

“The lessons we teach our children at this young age stay with them forever,” he pointed out. With that, he stresses how important these types of shows are for kids. We’ve seen them succeed.”Ĭruz has a special connection with family programming as he learned to speak English from shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Those streaming services and networks are doing it because it’s in their best interest to tell these stories because they know that there is an audience for them. I think this generation of LGBTQ people and families are saying, ‘No, we want to be visible, we want to be seen,’ and they’re demanding and urging networks and streaming services to tell these stories. He continued, “You feel that your story isn’t important, that it’s not as valued as the heterosexual, cisgendered norm. “When you don’t see yourself depicted, when you don’t see your stories being told in the media, it’s not just that you’re not there, it’s not like there’s just a void, it’s that you are invisible.” “I’ve been saying this about LGBTQ characters for decades, which is we long - whether we’re LGBTQ or black or brown or Asian - to see ourselves,” Cruz told Deadline. For Cruz, shows like The Bravest Knight and Andi Mack with LGBTQ characters in major roles have “come out of the closet” with marriage equality, providing more visibility for queer characters in family settings.ĭGA Vows To Keep Fighting For An "Inclusive Society" Despite Supreme Court's Rulings On Affirmative Action & LGBTQ+ Rights
WILSON CRUZ ALLY MCBEAL SERIES
With a cast that features the likes of RuPaul, Wanda Sykes, Christine Baranski, Dot Marie-Jones and others, the series is certainly continuing family series with LGTBQ elements. In addition to going on Sir Cedric’s farmer-to-knight journey, the series introduces the couple’s adopted 10-year-old daughter Nia (Storm Reid), who is training to become a brave knight herself. Knight), who has grown up and married the prince of his dreams, Prince Andrew (Cruz). The series follows a knight, Sir Cedric (voiced by T.R. Hugh Culber on CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery as well as Hulu’s recent animated fantasy series The Bravest Knight, another series that continues to move the needle with LGBTQ representation.
WILSON CRUZ ALLY MCBEAL FULL
For all the gender-neutral bathrooms and post-PC talk, the pre-eminent lady lawyer of the '90s (and her impossibly high hems) still feels very much like a product of her time.For more than two decades, Cruz has been taking roles on the screen and stage, and his plate has been full as Dr. Cruz's performance adds complexity to the character, but the series went for the easy, cliche ending.Īlthough Ally McBeal was groundbreaking, it ran out of steam and tricks, ending with a whimper after its fifth season in 2002. The episode ends on a somber note with Ally in the morgue, dutifully making up Stephanie-pretty to the grave, like she always wanted.Īfter decades of being portrayed as villains, monsters, or comedic foils, trans characters in the '90s were often used as props to show how caring and open-minded someone was Ally was able to prove to herself that, yes, she could love someone like Stephanie, but her love was predicated on pity. Rushing to the crime scene, Ally finds Stephanie's lifeless body, her wig off, and one shoe missing. Someone matching Stephanie's description has been killed by an enraged john. Instead, Ally and Renee get a phone call. It's too bad Stephanie didn't find a more permanent place with Ally, working as a temp at the law firm, and pushing the envelope far more than any of the show's lesbian lip-locks or double entendres ever could. A 2003 AfterEllen article took a critical look at the "heteroflexibility" of the show's female characters, citing frequent lesbian overtones-including an infamous kiss between stars Calista Flockhart and Lucy Liu-and observing that Ally McBeal's depiction of same-sex relationships is "simultaneously conservative and liberal, homophobic and gay-friendly," both reinforcing and subverting stereotypes. The titular heroine's short skirts, the flurry of witty dialogue, the visual gags (particularly the dancing baby in the dawn of the internet), and the show's laissez-faire attitude toward sex and political correctness (exemplified by the then-scandalous notion of a gender-neutral bathroom) propelled it to ratings gold and multiple Emmy noms, including a win for Outstanding Comedy Series in its second season.īut in courting controversy, the libidinous lawyers of Cage and Fish also invited a lot of criticism, even inspiring a Time magazine cover pointing to McBeal as the death knell of feminism. Kelley's offbeat dramedy became an instant hit. When Ally McBeal premiered on September 8, 1997, David E.
