The Next Gayest Things You'll See This Week

I was going to talk about Jonathan Winters' passing, but I've had enough sad stuff this week. And yes, I will finish yesterday's post. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to say what I want to talk about, without coming off as maudlin or sappy. Again, it's been a tough week.

So instead, tonight I thought I'd I'd write about some pretty funny; somewhat sexy and very, very gay things.

First up (via) comes a film industry oddity - a teaser trailer for a movie that hasn't even started shooting (um... so where did the teaser footage come from?). Anyway, the movie (for which I can find no IMDb listing) is called TOM, a long-rumored biography of illustrator and designer Tom of Finland. Born Touko Laaksonen in 1920, Tom of Finland's illustrations influenced and informed mid-century gay culture with his stylized, hyper-masculine erotic art. Featuring leather-clad muscle boys; tightly-uniformed sailors and fetish-wearing Pony Boys (most with impossibly large um... 'equipment'), Laaksonen's work most certainly influenced The Village People and the controversial Al Pacino movie Cruising in the late 70's and early 80's. The teaser's very amusing (and fairly safe for work until the last 30 seconds or so). Nathaniel at The Film Experience identifies the adorable actor playing the artist as an actor named Olli Rahkonen. I love his dirty smirking!

It also reminds of the time I was playing the Cowardly Lion in a 1978 production of The Wizard of Oz and my innocent young sister bought me a greeting card with Dorothy and Toto in a leather bar, lamenting about not being in Kansas. That card was funny to a 10 year old girl in a very different way than it was to her 16 year old gay brother. Yikes! If only she'd known.... wait. DUH!

In less salacious gay entertainment news. Britain's ITV has released the trailer for "Vicious," (via) about a bickering older gay couple (Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi - wow!) whose lives are changed when a new neighbor moves in. I should be so lucky...

If "Vicious" is a hit, it won't be long before we see an American version. Who would you cast? I can see Fred Willard and Martin Mull. Scott Thompson (so happy to see him on "Hannibal" this week!) and Stephen Rutledge, perhaps? Now there's a duo I'd love to direct.

More, anon.
Prospero

Not So Super Man

Ugh!

Well, we're only a week into the new TV season and one of the worst sitcoms in television history has already reared its ugly head on CBS. And that's a shame, because "Partners" had a lot of great things going for it to start.

First off, it was created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, creators of "Will & Grace." Based on their real-life business partnership and friendship of a gay man and a straight man, the show should have been a no-brainer. Add the talented David Krumholtz ("Numbers"); Micheal Urie ("Ugly Betty"); Sophia Bush ("One Tree Hill") and the gorgeous Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), and CBS should have had an unqualified hit on its hands.

Sadly, "Partners" suffers from zero chemistry between its two leads; absolutely terrible writing with completely unfunny (not to mention horribly stereotypical) jokes and one of the worst, most ill-timed canned laugh tracks in memory  Krumholtz and Urie play Joe and Louis, best friends for 23 years who run an architectural firm in New York. Bush is Joe's girlfriend, a jewelry designer named Ali and Routh is Louis' boyfriend, Wyatt, a nurse. In the pilot, Joe worries that Ali has given him a "marry me or else" ultimatum while Louis insists on telling people that Wyatt is a doctor. Tracy Vilar is Rosanna, their 'saucy' Latina Office Manager who gets away with insulting her bosses with 'jokes' like "Joe, Joe, Joe, gay, gay, gay, I will cut you!" And Routh fares even worse with: "It's Cardiac Awareness Week. Which is why I have a heart on." Sigh...

I can't really tell you more about this travesty, because I was so offended in every possible way, I turned it off after the first 15 minutes.  And I think what bothered me most about the whole thing was the incredible waste of talent of all those involved, especially Routh, whose once-promising career has been reduced to playing a self-loathing gay second-banana (all puns intended) on a third rate sitcom from two men who should know better. Shame on everyone involved with this crap. I'll be surprised if it lasts more than 3 episodes.

Honestly, I've had surgery that was less painful. "Partners" is certainly the worst sitcom of the 21st Century (and possibly of all time*). Zero Stars Out of Four.

