TV & VIDEO - July 23, 1990

Protestsomething: Gay and lesbian community leaders have launched a letter-writing protest against ABC-TV’s refusal to rerun a controversial “thirtysomething” episode showing two men in bed. ABC Entertainment President Bob Iger said his office has already received a substantial number of complaints since his decision to cut the provocative installment from summer repeats was reported in Thursday’s Times. Iger said he pulled the show solely for economic reasons. About 50% of advertisers pulled their commercials from the episode’s first run last season, Iger said, costing the network more than $1 million. But gay and lesbian activists called it cowardice. “This knuckling under says we should be made invisible again,” said Michael Shere of the national Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.