Friday, October 13, 2006 (page 3)

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FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE (continued)
I didn't get to mention last week's episode of ER which featured John Mahoney as a gay man whose partner is dying. My deadline for this column is 7 PM (my tech person sends very scary emails if I'm later than that!) so I didn't get to see ER until it was too late to write about. The episode was very nice and Mahoney was great, but to be honest it felt a little “Very Special Episod-ish” for me. This was great back in the 90's, but how about adding a gay character to the ER staff again? I'm tired of gay folks popping in for an episode so that John Stamos or whomever can show that they're really a good person under their tough exterior.

In a similar vein, Wednesday night's episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent featured a gay subplot. This one was a psycho killer/down low/homophobia storyline. You know, fun and uplifting! It involved a fireman on the down low who is murdered by his psycho boyfriend who, it turns out, had killed before. (Psycho boyfriends tend to do that.) The episode went out of its way to say homophobia was a Very Bad Thing, but then again the openly gay person was a murderer and the other gay men were married and cheating on their pregnant wives. I've got nothing against complicated, even messed up gay folks (unless they're US Congressman voting to ban same-sex marriage while harassing pages), but how about balancing it with a gay detective?

I also sat through the second episode of Comedy Central's Freakshow, but I've had enough. They actually resorted to using a NAMBLA joke. How hilarious! It's just too excruciatingly bad and offensive to sit through any more.

Logo has a couple of interesting shows lined up this week. If you're feeling veddy British check out the adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty. Part One airs on Sunday at 10 PM. You can check out our review here and our interview with the star, Dan Stevens, here.

Monday Logo launches their new reality series Nemesis Rising. I just finished the first episode and I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. But, like much of gay reality television, it ends up being rather more substantial than, say, The Bachelor. Nemesis tells the story of two twins, Jacob and Joshua, who are trying to make it as openly gay rock stars. What I found most interesting was how different the two brothers are—or at least how different the producers and editors of the show try to make them seem.

I imagine viewers will be rather strongly split as to which one they like best. I tend to be a rather organized, goal-driven person so in the first episode Joshua was driving me around the bend. I won't say too much as not to spoil it for viewers. The show also seems interesting because this is apparently the guys' last real shot at breaking out, having been trying to get a record out for quite a few years. Will they make it? Nobody knows yet and it will be interesting to see what happens.

Speaking of interesting, Nip/Tuck has become the queerest show on TV by leaps and bounds. Last episode's dream sequence with Christian and Sean was just about the gayest thing I've seen in a long time. Julian McMahon and the show's writers get credit for really going with this storyline. The question is how much further will they go with it. Brent (AKA the wind beneath my wings) says Julian could stop questioning his sexuality now and he'd be impressed with how far they're already taken things. I'll be annoyed as I don't find it terribly believable that a forty year old man would have these feelings only to up and decide he's really straight. I need more of an explanation than that. Here's hoping Nip/Tuck provides it.

I already mentioned Tom and Terry got eliminated on The Amazing Race. I'm actually going to keep watching because I want to cheer for David and Mary from Kentucky. And Brad survived another week on Survivor. Check back next week for our interview with his brother and best friend who talk about Brad 's chances at winning and which other contestant is most likely his type.

The second Truman Capote movie, Infamous, opens in LA and NY today. Read our review of it here.

And this week on DVD we've got Art School Confidential (minor gay character), The Break-Up (gay guy kicks Vince Vaughn's behind), American Dreamz (minor gay character), and Innocent (gay indie from Canada.)

Finally, as I'm sure everyone knows by now, Tuesday night's programming has all been postponed so the network's can feature their birthday tributes to me. ABC is going to have Patrick Dempsey and Matthew Fox serenade me at the birthday bash they're throwing in my honor, then CBS is jetting me off to the Cook Islands where Brad, Ozzy, and the other Survivor hotties are throwing me a luau. NBC is celebrating by announcing that Bobby Cannavale is getting his own show starring as the editor of a pop culture website for gay men. (It's an obvious attempt to butter me up, but I'm game!) And FX is going to have Dennis Leary and Peter Tolan personally apologize to me for Probie's storyline on Rescue Me.

Now I'll shut up so you can have the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER!

That's it for this week! Check back next Friday for a new installment of Best. Gay. Week. Ever., or read previous installments here.

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