Because society places a value on masculinity gay men aspire to it. If you go to a gay club and the doorman says 'You do realise this is a gay club don't you lads?' you get all excited because you think 'Wow he thought I was straight!'
When I've had hard times in my life the one thing about being in TV is that it's positive. I withdrew to 'Cheers ' it was familiar in that it was family. It had a kind of realistic positiveness to it.