This book examines the evasive depictions of sexuality in domestic and family-friendly sitcoms. Tison Pugh charts the history of increasing sexual depiction in this genre while also unpacking how sitcoms use sexuality as a source of power, as a kind of camouflage, and as a foundation for family building.
Introduction: TV's Three Queer Fantasies
1. The Queer Times of Leave It to Beaver: Beaver's Present, Ward's Past, and June's Future
2. Queer Innocence and Kitsch Nostalgia in The Brady Bunch
3. No Sex Please, We're African American: The Cosby Show's Queer Fear of Black Sexuality
4. Feminism, Homosexuality, and Blue-Collar Perversity in Roseanne
5. Allegory, Queer Authenticity, and Marketing Tween Sexuality in Hannah Montana
6. Conservative Narratology, Queer Politics, and the Humor of Gay Stereotypes in Modern Family
Conclusion: Tolstoy Was Wrong: or, On the Queer Reception of Television's Happy Families
Acknowledgments
List of Television Programs
Notes
Works Cited
Index