US TV Sitcoms: Are We Family?

In terms of change, one of the most startling developments is the growth in the number of sitcom gay characters and their acceptability to the viewing public.

Modern Family is a mega-hit comedy that features three families - a white couple with 2.4 kids, an interracial marriage between a white man and a Hispanic woman, and a gay couple who are raising an adopted daughter.

The show isn't about politically correct cliches. In one episode, the gay couple - Cameron and Mitchell - want to get their toddler into a popular school. Worried that their sexuality isn't enough to win over the ultra-liberal headmaster, Cameron pretends to be a Native American. His improvised "injun" accent is met with a stony silence and the daughter doesn't get her place.
Given that it explores race and sexuality with such frankness, we might expect Modern Family to be something that mostly Democrats watch. In fact, both Obama and Romney have cited it as their favourite show and Republicans in general are more likely to watch it than Democrats... 

Tim Stanley writing on BBC Online. 

Or, alternatively, you could argue that gay characters are more acceptable in sitcoms than elsewhere in TVland because the audience can laugh at them...

• Tim Stanley presents Family Guys? What Sitcoms Say About American Now on BBC2 tonight.