New and returning LGBT content hits fall TV

By Larry Nichols
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

If this upcoming television season is anything like the last few seasons, there’s a pretty good chance there won’t be an abundance of LGBT characters or diversity on the tube this fall.

But the good news is many of the established shows featuring gay characters will return and the more gay-friendly networks will debut new series with gay characters. Also, the cable channels dedicated to gay audiences continue to go strong and present new and exciting programming.

LOGO’s “Real Momentum”

This program is back for a sixth season, offering a new round of documentaries whose subjects cover an ever-widening range of the LGBT community.

“I’ve been really pleased with the fact that the stories just seem to keep getting increasingly diverse and have had a great range of topics to cover,” said Marc Leonard, director of programming for Logo. “Season seven for next year is already shaping up to be our best. We’re excited about the stuff that keeps coming up. The topics are such a mixed bag. The stuff that we’re excited about this season is that we’ve finally found a great documentary about bears called ‘Bear Run,’ which we’re kicking off the season with.”

“Bear Run,” which first aired Aug. 2, examines the lives of three self-identified bears and explores this subculture of the LGBT community that is often overlooked by mainstream and gay media. The film is set against the backdrop of large parties held frequently across the country for bears and follows the lives of these men on the yearlong event circuit.

Leonard said the network has been looking for a well-done documentary on this subject for a while.

“We really feel like there’s been a lack of bear presence in gay programming for a long time and we’ve been looking for the right project,” he said. “This was an example of something that we worked on with the film director. We’re very excited about the way it turned out. Not only did they make a great documentary about bears, but there are some very interesting twists in it that will be very unexpected and really present the diversity of the bear community in a new light.”

Another episode of “Real Momentum” that is sure to stand out this season is “Jake’s Adventures in Dollyworld,” where Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears gets to interview country superstar Dolly Parton.

“What happened was we found out when the [Scissor Sisters’] concert broadcast in the U.K., and this documentary has run with it about Jake Shears’ quest to meet his idol Dolly Parton,” Leonard said, describing how the unlikely meeting of musical talent came together. “There was a lot of buzz about it. No one had acquired the U.S. rights for it and we were just amazed, so we picked it up. It’s so quirky and fun. Sometimes you need a little bit of that because the documentaries can get kind of heavy. We try to do them because otherwise it gets kind of depressing.”

Aside from the above-mentioned lighthearted offering, there are plenty of serious documentaries on tap for this season of “Real Momentum.”

“One of the hardest documentaries to watch is coming up this season,” Leonard said. “It’s called ‘Queer Streets.’ It’s about queer homeless youth. It’s a little bit rougher but we went with it because it’s a really important issue, but it’s really tough to watch.”

When asked which of the “Real Momentum” documentaries was his favorite, Leonard said he has a tough time choosing.

“I always go back to season one’s ‘Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House,’” he said. “It’s a documentary about lesbian Jewish grandmothers living in Florida. That is a story that has never been told and yet there are a lot of people out there that look like Ruthie and Connie. That’s probably one of my all-time favorites. Also in season one we had one called ‘Out in Nature: Homosexual Behavior in the Animal Kingdom,’ which was a documentary that looked like it could be on the Discovery Channel. It was just fascinating.”

Leonard added that it isn’t difficult to find new stories to tell, and so the series should be able to continue for quite a while.

“We have a concept of three-dimensional diversity,” he said. “I think a lot of times we fall back on the idea of diversity as a two-dimensional plane of looking at racial composition and making sure we have ethnic diversity in the program we’re presenting. What we’re really trying to do with ‘Momentum’ is look at three-dimensional diversity. There are a lot of planes that we tend to forget about. There’s socio-economic diversity. There’s lifestyle diversity. What we’re looking for is, have we covered every element of our community? And our community is unbelievably diverse. We’re trying to touch on every story and every niche of the LGBT community.”

Catch the “Real Momentum” world premiere of “Roxy: The Last Dance” on Aug. 16 about the storied New York City club, featuring interviews and footage of celebrities including Madonna, Cher and Bette Midler.

Network TV

With an actors’ strike looming large on the Hollywood horizon, things could take another bad turn for network television. But take heart: This could be a great opportunity to catch up on the shows featuring gay characters that you might have missed last season while you were watching “Dancing with the Stars” or “American Idol.”

Shame on you.

The ABC Network, which GLAAD recently ranked as the No. 1 network for the portrayal of gay and lesbian characters on prime time, is set to release some of its hit shows that featured LGBT characters on DVD next month.

This past year, “Desperate Housewives” saw its first gay couple move to Wisteria Lane. “Ugly Betty” continued to include story arcs featuring gay and transgender characters. “Dirty Sexy Money” employed transgender actor Candis Cayne as Billy Baldwin’s mistress. “Brothers & Sisters” gave prime time its first-ever gay wedding.

Additionally, “Grey’s Anatomy” will have a lesbian story arc in its upcoming fifth season.

All of these shows have been picked up for the 2008-09 season, but if that actors’ strike hits, it’s going to be a long wait for new episodes.

News

News-related television has a new gay voice in the form of “GRITtv” with out lesbian radio host and author Laura Flanders.

The news and arts discussion show, which debuted in May, is available daily on satellite and cable television and features a positive take on what’s going on.

Flanders, who has over 20 years’ experience in broadcast and print media, has a reputation for presenting new perspectives on national and international issues, and for introducing nontraditional experts into conventional political debates.

In addition, Flanders was the founding host of the Women’s Desk at the media watch group FAIR. In 2001, she launched the award-winning “Your Call” on public radio KALW in San Francisco and hosted “The Laura Flanders Show” on Air America Radio until 2007. Since then, she has been the voice of “RadioNation,” a weekly program of The Nation magazine.

Flanders’ books include “Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable and Inspirational Political Change in America” and the New York Times bestseller “Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species,” an investigation into the women in President George W. Bush’s cabinet.

“GRITtv” airs daily on Free Speech TV and the Dish Network. It is also available to cable stations in 35 states and 200 college stations. In addition, “GRITtv” is viewable at www.GRITtv.org.

Cable

“The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” is back for a fourth season on the Oxygen Network and promises to build on the provocative past seasons. This season, Dickinson learns that several of her top-earning models are leaving the agency, blaming strained relations with Janice’s business partner. Janice also decides to expand the agency by starting a Latin division and a plus-sized division.

Gay cast members this season include J.P. Calderon, a former professional volleyball player whose modeling career got a boost from his appearance on “Survivor,” and Martin Richie, who is hearing-impaired and wants to be a role model for people with disabilities.

Also returning to the show are season three’s gay models Shaun and Paul, who recently announced they are heading to Bora Bora in November to get married.

Away from reality television, Showtime recently announced it is debuting two new series that will feature gay characters.

“The United States of Tara,” starring Toni Collette, is based on an idea by Steven Spielberg and penned by Academy Award-winning writer Diablo Cody (“Juno”). The comedy features Collette as Tara, a suburban mother who has disassociative identity/multiple personality disorder. Her various personalities include a rebellious teen girl, a biker and others that impact her husband and children, which includes her son, an out gay teen named Marshall.

“Nurse Jackie,” another dark comedy, stars Edie Falco (“The Sopranos”) as an opinionated, self-medicating nurse in New York City. The show also features Haaz Sleiman playing Maurice, a gay Muslim who is one of Jackie’s co-workers and best friends.

Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.