Flipping The Channels: Bisexual Representation in TV from the 70s to 90s

Exploring early examples of bisexual representation in seldom discussed works such as Love, Sidney to the ground-breaking episode of Taxi entitled 'Elaine’s Strange Triangle', this presentation will detail the efforts of writers, producers and filmic creatives in bringing bisexual visibility to the small screen. With a focus on the heyday of landmark television, the discussion will look at male sex work in cult classics like Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn; heterosexual women being bi-curious in shows such as L.A. Law and Roseanne; the treatment of iconic queer characters like Jodie Dallas from Soap and Steven Carrington from Dynasty; to how AIDS paranoia penetrated the bisexual lens with controversial entries such as the episode “After It Happened” from Midnight Caller. Featuring many clips and stills, this will be an enlightening look at on-screen representation of bisexuality.

Lee Gambin is an author, film critic, film historian and program head of the Cinemaniacs Film Collective. He writes for various film-related magazines and sites and is co-editor of Diabolique, as well as working in home media contributing essays and audio commentaries for multiple Blu-ray and DVD releases.