I want my gay TV

>> Second thoughts on Queer as Folk as season 2 hits the box

by MATTHEW HAYS

“Get over yourself,” a friend said to me last year. “What were you expecting, Godard?”
The bitchy comments came after my bitchy comments, printed in these pages last June, in response to my viewing of review copies of the first three episodes of the Americanized Queer as Folk. Like it, I didn’t, penning one of the most negative reviews of the series (under the headline “Gays suck,” no less).
But here I am, writing one of those dreaded “second thought” reviews. Perhaps, as with circuit parties, I simply wasn’t taking the correct substances to appreciate Queer as Folk. Or maybe I was annoyed at Americans taking yet another Brit hit and stamping it with their own accent.
I’ve certainly loved the soap opera genre (from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to Dynasty to Twin Peaks), so why not this one? I decided to take my friend’s advice, don my 90210 goggles and revisit Folk. It helped that Showcase publicists, so taken aback by my negative response (the only one so caustic from a gay critic), sent me the entire first season on video as an aid to rethink things. (I didn’t know FedEx had such big boxes.)
I find myself confessing to being a convert. As season 1 proceeded, the ties to the original series faded. The lesbian characters were given a chance to expand, many of the boys seemed to move beyond sheer shallowness and plot twists and surprises improved. As season 2 opens, the teenage Justin is recovering from a horrid gay-bashing incident, hit over the head with a lead pipe after daring to take Brian to his high school graduation prom. The characters rally around him as he grapples with the partial paralysis of his arm and the blackout which means he can’t recall the incident. As the soapy plot unravelled, Folk won me over.

As well, I had found Brian’s character (played by Gale Harold) somewhat problematic in the early episodes. He was such an unappealing egomaniac, it was hard to understand why anyone would remain so infatuated with him for more than a few episodes. But as we see by season 2, Harold has been allowed to expand Brian, making him far more human, dimensional and sympathetic. It’s a nice turn, and one that points up the benefits of having an actual TV series; characters can evolve and, if handled believably, actors can improve on a good thing.

Strange universe

One of the main attacks on this program has also been its locale: Pittsburgh. Yes, it does stretch credulity that this fabulous strip of gay life exists in this town, but then again, the series has intentionally created its own universe, caught somewhere between the reality of contemporary gay life and soap opera. It’s an odd tension: since we haven’t seen North American depictions of gay life on TV this frank and graphic before, an aura of realism sets in. At the same time, much of the series is so downright silly as to disrupt that sense of reality. It is one of the jarring things about Folk, but when you get used to the contradiction, it grows on you.

In my initial review I’d also trashed the series for being shot in “the Banana Republic of Canada.” This wasn’t so fair, really, seeing as the show’s U.S. producers and writers have hired plenty of Canuck talent to direct the series (for those out of the loop, the show is shot in Toronto), including Bruce McDonald, Jeremy Podeswa and John Greyson, among others. Notably, Greyson is credited with episode 2 of this season, which is handled beautifully; among other laudable parts of the episode, he shoots a couple of love scenes between Brian and Justin which manage to side-step the pratfall of looking like mere soft porn and emerge instead as gorgeously-shot erotica.

Don’t get me wrong; Folk is still far from perfect. Some of it feels too preachy and a lot of the one-liners just plain suck. Yes, it’s more Aaron Spelling than Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but hey, Folk features gay men—and to a lesser extent, lesbians—dealing with sex, gay bashing, and the challenge of sustaining relationships, among a gaggle of other issues facing queers today—all of this, on TV.

Indeed, there’s something decidedly revolutionary about that after all. :

Queer as Folk, season 2, premieres this Monday, Jan. 21 at 10pm on Showcase

Coming out of The Locker Room

Of the tens of new micro-niche channels offered to Canadian digital cable subscribers this past season, PrideVision, the Toronto-based channel catering to gays and lesbians, has secured the most advertising.
Which might not seem too surprising, seeing as the pink market is seen as a potential goldmine for advertisers. American companies, in particular Viacom, are already taking note, citing PrideVision as part of the reasoning for developing their own gay channel south of the 49th parallel.

Looking at their line-up, much of the programming gracing PrideVision is reruns of gay-related movies and shows. But one of the new shows, The Locker Room, looks very promising and is in fact a first of its kind.
The show, hosted by Toronto-based actor Paul DeBoy (yes, that’s his real name), has completed shooting its first season and premieres on Jan. 25. It will be the first gay sports show ever.

The Locker Room was created by Josh Levy (a Toronto-based director) and Paul Bellini (who served as a writer on Kids in the Hall) who felt it was high time gays had their own series about sports and athletics. DeBoy, who had a small role in last year’s hit Hedwig and the Angry Inch, says landing the gig hosting the show is a dream come true. “I’ve always loved sports and, let’s face it, a lot of sports writers tend to shy away from gay sporting events.”

As well as covering events like the Gay Games and the Whistler gay ski weekend, the show will also focus on mainstream events. (DeBoy and crew are attending a Blue Jays’ practice session later this week.) Stories of athletes who’ve dared to come out of the closet will also be featured. Alongside the serious, DeBoy stresses the show will strive to be “fun and horny. We want to have a good time in a sexy way.” A regular segment includes “The Equipment Shed,” in which athletes will show off athletic gear and remove it, piece by piece, until naked.

While tackling the serious issue of homophobia in pro sports, it seems the team behind The Locker Room refuses to shy away from a gay old time as well. “We’re not asking anyone’s permission to do this,” says DeBoy. “We’re just going ahead and doing it, from our own perspective.” :

The Locker Room debuts Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:30pm on PrideVision