We've written a few times about the rather fascinating new game show Without Prejudice, which pits a group of strangers with cash to give out against another group of strangers about whom they know very little. The panel of judges learns about the mystery folks bit by bit, and in the process has to eliminate potential winners until they decide on who gets the money. The over-arching question is, of course, "What prejudices do people harbor that would prevent them from giving the money to any given contestant?"

Recently the runner-up on one of the episodes was Jim Smith, a gay man who is both married (to a man) and a parent. The episode itself is pretty fascinating from a gay-visibility perspective (here is a highlights reel of the panel's discussions of Jim) and brings to light some downright horrifying beliefs about gay men (one contestant is adamant that most, if not all, gay men were raped between the ages or two and four, which made them gay).

We had the opportunity to ask Smith a few questions about his experience.

AfterElton.com: Without Prejudice seeks to parse out the thought processes behind how we judge others. First and foremost, do you think the show is valid? Do you feel that it's working in the name of progress?
Jim Smith: This is a great show that gives mainstream audiences exposure to people who are different, but it’s not like the “Jerry Springer” portrayals of our community. The contestants are all great people, and you discover that along with the panel as they dig beneath the surface. I mean, I’m boring. My hair isn’t pink and I don’t talk with a lisp. I would never get on Fox. But I did well on the show because the game takes the time to overcome stereotypes and first impressions, and brings out the best in people instead. That’s progress.

AE: Were you coached not to reveal your sexuality until a certain point in the interview, or was the information saved for later in the game through editing?
JS: Everything on the show was pre-taped, so I didn’t have any control over when they outed me. Everybody on the show had a ‘thing.’ Some people wore it on their sleeve through their race or gender, others, like me, weren’t ‘outed’ until later. The producers never encouraged or discouraged me to ‘come out,’ they kept telling me to be honest and truthful all the time about myself and my sexuality. If you want to do well on a game show, listen to the instructions and do exactly what they say, so that’s what I did.

AE: On the show, a group of strangers are essentially picked apart by a panel of "everyman" judges. Did you feel the panel was a reasonable cross-section of today's American culture?
JS: The panel was not nor was it intended to be a cross-section of our culture. It had five people with extremely biased viewpoints. I think most people in this country just want to be left alone to do what they want to do, and are content to let others do their thing in peace. These people were, for the most part, bothered by the mere existence of people who are different, whether they are gay, black or just plain bigoted.

AE: Were you at all surprised to hear some of the more uninformed views on homosexuality (namely, that we were all apparently raped as children)?
JS: I wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, knowing how they cast the panel, I was prepared for worse. I decided early on that I wanted to treat those people with all the dignity and respect that I could, because only by meeting people like me are they ever going to learn the truth. It is annoying to have to argue the ‘nature vs. nurture’ thing over and over, but it is really easy when you’re standing up there to say “I’m gay, and I wasn’t raped” and completely rock their world.

The View (ABC) Check local listings
Mario Cantone is scheduled to guest host today as Joan Rivers shows up to dish. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have to hear his story about the friend's daughter trying to play peek-a-boo under his glass coffee table. I know Barbara loves it, but I've heard it enough times.

Big Brother (CBS) 9:00 PM EDT
The drama is ramping up right now thanks to a bit of outside interference. Judging from what I'm hearing, there's reason to (finally) give Dustin some attention in tonight's episode, as he tries to keep his alliance (and his prospect of winning) from falling apart. It'll be interesting to see if the show's producers find his actions interesting enough to put on the show.

Without Prejudice? (GSN) 9:00 PM EDT
Tonight's episode includes a married gay man as one of the contestants with a gay man also on the panel that decides who will win the $25,000. I'm curious to find out how much more there is to learn about these two gay men, as this game show is all about unpeeling layers, even that of its panel.

Flipping Out (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
More house-flipping, hair-flipping and general flipping out in Bravo's newest reality offering. For a preview, just look down...

This is one of the gayest weeks for talk shows, with Hairspray and Chuck and Larry opening in movie theatres this weekend.

