Common Ground

This Showtime Original cable movie has a nice premise: take a fictional small town (Homer, CT), introduce three generations of citizens in three different decades ('50s, '70s and '90s), and have three writers write three sequences which describe how the town deals with a similar social theme--homosexuality. Vignette one: an enlisted woman, circa the 1950s, arrives home after a dishonorable discharge from the army for dancing with another woman in a gay club and is disowned by her cartoon mother and the cartoon townspeople. Vignette two: during the 1970s, a high school teacher about to be promoted comes out of the closet to defend a gay student being picked on by cartoon bullies at a cartoon swim meet. Vignette three: a retired military man (Ed Asner) and his son sit and talk about the son's homosexuality just before his same sex wedding. Fast forward through the first two push button exercises in good vs. evil and straight to number three, which is a fascinating and well acted little vignette. The rest is "don't ask, and I won't tell (you how predictable it is)." Optional. (R. Ray)