An Early Frost was the first major film to deal with the topic of HIV/AIDS. It was first broadcast on NBC on November 11, 1985. It starred Aidan Quinn as Michael Pierson, a Chicago attorney who goes home to break the news that he is gay and has AIDS to his parents, played by Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands. Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a retrovirus that infects cells of the human immune system. ... The Red Ribbon symbol is used internationally to represent the fight against AIDS. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, rarely written Aids) is a disease characterized by the destruction of the human immune system. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959 Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Although the word Gay originally meant happy, in modern usage the term is often applied interchangeably with homosexual. However, there are important differences between the terms: while homosexual relates specifically to sexuality, the term gay is a political or social marker. ... Ben Gazzara, born Biagio Anthony Gazzara, (August 28, 1930), is an actor born in New York City, he grew up on New Yorks tough Lower East Side. ... Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1936) is an American actress. ...

Reviews, awards, and aftermath

Tom Shales of the Washington Post called An Early Frost "the most important TV movie of the year," although he had misgivings about the character played by Quinn, writing that "the central character has been made so far removed from the stereotypical homosexual that it could be argued he is stereotypically unstereotypical." Tom Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American critic of television programming and operations. ... ...

The film was number one in the Nielsen ratings during the night it aired, garnering a 23.3 share (the film outperformed a San Francisco 49ers-Denver Broncos game broadcast on ABC and a Cagney & Lacey episode dealing with abortion on CBS). The film also won an Emmy Award for best writing of a limited series or special (Quinn was also nominated for lead actor in a special, though he lost to Dustin Hoffman). However, the network lost $500,000 in revenue because advertisers were leery about sponsoring the film. The three main networks shied away from airing programming with similar themes until 1988, although in the weeks following the broadcast of An Early Frost, episodes of St. Elsewhere, Mr. Belvedere, and Hotel dealt with AIDS issues, and in July 1986, Showtime broadcast the AIDS film As Is. The movie paved the way for later TV and general release films dealing with the topic of AIDS, including The Ryan White Story (1989), Longtime Companion (1990), and Philadelphia (1993), which won Tom Hanks, whose Andrew Beckett was similar in many ways to Michael Pierson, an Academy Award for Best Actor. When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are generally referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by the New York City-based firm Nielsen Media Research to determine which shows television viewers watch at what times. ... Conference NFC Division West Founded 1946 Home Field Monster Park City San Francisco, California Colors Cardinal red and gold, with black trim Head Coach Mike Nolan All-Time Record (W-L-T) (At Start of 2005 Season) 498-379-15 The San Francisco 49ers are a National Football League team... Conference AFC Division West Founded 1960 Home Field INVESCO Field at Mile High City Denver, Colorado Colors Navy blue, orange, and white Head Coach Mike Shanahan All-Time Record (W-L-T) (At Start of 2005 Season) 365-331-10 The Denver Broncos are a National Football League team based... The ABC Circle logo, designed by Paul Rand in 1962. ... Cagney and Lacey was an American television series, which aired on CBS for six seasons from 1982 to 1988. ... CBSs first color logo, which debuted in the fall of 1965. ... An Emmy Award. ... Dustin Lee Hoffman Hoffman with Ben Stiller in 2004s Meet the Fockers. ... St. ... Mr. ... The television drama Hotel aired on ABC from 1983 to 1988. ... See also: 1985 in film, other events of 1986, 1987 in film, list of years in film. Events April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Gos Belinda Carlisle Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver. ... Showtime is a subscription television brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world, but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United States. ... See also: 1988 in film, other events of 1989, 1990 in film, list of years in film. Events Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia for $20 million. ... Longtime Companion is a 1990 film with Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott and Mary-Louise Parker. ... See also: 1989 in film, other events of 1990, 1991 in film, list of years in film. Events Chris Rock and Adam Sandler join SNL February 4 - Actor Tom Cruise and actress Mimi Rogers get divorce December 24 - Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman get married Top grossing films of... Philadelphia is a 1993 movie written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. ... See also: 1992 in film, other events of 1993, 1994 in film, list of years in film. Events March 31 - Actor Brandon Lee is accidentally killed during the filming of The Crow. ... Tom Hanks in February 2004 Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor famous for playing notable roles in many popular and critically acclaimed movies. ... Academy Award for Best Actor - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

Storyline

Michael Pierson, a successful lawyer, discovers he has AIDS after his lover Peter, played by D.W. Moffett, dislcoses that he had sex outside the relationship because Michael is a workaholic and living in the closet. Michael goes home to disclose the news to his parents. For the small enclosed storage space, also known as a cupboard, see closet. ...

Michael's father, Nick, is a lumber company owner, and his wife, Kate, is a former concert pianist, housewife, and grandmother (the couple's daughter, Susan, played by Sydney Walsh, has a husband and child). Nick's reaction is fury and betrayal, while Kate's reaction is an attempt to adjust. Probably the most famous scene in the movie occurs when Nick, having refused to speak to Michael for a day after getting the news, finally breaks the silence by saying, "I never thought the day would come when you'd be in front of me and I wouldn't know who you are." Susan refuses to see Michael, saying that she "can't take that chance," and Nick explodes when Michael tries to kiss Kate. Kate remembers reading in a magazine article that AIDS is not transmitted through casual contact and tries to get the rest of the family to accept Michael. (Gena Rowlands also taped a public service announcement about AIDS transmission.) Michael eventually winds up in the hospital (after paramedics who are called to his parents' house initially refuse to transport him to the hospital) with a roommate named Victor (played by John Glover), a stereotyped flamboyant homosexual with AIDS who spouts lines like "It's getting almost impossible to put together a dinner party these days." The film deals with the inevitable death of Victor with a scene showing Victor's few possessions being dumped into a garbage bag by a nurse.

The script for the film (written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, and directed by Jon Erman) spent two years in development and underwent at least 13 rewrites before the standards division at the network would clear it for airing. The film became the prototype for AIDS movies that followed it by providing a storyline and emotional hook that the everyday viewer with no experience of the disease could understand, follow, and identify with. It also grounded the disease in middle-class experience, which was a departure from earlier cultural depictions of AIDS as a disease that only affected American subcultures. The film was broadcast a month after Rock Hudson died of the disease, which added to the film's resonance. In biology, a subculture in a population of a microorganism is when one microbe colony in such a population is transferred onto blank growth medium and allowed to freely reproduce. ... Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor, famous for his rugged good looks. ...