Fall 2017 TV Preview: Some Lesbian and Bisexual Characters for You

by Riese & Heather

Pumpkin spice is in the air and you know what that means: It’s time for fall TV. After Lexa’s death on The 100 and the waves of lesbian and bisexual TV character deaths that followed, summer TV rebounded in a pretty satisfying way this year. Wynonna Earp, The Bold Type, Orphan Black, Doubt, Stitchers, The Handmaid’s Tale, Master of None; even The Fosters has gotten back on track. But now it’s time to say goodbye and look toward the tempestuous embrace of traditional network TV. The news out of the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour wasn’t great. There seem to be very few new shows with queer TV characters this year. There are some returning favorites, though, and just a handful of fresh offerings. Here’s where and when you’ll find them.


Sundays

Survivor’s Remorse, Season 4 (Showtime) – August 20th, 10 PM

Survivor’s Remorse is one of the most consistently excellent shows on TV, but it doesn’t get a lot of press or social media love because it always airs between summer and fall TV schedules, and it does so on Starz, which isn’t easy to access if you don’t have a hardcore traditional cable package. The show’s lesbian character is M-Chuck; she’s the sister of Survivor’s main character, Cam, a professional basketball player who lives with and takes care of his family. The show ended season three with M-Chuck on her way to Boston to find out the truth behind the rape that led to her conception. She’s working through that, now, in the first few episodes of season four. This show is funny and smart and relentless in its realness, shifting tone from comedy to drama and back again multiple times a season.

Top Of The Lake: China Girl, Season 2 (Sundance) – September 10th, 9 PM

The second season of this eerie British import continues to star Elizabeth Moss as Robin, who is basically what has become its own female detective trope (slightly reckless, incredibly determined, single or in unstable relationships, sometimes drinks too much, cares deeply about the case, is condescended to by men) and this season Nicole Kidman joins the cast as Julia Edwards, the adoptive mother of the baby Robin gave up as a teenager, who is having an affair with a female teacher at Mary’s school.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 8 (HBO) – October 1st, 10pm

Apparently Julie Goldman will be guesting on at least one episode this season as “Julie,” which is probably, you know, Julie Goldman, and as you likely know, Julie Goldman is a proud butch lez who’ll bring some real proud butch lez emotions to this show about white men who think they are very funny!

The Walking Dead Season 8 (AMC) – October 22nd, 9 PM

Lesbian character Tara is still alive on this show, which is basically all I have to say about it. Her girlfriend Denise died and she found out at the end of last season that the motherfucker who killed her didn’t even mean to (stray arrows in the eyeball, it happens to everyone!) and now she’s nursing another gravely wounded friend back to health. Tara’s not around too much, but when she is Stef always has big dreams for her creating her own little zombie-free Themyscira and living out her days in queer bliss surrounded by other living gay women.

Shameless Season 8 (Showtime) – November 5th, 9 PM

this is the only photo from Season 8 so far unfortunately (Photo: Paul Sarkis/SHOWTIME)

Season 8 of Shameless will introduce Nessa, “a tough, smart lesbian who lives in Fiona’s newly purchased apartment building.” Nessa will be played by Jessica Szhor and will “develop a strong relationship with Fiona.” It looks like my faves, lesbian Svetlana and bisexual Veronica, will be back, although I imagine their romance is over, which is sad. Some websites on the internet are attempting to torture me with teases like, “Nessa and Fiona are set to become best friends that may or may not result in passionate love,” despite the fact that we already went down the “could Fiona go both ways?” path in Season Two with Jasmine Hollander and also there was a big missed opportunity with Angela in Season Five. Just saying. Also Regina King is directing this season!


Mondays

Supergirl Season 3 (The CW) – October 9th, 8 PM

Alex Danvers’s Season 2 Supergirl storylines were so good. Just so good. She came out to her mom, to Kara, to her friends/co-workers. She fell in love. She almost died but didn’t die, and never gave up on living with her very last breath. There were so many ways to swoon it was honestly hard to keep up. In the off-season, we learned that Floriana Lima, who plays Maggie Sawyer, has stepped down as a series regular, which most everyone assumed meant she was going to get shot in the face, but nope! Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg told Entertainment Weekly she’s absolutely not going to die. She’ll be in the first five episodes, at least — “It’s some of the most emotional stuff we’ve ever done,” Kreisberg promises — and the door will be open for her to come back. Alex isn’t going anywhere!


