saturday morning television made me gay

(Semi-)Seriously. I've been saying it for years already. But I lurk on the local Gaylaxian email list, and they're discussing topics for future panel discussions and one of them is how some saturday morning cartoon characters might be gay.

I'll explain my title, though.

In September 1976, when this show first started, I was only 8 years old. I felt a peculiar fascination not only with the show Ark II (because of its science geek setting) but also a particular interest in the lead character played by Terry Lester (who was later some sort of daytime soap opera heartthrob, I think). The thing is, though, his character Jonah was (and still is) my idea of the perfect man.

1. Fuzzy-faced, with long-ish shaggy hair and a full beard.
2. Intelligent, with knowledge of biology and chemistry.
3. Trustworthy. He was the leader of this band of do-gooders. Supposedly there were other Arks on the same mission elsewhere but we never got to see them.
4. Soft-spoken. He seldom raised his voice, trying (usually) reason instead of intimidation.
5. He could fly. (He had a jetpack so he could fly through the air like a true superhero. *laugh*)
6. Good with animals. He taught Adam, a chimpanzee teammate, to speak English. (In the show, of course.)
7. Tech geek. He lived in the Ark, a mobile technology lab.
8. Ecologist. He worked with others to help repair the environment in this post-apocalyptic world.
9. Pacifist.  His handheld weapon was some kind of light source that would confuse its target, disabling them.
10. Cute. And, try as I might, I can't entirely dismiss that I liked his appearance in his tight orange/white uniform.

In short....

The perfect man.

I want one of him for my own, thank you.

Saturday morning television made me gay.  I have the dvd set of this show's episodes.  If any locals would like to watch it, just let me know.  :)