 13 of Grey’s Anatomy. For one thing, no one’s ever going to compete with Callie Torres. But for another thing, she was paired up with Eliza Minnick, who is both loathed by viewers and the characters inside the show. Bailey fired Minnick in the season finale and it was honestly just so satisfying to everyone. Probably that means another broken heart for Arizona. Maybe Minnick will meet up with Erica Hahn in the Parking Lot of No Return and they can have a nice brunch.

Will & Grace Reboot (NBC) – September 28th, 9:00 PM

“When we started it was revolutionary to have two gay characters,” Debra Messing said at TCA, according to Vox, “We were ‘LGB,’ but we stopped at B. My hope is we can now finish the alphabet.” What this really speaks to is that Karen’s bisexuality was so downplayed that the cast members have also forgotten about it. Well, I haven’t, and I pray for its return!

How To Get Away With Murder Season 4 (ABC) – September 28th, 10:00 PM

Annalise Keating is one of the most important characters on television, played by one of the greatest living actors. I’ll quote our TV writer Natalie from the QPOC roundtable we published a couple of weeks ago: “It’s hard to divorce my love for Annalise Keating from the woman that plays her because so much of what makes me feel seen is that she’s portrayed by someone who looks like Viola Davis. Annalise Keating is a dark-skinned black woman, who isn’t a size zero and whose natural hair hides beneath impeccable wigs. Hollywood has a very narrow definition of what a beautiful black woman ought to look like —*cough* Halle Berry *cough* — and Viola Davis upends all of that.” There’s no word yet whether or not Famke Janssen’s Eve will be back for any episodes in Season 4, but here’s hoping. She’s Annalise’s lifelong love.

Arrow Season 6 (The CW) – October 12th, 9:00 PM

Oliver and William watched the island of Lian Yu explode with basically every Arrow character on it in the Season 5 finale. Those characters included our much beloved and criminally underused Nyssa al Ghul. I’ve gotta believe The CW of all networks isn’t stupid enough to kill another lesbian, but I guess we’ll find out soon! There was a time I believed Donald Trump couldn’t get elected president!

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Friday

One Mississippi Season 2 (Amazon Prime) – September 8th, Full Season Streaming

While One Mississippi‘s first season ended with Tig Notaro says the second season will take much less inspiration from her real life. She told Deadline: “There are people that I’m dating [on the show], and checking things out with, and checking out the spark that got started with the Kate character. That’s definitely in season two.” Gay love! It’s in the air in Bay Saint Lucille! You should watch this show if you are not watching this show. It’s so smart and so so funny and THERE’S A LESBIAN LEAD and no gays have been buried.

Transparent Season 4 (Amazon Prime) – September 22nd, Full Season Streaming

A show beloved by queers and Jewish people alike and often recognized for boldly tackling complicated material is going all-out this season by sending its characters to Israel, where they will confront checkpoints, have spiritual revelations and inspire hot takes. “Transparent” came in #1 on our list of Most Critically Acclaimed Queer-ish TV shows.

Once Upon a Time Season 7 (ABC) – October 6th, 8:00 PM

[Deep sigh.] Once Upon a Time is promising, once again, a gay thing. EP Edward Kitsis told EW: “This [revamped] iteration [of the show] is reflecting the world today. It will not be anything more than just one of other love stories that are happening. I don’t think it’s an arc, it’ll be a character who is gay and that’s who they are and they exist in the world. They don’t have a sign that says ‘special episode.'” That is a thing I will believe when I see.

Jane the Virgin Season 4 (The CW) – October 13th, 9:00 PM

Luisa’s been perpetually in and out on Jane the Virgin over the course of the show’s run, but it seems likely that she’ll play a much bigger role in Season 4 on account of she now owns literally everything in Miami. Or at least everything entitled to the Solano heir, which Rafael is not. He lied to her about having cancer, and so she taped back together their dad’s shredded will and showed up at his door with it and who’s the psychopath now, my dude? (It’s still Rose. Rose is always the psychopath.) All signs point to a loyalty showdown this season, with Luisa choosing between her lover and her brother once and for all.

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TBD

Life Sentence Season One

This mid-season replacement stars Aria from Pretty Little Liars as a girl who thought she was going to die but then found out she wasn’t going to die after all! And then it turns out that her Mom is having a relationship with another lady because life is just damn full of surprises.

The UK’s Reality Dating Shows, Ranked by Queerness

When exactly did the British public fall in love with dating shows? It’s been a quiet takeover, but somehow the TV schedules have ended up filled with lonely hearts looking for love, from lunchtime marathons of Dinner Date to the late-night sleaze of Naked Attraction. The dating show craze hit its peak this summer with the latest series of Love Island, which ended up becoming such a phenomenon the finale was screened in cinemas and journalists wouldn’t stop asking Labour leader and absolute boy Jeremy Corbyn who his favourite contestant was (it was Marcel). The nation still hasn’t entirely recovered.

