TODAY IN QUEER TV HISTORY
THE JEFFERSONS: "Once a Friend" - 10/1/1977, CBS
The first attempt at a "serious" trans story on a U.S. network sitcom. George's old Navy buddy is in town and George doesn't deal well with his friend's transition, though they reconcile by the end of the episode. Like so many pioneering LGBTQ episodes of 1970s sitcoms, this was on a series coproduced by Norman Lear.
Edie is played by Veronica Redd, who TV viewers probably remember best for her 1990-2004 run as Mamie Johnson on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.
The script, which won a Writer's Guild of America Award for Episodic TV, follows the formula the networks had used since 1971 with gay and lesbian stories: someone the main character knows, usually an old friend, shows up for one episode and comes out. The main regular character learns tolerance, if not acceptance, and then the queer character is never seen or heard from again.
