Television
Lucky dip
Wendy Cope
Iknew there'd be trouble but it wouldn't be permanent,' said Adam. The trouble occurred when he told his parents that he was gay. Though his father had little difficulty in accepting the news, his mother felt, at first, that she had suffered a bereavement and that she must have done something wrong. But, as Adam had pre- dicted, she got over it. Adam's family was one of three featured in the last programme in the current series of Family Matters (BBC 1, 7.35 p.m., Wednesday). In the Ward family things improved as soon as the son came out his parents could see that he was happier. But the story of the third family, the Harveys, was a very sad one. The parents are devout Christians who regard homosexuality as a sin. Their son killed himself, leaving a suicide note in which he told them the unwelcome truth. The report- er, Joanna Kaye, asked Mr Harvey if he'd rather his son were alive and an active homosexual. 'Simon is better off where he is,' the father replied. All three families took part in the studio discussion that followed the film. The sight of two happy threesomes and one bereaved twosome spoke louder than any words about accepting people as they are. There's no doubt that this was a valuable and interesting programme. Taking part in it must have been a disturbing experience for the Harveys, and perhaps for the others as well. Do they regret it? What effect has it had on their lives? Programmes of this kind raise serious ethical questions. It might be a good idea to make them the subject of a future edition of Family Matters.
The rest of this week's viewing has been a lucky dip into corners of the schedules I Whose idea was 'Rognons a la Turque'? don't normally reach. Well, not all that lucky. If there are wonderful programmes going out in the early hours of the morn- ing, I haven't yet come across them.
A new American import called Men (ITV, 1.30 a.m., Wednesday) was de- scribed in my newspaper as a drama series about a group of men who have traumas relating with each other. I can't, now, imagine why I thought this would be of any interest to me. It opened with a poker game, continued with basketball practice, and lost me at the first commercial break. Later I learned from TV Times (where you will find this programme on the Tuesday page) that one of the men died after the break, forcing the group to re-evaluate its priorities. Maybe its members gave up poker and basketball and became a lot less boring. I'm sorry I'm not in a position to let you know.
Another of the early hours programmes I unaccountably decided to watch was America's Top Ten (ITV, 2.30 a.m., Thursday and 4.30 a.m., Friday). It is hosted by a young black woman called Saideh Garrett, who says, 'Now let's do it' and 'Now let's do the countdown thing'. The countdown thing consists of mercifully short extracts from current hits, inter- spersed with interviews and pop news items. It may interest some of you to know that Phil Collins could soon become the fourth male solo singer to hit four number ones in a row.
Towards the end of the programme Saideh asked viewers a 'trivia question'. Which record was at number one for the longest in the last decade? I'd quite like to know that — it could be something I've heard of. Sad to say, my recording ended before she gave us the answer. If you're planning to tape stuff that's broadcast in the early hours, remember that after mid- night the programmes do not run on time.
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