SyFy's "Riverworld": Alan Cumming, Naked Hunks on Slabs, and a Hot Gay Couple

WARNING - THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!

This past weekend SyFy presented the four-hour mini-series (and possible pilot) Riverworld, and while the reviews have not been kind, the network deserves credit for being gay inclusive ... when they didn't have to be.

Antonio and Hal ... Before.

Riverworld is about ...well ... it's complicated. But basically it involves ... okay, honestly, I'm not entirely sure what it was about. People die, and then they end up on an alien slab, dripping wet and naked (with just a flimsy piece of cloth covering their naughty bits), and then they're transported to "Riverworld," fully clothed, but as young, hot versions of themselves.

Antonio and Hal ... After.

Two of the main characters are a gay couple, Hal (Matthew MacCaull) and Antonio (Matty Finochio), who struggle to endure the violent purgatory their mysteriously find themselves in and ... almost survive.

Yes, unfortunately the two gay men don't make it to the end, but anything can happen in "Riverworld," so I don't know if I'd call them "dead." They're just ... gone.

But while they are around, Hal and Tony are in the thick of the action, and are as front and center as the other main characters (they're a part of a rag-tag group who band together to survive). Hal is a sexy nerd, but also a bit of a wimp (jeez, he won't even heave a giant medieval ax at anyone), but Tony gets his sword freak on, and dispatches villains with ease. Hal needs saving a few times (we see him tied up and crying), but Tony is tough-as-nails, and wears his tunic well.

They're actually adorable together, and no one in the film bats an eye that they're a couple, even the improbably hot Samuel Clemens (yes, that Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. It's complicated), who gets misty-eyed when he has to tell Tony that Hal is dead gone.

I'm so hot, I need TWO names!

Oh, and did I mention it also features Alan Cumming as a blue alien?

BAMF!

Alan and Thea Gill play blue aliens in Snuggies who help control things in "Riverworld." As I keep saying, it's complicated. Or badly written. Or something.

But what makes Riverworld special is that it's based on a popular series of books from the 70's and 80's by Philip José Farmer, and according to reliable sources (our own Ed Kennedy), the gay characters were not included in the original stories, and were created specifically for the SyFy Channel version.

Considering that the main demographic for this kind of mini-series is young straight males, it's heartening that SyFy would choose to be gay-inclusive.

Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished, and SyFy is paying it for in their own forums. It seems that some people are a bit ... miffed that Riverworld was touched by The Gay.

I just watched a man kiss another man. That's it for me. My family will not watch that *****

Men kissing men was it for me. A family show this is not.

Did they just have to have 2 men kissing???? Really? Did that somehow add to the story?

The hot man lovin' stuff was too much here too. I'm glad my kids were off playing in the other room at the time. Disgusting. Nothing phobic about it, just disguted (sic) me.

I know... too bad it wasn't two chicks!

In case you haven't seen it, here is the DISGUTING scene in question.

Won't someone please think of the children!

I hope that SyFy continues to surprise us with these unannounced (seriously, we first heard about the gay characters from AE reader Daniel) but welcome instances of inclusiveness. And bad reviews aside, the premiere gave SyFy its best Sunday prime time ratings of the year. So it's possible we may see Riverworld again, and hopefully with it, the return of Hal and Antonio.