When I read that the cast of “Modern Family” was suing 20th Century Fox for what allegedly boils down to more money which you can read about here, I had to wonder how smart that actually is in a time when TV has been considered a dying industry by some. Back in the day when the cast of “Friends” could command a million plus an episode, things were different…life was different…hell, cell phones were as big as regular phones. And all eyes were glued to the TV on Thursday nights.

Not so much anymore. I’m one of the few people I know with a complete cable package that has all the premium channels. And I’m not sure how long that will last because I’m tired of paying that much money each month to tune in and watch a reality show about the Hutterites. I’m not joking about this either.

I’m also not a huge fan of “Modern Family” because I’m not fond of the way they portray gay men. The gay couple in that show aren’t like any of the gay couples I know. I’m sure there are two effeminate gay men in a relationship somewhere, and I’m not bashing that or complaining about that just to be clear. I would just like to see Modern family balance the act a little and maybe have another gay couple join the cast that isn’t quite as stereo typical as the couple they have now.

We’re not all like that. I’ve written about this before and I’m speaking from my own experience as a gay man who has been in a relationship for twenty years. Yes, as I said there are gay couples like the couple in “Modern Family” and I would like to emphasize once again there’s nothing wrong with that. But it seems to be the way TV portrays gay men all the time…or for the most part. A few do get it right. “The United States of Tara” was one of those shows, and that was cancelled. “Shameless” seems to be spot on, too. In fact, “Shameless” is breaking the stereotypes. I guess what I’m trying to say is that just like all people of African descent don’t look alike (one of the most insulting stereotypes of all time in history), not all gay men speak with lisps and have limp wrists. Plain and simple.

We stopped watching “Modern Family” about a year ago, and not just because of the gay factor TVfail. We thought the storyline was getting tired and we found that half hour getting longer and longer each week. We wound up setting the DVR and trying to watch it later in the week. That wound up in “delete.”