'Boy Meets Boy' offers reality with yet another twist
BY DONNA PETROZZELLO
New York Daily News
TV dating is about to come out of the closet.
Get this: A new Bravo series, "Boy Meets Boy," will revolve around a 32-year-old gay man, who will date 15 men before choosing one.
Think of it as a same-sex version of ABC hit "The Bachelor."
Now, here's the oh-so-reality-show twist.
Some of those selected to woo the show's leading man are straight — a fact they were instructed not to disclose until midway through production of the series.
"Initially, we told the straight mates that we were casting men in a reality show where they'd have to play someone they're not," said supervising producer Kirk Marcolina of Evolution Film & Tape productions.
In a follow-up interview, the heterosexual men were told the show's concept. Only some bailed out.
"Nobody was paid, and nobody gets $1 million dollars in the end," Marcolina said. "All of the men we cast either had good friends or family members who were gay or lesbian. They wanted to do the show to help break down the barriers between gay and straight people."
Filmed over nine days this month in Palm Springs, Calif., the six-week series will be the first in prime time to deal exclusively with gay dating.
But it's not the first homosexual-themed show for the NBC-owned cable channel, which launched "Gay Weddings" last fall and is gearing up to unveil a makeover show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," later this year. "Boy Meets Boy" is expected in July.
As in "The Bachelor," cameras follow the men on dates that range from karaoke sessions to dinner parties. Players were asked to limit their sexual contact to kissing.
"We wanted the show to be about relationships and romance, not sex or physicality," Marcolina said.
Already, gay-rights advocates have praised the concept.
"When you welcome the lives of gay men into your living room, you gain an understanding about real people who are first and foremost inherently human and deserving of human rights," said Scott Seomin, entertainment and media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
Not everyone is thrilled at the idea, though. The Traditional Values Coalition plans to alert its 43,000 member churches to protest the series, said Andrea Lafferty, the Washington-based group's executive director.
"Clearly, they've hit a new low," Lafferty said. "What's next after 'Boy Meets Boy'? 'Boy Meets Sheep'?"
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“Boy Meets Boy” is Bravo’s distinctive take on the popular dating show format. It is a gay dating show that goes beyond the expected with twists that explore the unexpected.
Hosted by Dani Behr (“Extra”), “Boy Meets Boy” centers on a handsome leading man who spends 8 days in a luxurious location with 15 potential soul “mates”. The suitors vie for his affections by participating in group activities and going on one-on-one dates, while the leading man, with the advice of his best girl friend, who is also on hand, whittle down the dating pool as he eliminates guys at the end of each episode. The series culminates with the leading man making his final choice. Adding to the suspense is an element of surprise - midway through the series the leading man discovers that some of the “mates” are actually straight - a twist that allows for numerous avenues of social exploration that challenge preconceived notions of what is considered gay and straight behavior.
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Boy Meets Boy Reality Show
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