TCA Update: "Lipstick Jungle" finds its gays

Matt Lauria, Oliver Goldstick

A little bit of gay scoop came my way yesterday when I chatted with Oliver Goldstick, executive producer of Lipstick Jungle, who let it spill that not one, but two characters would be coming out on his show next season. The first character is Roy, played by Matt Lauria, whose only other television credit is an episode of 30 Rock. Says Goldstick of Roy's coming out:

"It's not a big coming out episode. He's gay. It's just a fact. It's a given. We are exploring some issues with him and Victory [his boss] helping each other with their romantic lives. They have a Halloween party they both go to where it's confusing who is hitting on who. It's one of those kind of confusing evenings.

He comes out in the second episode. He's based very much on a former writers assistant I had who came from a very conservative background. Southern Gentleman with a capital "S" and a capital "G". Some people are very confused by that when they meet him as they aren't even sure. I sort of wanted to play to that confusion. Is he just very polite or is he interested in men?"

For those not familiar with the show, what's it about? What's the theme?

"It's looking for love in the city. It's a tough place to find love and you'll see [Roy's] travails along with his boss'. He's in almost every episode. He's her assistant. He's her right hand. She's opening her flagship store downtown in the East Village so he's very much a part of that."

"Because the world these women are working in, [gay people] wouldn't be unusual at all; it would be commonplace. There are two openly gay executives producers on this show. It's New York City. It's the fashion world. It's film. It's magazines. It would be negligent on our part if it wasn't well presented."

Roy doesn't sound as if he's exactly a ground-breaking character — yet another gay assistant — but hopefully he'll turn out to be a well-developed assistant. But please don't let the second character be another assistant. How about a policeman, a football player, or a homeless man? Or better yet, a scientist who can pitch in on Sanctuary!