Live with Regis and Kelly (Syndicated) Check Local Listings
Today (NBC) 7:00 AM EDT
Good Morning America 7:00 AM EDT
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Hairspray hype continues today with John Travolta appearing on Good Morning America and Live with Regis and Kelly. Michelle Pfeiffer stops by Today while Christopher Walken talks with Jon Stewart.

The View (ABC) 11:00 AM EDT
Kristen Chenoweth visits the View couch today. Chenoweth's always fabulous but I've got my hopes up that she'll be talking her new show, Pushing Daisies. Daisies is the show I am dying to see because it comes from the mind of out creator Bryan Fuller.

Absolute Wilson (Cinemax) 6:30 PM EDT
Cinemax takes a look at avant-garde director and stage artist, Robert Wilson in this documentary. Wilson, best known for collaborating with Philip Glass on Einstein on the Beach, has a reputation of pushing what theatre can be. Absolute Wilson includes interviews with David Byrne, Philip Glass and one of the last interviews with Susan Sontag.

Without Prejudice (GSN) 9:00 PM EDT
GSN's latest series is a mix between reality TV and game show, where five people pass judgments on strangers, letting their prejudices come out. I didn't see any gay contestants in the preview clip, but the series' producers has worked with a variety of anti-discrimination groups, including GLAAD.

Rick & Steve The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (Logo) 10:00 PM EDT
The second episode has Rick and Steve participating in each other's lives more, with Steve visiting a Gay Men-za meeting and Rick joining a monster truck rally. Meanwhile, Kirsten and Diana practice caring for a baby when some friends take a vacation. However, nerds should beware -- this episode contains a fiendish trap to out your true nerdiness to whomever you watch TV with. You'll recognize the trap, just remember not to laugh at this incredibly nerdy line until it is explained to the rest of the audience. It's too late for me, but save yourselves!

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Kathy heads overseas in tonight's episode where she makes an appearance on Graham Norton's show, to promote the DVD release of My Life on the D-List in the UK. I can't wait to see what happens when these two irrepressible personalities meet.

The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) 11:35 PM EDT
Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NBC) 12:30 AM EDT
If you feel up for some discussion on I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Adam Sandler is scheduled to talk with David Letterman and Jessica Biel will be visiting Conan's couch.

The latest addition to GSN's schedule is certainly an interesting one. Next week, the network formerly known as the Game Show Network will debut Without Prejudice, a series that tackles how we accept each other's differences. It's an adaptation of a British game show of the same name.

In each episode, a panel of five will determine which member of another group of five people will receive $25,0000, eliminating one person in each round. In the first round, the panel only gets to learn the name, age and hometown of the people they're judging -- so the first elimination will be largely based on panelists' gut reactions.

As the show continues, the panel learns more about the contestants, eventually getting the chance to ask them questions. While host Dr. Robbi Ludwig guides the discussion, she'll try to avoid supporting or condemning any of the panelist's positions. Without Prejudice's website lists GLAAD and the YWCA as advocacy partners.

The program has attracted the attention of a conservative news site. If you can stomach the site, the article does have its share of unintended hilarity, like the opening paragraph:

Since the dawn of time, the human ability to evaluate or "judge" any given situation has been critical to survival. But "prejudice" -- prejudging other people based on preconceived notions or superficial appearances -- has negative, racist connotations.

Is that their roundabout way of saying that things like racism, sexism and homophobia are natural instincts and that trying to get people to treat each other fairly is therefore going against nature? If only this kind of tortured logic weren't dangerous, as well.

Over at the GSN site, you can check out a preview of the first episode. We've seen the first ep, and while there are no gay contestants involved on this episode, speculation about the subjects' sexuality does come into the discussion, thankfully not in a context of gay panic. Gay or gay-seeming contestants are bound to pop up down the line, as are varied reactions to these contestants by the panel members.

Overall, I'm not sure if this is something I'd watch. It takes too much visual and audio inspiration from Who Wants to be a Millionaire? for my taste and I have a hard time caring about who "wins" the prize money when I don't see them doing anything to earn it.