Tuesday

American Horror Story: Cult, Season 7 of AHS franchise (FX) – September 5th, 10 PM

As discussed, this season of American Horror Story is loosely centered on a Michigan lesbian played by Sarah Paulson who is horrified by the election of Donald Trump and starts seeing evil clowns everywhere while her partner, played by Allison Pill, tries to keep her own shit together. According to Variety, Evan Peters plays “a series of cult leaders” including Charles Manson, Jim Jones, David Koresh and Andy Warhol. Lena Dunham has a guest role as Valerie Solanis, the legendary author of the notorious SCUM Manifesto (SCUM stands for “Society for Cutting Up Men,” obvs) memorialized in the film I Shot Andy Warhol. (‘Cause she shot Andy Warhol.) Emma Roberts plays “a Michigan newscaster who is promoted above Adina Porter’s character ‘simply because she’s much more superficial and willing to do what it takes to survive.'” Murphy insists, “It’s not about Trump, it’s not about Clinton. It’s about somebody with the wherewithal to put their finger up to the wind and see that that’s what happening and using that to rise up and form power. And use people’s vulnerabilities about how they’re feeling afraid… and they feel like the world is on fire.” It feels highly likely that we will end up adding more characters to the #buryyourgays list this year due to this particular program.

Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) – October 10th, 9 PM

As the captain of the Waverider, Sara Lance was basically the lead character in Legends of Tomorrow‘s second season. Not bad for a bisexual woman who only came back to life after fans made their voices heard loud and clear when Arrow murdered her! Sara also did some really solid time-traveling making out, first with Betty McRae and then with then with Guinevere in Camelot. At San Diego Comic-Con, EP Marc Guggenheim told fans Sara is getting a new love interest in Season 3: “It’s definitely time for Sara to settle down, or at least have a relationship that’s more than a roll in the hay. It’s hard when you’re traveling through time.” He also said it’s time to “reestablish Sara’s bisexuality,” and since she’s only been smooching women since Nyssa showed up on Arrow all those years ago, it seems likely that “reestablishment” means a male love interest.

Marvel’s Runaways (Hulu) – November 21st, Streaming

Karolina Dean has been a lesbian for a long time in Marvel’s written universe, and now she’s going to be a lesbian in the cinematic one! I don’t want to spoil her coming out arc for you; it’s very dramatic! But I do want to tell you exactly how gay she is: She absorbs the sun’s energy and radiates it back out into the world as a rainbow. The Runaways are runaways because they want to fight the evil forces in the universe and all their parents are monsters. The show boasts a legitimately diverse cast and looks like a lot of fun.


Wednesday

Broad City Season 4 (Comedy Central) – September 13th, 10:30 PM

FINALLY FINALLY ILANA AND ABBY ARE BACK. This season Ilana will be searching the planet for the orgasms she’s been unable to have since the election of Donald Trump, which will inevitably involve hooking up with other ladies, right? Also, look out for a guest spot from Wanda Sykes!

Star Season 2 (Fox) – September 27th, 9:00 PM

Star slipped under our radar in Season 1 but I watched it all a couple of weeks ago and was actually blown away by it. Trans model/actress Amiyah Scott plays Cotton, a self-described “hustler” who works as both a dancer and a stylist at her mother’s salon in Atlanta. Her mother is played by Queen Latifah. Their relationship is tempestuous. Cotton’s storyline hits a lot of the same ol’ beats (to have surgery or not to have surgery, etc.) but it doesn’t center on them. Cotton is funny and smart and beloved and her complicated motivations and relationship with her mom inform all of her decisions. There’s also a gender non-conforming character named Miss Bruce (played by Miss Lawrence), who was a breakout star in Season 1 and has been upped to a regular for Season 2.

