A L S O_.T O D A Y Blue Glow "Hercules" and "Xena" begin nightly cable runs: Does it get any better than this? Y E S T E R D A Y Princess Charming By Charles Taylor After years of being the bad girl, Drew Barrymore finally gets the role she deserves (07/31/98) R E C E N T_. T E L E V I S I O N Close encounters By Joyce Millman MTV's "FANatic" helps fans invade their favorite stars' space (07/17/98) American Squirm By Sarah Vowell Fishers of men: Two offbeat TV talk shows reinvent the celebrity interview (06/29/98) Buffy By Joyce Millman Love bites: Buffy learns about life (06/08/98) When Garry met Larry By Joyce Millman "The Larry Sanders Show" signs off after six seasons, but creator Shandling and his alter ego remain inseparable (05/29/98) You go, girls By Joyce Millman Time's up for "Murphy Brown" and "Ellen," but they were once TV's women of the hour (05/18/98) BROWSE THE TV ARCHIVES COLUMNS FEATURES

QUEERTOONS | PAGE 1, 2 The way a show like "South Park" is structured, it's probably a little of both. "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone undeniably pander to the same naughty impulses that Howard Stern does -- the potty-mouthed grade schoolers and ignorant adults of "South Park" engage in the most tasteless, un-PC schtick on TV. But Parker and Stone are enlightened liberals at heart; beneath its unruly crudeness, "South Park" is as tolerance-preaching as an "Afterschool Special." In the series' best-written and most focused episode so far, the Emmy-nominated "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" (it's available on video as part of the "South Park" collection), Stan is dismayed when his new dog Sparky prefers to hump other male dogs and rejects his macho studded collar for a pink bandanna. "Your dog is a gay homosexual!" taunts loutish Cartman. Saddened by Stan's disappointment, Sparky spends a dark night of the soul in the woods, until he comes upon "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Animal Sanctuary" ("The one place where gay animals can really be themselves"). When Stan tracks down Sparky, the kindly, swishy Big Gay Al explains to him (under the revolving disco ball) that Sparky is who he is and it's perfectly super. Then Big Gay Al takes Stan on a fantastic Disneyland-style boat ride depicting gayness through time ("Look! It's the oppressors! Christians and Republicans and Nazis, oh my!"). Stan returns to South Park to spread the word that being gay is OK, and leads the townspeople into the woods to be tearfully reunited with their cast-out homosexual pets. The episode is unequivocally pro-gay; Parker and Stone put the most virulently homophobic lines into the mouths of assorted local cretins and hated characters like demented teacher Mr. Garrison ("Gay people are evil, evil right down to their cold, black hearts"), while the show's beloved adult voice of reason, Chef, counsels tolerance. But all of this might be lost on less mature viewers when they're busy snickering at the way Big Gay Al lisps and minces. And in the testosterone-pumped teenage wasteland of MTV, the sophisticated double-entendres of "Super Adventure Team" may provoke a similarly confused response. Created by comedian Dana Gould and Robert Cohen, "S.A.T." is a perfectly executed spoof of such unintentional '60s camp as "Lost in Space" and the marionette-populated "Thunderbirds" -- shows where the terms "manly" and "butch" were pretty much interchangeable. On "Super Adventure Team," Chief Engineer Head (think of a younger Dr. Smith from "Lost in Space"), a mousy, effeminate queen in vintage Elton John specs, sneaks peeks at "Scrote" magazine and daydreams about running off with hunky Major Landon West, who himself is a little too fixated on heroic Commander Buck Murdock. Then there's wild-eyed Dr. Benton Criswell, who's obsessed with proving what everybody else knows -- that his sexy wife Talia (who has jutting puppet breasts and eyes that are vacant even for a doll's) is cheating on him with Murdock. In one of his twisted schemes to entrap the lovers, he dons a dress, impersonates Talia and begs Murdock to sleep with him. But the humor of "S.A.T." feels a shade cruder -- and so, less loving -- than that of, say, "The Ambiguously Gay Duo." "Super Adventure Team" relies on the limp-wrist stereotype for some pretty cheap jokes. But a joke -- even a cheap one -- is a powerful weapon. It disarms the enemy, penetrates defenses, pinpoints prejudices. A lot of straights don't know how to respond to comical depictions of gays anymore; even if the humor makes a pro-gay point, we're conditioned to think that laughter is disrespectful -- practically a hate crime. But "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," "Super Adventure Team," "The Simpsons" and "South Park" rise to the challenge. What these shows have in common is a joyous sense of defiance. Outrageous and over-the-top in their portrayals of gay identity, they set us free to laugh in a locked-down society. And for kids, they fulfill the same function that flamboyant glam-rock bands did in another era -- they're a way to explore sexual identity and satisfy sexual curiosity. Has "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" raised any adolescent consciousnesses, stopped one schoolyard taunt? Well, did Bowie in his "Ziggy Stardust" period? Did Kurt Cobain in his dress? Acceptance of gays and lesbians isn't the sort of thing many kids are going to own up to -- not when they're still in the thick of peer pressure, and not when they've been taught to hate gays by parents and preachers. But think about it: Gay humor is rooted in subverting the straight world, in outsmarting the homophobes; adolescent humor is rooted in subverting the adult world, in outsmarting the censors. Sometimes, comedy makes for unlikely allies. SALON | Aug. 3, 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - S H O W _.I N F O R M A T I O N South Park (10 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, Comedy Central) Super Adventure Team (10:30 p.m. Thursdays, MTV) The Ambiguously Gay Duo (recurring feature on "Saturday Night Live," 11:30 p.m. Saturdays, NBC) The Simpsons (8 p.m. Sundays, Fox) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - R E L A T E D_.S A L O N_.S T O R I E S An audience with the queen Former Kid in the Hall Scott Thompson holds court about his sissy-celebrating new book and solo tour. By Fiona Morgan July 23, 1998 The showdown at San Leandro High A battle between parents and gay-rights advocates may be a preview of the country's next great cultural war. By Ira Eisenberg Part One June 1, 1998 Part Two June 2, 1998