However, this love affair has traditionally been exclusively heterosexual. We’ve had Sexy Beasts, a show in which daters were covered in prosthetics and transformed into mythical creatures before they hooked up, but queer romance has been a step too far for most of the history of dating shows. We started to see LGBTQ folk appear in the 2000s, but it was limited to grim stunt shows like the wildly transphobic There’s Something About Miriam and American import A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. The fierce backlash to the revival of Playing it Straight – in which a woman had to determine which of a number of potential male partners were secretly gay – in 2012 hopefully closed that era for good.

While we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of mainstream dating shows willing to open their doors to queer singletons since then, many remain depressingly straight. Hell, a few years ago, ITV2 aired a dating show literally called Girlfriends that was somehow entirely heterosexual. Even when we are included, queer contestants are often covered up in episode descriptions and the dates themselves can be unbearably cringeworthy. If you started a drinking game based on how many times either “All the Things She Said” or “I Kissed a Girl” is played behind the introduction of a queer woman alone, you wouldn’t live to see the end of it.

What’s a queer girl to do? The weird model of romance these shows rely on might not suit… well, anybody really, but it’s not fun being left out of the party. At least when talent shows were the big thing we had Alex Parks and Lucy Spraggan. And back then you only had to keep up with a couple of shows! Who has time to sift through all the dating shows out there to work out which ones have queer content, never mind which of those make you wish they hadn’t bothered?

Well, reader, I’m here to save you. This list isn’t going to cover every single dating show on UK television, because I only have Freeview and quite frankly I’m a little too scared to go digging around the more obscure satellite channels. However, I can guarantee you that it’s the most comprehensive review of the relative queerness of British dating shows you’re going to read this week. In true reality television style, I’ll be giving each show a score based on two metrics: the amount of queer content, and to what degree that content will leave you silently begging it to end.

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6. Take Me Out / Love Island / Dating in the Dark

Consider this the sin bin. The only love allowed here is the pure, honest love between a man, a woman and a television production crew. Take Me Out‘s host, Paddy McGuinness, has said he’d like to see a gay edition of the show, but that was over two years now and we’re yet to see any sign it might actually happen. Meanwhile, despite featuring bisexual contestants in the past, ITV2 recently announced they wouldn’t be allowing same-sex couples on Love Island, claiming it would “take something away from the format”. You’re all getting an F. I don’t pay my television license to watch heterosexuals touch each other.

Queer Content: 0/10
Awkwardness: 10/10

Overall Score: 0/10

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5. Ex on the Beach

Ex on the Beach is just as relentlessly straight as the shows above; this extra point is solely because its premise – being forced into constant contact with your ex – is as gay as it comes.

Queer Content: 1/10
Awkwardness 10/10

Overall Score: 1/10

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4. Blind Date

Simultaneously the granddaddy of dating shows and the new kid on the block. Blind Date started in 1985 and ran for almost twenty years until, in an incredibly baller move, host Cilla Black quit the show live on air. But now Channel 5, broadcaster of beloved TV classics like Touch the Truck and Celebrity Super Spa, has brought it back! And it’s 2017, so they can’t pretend queer people don’t exist any more! Now hosted by everyone’s favourite gay uncle and ex-drag queen, Paul O’Grady, the new and improved Blind Date aired six episodes this summer. Between them, they featured a grand total of one queer contestant – Alice, whose defining personality trait was being a big fan of Celine Dion. Despite Channel 5 promising there would be LGBTQ representation “throughout the series”, at two dates per episode, that’s a rate of one queer date for every eleven straight dates. Not fantastic. But there’s something about Blind Date’s old-fashioned charm that let me see past the numbers. Just like thirty years ago, contestants on the show are sent on a date with their pick from three potential, unseen partners. The entire thing is run like a game show, and even when the rejected lonely hearts are given the boot or the date goes horribly wrong, it feels like everyone’s in on the fun. It’s definitely the sweetest show on this list, and if it can just promise me a few more queers in future, I’ll be tuning in again when it comes back.

Queer Content: Technically 0.833/10, But Let’s Call It 2/10
Awkwardness: 1/10

Overall Score: 4/10

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3. Naked Attraction

First things first, Naked Attraction gets bonus points right out the gate for being hosted by Anna Richardson, girlfriend of Sue Perkins, and therefore one half of Britain’s hottest (and, let’s face it, only) queer woman TV power couple. The rest of the show is a trip. Each episode involves one clothed singleton and six naked contestants vying for their affection. Their bodies are revealed in stages from the feet up, with one rejected at each stage. When only two contestants are left, the person deciding takes off their own clothes and chooses which one to go on a date with. They hug – yes, it’s awkward every single time – walk off together, and then we get to see how the date went. Channel 4 might call it a ‘social experiment’, but it’s a show unabashedly for that point when it’s 1AM, you’re a bit drunk and you just want to turn on the telly and laugh at some willies – and, honestly, I kind of respect it for that. The series has been slated by critics for being “degrading”, and it’s hard to deny that when you’re watching someone choose between potential dates based solely on their genitals. But there’s a strange kind of satisfaction in watching the objectification we’re all subjected to every day taken to the extreme. If your Tinder date is going to be staring at your boobs anyway, why not just whap it all out?