American Housewife Season 2 (ABC) – September 27th, 9:30 PM

Katie is the main character on American Housewife and sometimes she has second breakfast with her two best friends, one of whom is a lesbian named Angela. That’s all Angela does. She’s a sounding board for Katie and her problems and we only find out about her life through throwaway lines of dialogue. We don’t ever actually see her life. She’s got an ex-wife whom we met once. They hate each other’s guts. That’s really it. Middle America loves this show and there’s a black lesbian from time-to-time which is something!

Riverdale Season 2 (The CW) – October 11th, 8:00 PM

Riverdale’s adding a new character, Toni Topaz, and she will indeed be a bisexual lady. There’s also been hints that Cheryl Blossom will explore her own sexual fluidity this season. Whatever happens, you’ll hear about it on Tumblr for sure.

The Shannara Chronicles (Spike) – October 11th, 8:00 PM

Eretria revealed that she’s bisexual in Season 1 of The Shannara Chronicles but it didn’t really go anywhere, but according to the most recent trailer, it’s going somewhere (gay!) in season two! Here’s a bit of TV trivia for you from Valerie Anne: Shannara‘s new queer gal is played by Vanessa Morgan who is also going to be the bisexual Toni Topaz on Riverdale and also played the bisexual Bird on Finding Carter.


Thursday

Gotham Season 4 (Fox) – September 21st, 8:00 PM

Gotham definitely killed Barbara last season. Electrocuted by her own girlfriend. Which, you know, happens when you’re both troped-up bisexual psychopaths. But then at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Nashville, David Mazouz (who plays young Master Bruce) seemed to indicate that she’s still alive? I don’t know, man. This show is not good with its women. It lost me when it banished Rene Montoya and every episode since then has gotten worse and worse w/r/t good queer rep.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 (ABC) – September 28th, 8:00 PM

Our beloved Arizona Robbins had a pretty controversial relationship on Season 13 of Grey’s Anatomy. For one thing, no one’s ever going to compete with Callie Torres. But for another thing, she was paired up with Eliza Minnick, who is both loathed by viewers and the characters inside the show. Bailey fired Minnick in the season finale and it was honestly just so satisfying to everyone. Probably that means another broken heart for Arizona. Maybe Minnick will meet up with Erica Hahn in the Parking Lot of No Return and they can have a nice brunch.

Will & Grace Reboot (NBC) – September 28th, 9:00 PM

“When we started it was revolutionary to have two gay characters,” Debra Messing said at TCA, according to Vox, “We were ‘LGB,’ but we stopped at B. My hope is we can now finish the alphabet.” What this really speaks to is that Karen’s bisexuality was so downplayed that the cast members have also forgotten about it. Well, I haven’t, and I pray for its return!

How To Get Away With Murder Season 4 (ABC) – September 28th, 10:00 PM

Annalise Keating is one of the most important characters on television, played by one of the greatest living actors. I’ll quote our TV writer Natalie from the QPOC roundtable we published a couple of weeks ago: “It’s hard to divorce my love for Annalise Keating from the woman that plays her because so much of what makes me feel seen is that she’s portrayed by someone who looks like Viola Davis. Annalise Keating is a dark-skinned black woman, who isn’t a size zero and whose natural hair hides beneath impeccable wigs. Hollywood has a very narrow definition of what a beautiful black woman ought to look like —*cough* Halle Berry *cough* — and Viola Davis upends all of that.” There’s no word yet whether or not Famke Janssen’s Eve will be back for any episodes in Season 4, but here’s hoping. She’s Annalise’s lifelong love.

Arrow Season 6 (The CW) – October 12th, 9:00 PM

Oliver and William watched the island of Lian Yu explode with basically every Arrow character on it in the Season 5 finale. Those characters included our much beloved and criminally underused Nyssa al Ghul. I’ve gotta believe The CW of all networks isn’t stupid enough to kill another lesbian, but I guess we’ll find out soon! There was a time I believed Donald Trump couldn’t get elected president!


