Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (April 4, 2008)

Well, lot's going on here it seems!

BTW:  LOVED Luke in Sigourney Weaver battlebot mode from Aliens!

Nuke is a write-off and at this point I wouldn't even care if they all
died in a barn fire.  Luke and Noah's relationship is so badly written
(and, flame me if you will, acted) that it's frankly easier to imagine
slash fic relationships between virtually any of the male characters on
CSI than between Luke and Noah. Also, someone needs to clue Noah
in on the fact that proper Iraqi wives are supposed to lock themselves
in a closet when commanded by their husbands.

Battlestar Galactica is just too frustrating to watch because, honestly, all I want is to see Jamie Bamber, completely naked, for the full 40 minutes of each episode.  It doesn't even have to be related to the plot in any way.  I just think he needs to be naked.  Oh yeah, he need to be naked.... 

Bisexuality on European TV certainly is vexing.  On the other hand, I think would should attach some merit to the idea that loving someone is more important than selecting partners solely on gender basis.  The assumption that love is equal whether it's heterosexual or homosexual is what has been powering the substantial progress of gay rights (in particular partnership and/or marriage rights) in Western Europe.

Central and Eastern are a whole other problem of course.  Russians can be expected to oppose homosexuality though.  It gives them someone to harrass who doesn't have main battle tanks to retaliate with like Czar Vladimir. They are still a century or two back socially-speaking remember.  One has to keep that in mind and view them with the pity/contempt they deserve.  After all, my late grandfather would be scandalized that I hold the hated Germans in much higher esteem than our ancestral Poland.  But Germans (except the ones with copies of Mein Kampf hidden in their nightstands) are way more gay-friendly than Poles, most Slavs and Serbs and the Russians.

We have to be indulgent of Torchwood.  It is not, contrary to some mistaken belief, meant to be Brothers & Sisters with aliens, gadgets and supernatural circus freaks with severe gingivitas.  I'm actually surprised that Janto have come as far as they have given that their relationship in Series 1 existed more on the Internet fan fiction boards than on the actual show.  It is still supposed to be a sci-fi show, and Jack is supposed to be a bon vivant.  That he's sticking to Ianto as much as he is seems kinda nice.  But I still wanna see what the series finale holds.  I have little hope that Gwen will die but one can still dream.

Another great recap of the week!  Thanks for pulling back some of the venom! 

I was momentarily confused when I read the part about Bailey Chase being "Hotprechaun". I'm no ATWT expert but I believe Dylan Chase is Hotprechaun, as Brian calls him. According to IMDB, Bailey played Chris Hughes from 2003-2005 but Dylan is the current Chris Hughes, since the character's return to ATWT last year.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1851313/

Thanks for pointing out those hilarious video clips of Russell Tovey in "Annually Retentive". He's so good at using facial expressions to convey emotion. What a fantastic actor! He was superb in "Being Human".

Umm...You might want to double check where you found that, because those guys aren't Brazilian. Brazilians don't speak Spanish--they speak Portuguese. It certainly was adorable, though.

If you tell me how to do it I'll make one this afternoon about Forbidden Love (Verbotene Liebe). I guess it doesn't matter if it'll surely take me at least an hour to do and post it because anyway you're 6-9 hours earlier then we are in Germany. ;-)

While John Paul and Craig's relationship is over, I was surprised that you didn't go on to mention Kieron, the gay catholic priest, or Kris, his more stereotypically gay athiest friend, at all...?

I love that Craig leaving hasn't meant that John Paul has forgotten him and is struggling to move on. Also, John Paul and Hannah, John Paul's former girlfriend who nearly died, appear to be fostering their non-romantic relationship and she seems to have totally accepted his being homosexual. But you should definitely check out Kieron's angst, I think its pretty well acted.

Glad you're being nicer to Jack- its great how the Janto has developed this series, [and will continue to] and remember you can always get a feel for how Jack has changed by comparing him to the other old Jacks and the jaded Jacks and even with Captain John-- who will be reminding you of James Marsters hotness as the series draws to a close.

