Happy Endings Is the Most Important Gay Show on TV Right Now

A recent episode of ABC's Happy Endings ended with Max, the resident gay character played by Adam Pally, stretched out on a couch, shirtless, with a look of ecstasy on his face. Because he was stuffing it with a huge sandwich, its contents spilling out all over his large, exposed hairy stomach.

In terms of positive portrayals of gays on mainstream television, that one scene did more for me than three seasons of Kurt on Glee. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that a massive hit has a main character like Kurt, who's adamant about believing in and being yourself. But it also bugs me that Kurt reinforces the same cartoon stereotypes we've been fed for years -- he's what I imagine Dr. Smith from Lost in Space must have been like as a teen, before growing old and bitter.

But Max! He's lazy, unshaven, wears dirty flannel shirts, watches loads of TV and probably smells like hot sauce and cheap deodorant that's failing fast. He's best friends with a couple of straight dudes -- even lives with one -- and neither of them could care less that he's gay. And Max doesn't care much either. So far, the only time Max's sexuality has come up as an issue was in an episode a couple of weeks back. Max insisted that Dave (Zachary Knighton) was breaking a bro code by dating Max's ex-girlfriend from high school. Dave claimed the code didn't apply because Max is gay. Turns out Max's angst had nothing to do with some lame code -- the lady broke Max's heart when he was a teenager and he still remembers how much that hurt, so Dave backed down out of respect for his friend's feelings. Weird, that of all programs, it took a 30-minute prime time network sitcom to nail the normal bond many gay men have with their straight buds. I can't think of any other television show that's depicted it so effortlessly.

Before anyone gripes that the reason Max is so well liked by his male friends on the show and considered a safe bet for mainstream audiences is because he's displaying hetero-normative characteristics -- like watching football on Sundays and loving big plastic toy guns -- remember that most other shows that have offered us gay characters that acted "straight" also neutered the poor guy to the point of asexuality. Whenever straight dude friends were around, the gay guy would act like there was nothing between his legs except the gently sloping mound of a Ken doll crotch. (I'm looking at you, Matt Fielding and Eric van der Woodsen). Max, on the other hand, has no problem bragging about his sex life with all his straight male pals. And they have no problem with it because they talk right back about theirs. My one concern is that the show might use Max's detached attitude towards love and relationships to avoid ever having to show him actually kiss a guy. But if it means more shots of Pally mouthing off while proudly sprawled out with his beer belly exposed, it's worth the trade.

 

 

 

Follow Joshua Lyon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JLpillhead

Comments

[Tralalamaybe]

07:41 PM on 12/17/2011

This article is so wrong. Both are great characters. There are gay men like Max and gay men like Kurt. Both characters are doing great things for this community in my opinion and it bugs me that this site feels like it has to bash Kurt in order to praise Max, it's ignorant and wrong.

[losangelesdan]

12:27 AM on 12/16/2011

I agree. I do have to say that its a completely different situation than Glee, which is high school/teens & Happy Endings has adults. As we know, people mature, accept, & move on.

[bwmanx]

03:10 PM on 12/15/2011

I agree with this article. There was a line early in the series that was something to the effect of "You're not gay, your a dude who likes to sleep with other dudes".

But, Max needs to date a cute bear, cub or otter!

[Hugmup]

02:47 PM on 12/15/2011

My comments were removed for no reason I can discern.

[Luke Brux]

02:16 PM on 12/15/2011

I do think that Max is a very bad example of gay guy. He's lazy, unreliable, slovenly. Honestly NO that's not a good image of a gay guy.
The show's popularity and buzz is can't be compared with Glee.

[esosa233]

01:07 PM on 02/04/2012

But it's kinda bad to have only one image of gay guys out there, as being loud and feminine when there's all types of gay people out there. When people associate Kurt as a gay person and then they have to go to the other side of the spectrum as to associate Max then they realize there's a lot more types of people in between the gap between those two.

[Mason Hernandez]

01:01 PM on 12/15/2011

Happy Endings kind of sucks, and the gay character is annoying, he tries way to hard to not act gay

[Ed Meiller]

04:25 AM on 12/15/2011

You are right on all counts. I know many more Maxes than Kurts. The beer belly scene should be enshrined in the Gay hall of fame.

