American television has come full circle since 1997, when Ellen DeGeneres came out both in real life and reel life.

In early December, Showtime scored its highest Sunday night rating in three years with the debut of Queer as Folk , an explicit drama about gay men and women in Pittsburgh.

And now another milestone: Susan Lucci's All My Children heroine, Erica Kane, learned on Christmas Eve that her TV daughter, Bianca, is a lesbian.

Long-term role

The All My Children plot twist isn't the first gay characterization on daytime television. In the past, gay and lesbian characters have been brought in for short-term, specific storylines and in the case of gay men, often dealing with AIDS.

But this is different.

"It is taking a risk, because they are doing this with Erica Kane's daughter, the most famous woman on daytime TV," said Scott Seomin, entertainment media director of GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a national group that monitors media representation of gay men and lesbians.

Another risk: Unlike Queer as Folk , which is aimed at a sophisticated gay audience, All My Children is a mainstay of Middle America. It is too early to know how the public will react to the dramatic goings-on in Pine Valley, USA.

New comfort level

Since Ellen, TV viewers have become increasingly comfortable with gay characters on sitcoms, Seomin said.

"People watch gay characters for laughs," he said. "The networks overwhelmingly feel the American public can handle" gay characters when in the situation-comedy formula.

ABC-TV's Ellen didn't make it, canceled in 1998 because of low ratings. Some blamed DeGeneres for the show's failure; they thought she brought too much gay talk to TV.

But within a year of Ellen 's demise came Will and Grace, NBC-TV's prime-time hit about a gay man, his non-gay female roommate and their best friend Jack, a flamboyant queen.

A typical evening with Will and Grace (and Jack):

• Jack: "For your information, most people who meet me do not know that I am gay."

• Will: "Jack, blind and deaf people know you're gay. Dead people know you're gay."

• Jack: "Grace, when you first met me, did you know I was gay?"

• Grace: "My dog knew."

It seems America loves gay talk on Will and Grace: In the Dec. 17 Nielsen ratings, the sitcom ranked No. 6 and was watched in 13.8 million households.

Gay TV characters have become so popular (there are about two-dozen scattered throughout prime-time shows) that even DeGeneres is preparing to make a sitcom comeback, playing ... a lesbian.

Now, ABC is bringing homosexuality to daytime and the network hopes viewers will continue to love All My Children , Erica Kane and Bianca Montgomery.

Lucci, who co-workers say has enthusiastically supported the lesbian storyline, knows this plot is potentially volatile and needs to be executed carefully.

"I don't think it is our position to be instructive as much as it is to portray this realistically and with as much respect for the dignity of each human being involved," Lucci said in a prepared statement.

"No problem"

Eden Riegel, the 19-year-old actress who plays Bianca, was more outspoken.

"The whole story is done in such a way that it is accessible to everyone. It is so real, that the producers and the writers are making a concerted effort to show that a gay relationship is just like any other," Riegel said. "Everyone is behind making this story real and truthful and honest, and doing the best job we can with it."

When Riegel auditioned to take over the role of Bianca earlier this year, she had no idea about the intended lesbian storyline. The producers told her after she got the part.

"Of course I had no problem," said Riegel, who is not gay.

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