Loved Hotel Babylon, it was so camp and so funny. John Barrowman, busy busy man that he is, is also going to be presenting a childrens/family quiz thing soon. He had also been presenting a radio show all this week, and is judging a bunch of Nancys on I'd Do Anything, where he can be seen wearing a striped shirt every single week as they work through a reality show audition for casting Nancy and [three boys for] Oliver in Oliver! And it has Graham Norton presenting, in progressively more metallic suits that I can't stand and love more each week. What more could you want? For Denise van Outen to be crushed by a falling chandelier? I can only dream...

Psionycx, If you're going to hold entire country in contempt based on existance of some homophobes, than USA deserves this contempt as well. Anyway, people who are actively against Putin are the ones more likely to be liberal and forward thinking. Majority does support Putin and unlikely to have any pent up anger towards him that they would have to unleash on minorities. I think they are simply put prejudiced and, apparently would rather spend time banning cartoons than worry about millions of problems that plague the country.

That's to bad about Click Magazine. I think I may have purchased every copy so far. Also will be sad to see the current Skin's cast go the way of the Dodo. I really liked Maxxie and Sid. It seems to me these characters have more stories in them, but what can you do?

Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't mention John Paul and Kieron as well, Michael. There was a lovely scene when John Paul was explaining to Hannah that before, he was willing to be with Craig at all costs because he was head over heals in love. But this time, he doesn't love Kieron enough to put everything on the line for him. It was very believable and it shut all the Craig fans up who were constantly bleating on about how John Paul has totally forgotten about Craig and how John Paul is evil blah blah blah. Hopefully this gives more chance of a Sunset Ending now :D.

On the topic of bi-sexuality, I think the problem is that when characters are introduced into soaps they are automatically made to be straight. And then when the writers decide to do a gay storyline they don't really want to introduce too many new characters so they use what they've got. Hence making characters bi. Not to mention it makes it more dramatic when someone has to come to terms with their bi-sexuality because it is more difficult, as I should know. I found that in a lot of people's minds you are either gay or straight and there is nothing inbetween, but then my body was telling me something different and it made it a much more confusing time for me. I am 100% sure that I would have come out much earlier if I was just gay.

But anyway, it's not as if there arn't any gay men around either. Sean and Marcus in Corrie, Christian in Eastenders, Paul and Jonny in Emmerdale, John Paul and Kieron in Hollyoaks. So I think people doth protest too much sometimes.

Thanks muchos for the Russell Tovey clips, they are hilarious and basically sum up my argument completely on why you should not use stereotypes :D.

I think Y&R would be a great choice for a gay character. It's certainly better written than ATWT and has a wider range of stories and characters. Adam, because he's new, would be an ideal guy to write the story for and I can only imagine what Victor's reaction would be. The fact that Adam is cute as a button helps, of course. Lauren Fenmore Baldwin has a 20-ish son Scotty who was on the show for a bit a few years back that the show was rumored to be writing a coming out story for. Unfortunately, the actor they hired for the role was so bland and underperforming that they just wrote him out of the show only a few months after he'd made a heralded return. Of course, I always wanted Kevin to come out of the closet myself.

Thank you, Michael! Excellent job as always! This does seem to be a pretty damn gay week. I'm excited to see the Doctor Who episodes with Captain Jack. That will be fun/interesting to watch. My roommate is going to be so sick of Barrowman. Haha!

I'm still looking forward to the Nuke storyline, though it seems like I'm joined by fewer and fewer people each week.  I sincerely wish this Ameera plot-device storyline will wrap up quickly though.  I have no idea where TPTB can take it.

And, I wanted to thank you for all the excellent clips you've included throughout the column.  I had to actually hold in my laughter when watching John Barrowman on Hotel Babylon.  That was possibly the funniest thing I've seen all week!  I may have to watch it again, just because...

Get well soon!

excellent job this week even if you are trying to resist hating the English, after all, this particular English person loves you. And you hate Torchwood as well?  I'm just about to watch the season finale in 20 minutes, but I won't spoil it for you.

don't let Bush know that or I may get my citizenship revoked. And I don't hate Torchwood; just very frustrated by Jack's behavior.