Friday

One Mississippi Season 2 (Amazon Prime) – September 8th, Full Season Streaming

While One Mississippi‘s first season ended with Tig Notaro says the second season will take much less inspiration from her real life. She told Deadline: “There are people that I’m dating [on the show], and checking things out with, and checking out the spark that got started with the Kate character. That’s definitely in season two.” Gay love! It’s in the air in Bay Saint Lucille! You should watch this show if you are not watching this show. It’s so smart and so so funny and THERE’S A LESBIAN LEAD and no gays have been buried.

Transparent Season 4 (Amazon Prime) – September 22nd, Full Season Streaming

A show beloved by queers and Jewish people alike and often recognized for boldly tackling complicated material is going all-out this season by sending its characters to Israel, where they will confront checkpoints, have spiritual revelations and inspire hot takes. “Transparent” came in #1 on our list of Most Critically Acclaimed Queer-ish TV shows.

Once Upon a Time Season 7 (ABC) – October 6th, 8:00 PM

[Deep sigh.] Once Upon a Time is promising, once again, a gay thing. EP Edward Kitsis told EW: “This [revamped] iteration [of the show] is reflecting the world today. It will not be anything more than just one of other love stories that are happening. I don’t think it’s an arc, it’ll be a character who is gay and that’s who they are and they exist in the world. They don’t have a sign that says ‘special episode.'” That is a thing I will believe when I see.

Jane the Virgin Season 4 (The CW) – October 13th, 9:00 PM

Luisa’s been perpetually in and out on Jane the Virgin over the course of the show’s run, but it seems likely that she’ll play a much bigger role in Season 4 on account of she now owns literally everything in Miami. Or at least everything entitled to the Solano heir, which Rafael is not. He lied to her about having cancer, and so she taped back together their dad’s shredded will and showed up at his door with it and who’s the psychopath now, my dude? (It’s still Rose. Rose is always the psychopath.) All signs point to a loyalty showdown this season, with Luisa choosing between her lover and her brother once and for all.


TBD

Life Sentence Season One

This mid-season replacement stars Aria from Pretty Little Liars as a girl who thought she was going to die but then found out she wasn’t going to die after all! And then it turns out that her Mom is having a relationship with another lady because life is just damn full of surprises.

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Riese

Riese is the 43-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish and has a cute dog named Carol. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3271 articles for us.

65 Comments

  1. I don’t blame you for not knowing all the details of OUAT, but the mass exodus of cast was after season 6, and episode with Ruby and Dorothy was the season before. Meghan was starring in Chesapeake shores whilst Season 6 was happening.

    • Whoops, also thank you Heather, and whoever else helped contribute! I was only looking at the byline!

    • The way I see it, a revival brings back the characters in much the same way they were in the original series. Meanwhile, a reboot takes the original series’s lore and, after plucking the characters, setting, and a few minor plot bits free of it and changing them to suit their needs, just kinda…crumples it up.

  2. That’s a lot more than I expected! I only watch a handful of those shows, though.

    I still think Once Upon a Time needs a queer Regina. I mean, have you SEEN the photos of her new self? Her character’s name is Roni and she owns a bar. Serious missed opportunity.

    • Once Upon a Time needs a queer Regina like I need a paper bag to breathe into when thinking of Regina being queer. Which is to say, very much and it’s vital.

      • It is so very vital. I started getting hopeful when I read an interview with Lana about a potential new love interest and she didn’t use a pronoun… until the VERY end. And then all my hopes were dashed :(

  3. Honestly I’m still surprised it was Denise who got the stray arrow, and not Tara, because tv has a history of killing queer Taras “by accident”.

    Nope, still not bitter

  4. Thanks Riese and Heather for the list. There’s some things here I’ll have to check out!

    Overall though, This feels very underwhelming and I wish TV would get its shit together in a very minimum level.

    And oh Supergirl… I feel like I can’t trust the showrunners of that show at all. They did so well with Alex last season but pretty much just that. I’m so tired of shows I love turning into garbage because of men, make them stop!

