January 30, 2004

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 11

on the airoff the press

Does L Word's quieter debut signal a change?

by John Graves

Showtime has ordered 14 hours of The L Word, the network's new lesbian drama. The show opened to much less controversy than the cable network's ground-breaking gay series Queer as Folk, which begins its 14episode fourth season in April.

"I think the world has changed a lot since Queer as Folk. People are much more accepting," Showtime chairman Matthew C. Blank told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Gail Shister. He noted the success of the Bravo/NBC series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

"People aren't as scandalized by these shows anymore," Showtime's new president of entertainment Robert Greenblatt said. "The L Word certainly won't go unnoticed, but people will say, 'Well, here's another gay show." "

"There will always be loud opposition in some places, but we're not expecting much backlash to L Word," Greenblatt added. "I wish there would be a little. It would be good for publicity."

Dan Lipman, co-executive producer of Queer as Folk, said he thought viewers would be more receptive to The L Word because sex between women is perceived as less threatening than sex between men and is a popular fantasy of straight men.

"It's our culture," he noted. "A lot of it has to do with the perception that women are more flexible sexually. Women show affection. Men do not."

Tom Shales, writing for the Washington Post says, "No matter how gay TV may seem right now, or how searing the alleged 'gay heat wave' may be, the degree of true understanding among the general population still seems minuscule, and the amount of prejudice and suspicion, however disguised, still. seems humongous."

"The L Word," he says, "may in its way do some sort of good, in addition to being wickedly provocative drama and undeniably seductive TV."

Pam Grier on her new role

Syndicated columnist Gilbert L. Robertson ("The Robertson Treatment" in Cleveland's Call & Post, January 22 issue) talked to African-American screen legend Pam Grier about her role as Kit, Jennifer Beals' half-sister and a recovering alcoholic on The L Word.

Asked how she got involved in the project, Grier said, "I'm always looking for great

humorous celebration of love (the other "L" word) and those looking for it," adding, "this gay drama is straight-up the best new series on television.”

Congrats to ER's new parents

There's a new set of lesbian parents on broadcast TV. Congratulations to ER's les-

people in Pine Valley aren't near the ones they love, they just hop in the sack with the ones they're near!"

Look for Eden Riegel, who plays Bianca, to guest star as a war protestor who has an altercation with Meg (Brittany Snow) on the March 7 episode of NBC's American Dreams.

bian Dr. Kerry Weaver and her partner Coming out on national TV firefighter Sandy Lopez. They were blessed with the birth of a son on the episode that aired December 28, which had the ER staff manning the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

After Kerry's unsuccessful attempt to get pregnant last year, it was Sandy, who has not been on that many episodes due to her obligations as Magda on the Lifetime cop series The Division, who bore the child. The two women wound up in the NICU because their newborn son had developed a fever and the doctors needed to perform a spinal tap on the infant before he could be released to taken home by the two women.

When the attending physician was called away for another emergency, Sandy objected when Kerry suggested medical student Abby do the procedure. Kerry assured Sandy she had full confidence in Abby, who was doing her OB/Gyn rotation. The procedure was successful and Abby took a picture of the proud new parents to post on the OB/Gyn bulletin board.

Let's hope we see more of the couple and their child as the season develops. ER airs on NBC Thursdays at 10 pm.

Music added to comedy special

Gay music and comedy will come together on the Comedy Central cable network with the debut of their latest LGBT stand-up show, Out on the Edge.

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Unlike their previous gay comedy specials, Out on the Edge will also feature musical artists Betty, Hazzard with their hit "Gay Boyfriend," and a send-up of teen pop music with the Gay Pimp (Bayne Gibby and Johnny McGovern.)

Scott Thompson from The Kids in the Hall will reprise his Buddy Cole character, and the show will also feature comedians Jim David, Elvira Curt and Renée Hicks. Hosted by Tony Award-winning star Alan Cumming, the special will debut on February 2 at 10 pm. An encore airing will be at 11 pm on Friday, February 6.

reflections on life in my projects. The L Word Wife dates husband's boyfriend

is a great series for conversation regarding who we are as a people. If my presence helps to bring a certain audience to it, that will be wonderful. Some people will be watching thinking: Yes, you're telling our story, with the irony, comedy, drama and sexuality."

Grier called her character, “a combination of Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Angela Winbush and the late Minnie Ripperton, who was one of my best friends," and said, "I liked that it was a show of all women-predominantly gay. Irene Chaiken is such an incredible writer and the actors are even greater. I thought, 'This is going to be fun!””

Grier said her character, a performer who has had moderate success but harbors secrets from her past including a drinking problem, meets a woman who "comes into Kit's life strong and her sister Bette is not going to be comfortable with it," adding, "It's going to be hot!"

On reaction to the show and the so-called Big Gay Year in general, she added, “People can't change their sexuality anymore than I can change the color of my skin. It's more biological."

"It's a new day. We don't need religion to control the masses. We're talking about flexibility," she added. "For families with gay children or relatives that think it's a hex on their house, we hope our show provides a comfort zone, if not some comprehension."

By the way, The L Word premiere was the "Pick of the Week" for Len Feldman, TV critic for the supermarket tabloid Star who gave the show four stars and called the show, "A thoughtful, moving, sexy and sometimes

Actress Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April) will play the wife of a famous Hollywood producer who gets romantically involved with the same gay screenwriter (Peter Sarsgaard) her husband is having an affair with in Craig Lucas' upcoming film The Dying Gaul.

