Some of My Best Friends

Creator Tony Vitale first pitched the show as a vehicle for Harvey Fierstein and Andrew Dice Clay in the early '90s, but he was shot down by executives who claimed a show with a gay lead wouldn't fly. The next thing he knew, Fierstein was on The Arsenio Hall Show (1989) talking about the project. In order to retain the rights, Vitale quickly turned it into a stage play, and the film version, Baciami Guido (1997), followed a few years later. Still he couldn't get a network to touch the material as a weekly show. After Will & Grace (1998) became a hit, Vitale again pitched the story and finally got a greenlight for the series.

Referenced in Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Jimmy Kimmel's Quarantine Monologue/Jason Bateman (2020)