Remember hoping that Jo would lay a big, wet, sloppy one on Blair right on Mrs. Garrett's ugly sofa? That Tatum O'Neal and Jodie Foster would come to your school and pick you, and only you, to have a sleepover and then be on their top-secret softball team?

Remember wishing that Mary Ann would lay Ginger on a bed of palm leaves and tickle the starlet's breast with her pigtails while the Queen Mary cruised by in the background, drowning Gilligan and the Skipper in its wake?

But is there a lesbian over 35 today who didn't want Charlie's Angels to stuff Bosley in a trunk and spend the remainder of the hour ridding the world of smug men and speakerphones … while wearing their bathing suits?

If you were a tomboy in the '70s or early '80s, trying to make sense of life's challenges that were offered in prime time on your TV, you knew that something was amiss. You weren't satisfied. You might not have been able to articulate it well, but you knew on an emotional level that the “strong woman by day; weak woman by night” plots were insulting, and that the “girl meets boy, falls in love with boy” story lines were for someone else. Perhaps you thought, as I did, Jan Brady doesn't need a boyfriend, because I don't need a boyfriend!

Now, though, it's fun to look back on our relationships with these characters. With our finely tuned gaydar, we can talk fondly about which actresses and characters were, might have been or are lesbians. With our suspicions reinforced by experience — and some even confirmed — it's illuminating to watch reruns of our favorite shows and catch the subtle and not-so-subtle queer innuendo.

With our adult sensibilities, the way “Miss” Jane Hathaway looks at Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, and the dialogue between Uncle Arthur and Endora on Bewitched, take on new meaning and prove that behind the more ambiguous characters and story lines were gay or gay-friendly actors, writers and directors, who spoke to the gay community intentionally and in code.

Whether born of necessity, injustice or boredom, hinting of sex and sexuality was an art form in Hollywood — a creative practice that's still employed today but not to the extent it once was, because broadcast regulations have eased.

Today, queer and questioning kids aren't frustrated by an absence of gay characters or sexuality on TV. If young viewers want to see lesbians and gay men having same-sex sex, all they have to do is find a cable box that isn't locked or steal their parents' Blockbuster cards. And it's been that way for quite a few years. Hell, if they want to see kids of their own age declare, “I'm gay!” on a major network, they can tune into ABC's Desperate Housewives.

What young media consumers are exposed to in the 2000s make their parents and grandparents long for the days when Lucy and Ricky Ricardo weren't allowed to sleep in the same bed. And to be completely honest, although I'm a parent to no one, current programming sometimes makes me question the means to the end.

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