You know, you can also photoshop Ameera's face to the Alien's Facehugger Parasite Pupa that implants the eggs inside the host body. Everyone will love it. Just a Suggestion. The way she's acting with Noah, she might as well be attached to his face.___________________________________________________________ Young and the Feckless can definitely steal away from ATWT by doing gay the right way (our new slogan). And wouldn't it be wonderfully vicious if Young and the Feckless stole Jake Silberman away from ATWT to be the boyfriend on their show? I can just see the Focus on the Fascists org commerical: something about Daytime porn and the Impressionable minds of 60 year old hausfrau hookers.

.. anything but unidentified. It's fellow Doctor Who producer Julie Gardner. But I'll let that pass for now, since she's a woman and all that ;-)

I love that you're reporting on the German soap Verbotene Liebe... I do like their storylines and how they execute them, but the acting in German soaps is unfortunately pretty poor^^ The Christian/Olli storyline has potential, though ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMd1dKqqWRI

....from upcoming Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters episodes. Feels almost like they've been gone for a whole season. Nice to know they're in production somewhere out there!

"There was a lovely scene when John Paul was explaining to Hannah that before, he was willing to be with Craig at all costs because he was head over heals in love. But this time, he doesn't love Kieron enough to put everything on the line for him. It was very believable and it shut all the Craig fans up who were constantly bleating on about how John Paul has totally forgotten about Craig and how John Paul is evil blah blah blah. Hopefully this gives more chance of a Sunset Ending now :D."

 Jason...I was one of those fans who went on and on about John Paul not mentioning Craig, so I was elated this week when he opened up to Hannah about what he has been going through. The fact that he has been suffering in silence over his breakup with Craig said it all. And i'm really glad that John Paul told Kieron straight up that he will never take Craig's place, and quite frankly, doesn't love him. I can't stand Father Kieron and find him manipulative and creepy, so i'm happy that he will be making a quick exit in the coming months, never to return.

There is an interview on Digitalspy with Bryan Kirkwood the producer of Hollyoaks accepting the award for the John Paul/Craig as best storyline, and he more or less stated it would be mental for him not to persue getting Guy Burnet back to wrap up the storyline. And James Sutton is 100% up for the reunion. James said he cried like crazy when Guy left. I think the Sunset Ending is going to happen. It was a beautifully written and acted storyline by both Guy and James, well deserving of a more satisfying ending.

I'm now addicted to the Germany Soap storyline about Olli and Christian. Again, a well written and acted story. I don't know why TPTB over at ATWT will not just take a chance and develop the Luke and Noah instead of giving fans nothing but fluff and cotton candy. I think they are missing out on a goldmine the Luke and Noah storyline could really bring for ATWT.

afhickman

"It takes a village (to make Village People)"

There's a lovely interview with John Barrowman on youtube from the Paul O'Grady show. You can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAAE6rWNhI.

It seems John is a very busy man these days, even taking on a children's show (it couldn't happen here!). He also announces the formation of a fan club (or is it an army?) called the Johnettes. No scatalogical humor, but John is in rare form.

Warning: this interview is in two parts. Don't miss the last two minutes!

Bailey Chase was also Graham Miller on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was a small role (soldier and friend of Riley's) in seasons 3 and 4, but there's a segment of fans who have embraced him all out of proportion to his screen time.

hia I am presuming (hope) that was a harmless joke/dig about the british soaps. I can't say about the other character but the JP/craig one wasnt just staright dabbling, I'd say it was an insult to suggest it really was just a ploy. However it may have turned out (been made) the character was real and so were his feelings, I think its great that bisexuality and its various forms are shown and the storyline was very plausible. about the daytime there was doctors that had a gay couple and thats just after lunchtime, plus hollyoaks is at 6.30pm so hardly late (ie. past the watershed) and attracts huge viewers (because its good and because its after work). and yeah I really like the kieron character -- its another very real person relationship--the type this site was critiquing about the low levels of in usa entertainment, does it make you wonder why we can and you can't?/won't. and had wondered why you mention other shows but not hollyoaks, but I have to relent as I suppose at least torchwood is on american tv whereas hollyoaks isnt (if you don't count americaonline). I really like your weekly blogs, keep it up.