Lisa -- Seems to me that Entertainment Weekly did a cover story about gay characters in prime time around the time that Ellen was coming out. I think they counted around 33 gay characters at that time. I can't muster up the list right off the top of my head but here are a few: Ross' ex-wife and her wife, on Friends Scott Thompson's character on Larry Sanders -- he plays Hank's assistant (HBO) Tony Randall's character in Love Sidney is considered to be one of the earlier prime time gay characters (early 80s), however I don't think it was ever explicitly acknowledged. Paul Reiser's character's sister on Mad About You Leon (Martin Mull) and his husband on Roseanne. Also, Sandra Bernhardt's character. There are many more...just can't think of them right now. Julie Friedline Dept. of Communication University of St. Thomas St. Paul, MN ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite