'That Certain Summer': TV's 1st Groundbreaking "Gay-Oriented" Movie - A Look Back 2 Decades Later

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It's been over twenty years since That Certain Summer debuted as one of ABC-TV's popular Movie of the Week entries on November 1, 1972. Groundbreaking for it's time, the 90-minute production was the first mainstream TV-film to address homosexuality.

A Closer Look

The script for That Certain Summer was written by the Emmy award-winning team of William Link and Richard Levison, who was responsible for popular mystery shows like McMillan & Write and Murder, She Wrote.

At the time, the mere topic of homosexuality might have been a mystery to countless viewers, while actors like McMillan & Wife star Rock Hudson, who was gay and deep in the closet.

That Certain Summer was about a divorced man, played by Hal Holbrook, his signigicant other, played by Martin Sheen, and Holbrook's on-screen son, played by Scott Jacoby. The son was confused as why his parents divorced, and spends one summer with his father hoping to find an answer.

The father at first attempts to keep his secret, but when the son flees upon discovering the truth. The two ultimately reconcile, and the son lovingly accepts his father's orientation

The Big Picture

Hal Holbrook initially rejected the movie, while he and Martin Sheen would later reunite in 2001 on screen in Gone Quie as President Jed Bartlet & Albie Duncan respectively.

Directed by Lamont Johnson, That Certain Summer received a total of 41 awards and nominations including Scott Jacoby's Emmy victory for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Drama.