TV Alert: Lesbian Moms on Nurse Jackie

I’ve been excited about the upcoming Showtime series Nurse Jackie ever since it began airing trailers during L Word season. Star Edie Falco is a terrific actress, and the series promised to take a look at hospital life from the often unseen perspective of the nurses.

Little did I know, however, that the series would boost its appeal in my eyes by giving one of the characters, Dr. Fitch “Coop” Cooper (Peter Facinelli), lesbian moms. (Thanks, Queerty!)

That’s right, folks: An adult character with lesbian moms. If it’s not a first, it’s an all-too-rare. The moms don’t appear until Episode 6, according to TV critic Ed Bark, and it’s unclear if they’ll be back after that. The good news is that they’ll be played by veteran actors Swoosie Kurtz and Blythe Danner.

Kurtz gets bonus lesbian mom points for starring with lesbian mom Cynthia Nixon in the upcoming An Englishman in New York, about the English gay writer Quentin Crisp’s later years. She’s also played a lesbian before, on last season’s Desperate Housewives. As for Danner, she is Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother, but also L Word actor Katherine Moennig’s aunt, which gives her a pretty close degree to lesbian parenthood. (No, Moennig is neither out nor a parent, but her Season Four L Word storyline as guardian to her half-brother Shay gives her some lesbian parenting cred.)

My only qualm? Dr. Coop looks to be an unlikable character, a self-important Ivy League grad who acts out with inappropriate sexual touching when he gets nervous. A refreshing break from the shiny-happy same-sex families with cute toddlers that make up most TV fare, when we’re depicted at all? Or another instance of someone assuming the children of LGBT parents will turn out badly? Given Showtime’s LGBT-positive record, I’m guessing the former.

Helen’s as excited about the show as I am, so we’re sure to talk about it in an upcoming vlog. Stay tuned—and leave us your comments on the show if you watch it yourself.