The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Fall 12-2014 The (Not So) New Normal: A Queer Critique of LGBT Characters and Themes in Primetime Network Television Situational Comedies Robert Dallas Byrd Jr. University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Byrd, Robert Dallas Jr., "The (Not So) New Normal: A Queer Critique of LGBT Characters and Themes in Primetime Network Television Situational Comedies" (2014). Dissertations. 757. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/757 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi THE (NOT SO) NEW NORMAL: A QUEER CRITIQUE OF LGBT CHARACTERS AND THEMES IN PRIMETIME NETWORK TELEVISION SITUATIONAL COMEDIES by Robert Dallas Byrd Jr. Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2014 ABSTRACT THE (NOT SO) NEW NORMAL: A QUEER CRITIQUE OF LGBT CHARACTERS AND THEMES IN PRIMETIME NETWORK TELEVISION SITUATIONAL COMEDIES by Robert Dallas Byrd Jr. December 2014 This analysis of primetime situational comedies feature LGBTQ characters argues that through heteronormative and homonormative constructions of sexuality, race, gender, and class, many LGBTQ people are rendered invisible in the mainstream.