given “gay” situation and I would say “no way” and they would explain what it was. That’s sort of where we are at in the journey with him (Peter on TV), it’s
fun to watch how naïve he really is. It must be interesting for you to watch that process and hear his stories… It is, I mean when you take a little piece of your own life and put it up there. It’s in-
teresting, when we get stuck on where to go, we always say, “go back to the truth.” What actually did happen, where did we go, what was the problem at the time, if this or that happened, what would you actually have said?” It makes for a much more interesting story, the fact that it’s based on actual experiences. I think that the historical context is important, regarding the time period that you grew up in, it was so different, there weren’t really a lot of resources for the “coming out process” for us. There wasn’t a Rage Magazine where you grew up?! (Laughter) That’s one of
the things that most people don’t understand, when we grew up, there was no choice really, you didn’t really know what it was and what ever feelings you felt, they needed to be pushed away. Well at least I did, I didn’t really feel like I had a choice. Nobody I knew was gay, there were no gay couples, and there was nothing to look to. I didn’t live in Manhattan, didn’t go there and there wasn’t anything on television at that point either. The first thing that I remember was way into the ‘70s, on Soap and the character was portrayed like the fifth banana, somebody that you laughed at. I loved Fran, I was attracted to her, I was in love with her, and I figured that this is the path I should take. It’s interesting to hear you talk about this, I don’t think that your story is that unusual for our generation. I bet as somebody in the public eye, there are a lot of people that can relate. Yes, I get a lot of letters from people now, in fact I just got one the other day and
they don’t know what to do, how do I tell people, how do I say it, or what should I do? I am not a psychologist, so I just tell people “if you can live your truth, I will set you free.” I know that is sort of a cliché, but it really does, when you are finally able to do that, when your sick of not feeling “right” and let the truth be real. That’s what I would say to people that say it’s a choice, do you think that people
would actually choose to go through this? To actually have to live with out equal rights? To have to fight against all this stuff? I don’t think it’s really a choice for anyone, it just is. I think it’s funny, when you ask straight people, “did you have a choice?” The response is always the same, it’s always, “well no.” I find it interesting that people can only relate to their own sexual experiences and not believe that there are other ones out there—they can’t believe that other people may feel something else. Unless you have lived inside their skin, you can’t know what’s going on inside of their head. It’s what I admire about you and Fran Drescher, you seem to have found a way to rise above, redefining your “family” and have come through the other side in what couldn’t have been an easy process. Well, that’s what we are trying to show everyone on Happily Divorced, it doesn’t
mean that every family is going to be like this, but it certainly would be nice if every- one in their own way could be. There is plenty of room for traditionalists, and there is plenty of room for those who aren’t. Most people’s families are at some point going to have something or some part of their family be non-traditional and that’s okay. Celebrate it, enjoy it, just because it’s different doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. I think we are getting there, it’s going to take some time but I think it’s happen-
ing. Things like Happily Divorced are out there now, I read a review just recently that somebody did and they said, “On the outside the show looks like any other sitcom, but once you start to watch it and listen to what they are really saying, they are really making a statement here.” He went on to say and I thought it was so funny, “is The Nanny actually teaching us something?!” Was it always a part of the plan to have Fran play the lead in Happily Divorced?
48 RAGE monthly | JUNE 2012
Happily Divorced cast members right to left: Tisha Arnold, Robert Walden, Rita Mareno, Valente Rodriguez, Fran Drescher and John Michael Higgens.
No, actually when Fran went in to TV Land to pitch ideas for other shows that she
wanted to produce and they said, very wisely I might add—well, if you were to star in a television series what would it be about? She said, “oh well, that’s easy, it would be one about me, my ex-husband and
my boyfriend and my ex-husband is gay and the reality of that.” She tried to pitch other ideas and they basically said, don’t bother, we want to buy that one! We had already been writing it as a movie, so when she called me and said, “what do you think about doing it as a television show?” I told her that it sounds perfect, it really is more of a sitcom than a movie anyway. We started rewriting it and they bought it and the rest is history! The show really is about their relationship, being gay is kind of secondary. That’s right, John Michael Higgins (who is straight but plays Peter on the show)
actually said, “You don’t play ‘gay,’ you play a human being. You don’t play some- one’s sexuality.” It’s good for people to see, that what people do in the bedroom isn’t important, it doesn’t affect anybody. What matters is are you a good person, how do you treat people, your husband, wife, friends, that’s what’s important. That’s what we’re trying to show, that two people who may have different agen- das at the end of the day can still be wonderful, wonderful friends. Well said Peter and thank you for taking the time to do this and congratulations on the suc- cess of the show—is there anything that you would like to add? I just want to thank everybody for watching, all the community for supporting
us and to please keep watching. Tell all your friends about us, TiVo us and watch it with in three days, it helps the ratings and help us keep it going! It’s great to have your support.
So folks, you must be doing something right in that department, Peter’s publicist left a message telling me that the show had been picked up for 12 more shows for next season— so keep up the good work! Tune in to Happily Divorced on TV Land, Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m./9:30 Central.
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