Bravo's Queer Eye-New Season begins tonight

[Steeltrap]

I just loved George and Mama Georgia, along with the Greek Chic apron that he was wearing. The only thing I would have changed on George was the hair color. He's too tan to support blonde, even with the improved blonde that Kyan and Co. gave to him.

That lamb looked yummy. I'm sure my N.Y. GC'ers are aware of Lobel's, but I once read in a novel, Wives and Lovers by Ruth Harris, that that place sold meat by the carat.

Thom does a great job with minimalist, contemporary interiors. I sure wish that he'd do something with my box of a bedroom (I live w/housemates).

[Sistermadly]

Don't know if y'all have seen this yet, but this page rates the "Fab Five" on their.. um... "humpability."

It's no surprise who got the highest rating.

http://www.vividblurry.com/mt-archives/000142.html

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by Sistermadly
Don't know if y'all have seen this yet, but this page rates the "Fab Five" on their.. um... "humpability."

It's no surprise who got the highest rating.

http://www.vividblurry.com/mt-archives/000142.html

Oh.my.goodness

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steeltrap]

My question is who is James Hannahan? I thought the black cat who got cut was Blair Boone. It's from a site called www.keithboykin.com

Black Eye for The Queer Guy
By Keith Boykin
August 27, 2003 08:50 AM
in culture

The long gone black guy from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" speaks out today
on Africana.com. James Hannaham, who is now an MFA candidate at the University
of Texas in Austin, explains how he got picked and dumped for TV's hottest new
show. Hannaham says the show is not about stereotypes, but I'm not so sure.

I've seen a few episodes of Bravo's new show, and I think it should be renamed
"Queer Guy for the Straight Eye." It's not a bad show actually. It's light, fun
and mostly entertaining, but it's filled with gay stereotypes. What emerges is
an image of stereotypical "queer guys" that works well for the "straight eye."

Each week, the so-called "Fab 5" -- made up of grooming guru Kyan Douglas, food and wine connoisseur Ted Allen, fashion savant Carson Kressley, culture vulture Jai Rodriguez and design doctor Thom Filicia -- drive into suburbia to rescue a hapless straight man from the evil clutch of unfabulousness. It's great for the straight guy who gets fixed up, but not quite so great for the gay guys forced to cater to the straight audience.

It's the same problem with the other summer gay reality show, "Boy Meets Boy." That show, billed as "television's first gay dating show," is actually nothing of the sort. A gay dating show would only use gay men, but "Boy Meets Boy" employs the services of heterosexuals (or maybe metrosexuals) to deceive the gay men.

According to the marketing campaign, it's a gay dating show with a twist. They're not all gay. Give me a break. If gay people tried to deceive straight men there would be national outrage. Remember that guy who shot and killed his friend because the friend revealed a crush on him on the Jenny Jones show?

The Pros and Cons of Gay TV

Before gay men start to uncork the champagne bottles, we need to seriously consider if these media images really help the community. On the one hand, we get to see more gays on television. On the other hand, those images aren't exactly flattering or representative. Sure, we're not being depicted as
murderers (the news takes care of that), but we aren't being depicted with substance either.

The gay men on these shows (and yes they are all men; I guess lesbians will have to wait for the Ellen show this fall) are safe for heterosexuals because they reinforce a nonthreatening image of homosexuality. Some gay men want to create a "boy next door" image so they can assimilate into mainstream culture, but that
image leaves out plenty of people who don't fit into the norm, and it limits society's "tolerance" for nontraditional expressions of sexual orientation identity.

Sure, it can be wonderful to be gay if you're a young, attractive, well-dressed, urban professional white male. But there's more diversity than that in the LGBT community. We don't all live in the gym, go to the opera and sing show tunes. We're not all white, not all male, not all fabulous, and God knows we're not all
cute. But this is television.

"Welcome to the rise of the gay minstrel show," writes Christopher Kelly in the Dallas Star Telegram. Kelly calls the "Queer Eye" show "more a creepy case of
gay self-ghettoization than a step forward."

"What's worse," Kelly writes, "gay people have become complicit in their own oppression: playing up to grotesque stereotypes, and widely ignoring the troubling questions these shows raise."

James Hannaham doesn't see it that way. Writing in this morning's edition of Africana.com, the former token black guy from "The Queer Eye" says "the argument that Queer Eye depicts gay stereotypes actually confuses me, since the show is
virtually unscripted." That's true, but the producers still get to pick the people who best fit the stereotypes in the first place.

