The First Gay TV Family?

As stated in this After Elton article, depictions of gay characters are pretty common today on broadcast and cable television in the US. But, as they also point out, that wasn't the case until pretty recently in the scheme of things, 1997 actually, when openly gay characters, thanks to "The Puppy Episode" of the Ellen show, started to literally come out of the screenwriters' closet.

But looking back at some oldies but goodies, I can't help but think that maybe there was a bit o' lavender shading to many classics that never SAID it represented gay life but can arguably be pointed at as being very, very similar.

My Two Dads (1987-1990)
Two young hipster guys gain the custody of a twelve-year-old girl after her mom dies. The girl may or may not be the biological daughter of one of them. They raise her as "her two dads".

The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969 - 1972)
Young good-looking widower is charged with raising his young son alone. But his son and the Japanese housekeeper try to arrange a new wife to enter the scene. But it never happens. I wonder why?

Family Affair (1966 - 1971)
A never-married bachelor in his 40's with a live-in man-servant takes in his orphaned nephews and nieces and a happy, two adult men/three child family they do make.

My Three Sons (1960 - 1972)
Neat and orderly engineer and his live-in older male relative raise three boys. Not a woman to be found in this household...for twelve years?

Bonanza (1959 - 1973)
Let's face it, this is the longest-running gay family show in history. Wifeless Lorne Green raises his horse-riding, cowboy sons on a vast ranch called "Ponderosa". Ponderosa means "heavy" in Latin, implying that the plot of the show was a lot heavier than many could deal with at the time. Plus, c'mon, "Hoss" ("Daddy Bear"), "Little Joe"("Cub Bear"), "Candy"("Twink")...all serviced by yet another man-servant rice-queen dream "Hop Sing"? Oh please!