Revisiting ‘That Certain Summer,’ the gay made-for-TV movie that made history… in 1972!

Image Credit: ‘That Certain Summer,’ ABC

November 1, 1972—52 years ago today—gay television history was made.

Once upon a time, the network ABC found great success with their Movie Of The Week, an anthology format that aired original, feature-length, made-for-TV films on primetime, frequently boasting sensational stories and some of the era’s most recognizable stars (the series even launched Steven Spielberg’s career with Duel!).

But it was That Certain Summer—one of ABC’s smaller, more intimate Movies Of The Week—that wound up having the biggest impact, at least as far as LGBTQ+ representation in media goes.

Directed by actor-turned-director Lamont Johnson and written by Richard Levinson & William Link (co-creators of Murder, She Wrote!), the film has been considered the first “sympathetic depiction of gay people

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