"As a gay man," Hannaham says "you're freer to embrace your stereotypes with humor and a sense of performance, whereas black folks who try to fit stereotypes claim they're "keeping it real" and expect to be taken very seriously." He's got
a point. Some groups actually like their stereotypes. You won't find too many black men, for example, challenging the stereotype that black men have big d***s.(And we all know that's not true.)

How To Make A Quick Buck

Most of the reviews I've seen of the "Queer Eye" show have been positive, although some do acknowledge the issue of stereotyping. Still, I disagree with New Yorker magazine writer Nancy Franklin's description of the "Queer Eye" cast as "frank but not nonjudgmental." At the end of the show, while the straight guy gets the props for being so fabulous, the gay guys sit together in a living room watching it all on television with funny, unscripted, self-congratulatory bitchiness.

Maybe "Queer Eye" isn't the end of the world, and "Boy Meets Boy" isn't going to destroy the gay community, but can we please have at least one good show for us and by us? "Will and Grace" is designed for straight audiences. "Six Feet Under" is a great show but it's not a gay show. "Queer As Folk" is supposed to be a gay show, but talk about stereotypes. And I still can't get over the use of the ultrawhite word "queer" in any of these shows.

I'm not surprised by these shows, just disappointed. Television promotes capitalism and reinforces social stability. Since TV shows are designed to get ratings to sell advertising, most networks want to reach the broadest audience possible. That's why "black shows" usually don't do as well without white cast
members. Blacks, Latinos, Asians, gays and lesbians are simply entertaining straight white people and reinforcing their dominant image as the center of the television universe.

It's not all bad for minorities. Some of us are actually making money off of these shows. I have no problem with that, but let's not pretend it's a public service if it's just another way to get a laugh and make a buck.

[CrimsonTide4]

last night was a little ho hum for me but maybe cuz i was in a funk

at any rate, I SCREAMED at the dancing both WITH FAB 5 and at the club.

[Gina1201]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
last night was a little ho hum for me but maybe cuz i was in a funk

at any rate, I SCREAMED at the dancing both WITH FAB 5 and at the club.

No I didn't really care for last night's ep either.

[Steeltrap]

This episode was OK, although I didn't feel Carson mixing his pink and green sweater with a red shirt. I enjoyed the fellas taking ol' Joshie to Citarella, and I don't like oysters at all.

What I didn't know is that all these designers make big/tall men's clothes. Ah, to be a male in our society...

And I also got off on the Fab 5 saying that Josh had "body issues." Well, although I'm an AfAm female, I can relate to that.

[CrimsonTide4]

next week will be a repeat. I hope not the first of many.

[CrimsonTide4]

Former Fabber Sues "Queer Eye"
Thu Sep 4, 1:00 PM ET Add Entertainment - E! Online to My Yahoo!

By Lia Haberman

Forget the fanfare--one man is accusing the Queer Eye crew of bad taste.


The beef's got nothing to do with Carson Kressley's witticisms or Kyan Douglas' obsession with proper hair-product application; instead, Blair Boone is taking issue with the show's producers, who dropped him as the original culture vulture--a role later assumed by Jai Rodriguez.


Boone has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy producers for breach of contract.


According to a report in the New York Post, the jilted former Fabber is asking for $105,000 in damages from Queer Eye LLC for being dumped after only two episodes of Bravo's hit summer series.


"The producers said NBC and Bravo had to let me go, that it basically had to do with the fact that the show had a different idea with what they wanted to do with the 'culture guy,' " said Boone, who quit a fulltime job as an ad manager-writer at Metrosource magazine to join Queer Eye.


Viewers might remember him from the second and third episodes, which aired on July 15 and then the following week.


Boone was then replaced with Rodriguez, a Broadway veteran whose credits include a stint as Angel in Rent. "It wasn't working out with Blair, and we decided to recast," executive producer and cocreator David Metzler told Entertainment Weekly.


Had the show flopped that, presumably, would have been the end of it. Instead, the Fab Five became media darlings, taping guest appearances on the Tonight Show and Good Morning, Miami, making cameos at the MTV Video Music Awards and inking a $1 million book deal with Clarkson Potter--Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab 5's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better, hits bookstores early next year.


Now, Boone wants his share.


"When I see the million-dollar book deal, I have to clench my teeththat's what I expected to see and [to] be a part of," said Boone, who walked away with a grand total of $6,000 for his two episodes.


Before filing the suit, the show offered Boone "a little bit" of money to "go away" said his attorney, Ariel Berschadsky.