  5. How can you forget that Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 8 will more than likely have Wanda Sykes cursing at Larry, and maybe even a Rosie O’Donald appearance(they are friend irl and she’s been on the show a few times).

  6. Ugh, so much TV. Does anyone know if all of HTGAWM is on Netflix? I stopped watching at the beginning of S2 for some reason and need to get back with it.

    • Netflix has seasons 1-3 right now. They’ll add the new season after it airs in it’s entirety.

  7. Me: I should contain my excitement to protect my fragile heart from inevitable disappointment caused by high expectations and a lack of showrunners willing to cater to, or even consider, the (queer) female gaze.

    Also me:

  8. Welp, there was a supposed to be a GIF there. I guess the universe is trying to tell me I should just stick to that first thought.

  9. My faith in literally any CW show is firmly in the negatives. Reclaiming my time!

    From what I’ve been reading about Grey’s Anatomy casting, Eliza is not coming back this season and they’ve recast Bridget Regan’s role due to her busy schedule so I don’t even have that to look forward to anymore. I keep holding out hope Callie will come back for Arizona some day but it’s probably a pipe dream.

    So it’s finally time for Sara Lance to “settle down”. I’m really looking forward to whichever dry ass male they decide to put her with her female flings through space and time. And I’m sure the writers won’t morally compromise her character at all this season like they’ve done in the past with their attempts at coupling characters. Nope. Have I mentioned that I don’t trust The CW?

    • Basically you just summed up my feelings about the Fall TV schedule and the CW. Loved how you dropped an auntie Maxine dig in your summary.

    • I CAME HERE TO SAY THIS.

      I’ve been burned by The CW one too many times. I’m just going to watch supercuts of Sanvers after the episodes air.

  10. “The Librarians” is also coming back with resident techno-genius Cassandra Cillian. While I haven’t seen any story synopses, ladies have been swooning for her since season one, and last season her centric episode had her both trying to date a guy and kissing a woman.




  11. Translation of what Guggenheim means: women are for flings and men are for long term relationships.

  12. I need to come back and point out my annoyance over Eliza leaving Grey’s. I know she was a disliked character (although I personally liked her, as long as she wasn’t interacting with any doctors besides Arizona), but what was the point? I honestly can’t see why she was introduced as Arizona’s new love interest if she was ultimately going to be fired. I also wonder why they brought back Leah if they were only going to use her in a handful of episodes. Anyway, I’m kind of glad this next season is supposed to be lighter, but I’m also not hopeful when it comes to Arizona’s love life. But please prove me wrong, Grey’s. Please.

    • It makes no sense to bring her in for that. Here’s hoping the thing with Owens sister doesn’t dominate the whole season

      • Something I read made me feel like the sister plot is only going to be a few episodes. I’m looking forward to Teddy’s return! I always liked her.

        Dear Teddy and Megan: Please take Owen and Riggs away forever!

  13. The Good Place (a fun show in general) has hinted multiple times that its lead character Elanor, played by Kristen Bell, is bi and interested in Tahani (Jameela Jamil), but we’ll see if they take that anywhere… I love the show regardless, but would love it even more if they made Elanor/Tahani an arc of some sort.

  14. For OUAT I betting Drizella is the queer character. she is being played by Adeline Kane (Queen Mary from Reign). It’s going to be one mention and that’s it.

    They really haven’t utilized their queer fans. If they made Regina queer you can bet we would make sure it got renewed another hundred seasons.

    But damn it I’m going to be watching anyway even if it’s just for the Lana Parrilla parts. And if they do give her a male love interest can he be more interesting than a piece of toast?

    • But remember, it’s a Family Show™. You wouldn’t want to corrupt the kids with a respectful depiction of two adults loving and supporting each other, implying their normalcy and the fact that they have the same right to exist in the world as any straight person/couple. I mean, it would create an opportunity for parents to start a conversation about non-traditional families, educating their children and allowing them to grow up as well-rounded, compassionate human beings! And what if some of the young viewers are queer? It might actually help them accept and even love that part of themselves if they saw it reflected in their favourite character! Unacceptable.

