April 12, 2002 · GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 15

on the airoff the press

Pepsi is Canadian gay channel's first major sponsor

by John Graves

In his March 27 column in the online gay advertising journal Commercial Closet, Michael Wilke reported the Pepsi-Cola Co. will be one of the first advertisers on Pride Vision, a 24-hour gay TV network launched last fall in Canada.

The company will place ads for Pepsi and Diet Pepsi on a show called Urban Fitness which began airing on Pride Vision in January. Wilke says Pepsi "could become the choice of a gay generation as it eases into the new world of gay TV, making it the first soft drink brand ever to target the gay market."

Richard Burjaw, Pepsi-Cola Canada's director of marketing, told Wilke that Urban Fitness, "has all the energy and youthful spirit of the brand. Attitudinally, it's a good fit."

Pepsi may add support to other Pride Vision programs, and Burjaw said that it's "absolutely a possibility" the company may develop gay-specific commercials in the fu-

ture.

Although the Pepsi-Cola Co. in the U.S. made a pioneering move in 1997 when it made its company policies gay-inclusive, there are, at present, no corporate plans to further target the lesbigay market in America, according to Wilke.

That may change after Pride Vision expands its viewership into the U.S. this fall, and if the gay network planned by Showtime and MTV catches on.

After the two networks tested their project before gay focus groups in Houston, Boston and Miami, Showtime researcher Kim Lemmon Wilkes said, "This [gay-themed] concept has done incredibly well, perhaps

better than any others."

'Nightline' series postponed again

An ABC Nightline gay series, postponed last September because of the terrorist attacks, has been postponed again, this time because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The five-part "A Matter of Choice?” special in-depth report on the gay and lesbian experience in America was set to air beginning April 8.

Nightline made the announcement on April 1 with an e-mail message from executive producer Leroy Sievers.

“As many of you probably know by now, we had planned to air a five-part series on Gays in America last fall," Sievers wrote. "It was postponed for obvious reasons. We had hoped to air it next week, but again, given what is going on, we are going to postpone it again. Our fear is that the news would make it impossible for us to air all five installments. It will be rescheduled, and we'll try to get it on the air as soon as possible. For all of you who have written in asking when it will air, our thanks for being so patient. It will air some day, hopefully soon."

New series from 'Folk' creators

The creators of the original British version of Queer as Folk are about to launch a

Bob and Rose

new series, according to a report in the Halifax (Nova Scotia) Herald.

Bob and Rose is a six-part series in which creator Russell T. Davies asks, "What if a happily gay man finds the love of his life, and it just so happens that she's a woman?" Set in Manchester, England, Lee says the bisexual comedy "takes gay culture and entertainingly turns it on its ear."

Bob and Rose stars Alan Davies as Bob, a thirtyish teacher who lives his life quite contently outside the closet, who finds himself suddenly attracted to Lesley Sharp as Rose, a smart-alecky woman who got stuck living at her ditzy mother's place after bailing her out financially.

'Once and Again' is canceled

A few weeks after Jessie Sammler and her

best friend Katie realized they were in love

with each other and began their teenage lesbian romance with a kiss, ABC has canceled the critically-acclaimed, but unfortunately low-rated, series Once and Again.

It's too bad. The coming-out episode was handled with sensitivity, and the young lesbian couple was shown at ease in Jessie's family kitchen where the lovebirds smooched tenderly in front of the refrigerator.

USA Today says Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Jessie; Mischa Barton, who plays Katie: Sela Ward, who plays Jessie's mom, and the other actors will address the camera to talk about their experiences on the final episode of Once and Again, set to air Monday. April 15.

The cancellation is reminiscent of the fate of another critically-acclaimed but low-rated show created by the producers of Once and Again: 1994's My So-Called Life, which was

cut-also by ABC-shortly after a teenage character was thrown out of his house for being gay.

Kerry got Sandy back

On a better note, the romance between Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) and firefighter Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal ) on the NBC medical drama ER was rekindled after a brief split over Kerry's reluctance to be out at work.

The reunion came about after Sandy was reported among the missing when a wall in a burning school building collapsed. When there was no word on Sandy after Kerry finished a stressful shift treating other fire victims, she feared the worst and went looking for Sandy's car. Just then. Sandy, who had re-entered the building to rescue more children just before the wall collapsed. appeared safe and sound.

The two began to talk when Kerry, realizing what she almost lost, put her arms around Sandy and gave her a long, romantic kiss. Look for further developments in this romance on ER airing on NBC Thursdays at 10-p.m.

Tyne Daly, 'Folk,' BET honored

TV Cares. the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences response to the AIDS epidemic, will honor actress Tyne Dały (Judging Amy). Showtime's Queer as Folk, the CBS soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful. and cable's BET, Black Entertainment Television, for their work on behalf of AIDS awareness.

Amy Brennerman, the star of Judging Amy, and openly gay actors Bill Brotchtrup (NYPD Blue) and Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life. Supernova) will be among the presenters at the award ceremony to be held April 27 in North Hollywood, California.

USA Today gets GLAAD award

USA Today, noted for its fair reporting of gay issues, including in-depth reports on such topics as gay parenting and the needs of lesbian and gay seniors, won the award for "Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage” at the 13th Annual GLAAD Media Awards held April I in New York City.

TV lawyers: Closet is bad

The dangers of the closet is a theme that has popped up on network dramas recently. On the March 5 episode of the ABC legal drama Philly, a closeted gay high school football player got caught up in the lie he told to protect his image. It resulted in a woman teacher, one of his favorites, being charged with forcing him to have sex in order to pass her course.

Then, a few weeks ago on Law & Order.

We have the alternative.....

a teenage lesbian accidentally kills her lover because she was afraid of being outed to her father. The dad is seen vehemently expressing his disgust for lesbian and gay people.

The detectives' first suspects were three boys who had tried to sexually assault the murdered girl at a party. They charged them with her murder. The detectives later learned the victim came out to the boys when, seeing she was unresponsive to their sexual advances. they asked her whether or not she liked boys. When she responded she was a lesbian, the boy's stopped the attack and begged

her not to tell on them.

Later, when the girl decided to report the assault. her lover panicked at the thought of being outed at the boys' trial. Now threatened again with being outed, this time at a murder trial. the distraught young woman told prosecutors her girlfriend had slipped and accidentally hit her head after the two tussled over the possible outing.

As in Philly, the prosecuting lawyers on Law & Order commented that the girl, who had agreed to make a statement rather than be outed in court. would have to learn to deal with her sexual orientation honestly someday. Opinion of Rosie is not changed

Although Rosie O'Donnell may have worried that coming out publicly would cause her to lose some of her mainstream audience and fans, a poll conducted by TV Guide showed that her coming out made little difference in their feelings for her.

The results of the poll, published in the April 6 issue, showed 83 percent of those polled had the same opinions of O'Donnell after her interview with Diane Sawyer on Primetime as they did before the interview.

Among those under 30, 92% said their opinions were unchanged, while 76% of the generally more conservative, over 50 respondents said their opinions of O'Donnell had not changed. TV Guide reports 84% of the poll's respondents, overall and in separate age categories, said knowing O'Donnell was a lesbian did not change their desire to watch her show.

When the poll asked if the increased presence of openly gay actors and characters on TV has led to greater acceptance of gays in society at large. 44" „ overall responded “yes.” 34% reported "no change" and 8% said there was less acceptance. The other 34 percent did not respond to the question.

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian-gay public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 911FM Fridays at 7 pm. and at http: radio.cwru.edu. Dave Haskell. Jim Mc Grattan and Kim Jones also contributed to this column.

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