But the former ad manager believes he's due a grand total of $105,000, which accounts for 35 episodes, a "full production year," at $3,000 a pop.


"We think this is a serious lawsuit and we're willing to go to trial," Berschadsky told the Post.


"If they had sat [Boone] down and said it wasn't working out, we want to offer you X amount of dollars, then everyone leaves happy," he said.


Producers had no comment.


Boone's case could prompt futher Fab Five contenders to come out of the woodwork. According to a former Culture Guy candidate, James Hannaham, who wrote about his experience on Africana.com, only two of the original Queer Eye five from the never-aired pilot episode made it to air, fashion maven Kressley and food and wine specialist Ted Allen (interior designer Thom Felicia is the remaining member of the makeover troupe). The other three spots were recast after NBC's purchase of Bravo last November.


Worse still, the first Fab Five lineup only earned $2,000 per episode.

[Steeltrap]

No new episodes until 9/16.

[AKA2D '91]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
No new episodes until 9/16.

That's only next Tuesday.

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
That's only next Tuesday.

I know, but what can I say? I'm an aficionada of this show, it brings the funny on Tuesdays.

[AKA2D '91]

You're right. I always made Tuesdays my Blockbuster/Hollywood Video nights.

[AKA2D '91]

By Lia Haberman

Forget Queer Eye for the Straight Guy--Cheap Chic might be a better title for Bravo's hit "make-better" series.

No, producers aren't skimping on the lifestyle overhauls of clueless straight guys--not with the money they're saving on the show's breakout stars, the Fab Five.


The stylish quintet may be fabulous but you'd never know it from their paychecks, according to a talent contract published on the Smoking Gun Website.


Each member of the fivesome makes a measly $3,000 per episode for what has become Bravo's monster summer hit. The show's consistently broken ratings records for the cable net, has become a crossover success on parent company NBC and been sold into syndication to Britain, Iceland, Finland, Australia and New Zealand.


For this, cast members are expected to dispense their trademark Queer Eye advice on a weekly basis and show up to a long list of promotional events. Already, they've taped guest appearances on The Tonight Show and Good Morning, Miami and made cameos at the MTV Video Music Awards.


Worse still, Carson Kressley, Kyan Douglas, Ted Allen, Thom Filicia and Jai Rodriguez are unlikely to get pay hikes any time soon, because they're locked into six consecutive one-year contracts that offer annual raises of just 5 percent, which means they'll earn just an extra $150 per episode next season (barely enough for a full line of grooming products) and then an extra $307.50 the following year.


Nor do the guys enjoy the traditional perks typically offered to their TV brethren. Cast members are forced to fly--gasp--coach when traveling for business and must check into "reasonable accommodations" (read: Motel 6).


(Yet somehow the Queer Eye guys manage to maintain their impeccable sense of style on mere pennies. It's a miracle.)


And while they've reportedly received a sliver of the merchandising pie--including a million-dollar book deal with Clarkson Potter--the Fab Five will not have their voice and/or likeness used to sell "firearms, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, lotteries, gambling products, intimate personal hygiene products, medication and/or intimate apparel."


The contract dirt comes from former Culture Guy, Blair Boone, who's suing the producers for being dumped in favor of Rodriguez after only two episodes.

Boone is asking for $105,000 in damages from Queer Eye LLC, which is the tab for 35 episodes at, you guessed it, $3,000 a pop.



This is why you need a consultant before you sign on the dotted line (da Band :rolleyes) They are getting RIPPED THE FREAK OFF!

[Steeltrap]

So very nice to see a 6'6", 230 pound makeover subject, as we saw last night with Tom Minogue.

This was a good episode. I am somewhat of a sushi eater (dislike wasabi and nori, like the fish and rice), so I could appreciate Ted's instructions there.

Thom did a good design job. I never would have thought of the wire things for art. Creates a neat visual element.

Tom is a good daddy, his little boy was funny. Really, Jai's "culture" role is quite versatile. He can go from inspecting table manners to picking out interactive games for the kidpeople.

Carson, as usual, had me CTFU. "Straight guys are fun." The striped shirt was a good choice, but I could understand the need for casual stuff, because Tom is a dad and should be spending $$$ on his kids' child support.

I'm surprised that Kyan didn't have Tom get a different haircut or a little color. Then again, Tom's no metrosexual. But I have to say that his prospective GF, Darlene, needed some serious makeover. PEASANT BLOUSES ARE OVER! Move on to the ladylike look.