  15. It’s hard to recall a more disappointing slate of new fall shows, not just in terms of LGBT content, but overall. Maybe there will be a show out there that’ll surprise me, but right now, I’ve got maybe one or two shows that I’ll give a try.

    I’m nervous about the new seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and Supergirl. I mean, I’m grateful that the show’s promised a lighter and sexier season but, with Jerricka Hinton’s departure and the return of Hunt’s sister/Riggs’ fiance, I’m not particularly interested in seeing lighter and sexier stories featuring characters I don’t really like. And while TPTB at Supergirl have spun a thoughtful tale about how the show will continue to explore Alex’s sexuality, the problematic stuff they’ve said about the fan response to Supercorp doesn’t give me much cause for faith.

    But yay! for the return of my two faves: Jane the Virgin and How to Get Away With Murder. I can’t wait for their returns.

    • There are a few new things that I’ve been looking forward to, but nothing specifically queer. I want to check out Sarah Shahi’s new show, Reverie, for her, if for nothing else.

      https://www.nbc.com/reverie?nbc=1

      And Rise, which I don’t know too much about, but looks similar to Glee. But like, BETTER, because its Jason Katims.

      https://www.nbc.com/rise?nbc=1

      No premiere dates for either of those yet though, or any word on if there will be queer characters.

      Do either of you know when Queen Sugar coms back from hiatus? Because I expected that to be on this list, and nothing!

      • @arvan12, Both Reverie and Rise have been pushed back to mid-season by NBC. Networks usually roll out their schedules in mid-December, just ahead of the TCA Winter Press Tour.

        (The mention of Jason Katims reminds me, though, that I’m really sad Pitch didn’t get a second season. I loved that show.)

        At the end of the first half of Queen Sugar‘s second season, they said the show would be back in October, so it feels a little odd that we haven’t gotten a definitive date on its return yet. That said, they are screening the mid-season premiere on Sept. 24 at the Tribeca TV Festival, so I can’t imagine it showing up on OWN too much later.

        Any ideas, @c-p?

  16. Top of the Lake: China Girl has aired in the UK and IMO it was immensely disappointing, especially considering the first series was of such high quality. They totally wasted Nicole Kidman’s talents on a silly caricature of a “lesbian feminist” character. Although all the other characters were silly caricatures as well, so…equality, I guess?

    • Between Holly Hunter’s character and Nicole Kidman’s, it seems Top of the Lake aims to insert complicated second wave feminist characters into stories about younger women surviving patriarchy. They do fall flat, but so do the over-the-top male villains in both series. I wonder what she thought she was accomplishing with Kidman.

      I am still stunned at how terrible this season was aside from the acting. The plot was embarrassingly bad and someone ought to inform Campion that Thai women are not props as it looks like she has yet to figure that out.

      • oh dear, i was so excited about this. i mean, there was actually a lot of stuff i had problems with in the first season – the plot seemed improbable, holly hunter’s character was a weird caricature, but the acting was magnetic and pulled me through. i wonder if that’ll be the case for the second season.

        • Same, man! I’m a New Zealander and everything about the first season felt so perfectly authentic (apart from Holly Hunter and Robyn Malcolm’s bizarre chimp lady character). A stunning piece of storytelling with characters I could relate to real people in small town NZ.

          Unfortunately the second season just doesn’t work on any level – nothing the characters do or say makes sense, every single male character is a cartoon misogynist, and the dialogue is so bad it killed my plants.

          Also it’s set in Sydney so doesn’t even have the beautiful scenery to fall back on (I like Sydney, don’t get me wrong, but apart from a few shots of Bondi it looks the same as any other city).

          Also I can’t even with calling it ‘China Girl’ when the girl in question is Thai, like that’s some high-key racism right there and it’s never explained or corrected???

          OH and *mild spoiler alert* the lesbian storyline is not handled well. Way to ruin everything, Jane Campion!

          (One positive was that Elisabeth Moss continued to give another brilliant performance as Robin – damn, does she nail that accent – despite the stupid material she was given.)

