47.
Jodie Dallas
SOAP
Actor
Billy Crystal
1977-1981
Previous Rank: 40
Billy Crystal is probably best known for hosting the Oscars, and starring in When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers. But the comedian really burst onto the scene with his turn as gay son Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom, Soap, which ran from 1977 to 1981.
Jodie Dallas may not have been the first gay character on network TV (that prize goes to Peter Panama, played by Vincent Schiavelli, in another ABC series called The Corner Bar (1972-3)), but he was arguably the first to make a substantial cultural impact. Many gay men of a certain age probably remember watching the show as a child and being secretly overjoyed to see someone like them on the small screen.
Unfortunately, the show became something of a rallying point for conservative Christian groups seeking to flex their media watchdog muscles. The National Council of Churches helped to organize a boycott against sponsors of the show, ABC reportedly received 32,000 letters of complaint before the premiere, and eight out of 195 ABC affiliates refused to air the show. The network, to its credit, refused to bow to pressure and carried the controversial series for three years.
Always successful in the ratings, the show was arguably done in by the steep discounting ABC had to do to fill commercial slots. According to executive producer Susan Harris, ABC carried the sitcom essentially without corporate sponsorship
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