Caught the "ER" episode Thursday night with John Mahoney as a drag queen fighting the family of his lover who is hovering near death. Mahoney, best known for his role as the conservative ex-cop dad of Niles and "Frasier" Crane on the long-running NBC series, was just terrific. He tries to stay in the background as his partner's estranged family, which hasn't seen the ill man in many years, are trying to decide his fate. What a nightmare. This episode alone should have same-gender couples everywhere getting their paperwork in order if they haven't already. Anyway, after they keep trying to shove him aside, Mahoney's character finally screams to his partner's homophobic family: "I love him! I love him!" The episode didn't have a happy ending but Mahoney's does go on stage that night, in drag, in honor of his comatose lover. And here's the shock: he wasn't such a bad looking older woman. He looked a bit like Tallula Bankhead in her later years!

But, I'll tell you what was really touching: the scene between Mahoney and new "ER" leading man John Stamos (a very, very welcome addition to this still vital show) at the end of the episode. Mahoney is telling Stamos about how happy he is when he is up on stage, selling a song in drag. Stamos then says to him: 'You make me want to be a drag queen."
I don't think even Geroge Clooney could have played that scene better.