          • wow! that’s really too bad. thanks for the update, tho. i wonder if i can still cancel my itunes season pass :/

    • Thanks for the warning! Though I should know better, I never would have expected this show to let me down. Now I know to approach with caution.

  17. I am so excited to see Star on the Autostraddle radar! I was completely surprised by how much it entertained me last winter!! It’s basically cut of the same trashy cloth as Empire…. but if Empire had a teenage little sister? By the end of its run, I was enjoying Star much more than its mother-show.

    Despite myself, I feel cautiously hopeful about Once Upon a Time. I shouldn’t. I KNOW I SHOULDN’T. There is less than zero reason to believe this time. But, I still love Lana Parrilla and have never quit the show fully. If they actually came through for once, I would feel so rewarded for my years of slogging through.

    This fall is looking mighty, might lean . At least there is still Shondaland Thursdays to save the day….

  18. I’ve said this elsewhere and probably here on AS before as well, but the Runaways casting has me so dialed up with frustration that I have really negative feelings toward the show already. I have been a Gert fan since way back and would have preferred that the casting be closer to her body type. Representation of fat girls is rare in general and even more rare in the superhero genre. I would have hoped that a show that made an effort to cast diversely would have made the slightest effort to do Gert justice. So I’ll be sulking about it for a while, but still plan to watch every episode.

    • I was just about to say the same thing, but then saw your comment. It’s got me real bitter that they couldn’t do Gert justice when the rest of the casting seems so spot on. It meant so much to me when I was younger to see the chubby girl be the hero and get the guy…

  19. Wow, I am probably loyal to 4 maybe 5 of these shows and have interest in another 2 or 3 and that’s it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing or that now that I have seen quality (coughWynonnaEarpcough) everything else just doesn’t measure up.

  20. Glad you included Survivors Remorse. It is such a good show that not enough people watch.

    • It’s so well done. It annoys me that it’s on Starz ( I got happy that I saw Showtime in the description, AS. You might want to correct that.) I usually wait till they have Starz has a free weekend and binge. I’m glad that they’re giving Mchuck more to do than fuck random women and bug her brother for money. Though it means a lot personally to see a black family standing firmly for their lesbian sister/daughter/cousin. That church episode in season 1! It’s good to see her go deeper in the most recent season. I relate to the mom daughter dynamic. But I do hope they actually get her into an actual relationship with a with a black woman. No shade, and I love that mom’s is finding happiness with an Asian man. I just haven’t seen two black women in a committed relationship on tv other than the brief drips of Denise in Master of None. Not since The Wire. Maybe once she makes peace with some of her demons.

  21. One Mississippi is a revelation – so rare to watch a show about a lesbian written by one, it feels so authentic. Transparent is brilliant also, really looking forward to the next season! And Marvel’s Runaways!

  22. PS: The Survivors Remorse premiere just aired on subday, and it had some really excellent character work for both M Chuck and her Mom (Tichina Arnold’s character)

  23. I should also plug daytime shows–General Hospital and Young and the Restless–who seem to be carrying their lesbian storylines into the fall. Obviously, soaps are an acquired taste so everyone won’t love it, but if you’re a lapsed fan, it’s a good time to revisit daytime television.

    On GH, Parker (Ashley Jones) is back in Port Charles, teaching English at the local university and, of course, crossing paths with her former student/lover, Kristina (Lexi Ainsworth). Meanwhile, over on Y&R, Mariah (Camryn Grimes) and Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) are slowly making progress towards becoming that show’s first legit queer couple.

    I’ve been sharing my thoughts about these storylines in the BOYT comment section, so if you’re following either show, feel free to share your thoughts there. Depending on how these stories shake out, I may write more about them, but for now, between GH‘s perpetual cold feet and rumors swirling around Y&R, I’ll keep recapping in the BOYT comments.

  24. I’m very much looking forward to watching Sanvers and Cat Grant on YouTube.

    Also I angry-laughed so hard at Once’s “special episode” comment because oh, the irony. I hope they said that intentionally.

  25. And of course, “Queen Sugar” returns October 3rd and 4th with more of the always lovely Nova Bordelon (as played by Rutina Wesley)

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