# TV & Movie Characters Who HAD to Have Been Gay, but Weren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436 "2003-12-17T01:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/21 "2003-12-17T04:52:20Z")
I’m pleased to see that no one’s mentioned Ernie and Bert. Although I always had sneaking suspicions about Don Music. . . ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/22 "2003-12-17T04:57:21Z")
Eddie Haskell ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/23 "2003-12-17T04:58:05Z")
**Miller** , she’s supposed to be in love with Neo, right? Oh, wait…that doesn’t pose a problem for the lesbian angle after all, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_1100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b3f665/32.png) [@Victor\_1100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_1100)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/24 "2003-12-17T05:01:56Z")
I’ve always thought that Dr. Benton Quest and Race Bannon from the _Johnny Quest_ cartoon were more than just friends. They were always sharing a tent. Vic ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/25 "2003-12-17T05:13:59Z")
**Victor** , I believe there was an episode of _Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law_ that dealt with that very couple. Very funny show. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/26 "2003-12-17T05:15:04Z")
Race - or, rather, an evil robot duplicate - suing Dr Quest for custody of Johnny and Hadji, specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/27 "2003-12-17T05:17:24Z")
Niles Crane isn’t really fair, because he’s played prissily by a gay man. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/28 "2003-12-17T05:36:50Z")
**Mr. Belvedere** **Jack Tripper** - he seemed queer even when he wasn’t acting gay for Mr. Roper’s benefit. **Major Nelson** - The guy had a gorgeous, scantily clad genie at his beck and call and he would rather keep her bottled up than fool around with her. They eventually did get married, but it took a long time. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/29 "2003-12-17T06:01:43Z")
**Floyd the Barber** on the “Andy Griffith” show. Maybe not gay but a little light in the loafers. **Al** from “Home Improvement” (who doesn’t see that?). The three guys from **Full House**. I believe the fellow who played “Uncle Arthur” on Bewitched (Paul Lynde) made that character as “gay” as possible under the constraints of network TV of that time through in jokes. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/30 "2003-12-17T06:26:20Z")
Bart Simpson. "Ugh! These maple syrup stains are the _worst!"_ ---
**Author:** ![KoalaBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47c2d/32.png) [@KoalaBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KoalaBear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/31 "2003-12-17T06:52:14Z")
**The Wicked Witch of the West** (Margaret Hamilton). _Stone_ lesbian. **Alice the Maid** (Ann B. Davis). Her cameo in the _Brady Bunch Movie_ nailed it for me. **Det. Rob Goren** (Vincent D’Onofrio). Just a hunch. **Gilligan** and **The Skipper** (Bob Denver and Alan Hale). Classic May-September thing going on there. **Ian MacLaine** and **Sam Loover** (_Joe 90_). British answer to Benton Quest and Race Bannon. **Electrawoman** and **Dynagirl**. If you know who they are, you know what I mean. **Perry Mason** (Raymond Burr). You betcha. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/32 "2003-12-17T07:28:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lumpy \* > **Dr. Smith. The show’s writers actively did everything they could to out him without actually broaching a forbidden (at the time) subject** Well, not quite. In one episode he was seduced by a green-skinned outer space temptress named [Athena](http://members.ozemail.com.au/~idak/lis/season2.htm#Wild%20Adventure) into almost causing some sort of havoc. She reappeared in [another episode](http://members.ozemail.com.au/~idak/lis/season2.htm#The%20Girl%20From%20The%20Green%20Dimension) that season, and this time Dr. Smith had to compete with a rival green brute for her attentions. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/33 "2003-12-17T07:33:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by syncrolecyne \* > **Floyd the Barber on the “Andy Griffith” show. Maybe not gay but a little light in the loafers.** Actor Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, suffered a stroke during the third season, the effects of which left him with that spacey way of talking. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/34 "2003-12-17T14:54:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*_Saturday Night Live_ made fun of this once (or possibly twice), with a sketch starring Dana Carvey as Lyle Billup, The Effeminate Heterosexual. Lyle walked like a girl, threw like a girl, etc. and had the full-on lispy accent, but he was straight and suitably horrified when members of his own family jumped to the wrong conclusion and hired a male stripper to appear at his birthday party. \*\* This was doubly funny for me because at the time I actually KNEW a guy NAMED LYLE that everyone wondered about. Like the TV Lyle, he had all the swishy attributes but was rumored to be married. I laughed my ass off at this sketch. How did they know? “But honey, you’re gay, right?” ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/35 "2003-12-17T14:58:00Z")
Twenty-five posts and NO mention of **Monroe Ficus from “Too Close for Comfort”?** For SHAME, people. He was gayer than a french horn, and more flaming than a Moe. … Oh my God, I just got that Simpsons joke. “Flaming 'Moe.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/36 "2003-12-17T15:06:22Z")
Floyd the Barber was gay way before the 3rd season. I second the three men from Full House…come on…3 single men living together in SF and none are gay…please! Steve Urkel from Family Matters. Jm J. Bullock’s character Monroe from the 80’s Sitcom Too Close for Comfort. Jeff Corwin from Animal Planet! He’s about as high camp as you can get. Velma from Scooby Doo. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/37 "2003-12-17T15:12:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Poonther \* > **Jeff Corwin from Animal Planet! He’s about as high camp as you can get.** If only… _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/38 "2003-12-17T15:14:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Poonther \* > \*\*Steve Urkel from Family Matters. > \*\* So much for the old “gays have good fashion sense” stereotype. . . ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/39 "2003-12-17T15:14:36Z")
“Mr Ed. Still closeted in the stable.” And hung like the proverbial horse. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436/40 "2003-12-17T15:18:47Z")
Oh, and forgot to mention: Jimmy Olsen, cub reporter for the Daily Planet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-characters-who-had-to-have-been-gay-but-werent/219436.md?page=3)