Season 2 • Episode 24
LatestAn opera star agrees to perform at Patti's birthday party, mercifully replacing Sidney's terrible clown act.
A middle-aged gay artist shares his New York apartment with a single mother and her little girl. Based on a short story written by Marilyn Cantor Baker, which was subsequently adapted into a TV movie entitled Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend. Love, Sidney was the first program on American television to feature a gay character as the central lead, although for the series, Sidney's homosexuality was almost entirely downplayed from its subtle yet unmistakable presence in the two-hour pilot.
Acting
Tony Randall's committed sweetness sells the impossible premise
Writing
Pilot's quiet courage vs network's cowardice is fascinating
Production
NYC apartment porn before that was a thing
Creator
Oliver Hailey
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tony Randall only took the role if the character stayed gay; NBC gradually 'de-gayed' him until he was essentially asexual. Randall fought back in interviews.
The pilot's subtle queer coding—Sidney's photo of a male 'friend,' his mother's knowing silence—was revolutionary for 1981. The series itself became a case study in network timidity.
US
