Jim J. Bullock may be forever haunted by the spirit of Monroe Ficus, air-headed thorn in the side to Henry Rush ( Ted Knight ) on TV's Too Close For Comfort. Since the sitcom ended its run in 1986, Bullock's varied career has seen him occupy Hollywood Squares' chatty upper-right square, co-host a talk show with Tammy Faye Bakker, provide the voice of animated fey fowl Queer Duck, play a teacher on Nickelodeon's hit series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, appear in gay films like Circuit and 10 Attitudes, and co-star onstage in When Pigs Fly, The Older Man You Always Wanted, End of The World Party, and—currently—Broadway's Hairspray. But none of these roles have brought him more recognition and, he admits, personal tumult than that foofy-haired archetypical air-headed neighbor.
Set in a San Francisco house, Too Close For Comfort involved a cantankerous cartoonist, Henry Rush ( Knight ) , his wife Muriel ( Nancy Dussault ) , and their two grown daughters, Sara and Jackie ( Lydia Cornell and Deborah Van Valkenburgh ) . For the just-released DVD set of The Complete Season Two ( Rhino Home Video ) , Bullock and Dussault reunited to provide delicious commentary for a pair of episodes. Bullock repeatedly cracks up Dussault with observations like 'this opening [ sequence ] was so cheap—and cheesy!' and 'look how gay I got there—I guess I'm getting very comfortable at this point because I just turned into Bette Davis!'
Bullock also reveals that the show's producers initially felt he was 'too fat and too gay' to play the part. 'As I was watching these [ episodes ] I was thinking about the suppression in my life, how hushed everything was and I was on this hit show and I couldn't be out,' he recalls. 'Such a different time!'
An always delightful and unexpurgated interview, by telephone Bullock reminisced with me about Too Close For Comfort, the connection between Monroe and George Michael, and—more seriously—his 20th anniversary of being diagnosed as HIV-positive.
WCT: How do you regard Monroe, Jim?
Jim J. Bullock: With fondness. I have great memories of that time. I'm very aware that show is what put me on the map and I'm very grateful for that.
WCT: Did the producers know you were gay?
JB: Oh yes. But Monroe was not supposed to be gay—that was the joke of the '80s. The producers would call me in and go 'we're getting letters questioning Monroe's sexuality.' And I'd say 'what do you want me to do? Butch it up?' Monroe's not butch! He's a neutered animal, neither male nor female, and has no desires other than probably Henry Rush! Just to please him! But I've heard so many comments from guys—and girls—saying 'you really saved my life because I used to watch you on TV and I related to you. Seeing you said there are other people like me and if he can go and be on a series and be a success, obviously there's hope for someone like me.' I don't get the title of Ellen, but it's wonderful that people related to me long before.
WCT: Ted was so mean to Monroe. Did that ever chip away at your own self-esteem?
JB: Oh, no. Not at all. And I didn't mind being second banana. It takes two. You have to have the yin and the yang, that balance. That's actually why the Monroe character worked so well. Ted couldn't be mean to his wife and daughters—that wouldn't have boded well. He needed somebody to balance off of, so this goofy geeky character was perfect ... and like a puppy, kept coming back for more.
WCT: Was Monroe actually a little 'slow?'
JB: I don't know that Monroe was, but I am! I take great pride in that. ( laughs ) Oh man! You know, if they brought that show back where would Monroe go? What would he be like? I was talking [ to someone about that ] the other day. But I don't even know that I could do the voice of Monroe again. It's so high.
WCT: Have you ever had a real-life Monroe as a neighbor?
JB: I have a real life Monroe friend! He's very, very much like Monroe. He was a fan of the show and related to me so much he called the set one day, back in the early '80s. I picked up the phone and he asked, 'Are you Jim J. Bullock?' And he shit himself. Freaking out. I was like, 'Yeah, hi!' I gave him my home number and it was never sexual, but just this bizarre relationship and now we're friends. And he is Monroe.
WCT: When was the last time you watched an episode from start to finish?
JB: About five weeks ago. I don't even have a library of the show. It hasn't been on TV anywhere that I've known of for years! We went to some studio and sat there and watched three episodes with headphones on for the commentary. And it was interesting, because we're watching a piece of ourselves 20 years ago. The [ DVD producers ] wanted us to comment about what was going on at that moment of our lives and show. And we didn't want to talk—we just wanted to watch! I was enjoying looking at myself and remembering what was going on. And I was thinking, you know what? I've belittled that show in my mind over the years because it never was an 'A' show, on the A-list. But for what it was it was a really good show. Ted ran a tight ship. So it was really interesting to look back on that and have pride in it, as opposed to looking at something you wish you weren't a part of.
