Black Eye for the White Guy?
Reality TV's New Makeover Mavens: 'Cool' African Americans, Straight Guys Styling Gays
By Angela D. Johnson
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© 2004 DiversityInc.com
February 19, 2004
Gay guys don't have a monopoly on style -- at least Comedy Central and Showtime don't think so. Each network has a take-off of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" in the works, featuring likely and not-so-likely image makers.
The Hollywood Reporter last week reported that Showtime had ordered a pilot for a primetime reality series featuring a crew of African Americans charged with making over unhip white folks and other style-challenged. If approved, the pilot -- tentatively titled "Make Me Cool" - could hit the airways by the end of the year.
"A lot of the coolest stuff emanates from the black culture," said Robert Greenblatt, president of entertainment at Showtime, in the Hollywood Reporter article. "That culture seems to have the hold on stuff that is going to be cool tomorrow -- they know it today."
Showtime hasn't officially commented on the show yet and did not return repeated phone calls from DiversityInc. Comedy Central's "Straight Plan for the Gay Man" debuts Monday and, as the title suggests, features heterosexual men making over a gay man. While Comedy Central is upfront in admitting that the show is a parody of "Queer Eye," the program offers many of the same elements. Like the "Fab Five" of "Queer Eye," Comedy Central's style-masters, affectionately called the "Flab Four," help gay men create new identities. All of the guys are professional comedians, but for this show each offers expertise in a specialty area. Kyle Crooms, the sole African American, is the "Information Guy." As the "Environment Guy," Curtis Gwynn handles home decorating (or un-decorating, based on his video clips on the show's Web site), Rob Riggle takes on all things cultural, and portly Billy Merritt, "the Appearance Guy," imparts what he's defined as a "suburbasexual" fashion sense.
The victims, uh, makeover candidates, in the three-episode series include Jonathan, an upscale fashion salesman; Roger, a yoga instructor; and Stephen, a singer/dancer.
In the first episode, the "Flab Four" teach Jonathan the necessary skills for a job in a meat-packing plant. This includes a trip to a Salvation Army Thrift Store for a wardrobe makeover. Products used during a four-hour daily grooming routine are replaced with a single bar of soap and a washcloth and his immaculately designed apartment is transformed into what looks like a before shot of an apartment from "Queer Eye." When Jonathan asks about the dirty, yellow tinge of the toilet bowl water, Gwynn offers an important Straight Guy rule: "If it doesn't float, don't drain the moat."
Each makeover subject in "Straight Plan" has a mission to accomplish. The task of the "Flab Four" is to prepare these men for their desired goals and convince those on the outside that these men are the real deal. Jonathan wants to experience the life of a blue-collar worker, Roger dreams of competing in a pick-up basketball game and Stephen's desire is to know what its like to be a ladies man.
Aileen Budow, director of corporate communications at Comedy Central, says "Straight Plan" has been positively received by the gay community. Jonathan, the series' first makeover candidate, even reached out to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for its blessing before participating.
Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, says "Straight Plan" has the potential to draw a significant gay audience. He says the network already has established itself as a gay-friendly station by airing edgy shows such as "Absolutely Fabulous" and "South Park," both shows with a strong gay following making the show a potential outlet of advertisers seeking to reach gay consumers. Even though "Straight Plan" is a spoof, it offers similar opportunities for product placement that "Queer Eye" does. However, instead of Disaronno, Benjamin Moore and Norelco, the show features Labatt, Rolling Rock and Dos Equis.
Witeck cautioned that as with most reality programs, there is the danger of gay stereotyping. Budow contended that in "Straight Plan" gays are not the subject of the jokes. "The heterosexual men are really the ones, at the end of the day, that are mocked," says Budow. At the end of the experience, "each of our participants was so much happier to be gay than to be heterosexual."