[artdragons]

11:01 PM on 12/14/2011

I agree whole heartedly! I am so tired of Will, Jack, Kurt and all the other steriotypical Gay characters on TV. It is a comfort to see someone just like myself. I grew up out and Gay in the 60's and I was surrounded by many straight buddies just like Max has. For the two or three months in 1971 when I behaved like Kurt from Glee my friends just rolled thier eyes, remained my friends and went back to life as usual went I came back to my "normal" self - a Gay man, comfortable in Levis and T's, a beer or three over Sunday football and a little over eating. I have been happily "married" to a man much like myself for 32+ years and he is loved and respected by all my old straight friends and family.

[floridaviolinist]

12:56 AM on 12/15/2011

congratulations on your 32+ years.

hopefully our retarded f____ing government will honor and respect your civil rights one of these decades.

[obtusegoose]

07:49 PM on 12/14/2011

Max's ex-boyfriend is going to show up for a multi-episode arc. So there will be some equal time for intimacy on the gay side. I do like the Max character, because he's definitely not perfect by any means. My only issue with the show overall is the manic tone. Everyone seems to be hyped-up on caffeine... shooting their lines back and forth to each other like a rapid-fire machine gun. After a while it gets tiring to watch.

[Garrett W]

09:57 AM on 12/15/2011

Yea but I think the show is really getting there; some shows have their instant success right away and others take a little more time. It'll be nice to see a gayer side of Max but I agree, I like the Max character. I know many more Max's than Kurt's (since that seems to be the comparison) and it's also the first time that, like the piece said, the gay thing with his friends is a complete "non-issue." All of my roommates past and present have been straight guys and it's nice to see a comradely similar to mine on TV rather than one overcome with angst or awkwardness when it comes to gay-straight dude relationships (that sounded kinda funky but I think yall will know what I mean).

[esosa233]

01:10 PM on 02/04/2012

I find it awesome too, I mean I have many gay-straight dude relationships too. That's partially only because I know how to get them to their women, and I act only a little more like a max than a Kurt. I find it better to make a friendship with a person and then tell them that I'm gay later on and watch them change their entire outset on gay people just because of our friendship.

[JamaicanJewel]

11:41 AM on 12/15/2011

What you can 'manic' I call zany and madcap. How many sitcoms cause you to stare blankly at the screen without a flicker of recognition of the characters? This is exactly how friends are, bouncing crap off each other all the time. I love the show because it makes me laugh out loud and Max is the guy next door.

[falsy]

07:39 PM on 12/14/2011

Couldn't agree more. My boyfriend and I had an argument because I was complaining that Kurt from Glee is the only type of gay ever portrayed in the media. He said I was suffering from internalized homophobia and that kids like Kurt (and my boyfriend) are forced to be out in high school, and kids like Max (and me) are able to get by in the closet. He makes a very good point, but that only explains the portrayal of high school characters. There's a broad spectrum of gay people that goes far beyond Will and Jack from Will & Grace, that can be entertaining in their own, not stereotypical gay way. Max is a breath of fresh air, and I love all the Kurts out there too, but it's time to widen the lens.

[Contact1972]

11:15 PM on 12/14/2011

Loved your comment! As with any community we are full of diversity and we should embrace it.

[Samnchgo]

06:27 PM on 12/14/2011

First, I wouldn't call this a "gay show" just because it has one gay character on it. Second, he is kinda asexual. His trysts are downplayed unlike the heteros on the show. Third, while it is true, that he is not the "flaming queen" we've seen on other shows like Kurt on Glee -- at least Kurt has kissed a guy on screen -- or Jack from Will & Grace, it is also true that his character doesn't really have any gay friends -- which seems odd. I don't mind that he is outside the stereotype. I do mind that they have boxed him in with heterosexual-dom (all his friends are straight, he has no love life, etc.) to the point where one might ask: is he one of them "self-loathing" gays?

I don't believe for a second that these people are from Chicago. They talk like New Yorkers with an L.A. sensibility. So the whole show kinda rings false. Sorry, but I pass.

[captain bob]

07:54 PM on 12/14/2011

As a regular "Happy Endings" viewer, I'm going to have to disagree with you. His relationships are as front and center as the other characters - see episodes like "You've Got Male" or "The Girl with the Dave Tattoo". He doesn't have any relationships carry on to more than one episode just like the other single characters. And a kiss was filmed between Max and the guy he was dating in one episode, but sadly it was cut from the episode (here's why: http://www.afterelton.com/people/david-caspe-happy-endings-adam-pally-max-greenfield-gay-kiss?page=1,0).