While we’re still on the positives, the show makes a real effort at LGBTQ inclusion, having featured gay, lesbian, bi, pan and trans contestants over the course of its two series. Unfortunately, once you look past all the genitals, things start to take a turn for the worst. Why is it that the dating show with the most commitment to queer representation is the one designed to garner outraged Daily Mail headlines? Why do the strange educational cut-aways have such a terrible understanding of sex and gender? Why is a show ostensibly about showing off ‘real people’ so dominated by white, young, thin bodies without visible disabilities? Where the heck is everyone’s pubic hair? Naked Attraction certainly isn’t “the worst programme ever shown on television”, as Mediawatch-UK (the current incarnation of Mary Whitehouse’s infamous National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association) claimed last year, but you might end up feeling a little skeezy watching it. On the other hand, its second series does feature a contestant describing herself as being passionate about “feminism, eggs and gin” before explaining the concept of pansexuality, and I’m not sure where else you’ll find that on British television.

Queer Content: 8/10
Awkwardness: Depends On Your Feelings About People Critiquing Other People’s Genitals. 7/10?

Overall Score: 6/10

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2. First Dates

If we were ranking on convenience, First Dates would win by a country mile. For those times when you just have to watch two women who’ve never met awkwardly chat about coming out, First Dates is there; every episode of the main show, its specials and weird spin-off First Dates Hotel is always available on demand for anyone willing to deal with Channel 4’s atrocious app. The premise is simple: each episode follows a night at a restaurant where everyone dining is there on a blind date. The show’s been LGBTQ inclusive since it began back in 2013, though it only features a few queer or trans singletons per series. The fact that each episode cuts between multiple dates also means that unless you’re happy to get familiar with your fast-forward button, you have to cope with a lot of hetero bullshit to get to them. The mating rituals of the straights are very strange. They spend most of the time arguing over who’s going to pay for dinner and, unlike the queer dates, very few of them end up with the happy couple driving off in a taxi to Soho.

As for how uncomfortable it’ll make you: very, probably. Most of the dates go poorly in some way, and watching a few episodes in a row will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about basic human interaction. But at least it’s equal-opportunity awkwardness! Unlike most of the shows on this list, I’ve only really felt uncomfortable watching as a queer woman once: when a participant told the camera that “If [my date] looks like a lesbian, then I won’t like her”. Which gets us to a big problem with pretty much every show on this list: when queer women do appear, they almost always fit into one mould: thin, cis, white and high femme. While it’s great to see queer femmes represented, it means the real diversity of the British queer scene gets completely overlooked. First Dates in particular features a wide variety of straight singles looking for love, but most of the time we only get to see a depressingly narrow vision of queer existence. On one date, I literally couldn’t tell the two women apart. Though in the show’s defence, I do have face blindness.

First Dates, then. It’ll make you want to curl up and die, but that’s kind of what it’s going for.

Queer Content: 5/10, But With Bonus Points For How Easy It Is To Access
Awkwardness: 9/10

Overall Score: 7/10

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1. Dinner Date

Honestly, I love Dinner Date. You might call ITV’s decision to just blatantly smush together First Dates and Come Dine with Me ‘cynical’. That, however, would be to ignore Dinner Date‘s subtle genius. The show introduces a lonely heart to three blind dates, each of which has to cook them a three course meal. The contestant chooses their favourite to take out to a romantic restaurant, while the others get delivered a microwave meal for one. It’s all shot on a budget of about £3.80 but, like all the best daytime TV, you can put an episode on for some background noise and four hours later you’re yelling at Helen from Exeter to take her cheese sauce off the hob before it burns.

Queer participants might appear less frequently than in other shows on this list, but with over 200 episodes broadcast and six participants in each (though only four actually get to go on the dates), Dinner Date certainly has numbers on its side. It’s also the only series here to consistently feature masculine-of-centre women, and many episodes have daters chatting about issues like femme erasure and the London-centrism of the queer scene over their dinner. Unfortunately, Dinner Dates is absolutely the worst offender when it comes to hackneyed musical choices; you will get sick of hearing t.A.T.u.

The music aside, it’s easy to fall for Dinner Date‘s low-budget charm. The entire thing is filmed in the participants’ homes and everyone is clearly only on the show to have a laugh, which makes it easier to swallow when someone who’s never cooked before decides to make a soufflé twenty minutes before their date turns up. Sure, it’s not the most original show on television, but it has heart – and isn’t that what we’re all here for?

