Julie Carrell, Alpha House

Julie Carrell (Brooke Bloom)

Political satire series Alpha House centered on four Republican U.S. Senators who shared a house in Washington, D.C. Katherine Sims and Julie Carrell were chiefs of staff for their respective senators and in an established relationship. While they barely interacted in the first season, they did spend more time together in the second season.

Julie worked for Senator Louis, who was extremely vehement about denouncing homosexuality (possibly an overreaction to his own secret orientation). Having come out of the closet in the first season, Julie shocked her befuddled boss again in the second season by announcing that she was pregnant by way of artificial insemination. He insisted that she and her partner Katherine get married well in advance of the baby’s birth, because by his logic, an illegitimate child is a greater moral offense than a same-sex wedding.

They both reluctantly agreed, and their small wedding was turned into a major political event by the Republican National Committee after Senator Louis announced it to the country. At the wedding there was also a cameo by lesbian broadcaster Rachel Maddow, as a “college friend” who made the two brides even more nervous by talking about how happy she is not being married to her partner. Julie and Katherine fled the wedding, still wearing their wedding dresses. The series was canceled after the second season.

Appearances:

• 18 episodes.

Female love interests:

• Katherine Sims (Natalie Gold, lesbian, recurring)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

No male love interests

Relationship story arc with a man: No

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No

Filter Relationship Arc:

• None

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.