Max is seen frequently flirting with guys (when he and Dave were in the middle of a fight, Dave even "stole" the guy Max was hitting on) and has just as much sex as the rest of his friends. Plus, it has been announced that James Wolk is going to have a multiple episode arc as Max's boyfriend when the show picks back up after the holidays.

I don't know what show you're watching, but Max is no more asexual than any other character.

[Samnchgo]

06:29 PM on 12/15/2011

I fully admit that I've only seen about 4 episodes. However, I was unimpressed with those. Further, you sorta prove my point when you say the kiss was cut. Evidently, the producers did neuter him in that case. The only thing I've seen is Max pretending to be the boyfriend of his straight-girl best friend. Neither of things is exactly a ringing endorsement for this show being the gay tv poster child.

I also didn't say that Max didn't have any relationships. I did say that they were downplayed a lot more than his hetero counterparts in the episodes I've seen. In that sense, it did seem to make him asexual. Or, maybe, uncomfortable with his sexuality.

My main point is this is not a gay show. Merely because it has a gay character doesn't make it a gay show. Nor is it (as the author of the article claimed) "the most important gay show on TV right now."

[neighborhoodmole]

04:55 PM on 12/14/2011

I read elsewhere that he will be getting a real boyfriend on the show soon. I've just started watching this show and still haven't figured out who all the characters are.

[VISO]

03:12 PM on 12/14/2011

Max is a great character and reflects the diversity of all men in general. However, I take exception to the author's comment regarding Max displaying "hetero-normative characteristics". Not sure what that actually means. What is the difference between an gay or straight guy other then their sexual orientation. Everything else from personality, emotion, athleticism, etc. are characteristics of what makes men human and not what makes them straight or gay. There are plenty of gay Maxs out there. The problem is with the straight and to a certain degree the gay media that panders to the gay male stereotype (as efete) as something palitable to audiences. Kurt''s character is over the top, and I find him offense many times. But at the same time I realize that there are many types of gay men as there as straight men so we must all respect each other regardless.

I enjoy this show quite a bit not only for Max, but for the comedy. It is very "Friends" like yet original in many ways. The only problem I have with Max is that they do not show him having a love life or relationship. Hopefully, this will change in the future as this is a must watch show.

[Christopher Dilley]

07:59 PM on 12/14/2011

When the author says "hetero-normative" there are many in the gay community who cry foul when a character is portrayed with basically no adversity in their life which is prevalent in most gay people's lives. The gay couple who were friends of Will & Grace is probably a good example. They were domesticated, married, adopting etc. and one of them could have very effortlessly been a female and the viewer would not even notice the different. They were given a 'heteronormative' existence in the Will & Grace universe.

I would agree about the characters seeming more LA/NY than Chicago (as I have to often question where it is supposed to be taking place) but unless you are someone who is adamant about your sitcoms being completely reflective of their setting than it is really a secondary point.

As pointed out, Max will be getting a boyfriend this season and in the 1.5 that I have watched so far has had plenty of run-ins with other guys and I think that it gets the identical treatment as some of the other characters. Obviously Dave & Alex's relationship is of greater focus as that was what was the launching pad for the entire series to start so exploring their intricacies makes sense. We see Penny's dating misadventures, and inside Jane & Brad's marital life.

[pavementends42]

05:55 PM on 12/15/2011

Hetero-normative is becoming mostly meaningless, as gay men and women are not so often relegated to dark corners of society, but instead can live openly with partners and do the same things as everyone else without fear of ridicule or violence. It's a term for gay 'culture' purists, who think gay men should screw around, have anonymous, unprotected sex with each other and dance and do drugs all night on the weekends. Blah.

[DessieRandom]

01:29 PM on 12/14/2011

I've never even seen this show. :\ Will have to watch it.

[Oneandoneandone]

05:08 PM on 12/14/2011

It's really cute. There's not a lot of substance but it'll make you laugh. :)

[libwingoflibwing]

05:56 PM on 12/14/2011

It's a sleeper, IMO. It started last spring with little notice and is still getting little promotion, but those of us who've found it like it and our numbers are growing.