Queer Content: 7/10
Awkwardness: 3/10

Overall Score: 8/10

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Dinner Date is our winner! To be honest, though, that’s not saying much. This isn’t the place for an in-depth discussion of queer assimilation and the issues with replicating a heteronormative relationship model, but a truly queer dating show wouldn’t look much like a dating show at all. Sure, I enjoy the shows we have, but watching them en masse for this article was thoroughly depressing. When you’ve spent twenty minutes scouring through the episode list to find some queer women and you hear the opening drumbeat of “I Kissed a Girl” kick in again, it doesn’t feel good. I’m lucky enough to have been able to create a bubble for myself where queerness is the unquestioned norm. Even the best of the UK’s dating shows serve to remind me how fragile that bubble is, that for most of the population queer women are a novelty at best and non-existent at worst.

It’s not all bad, though. I was surprised to find that queer women appeared in more or less equal numbers to – and in some cases actually outnumbered – queer men. That’s particularly notable when you realise that while there have been multiple English-language gay dating shows, there’s never been a single lesbian one. And things are getting better, with newer series like Naked Attraction explicitly recruiting participants from across the entire spectrum of gender and sexuality, and the mainstream press beginning to raise questions about our exclusion from those shows that don’t welcome us. Then again, maybe being barred from the world of dating shows for so long has really been a blessing in disguise – at least we got to skip the indignities of Sing Date.

Autostraddle Roundtable: The Lesbian Sex Scene That Changed My Life

Despite the aggressive sexualization of girl-on-girl action in mainstream society, queer women have long hungered for authentic representations of lesbian sex on television and in film. Heterosexuals are always getting naked and getting it on and kissing with tongue and in most cases lesbians and bisexual women are forced to settle for chaste pecks and fades-to-black where our sex scenes should be. But every now and then something that feels real or, at least, starts a light pre-party in our pants, breaks through the noise and changes our whole damn lives. Today we celebrate the scenes that made us the glorious humans we are… in bed. And maybe out of bed too. Or, yannow, represented really touching and impactful character development.

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Kayla, Staff Writer

Lost Girl, Season One, Episode 8, Bo & Lauren

This is not the first lesbian sex scene I saw on television, but it was the first one I ever instinctively masturbated to, so it feels pretty damn significant. It was the summer after my freshman year of college, and I was living alone, working as a campaign manager in a small town in Michigan where I knew no one. I was lonely and also about to hit the peak of my lesbian denial. For some totally bizarre and indecipherable reason, I was extremely into this Canadian show about a hot bisexual succubus played by Anna Silk. So into it, in fact, that it turned me on more than any actual porn could. There are many better lesbian sex scenes out there, but this one will always have a special place in my heart/pants. Also, I feel like my life changes every time I see a lesbian sex scene on television. Is that relatable?

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Erin, Staff Writer

Shameless, Season Six, Episode 11, Vee & Svetlana

My dream couple is Vee and Svetlana from Shameless. I consider any scene either one of them is in to be a sex scene, and so when they got together in the sixth season of the show, my brain melted a little bit. There’s Svetlana with this attitude and this Russian accent (I know it’s not real and it’s probably a bad one but I don’t give a shiiiiit because without getting into a whole thing about me and Eastern European accents I’ll just say it works for me) and then there’s Vee who looks like Vee and, I just, it meant a lot. Riese can attest to this. In this scene it’s their first time together – well, alone (they’d had a threesome the night before with Vee’s husband) – and they’re in the bar where they work. Svetlana is putting down chairs and locking doors with a purpose and they’re sassing each other and there’s a pool table involved and I want to kiss on the mouth whoever gave this the green light.

The lesbian sex scene that changed my life for the worse is any time Tina had sex on The L Word.

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Faith, Staff Writer

Xena Warrior Princess, Various, Xena and Gabrielle

Every time Xena and Gabby sat in a hot tub together (“Okay now it’s YOUR turn to sit betwixt my naked thighs and have your back lovingly sponged”) it may as well have been a sex scene because that’s what I dreamt of later that night and the next two nights after that.

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Laura M, Staff Writer

The L Word, Season Two, Episode 3, Carmen & Shane

My favorite part of movie/TV sex scenes is usually foreplay — everything that happens right up until they go full HBO. Like, I want to see girls fucking on screen, I like to see girls fucking on screen, but if I’m being really honest, the part of the scene that stirs me most deeply usually comes right before that, where they’re teasing and flirting with each other, effectively getting as close as possible to doing it without actually doing it. (And subsequently going on to do it. BAM.)

Anyway, this Carmen/Shane scene is exactly that! Lots of sexy anticipation building. In it, Carmen invents a game where they have to kiss and keep kissing but can’t touch each other beyond that. Whoever touches the other person first “loses” and then the “winner” gets to do “whatever they want.” Three guesses what that is.

The whole thing is very hot, but special thanks goes out to Carmen in those boy shorts. Goddamn. Get it, girl.