More, anon.
Prospero

*And that includes "My Mother the Car;" "Life on a Stick" and "Cavemen."

The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week + I May Eat Crow

There is a new web series about to hit the net that's being touted as "the gay 'Sex and the City'" by no less than Entertainment Weekly. Based on the blog and subsequent novel "The Great Cock Hunt," the series explores what it's like to be a young, hot gay boy in New York City in the aughts. Ben Baur, who has had small roles on "Nip/Tuck" and TV Land's dreadful "Happily Divorced," plays Alex, a 20-something twink on the prowl. The show will air in a SFW edited version on LogoTV.com and an NSFW (reportedly featuring some full-frontals) version for pay on HuntingSeason.TV starting September 12th, with free versions airing a week later. You can catch a preview on the EW link above and a longer version at the show's site, here. "Suspicious packages," indeed!

 

My personal 'wild' times came about in my mid-30's, so I can only relate to the show's premise with a different POV. Of course, I was never a twink like Alex, so I have no idea how I'll respond to the series once I get to actually see it. Uncle P can much more relate to the very amusing gay murder mystery "Where the Bears Are," currently available on Vimeo.

As for the 'eating crow' portion of tonight's post; several friends, both here and on Facebook, let me have it about last night's "Downton Abbey" post, telling me that not only should I not judge a book by its cover but that I would actually enjoy it. "A campy soap with Maggie Smith rolling her eyes in the background..." "Funny, sexy and often outrageous..." "You would love it, dummy!"

Okay, I hear you guys. I'll give the show a chance. Now I just have to find time to watch the first few seasons and get all caught up. I guess this is where I should start:

More. anon,
Prospero

Well, Duh!

Gay TV

NPR has a story (via) about how TV brought (and continues to bring) gay people into America's living rooms and is helping to change middle-Americans' attitudes and ideas about us. While I can't argue with that (even our Vice President acknowledged it last week), I hope that TV isn't the only thing changing minds in Peoria.

Okay, good. So TV has helped. But let's take a lot at how long it took for TV to get there, shall we?  1977 saw television's first openly gay character, Jody Dallas (played by future Oscar host Billy Crystal) on the ABC parody "Soap." Yes, for the most part, Jody was played for laughs. The joke was on us when it was revealed that Jody and his mother were both having sex with tennis instructor Peter (the late Robert Urich).

I don't remember another gay character on TV until the 80's with "Thirtysomething" (a show I despised) and in the 90's with "Melrose Place," a show I never saw. And of course, Ellen came out in life and on her show and suddenly there was this screeching halt and we were hardly anywhere, except on Russell Davies' BBC series "Queer as Folk." And then came "Will & Grace," I suppose. Almost real gay men on TV at last! And it played in Peoria! Of course, no one cared if Showtime's soft-core American version of "Queer as Folk"played in Peoria. It was purely a coastal phenom, though I took much delight in introducing K to it's many joys while visiting sis in Florida one year. She spent the majority of the hour with her mouth hanging open, poor thing.

Now, of course there's "Glee" (as silly as it may be at times) and "Modern Family" (as outrageous as it may be at times), finally featuring (more-or-less) realistic gay characters in everyday settings. The ratings on both of these shows are pretty terrific. Collectively, they've won Golden Globes, Emmys and GLAAD Media Awards. If the folks in Peoria (i.e Middle America) hated these shows, they wouldn't be the hits they are. Well, it finally seems like people are getting it. LGBTQ people are your friends, your co-workers and your family members.

And what became of Ellen? She is Oprah's gay heir apparent, apparently. The multiple Emmy Award-winning Ellen Degeneres now hosts the most popular daytime talk show on television; is a humanitarian and philanthropist and supposedly the most delightful and genuine person one could hope to meet in Hollywood. Millions of Americans welcome the world's most famous lesbian into their homes every weekday.

Yes, television has done wonders for LGBTQ rights. Visibility breeds compassion, I guess. Honestly I don't care about the why. I just know that things are finally beginning to change for LGBTQ Americans and I'm so glad that I am here to see that.

That's so gay!

More, anon.
Prospero