WCT: Who actually lived in the big red house the Rush clan ostensibly occupied?
JB: We were doing exterior shots in '81 or '82 for the beginning of season three and I met the family that lived there. They were very nice. But they had to paint the house several times because they constantly had [ tourist ] traffic in front. People coming to say that's the house! Isn't that weird?
WCT: Would you work the whole Monroe thing at the bars out there?
JB: No. That's a complicated question. During the early part of the '80s I wasn't comfortable in my skin. But yes, I was a whore, I did go out and got into a lot of trouble in the clubs and bathhouses and stuff like that.
WCT: Have you ever taken home somebody who suddenly realized who you are?
JB: Yeah. That always sort of spoils the moment. 'You're Monroe! Hehehehe!' I had that happen a lot. It's OK if it's beforehand. Like you meet and they go, 'You're Monroe.' But to be in the middle of the throes of passion and to have it dawn on them ... .
WCT: Did Monroe have George Michael's hair or vice-versa?
JB: I think we both had each other's hair at the same time. We looked so much alike. I remember going to the American Music Awards one year and I went to take a piss and the guy at the urinal next to me goes, 'How come it took you so long to get here?' I said, 'Excuse me?' And he went, 'Wham!' And I went, 'No, I'm not George Michael. I'm Jim J. Bullock,' I said with pride. And this guy wouldn't take no for an answer. 'Yeah, right!' and he walked out of that bathroom thinking I was in there denying that I was George Michael! I hate to disappoint the guy but no, we just had the same hair and looked very much alike.
WCT: So besides it being almost 20 years since Too Close For Comfort, this year marks 20 years since you were diagnosed as HIV-positive.
JB: Yeah, 20 years. I believe it was October of 1985. A very strange time, a strange way it came about. There was this [ mysterious disease ] out there we had heard about, this scary thing. And if you'd been promiscuous, they wanted to run tests on you. So I took the test, I was having a dinner party one night and I got a call and it was my doctor. I didn't think about [ the reason why he would call ] . He asked if I could talk and I said sure, I can talk. And he goes, 'Well, your test came back. You're positive.' And I remember thinking—'positive, that's a good thing, positive!' And he goes, 'No, it's not a good thing. That's when you've tested and have the virus. So you need to come in and see me.' I went, 'OK, I'll call you Monday. Thanks for calling!' It was so surreal. I hung the phone up and went back to my dinner party.
WCT: And how did you deal with the diagnosis?
JB: I totally went into denial. That phone call never came. I did go in to see him and asked, 'What does this mean?' But one of my attributes and faults is I don't ever dwell on anything too long. When things happen to me I go 'that hurt' or whatever and keep going. The bad thing is oftentimes you don't dwell on it long enough to learn the lesson you need to learn, so you keep repeating it until you do finally learn the lesson. So with my HIV status I ignored it. It was so in the back of my head, so out of my realm that anything like that could happen to me at that point of my life. I was on Too Close, I wasn't out to my family, nobody knew I was gay, so how could this possibly happen to me. I didn't deal with it for a long time and nine months to a year later is when I finally started ... a little bit at a time. Over the years I started being more honest, telling people.
WCT: How much does HIV affect your day or life? Are you on any drug cocktails?
JB: I've never taken a pill. I've been tested and retested and poked and prodded and a guinea pig because they were going, 'You're a freak. You've been positive this long and your t-cells are here and you have no viral load.' I've been retested many times. They would always come back positive but for whatever reason I'm one of that minority—like one percent—of people who [ stay ] asymptomatic.
WCT: How is your personal life lately—do you have a boyfriend?
JB: No, I don't, and it's fine. I'm always open to it. I just haven't met anyone. It's got to fall out of the sky for me. It happened once before. Maybe it will happen again or maybe I'll just die alone. Whatever!
WCT: I notice that your character's name on the Nickelodeon show is 'Mr. Monroe.' A tribute to Mr. Ficus?
JB: Well, the show's writer/producer, Scott Fellows, was a fan. When I went in to audition, just hoping I'd get a job, he goes 'Oh my god!' He was so excited I was there I didn't really even have to audition. So when I got the part he called and asked, 'Could we call your character Mr. Monroe?' I said, 'I don't give a rat's ass what you call me so long as you pay me!
Too Close For Comfort: The Complete Second Season is now out on DVD from Rhino Home Video.