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Laneia, Executive Editor

The L Word, Season Three, Episode 5, Shane & Cherie

This feels, to me, like the first thing everyone knows about me, but that’s only because it’s one of the first things I ever said on the internet and I’ve just kept on saying it for like a decade: the lesbian sex scene that harpooned any semblance of straightness I had left in my body was Shane and Cherie by the pool. I knew nothing about these characters or their storylines, and I’d come across the show by complete accident. Other girl/girl encounters I’d seen before had been choreographed for men — either so they could consume it or insert themselves into the center of it. In fact, even without knowing about the male gaze, I still internalized its message to the extent that I actually felt guilty and out of line for enjoying seeing women together in media, because those moments had obviously not been created for me. This strap-on sex at the edge of the water complete with believable thrusting was so clearly not for men in any way that it took me a few seconds to wrap my skull around what was happening. My brain finally scrambled up to the fact that she’d been wearing the strap-on the whole time and that’s when I shuffled off this mortal coil. I’m serious when I say that this sex scene literally changed the trajectory of my entire fucking life, and that’s insane. Thanks, Kate!

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Molly, Staff Writer

Lost and Delirious, Paulie and Victoria (and Mary sort of)

It was summertime and I was 16, leaving my job at the walk-up Dairy Queen, terrified at what I was about to do. My parents were out of town, all my siblings were gone, and I was facing the rarest of evenings: A night alone in the house. My plan as a burgeoning baby queer was to try to blush all the way to the movie rental shop so I could get it out of my system and NOT blush when I rented Lost and Delirious. I knew it had lesbians in it, but I was not ready for the scene in which Mary (played by beautiful sad angel Mischa Barton) also understands there are lesbians at her boarding school. Piper Perabo played Paulie and Jessica fucking Paré plays Victoria and they are straight up getting it ON in the shared dorm room. Mary is like, “Oh whoa, what is happening with these girls and their love?” and I was like, “…..” nothing because I was dead. Coincidentally, Pauline was also dead at the end of the movie so I assumed lesbian sex was so good you’d trade dying young to experience it.

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KaeLyn, Staff Writer

The L Word, Season Three, Episode 5, Alice and Uta

It’s not that I’m into lesbian vampires, but it’s not that I’m not into lesbian vampires, either. Uta caught both Alice and me by surprise with her light bondage boudoir and uncomfortably-hot high vamp femme dom gaze. Also, teaching a college course on “the queer vampire in literature and film” is like the weirdest/sexiest thing anyone could ever say in a speed dating situation, probably. What attracts me to the lesbian vampire, Uta? I guess, like Alice, I just “like the dark side”? I don’t know. I mean, I have a thing for goth-ish girls. My first celebrity girl crush was Christina Ricci and I’m inexplicably drawn to Scorpios, so you could say I have a type.

For all the sex on The L Word, there wasn’t a ton of sex with kink (that I remember anyway) and media portrayals of kinky sex are usually laden with shame or negativity. This scene stands out to me because it was a relatively positive and definitely consensual kink scene and also on a fundamental human level, I was just, like, not ready for how it made me feel in my pants when Uta hung Alice from the ceiling and bit her neck. I also love how this scene turns the actual lesbian vampire trope on its head, reclaiming women’s sexual agency by reflecting the lesbian vampire’s desire as consensual and freeing for Alice. Lastly, I think I always kind of identified with Alice not only because she was bisexual, but because she was pretty open to trying new things in the bedroom and her sex scenes were sometimes… funny? Like somehow the Alice and Uta scene was simultaneously hot and kinky and very silly, which is exactly how I like my light bondage queer lady vampire sex.

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Rachel, Managing Editor

After Sex, Mila Kunis and Zoe Saldana

I have never watched the full movie After Sex and never will. I don’t even know how I found out about this scene — did someone tell me? Was it on tumblr??? What are their character’s names even?? — but I watched the clip of it on YouTube over and over and over in my college dorm room. It definitely wasn’t the first lesbian sex scene I had seen, and honestly calling it a sex scene is a little bit generous: there’s a few seconds of oral sex that happen entirely under a blanket and which is almost immediately undercut by the receiver of the oral sex, Mila Kunis, telling Zoe that she definitely isn’t into her or even attracted to women. The only other physical contact they have is about three seconds of fingering, again under the pretext of Mila Kunis’s straightness.

Something about it felt so real, though — maybe that the characters were the same age as me, maybe that both of them were struggling with squaring identity with attraction when my own identity still felt very newborn and fragile, maybe that Zoe Saldana’s voice is really hot. Maybe I don’t need to do that much psychoanalyzing about why I wanted to see Zoe Saldana finger a girl in a miniskirt in the middle of a library and then lick her fingers and say “You taste so fucking good.” Sometimes good things just come to us and we don’t have to question why! But at the same time, it was the first sex scene I had seen that felt like it could happen in my life, in that it was fraught and weird and kind of aborted due to being in a university library and everyone involved in it was obviously in way over their heads. Was I Zoe? Was I Mila? I didn’t know! I do know that when I was with the other senior editors earlier this summer we rewatched this scene together and I don’t think any of us spoke or even breathed until it was over. God bless.

