This article examines the TV movie That Certain Summer which aired on the ABC network on November 1, 1972. Written by Richard Levinson and William Link, directed by Lamont Johnson, That Certain Summer was instantly hailed as a landmark in American television history, being the first TV movie to deal openly with homosexuality. Although rather tame by today’s standards—because of the heavy restrictions the network imposed on the writers and director—That Certain Summer remains worthy of attention for portraying the relationship between two men as a marriage of sorts (decades before gay marriage became legal in the United States) and for confronting the important issue of gay parenthood.
