I want to look back a little bit at the advent of the series. What do you remember about the early days of the show, creating it in a time when LGBTQ rights were markedly different and attitudes towards the community were as equally un-evolved?

Max: I remember GLAAD giving us a lot of s--t at the beginning because they weren't seeing enough guys kissing on TV.

David: But they were supportive also.

Max: They were supportive, but they were clear about the fact that they didn't think that we had enough guy-on-guy action. But that just speaks to the fact that gays are like crabs. You know how you don't have to leave the pot on top of a kettle of boiling crabs because they all pull themselves down? They'll just kill themselves.

David: This is Max speaking, by the way.

Max: I'll own it. I don't think I need to be shy about the fact that they were kind of rough on us in the beginning. It was only later in the run of the show, and after the show certainly, that the gay community felt like they had something in this series that represented them well.

David: I think in fairness, you can understand their position. It was the only thing of its kind at the time and to the extent that they wanted to help shape it and they had their own ideas about how gay people should be represented on television, it stand to reason that they would be actively interested. But also, that was not our directive. Our directive, initially from NBC, was to find a romantic comedy to replace Mad About You.