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Priya, Staff Writer

The L Word, Season Two, Episode 1, Shane and Carmen

Shane and Carmen were one of my favorite couples in the whole series and having just embarked upon the wonder that is The L Word as a closeted baby dyke, the scene where they meet and then subsequently have sex in the DJ booth is so hot. Though Shane and Carmen have several hot sex scenes in the series, somehow this first one just stayed with me. I think it helped that I somehow identified with Shane (in what I now call the the lesbian “Do I want to be her or be IN her” theory) or that I found Carmen so strikingly beautiful. Either way, the thought of THAT happening the first time you meet someone was such a turn on, and I loved rewatching this (and their other hot scenes) in college when I embarked upon the journey of coming out to myself.

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Heather, Senior Editor

Fingersmith, Sue and Maud

Because I grew up and spent my early 20s around the kind of super Christians who don’t swear or drink alcohol or have sex or watch R-rated movies, I spent most of my whole life listening to my friends get grossed out whenever two women got close enough to even hint at their mouths touching. I remember this one time two women kissed in a shady corner in a party scene in the first five minutes of The Fast and the Furious and every single one of my church friends dove toward the TV to turn it off and get Satan’s propaganda off the screen. So I wasn’t going looking for any lesbian sex scenes, I’ll tell you that. Luckily, YouTube was hyped on its new “recommended videos” algorithm and since I kept watching Pride and Prejudice clips it thought I might be interested in BBC’s adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith. Reader, I sure was. It was like, “La la la Victorian family drama” and then Sue’s helping Maud take off her gloves and then Sue’s unbuttoning Maud’s gown and then Sue is kissing Maud and then Sue is ON TOP OF MAUD and there’s panting and gasping and writhing and whimpering. The violins kept getting more and more excited and so did I and by the end of that three-minute scene I was gay.

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Raquel, Staff Writer

Black Swan, Nina and Lily

Up until Black Swan, the only girl-on-girl sex scenes I had seen were from The L Word (and shoutout, like many, to the iconic Carmen-Shane scene). I’d had a huge crush on Natalie Portman born when she shaved her head and gave me shades of queer feelings in V for Vendetta. Black Swan came out of nowhere and surprised me with a super-hot scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, complete with a jump-scare at the end. This scene was scary, graphic, raw. There’s an amazing moment when Kunis wipes her mouth. I watched it between my fingers, unsure if I was allowed to be watching this, overwhelmed by its muchness, realizing in that moment really just how very very gay I am.

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Yvonne, Senior Editor

Lost and Delirious, Paulie and Tori

My elementary school best friend had moved to a different high school but we were still friends on Myspace. From what I could gather from her Myspace page, she was gay and her favorite movie was Lost and Delirious. I was intrigued by the movie. I was 17 and I was falling for my high school best friend hard. We had already kissed and fooled around but I was still trying to make sense of it all and figure out what the fuck I was doing. I wanted so desperately to watch Lost and Delirious because it was the first lesbian film I had ever encountered. I knew renting it would be too risky. I had dial-up internet at home so loading an entire pirated film would’ve taken several uninterrupted hours. Luckily, my older sister lived alone in her own apartment with high-speed internet and I would always ask her if I could go over to use her internet to do my homework. She wasn’t home one day when I went over to her place to finally watch Lost and Delirious. It was the first time I watched lesbian sex and it was like WOAH. It was forbidden and it was hot. Paulie and Tori were teenagers like me and had full on sex in their dorm room while their roommate Mouse was sleeping, which like, wow, they really did not give a fuck, huh? I was doing the same thing they were doing but definitely not with a third person in the room, in fact, we actively tried not to get caught like normal teenagers. Watching that scene was like finally connecting all the dots. No, I wasn’t just into my best friend; I was also very into hot women making out and fucking each other.

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Riese, Editor-in-Chief

The L Word, Season One, Episode 10: Shane and Cherie

It wasn’t my idea to rewind the scene — Shane in her glasses, leaning over Cherie’s salon chair, asking “What do you want?” — but I didn’t mind that Krista wanted to rewind it again and again, and bring it up later and then again. Krista was my roommate, a best friend from boarding school, with whom I fell in love with Shane. Krista’s like a Kinsey 1, maybe, but Shane transcends that, much to everybody’s alternate delight or chagrin. We could share a crush like we’d shared Jordan Catalano. A mere 20 minutes later, Cherie invites Shane to her home for a blow-out and makes her sexual desires known and BANG, Shane does her little “oh okay” smile and they’re tearing each other’s clothes off, and of course Cherie is in like a full lingerie set and Shane’s wearing a white button-up without a goddamn bra. After that episode I couldn’t stop thinking about Shane. I wasn’t sure yet what it meant, only that I needed a Shane-themed screensaver and I kept starting fights with my boyfriend. Prior to this situation I’d never seen two women just fuck like that, raw and hungry — they weren’t in love (yet), they weren’t best friends with/without sexual tension, they were just two hot women who wanted it. I wanted that too.

