Best Buddies

My Review

This is a difficult episode for me to judge because attitudes towards gay people have changed so much in the last 20 years or so since this was made. These days fully rounded gay characters are featured in lots of TV series and there are even a few dramas like Queer As Folk and The L Word that are specifically about gay characters.

This was not the case back in the 80s so I have to try and keep that in mind when I view it. Had I watched this episode when it was originally made then I may view it differently now only seeing it for the first time ever in 2008. This episode was never screened in the U.K. at all.

Firstly, I think it was good that Fame did this episode and I think it was actually a brave thing for them to do back in the 80s. It would be interesting to hear what kind of reaction this episode got when it was screened as I’m sure there were some people who didn’t think it was an appropriate subject for the show to cover.

However, by today’s standards and even back then Ron is only a one dimensional character and because of that I can’t say that I really like him or feel sympathetically towards him. The writers did at least avoid the gay clichés with him and have gone completely in the opposite direction and made him like what could be seen as more macho hobbies like all the wood work stuff and kung fu. For me perhaps they took this a little too far because apart from him actually saying he’s gay and we see him briefly chat to a male friend there is absolutely nothing about him that appears gay. In fact he is a totally ungay gay character.

The main issue I have with this episode is more with Danny than with Ron. I have never viewed Danny as a prejudiced person. From his experience with cancer he knows what it is like to be treated differently because of something he has no control over and I don’t believe he would deliberately be nasty and cruel to anyone. So I find his reaction quite difficult to watch.

Yes, I’m sure he would be shocked and maybe a little confused as perhaps he doesn’t understand things properly. I can also see him trying to convert Ron by setting him up with Maxie but Danny doesn’t call people cruel names like queer, faggot and freak. I feel maybe the storyline would have been more suitable to say Chris or even Jesse but Jesse doesn’t appear in this episode and Chris is the voice of reason, well sort of! Thankfully Danny does realise he’s wrong by the end of the episode and wants to continue to be friends with Ron.

One thing that is definitely missing from this episode is the female voice of reason. In seasons 1 to 4 had this story occurred then Doris would have taken Danny aside to talk to him calmly and make him see reason and how hurtful his comments were to someone who is his friend. Season 5 or even the first part of season 6 I think Nicole would have done the same but here the female characters just aren’t strong enough to take that role on. Maybe Reggie could have pulled it off but she doesn’t appear. Without such a scene it just comes across that nearly all this episode the characters are acting all macho and shouting at each other and that becomes very irritating. I also don’t think the acting in this episode is very strong particularly the actors playing Ron and his father, and even Carlo seems to be struggling a little.

Also very irritating is the amount of touching and hugging Ron and Danny do during the first part of this episode, I’ve never seen Danny act like that with any of his other friends during the whole 6 years of the show. It seems to be done purely to highlight how Danny even avoided touching his friend when he found out the truth. Oh yes and where has this friend suddenly come from? They are so close but we’ve never seen him or heard anything about him before. Where was he in season one when Danny is out on his own with his drugs storyline and not a friend in sight to support him or even turn up to his comedy performance. Where was he in season 3 when Danny had cancer? I hate when people just turn up and the audience is supposed to believe they have been friends with our characters for years.

I assume the old footage of Danny as a kid really was footage of Carlo when he was young?

I do think the story is quite unrealistic, 6 years in a school where people want to be dancers, actors, performers and Danny doesn’t appear to even know one person who is gay. This is really hard to believe. I know coming out back then was difficult but even so someone in that School would have been gay and even if there weren’t out there would be rumours and suspicions, so it’s difficult to get my head round.

The Lydia and Leroy story of them competing against each other is quite interesting. However I think a scene was needed where at the end they realised their friendship was more important than a competition. Without this scene the characters don’t come across as so fully rounded as they do in other seasons. Still it was nice to have Debbie and Gene duet together, even though I'm not convinced that the song really suits their voices, particularly Debbie's.

Episode Pictures