Gay Reality Series

[cmar]

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) -- NBC-owned Bravo will court viewers this summer with American television's first primetime gay-themed reality dating series.

Similar in format to ABC's "The Bachelor," "Boy Meets Boy" features an eligible man looking for love in a pool of 15 potential mates. But in a twist worthy of the bogus baron on Fox's "Joe Millionaire," some of the suitors are actually heterosexual men who were paid by the program to pretend to be gay -- unbeknownst to the eligible bachelor.

"I think this will be truly groundbreaking television," said series executive producer and co-creator Douglas Ross. "One of the reasons we decided to take the basic dating format and throw in this twist is that we wanted the show to appeal to a broader audience."

The six-episode "Boy" will premiere on Bravo in July at a date and time to be determined. In each episode, the bachelor will interact with the other men on group and one-on-one dates and gradually eliminate those he isn't interested in until one winner remains.

While the actual sexual orientation of at least one contestant will be disclosed at the outset to viewers -- but not the bachelor -- the identity of some of the others will not be revealed until the bachelor himself finds out. The exact number of heterosexual suitors was not divulged by Bravo, nor was the sum the network paid.

Any sexual intimacy beyond kissing was strictly prohibited on "Boy," which was shot from May 9-17 in a pair of homes in Palm Springs.

The bachelor was identified as a 32-year-old from southern California who works in the human resources division of a law firm. "Boy" is hosted by Dani Behr ("Extra").

Ross believes "Boy" is a fun but serious sociological exploration of male stereotypes that enlightened the show's participants and will do the same for viewers.

"Several of the straight men have very intense experiences," he said, declining to divulge specific behavior. "We anticipate a lot of both gay and straight viewers will have their assumptions challenged about what it means to be gay and what it means to be straight."

Homosexual dating has been featured in segments on several syndicated dating series, but there has never been an exclusively gay dating series in primetime

[Emperor_Mike]

Reality TV is going from bad to worse. They shouldn't toy with an individual's emotions like that.

[himura-dono]

dude, that's fucked up that they're throwing hetero's in there. what if the guy is expecting to have found the right guy and the dudes like "sorry man, no penis' for me"?

to me that's like humiliation on a national scale.

[deez nuts]

hahahaha this show is gonna be off the hook.

[etcj]

<_<

Can't do they put any decent programs that aren't reality shows? In theory, it sounds like an interesting attempt to try and decrypt stereotypes, but can you imagine them trying to do that on a heterosexual dating reality show?

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by etcj@May 27 2003, 07:10 PM
<_<

Can't do they put any decent programs that aren't reality shows? In theory, it sounds like an interesting attempt to try and decrypt stereotypes, but can you imagine them trying to do that on a heterosexual dating reality show?

Well, hopefully the contestant will be able to figure out who's gay and who's straight.

Does anyone else find it interesting that while gays are becoming more and more accepted 'as is' by the media, lesbians are still mostly portrayed as porno fantasies and not representing the full spectrum of queer women?

[Chris]

I'm sorry this is totally fucked up on what they are doing. Are these reality shows really sinking to a new low?

[Emperor_Mike]

Reality TV shows began their long decent with the advent of "Temptation Island." I find it revolting that people find it amusing to watch others destroy their relationships on national/international television. :pissed:

[Fireblade]

I'm sure that this will be another flop. Kinda like married by america. No one cares to watch it. No cares about it. We can only bitch about it, because it's taking up a time slot that another show would be more worthy.

This is trash tv on a whole new level. <_<

[Elizabeth A.]

:gross:

Reality TV has hit the bottom and started to dig.

[Faithless]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@May 27 2003, 06:37 PM

Well, hopefully the contestant will be able to figure out who's gay and who's straight.

Does anyone else find it interesting that while gays are becoming more and more accepted 'as is' by the media, lesbians are still mostly portrayed as porno fantasies and not representing the full spectrum of queer women?

You've got something there.

It's interesting that this reality show would be centered around gays than lesbians. You'd think from the horny male perspective, watching lesbians kiss and sit around in the hot tub and take the key for the special evening would be more interesting.