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Alaina, Staff Writer

Mango Kiss

I waited a long time after coming out to have sex. A lot of that was because I came out really young and was not interested in sex yet, but I also think that I didn’t know how to ask for the kind of sex I wanted to have. For as long as I’ve had sexual fantasies, I’ve had kinky sex fantasies. There were no sex scenes between women that were even remotely kinky though. And then I saw Mango Kiss. And y’all Mango Kiss as a whole is a mess, but it’s a story about two queer women discovering kink and role play and enjoying kinky sex. When one of the characters, Sassafras calls her partner Daddy, I remember feeling so seen. I also remember that I was wearing headphones and I still looked around to make sure no one heard it and thought I was weird for being into it. It was scary to watch because I felt like a part of myself was being laid bare in front of my very eyes, and if I admitted out loud that this was what I was into, then I couldn’t go back. The scene is so honest, and the whole movie is all about queer women and queer women’s communities. And it stuck with me. It took me a while after beginning to have sex to bring kink into my sex life, but it was that scene that made me brave enough to to say it out loud. If someone had made a movie about it, I knew I couldn’t be the only one.

Summer 2017 Gay TV Preview: Some Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Characters For Ya

Summer used to be a lackluster season for television, but that was before we were gifted with ten thousand channels, streaming services and otherwise-notable methods of viewing television programs. Now, summer is full of popsicles, climate change, and solid television programs, including many with queer women characters. Not as many as there could be, but quite a few!

Here’s our list of every show we’re aware of that premieres/d between April 23rd and August 31st that contains lesbian, bisexual or queer female characters. Let us know if we missed anything!

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Sundays

Mary Kills People // Season One // Lifetime (April 23rd)

This Canadian import is a female-driven production about an ER doctor with a popular side business as a practitioner of assisted suicide. Mary’s daughter, Jess, is in a romantic situation with Naomi, the daughter of Mary’s ex-husband’s current girlfriend.

American Gods // Season One // Starz (April 30th)

Based on the best-selling Neil Gaiman novel that I for some reason cannot seem to get through, American Gods tells the story of Shadow, a convict given early release from prison following the death of his wife who is immediately enlisted by a strange man named Wednesday to assist him on a cross-country road trip that turns out to be the project of gathering all the old gods to confront the New Gods. Nigerian actress Yetide Badaki plays Bilquis, an Old Goddess of Love, who feeds herself by having sex with both men and women, except that “having sex” means swallowing them with her vagina! Also look out for two Muslim gay male characters and appearances by Gillian Anderson and Kristen Chenoweth. (Read 25 fun facts about American Gods at Black Nerd Problems.)

Twin Peaks // Season One // Showtime (May 21st)

David Lynch will not tell us anything about this reboot, but it seems David Duchovony will be returning for at least one episode as the transgender detective he played in the original. Also, Laura Palmer is kind of bisexual, right? Laura Dern stars and look out for appearances from Stephanie Allyne, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ashley Judd, Amanda Seyfried, Alicia Witt, Naomi Watts, Charlene Yi and Madeline Zima.

Claws // Season One // TNT (June 11th)

Y’all I could NOT be more excited for this one. Claws, a dark comedy starring the always-delightful Niecy Nash, follows a group of five Florida nail-salon employees who end up part of a pill-mill money laundering scheme. Judy Reyes plays Quiet Anne, a former party girl and mother-of-two, who Reyes describes as “a lesbian [and very tough] as I created her. This was a wonderful opportunity to go against anything else I had played.”

Game of Thrones // Season Seven // HBO (July 16th)

Heather’s girlfriend Stacy is confident that Yara Greyjoy and Daenerys are going to make out this season.

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Mondays

Still Star-Crossed // Season One // ABC (May 29th)

This new Shondaland series is listed as an LGBT-themed program on Wikipedia, but  we have no idea why! After two hours of research we had to give up and trust the goddesses will reveal everything to us in due time. This adaptation of Melinda Taub’s YA novel is set in Verona diectly after the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and charts the Montague/Capulet drama that ensues. Obviously our money is on the Nurse as the gay character, but it’s bound to be damn good television regardless.

Stitchers // Season Three // Freeform (June 5th)

Camille Engelson is a bisexual computer scientist involved in a relationship with Linus, a male main character. Her bisexuality has not been explored past a mention, but I was told to include this show in this preview so here we all are together looking at that nice photograph.

