Bill Cosby was dominating the airwaves in 1985, ushering in a resurgence of the sitcom—as well as the NBC network—that would last for years to come. Dynasty was at the peak of its popularity, as was Miami Vice. But Crockett and Tubbs were not the only fictional residents of Miami to heat up the airwaves; 1985 was the year that The Golden Girls were first introduced to television audiences. According to Nielsen Media Research, the most popular programs on network television were:
1. The Cosby Show ( NBC )
2. Family Ties ( NBC )
3. Murder, She Wrote ( CBS )
4. 60 Minutes ( CBS )
5. Cheers ( NBC )
6. Dallas ( CBS )
7. Dynasty ( ABC )
8. The Golden Girls ( NBC )
9. Miami Vice ( NBC )
10. Who's the Boss? ( ABC )
Terry Sweeney
and Danitra Vance
Among the new members added to the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1985 was Terry Sweeney, who was the late-night comedy program's first openly-gay performer.
Sweeney specialized in drag spoofs of celebrities, among them Joan Rivers, Joan Collins, Diana Ross, and, most notably, Nancy Reagan. When Ron Reagan Jr. guest-hosted an episode he reportedly told Sweeney that the performer impersonated his mother better than his mother did. The only male impersonation Sweeney ever did during his SNL stint was Ted Kennedy.
Sweeney only lasted a year on the show; he was part of a large mass-firing by producer Lorne Michaels at the end of the 1985-'86 season. He went on to co-write the 1989 film Shag with his partner, Lanier Laney, who also worked for SNL. The couple also wrote for MADtv, while Sweeney appeared in small roles on a number of programs, including Seinfeld. Sweeney and Laney eventually settled in Beaufort, South Carolina, according to splitsider.com .
Meanwhile, that same season featured Chicagoan Danitra Vance, the first African American woman to become an SNL repertory player—and she was also a lesbian, though that fact was not widely known until her early death from breast cancer in 1993; she was survived by longtime companion Jones Miller.
Vance's sketches included "That Black Girl" ( a spoof of That Girl ), and she was also known for her character Cabrini Green Harlem Watts Jackson. She also complained about having to play stereotypical young Black female roles, and left after one season. She won an NAACP Image Award in 1986.
Rock Hudson and
Dynasty's "AIDS Scare"
1985 saw the prime-time soap Dynasty at the height of its popularity. In May, the show broadcast its infamous "Moldavian Massacre" episode that left fans talking all summer long. Among those wiped out by the wedding-day gunfire was Luke Fuller, bisexual Steven Carrington's boyfriend; Fuller was played by Billy Campbell, who years later would play the gay character Jon Fielding in the first two Tales of the City miniseries.
But the program made headlines not just for its over-the-top theatrics in 1985. It also was in the news because of one of its guest-stars that year, Rock Hudson.
Shortly before going public about having AIDS, Hudson, in what would be his final role, portrayed wealthy rancher Daniel Reese, who tried to romance Krystle Carrington, played by Linda Evans. Evans and Hudson shared a kissing scene, leading many in the media to speculate whether the actress had been exposed to infection during her scenes with Hudson.
"… The word around town tonight is that Linda Evans is more than a little concerned," reported KABC-7 in Los Angeles on July 31, 1985. But producer Aaron Spelling denied such a reaction from Evans, as well as rumors that he offered to pay for testing for Dynasty cast and crew.
"I swear on my children, that's absolutely not true" Spelling said, according to the Aug. 2, 1985, Los Angeles Times. "Not only would we not pay, we haven't even talked to anybody about it. They ( Channel 7 ) never even called me about this. They have no humanity."
Spelling turned down requests from news organizations to use Dynasty footage in their reporting of Hudson's illness."We're just not going to become part of this witch hunt," he said. "It's taken all this time for gays to come out of the closet. And now this is driving them back into the closet."
An Early Frost
Before the Lifetime network, TV movies were the province of the big-three networks. Topicality often brought big ratings, and on Nov. 11, 1985, NBC aired An Early Frost, the first television film to address AIDS.
The story centered around Michael Pierson ( Aidan Quinn ), a young lawyer who is diagnosed with HIV and must disclose to his parents ( Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara ) both his illness and his homosexuality. Sylvia Sidney and openly gay actor John Glover also appeared in the film, which won its timeslot, as well as three Emmys.
Another gay-themed TV movie aired on ABC in February, 1985: Consenting Adult, starring Marlo Thomas and Martin Sheen as a suburban couple whose son comes out to them. Sheen, in 1972, played a divorced man who comes out in the 1972 TV-movie That Certain Summer, then, in 2015, played a married man who comes out in the comedy series Grace & Frankie.