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Tuesdays

Queen Sugar // Season Two // OWN (June 20th)

The talent behind this show, which features Rutina Wesley as bisexual journalist Nova Bordelon, remains just as impressive as the talent in front of it. The Ava DuVernay project is bringing legendary Black lesbian filmmaker Cheryl Dunye and Mosquita Y Mari writer/director Aurora Guerrero onto their Season Two all-female directing team. Also we have somebody on board to write about it for Boobs Tube, bless us all.

The Fosters // Season 5 // Freeform (July 11th)

What will happen in Season Five of The Fosters! I guess we’ll find out on July 11th!

The Bold Type // Season One // Freeform (July 11th)

Hey remember Karma from Faking It? She got a new job, working at Scarlet Magazine, in this show inspired by Cosmpolitan and its former editor-in-chief Joanna Coles. Nikohl Boosheri plays recurring character Adena El-Amin, a Muslim lesbian feminist photographer who becomes close friends with Scarlet’s social media director.

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Wednesday

The Handmaid’s Tale // Season One // Hulu (April 26th)

Is this the year’s best new television program? It just might be! This chilling dystopian feminist drama has given us the gift of Samira Wiley playing a feisty lesbian angel again and has turned Ofglen, a straight character in the book, into a lesbian played by Rory Gilmore. But be warned that the terror is very real, the queer persecution is visceral and terrifying, and it will almost certainly give you nightmares.

Younger // Season 3 // TV Land (June 28th)

Younger is a pretty fun, pretty feminist show that has, on occasion, written some radical storylines for its lesbian character, Maggie. She’s TVLand’s first original queer character. Your grandparents could fall asleep watching Everybody Loves Raymond at 9:30 and wake up watching Maggie organizing a lesbian orgy at 10:00, just for one example. On the downside, Maggie often gets lost in the shuffle. She’s Liza’s roommate and best friend, the keeper of her secret (that Liza’s not really in her 20s), and so she doesn’t fit into the larger storylines that circle around the publishing company where Liza and the rest of the main characters work. But there’s a lot to love about this show anyway. It’s about women and their relationships with each other and their careers, and a dumb boring straight love triangle that Sutton Foster somehow makes less annoying than it sounds.

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Friday

Wynonna Earp // Season 2 // Syfy (June 9th)

Your favorite snarky, sexy, reluctant gunslinger will be back soon to fight more demons (literally and figuratively). Joined of course by her sister, Waverly, and Waverly’s bulletproof-vest-sporting girlfriend, Nicole Haught. And a mysterious (but certainly queer?) location called Pussy Willows.

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Saturday

Orphan Black // Season 5 // BBC America (June 10th)

“We came to love each other, joined together, and vowed to protect each other,” the clones announce in the intense Season Five trailer. Then, Sarah: “And now we fight.” BBC has released synopses of the first several episodes, which include Cosima reuniting with Delphine.

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Streaming

Dear White People // Season One // Netflix (April 28th)

This smart, funny, politically conscious program based on the critically acclaimed film is must-see TV… if only its queer female characters were as good as the rest of it. Nia Long plays Neika, a lesbian-identified professor engaged to her girlfriend Monique and also having an affair with a male student. Cool!

Sense8 // Season Two // Netflix (May 5th)

Sense8, produced by the Wachowski sisters, has a trans woman played by a trans woman in a lesbian relationship with a Black woman, which is pretty f*cking great. Of the differences between Seasons One and Two, Jamie Clayton told NewNowNext, “The biggest difference the fans are gonna see is that it’s a lot bigger. There’s 16 cities, a lot of new characters. You’ll meet other Sense8s. For us that meant it took longer to shoot, and involved a lot more traveling. But you get find out the origins of BPO [the Biologic Preservation Organization] and what they’re doing. Now that the eight of us know what’s going on more, Season 2 really takes off with a bang.” Season Two also sees the entire cast in Brazil for Sao Paolo pride.

Master of None // Season Two // Netflix (May 12th)

Season Two of Aziz Ansari’s semiautobiographical dramedy sees its protagonist living in Italy and living the dream of learning how to make pasta. There was not a lot of kickass black lesbian character Denise, played by Lena Waithe, in the trailer, but we’re holding out hope!

Orange is the New Black // Season Five // Netflix (June 9th)

Season Four fucked up and broke our hearts. Season Five will take place in the immediate aftermath of that fucked up moment when the prisoners rise up against Litchfield’s conditions.

G.L.O.W. // Season One // Netflix (June 23rd)

This ensemble comedy from Jenji Kohan has so many women in it that if one of them isn’t at least bisexual I’m quitting my job. G.L.O.W. is based on the real story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, a pro wrestling troupe founded in the mid-80s that toured and had a self-titled show that ran until 1990. The story is focused on Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress who takes her last shot at stardom by joining G.L.O.W. At least one man on one message board on one website on this internet has said, “Expect lots of lesbians and make outs.”

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Also

Broad City – August TBD

Broad City debuts this August on Comedy Central, although I’m not sure when. But Ilana will remain bisexually oriented, I’m sure of that.