"This is an unusual triangle and a beautiful one," Clarkson told USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna. "It's a very adult and mature film."

Kiss would be better with dialogue

Even though All My Children broke ground again with a second kiss between Bianca and Lena, Soap Opera Weekly columnist Mimi Torchin says, "Something really important was missing from the big date: Conversation. This couple went from no contact for months after the rape to being together again-with virtually no discussion."

"Bianca's violation was preceded by a dance with her rapist; Lena and Bianca danced joyfully entwined in each other's arms. Then they kissed, presumably their first since the rape. A line or two of dialogue expressing trust and love, or even a hesitation (both of these actresses speak eloquently with their eyes and body), would have made these romantic events momentous ones."

Indeed, on the next episode, Bianca told Maggie she and Lena were "just friends"

"Between the events at 'the lodge' with three mix 'n' match couples and other New Year's Eve sexual shenanigans at the Valley Inn," Torchin adds, "the show was all about musical beds. Where is a couple we can root for, other than Lena and Bianca? If most of the

Former American Idol contestant Jim Verraros told Us Weekly he came out of the closet last January because. "I want to prove you can be whatever sexual orientation and be successful. My parents' support was all I needed."

"The other [contestants] respected me for my decision," he added.

Verraros, who is looking for a record label for what he calls his "George Michael" sound, said he incorporated sign language into his performance of "When I Fall in Love" on American Idol in honor of his hearing-impaired parents. "Music is something they have been without their entire lives," he said.

DOMA recalls the darkest days

Many thanks to Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Sam Fulwood III, an AfricanAmerican who lambasted the Republicancontrolled Ohio legislature for passing the socalled Defense of Marriage Act, more properly described as the Denial of Benefits Act, in his January 22 column.

Fulwood said the bill's passage "brings to mind the darkest days of the civil rights struggle." He added that it is “inappropriately titled because marriage requires no defense and shouldn't be the subject of public policy. Marriage is a personal commitment between

two people. It can't be ratified by the state. It can't be endorsed by grandstanding political hacks. And it can't be signed into law by a limp-wrested governor.

"No matter what the honorables down in Columbus say or do," Fulwood wrote, "gay marriages are coming. Over time, the fear and prejudice against gays will fall. Attitudes will change. People will forget-or pretend not to remember that they once behaved so crudely."

"Be not discouraged because the darkest hour is just before the dawn," he concluded. "The stopgap laws of southern racists couldn't stop the forward march of black people determined to live in dignity. It won't curtail forever the rights of gays, either."

Please, especially my African-American brothers and sisters, show your support for Sam Fulwood. The columnist reports he was swamped by calls and e-mail from people, many of them African-American, who lambasted him for his views the day after the piece appeared. E-mail him at sfulwood@plaind.com or call him at 216-

999-5250.

On the move again

Finally, the new spring schedule for WRUW 91.1 FM in Cleveland is out and my Gaywaves radio show is moving once again. Gaywaves will now be heard on Saturday from 1:30 to 2 pm.

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Saturdays at 1:30 pm, and at www.wruw.org.

Angels in America sweeps the Golden Globe Awards

by Kaizaad Kotwal

The 2004 Golden Globe Awards, given out on Sunday, January 25, will be best remembered for the complete sweep by HBO's cinematic adaptation of Tony Kushner's Angels in America (Parts I and II) directed by Oscar veteran Mike Nichols (The Graduate, The Birdcage).

Angels in America took awards in all the categories in which it was nominated, winning all five major TV awards in the miniseries or made-for-television categories.

In winning Best Mini-series or TV Movie, Angels in America beat out My House in Umbria, Normal, Soldier's Girl, and Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone. Normal was the HBO drama about a Midwestern father who comes out as a transsexual wanting to transition to female. Soldier's Girl was Showtime's true story about Barry Winchell, a soldier who was killed after falling in love with a transgendered woman.

Angels' Meryl Streep won for Best Actress in a Mini-series or TV Movie for playing a panoply of characters from the real-life Ethel Rosenberg, to a confused Mormon mother whose married son comes out of the closet, to an orthodox rabbi. Streep won her second consecutive Golden Globe, having won a best supporting actress award for her work in the film Adaptation. Streep beat out some formidable competition including Judy Davis in The Reagans, Jessica Lange as the surprised wife in Normal, Helen Mirren in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and Maggie Smith in My House in Umbria.

The evening's most political moment came from the usually reserved Streep. In her acceptance speech, she referred to President Bush's State of the Union address and remarked, "I just want to say that I don't

think the two biggest problems in America are that too many people want to commit their lives to one another 'til death do us part, and steroids and sports."

Streep's co-star Al Pacino won the best actor in a mini-series or TV movie trophy for his searing portrayal of Roy Cohn, the closeted gay, Jewish right hand man of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who persecuted gays and Jews.

Mary Louise Parker won best supporting actress in a series, mini-series or TV movie for playing the suffering, valiumaddicted wife of a Mormon man who realizes he is gay in Angels. She beat out competition from other gay favorites including Kim Catrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon (all from Sex and the City) and Megan Mullally from Will & Grace.

In the best supporting actor in a series, mini-series or TV movie all the nominations were queer related, including three for Angels actors Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright, Sean Hayes as Jack in Will & Grace, and Lee Pace as the girlfriend in Soldier's Girl. Wright, the only cast member of Angels from the original Broadway cast, took home the prize. In his speech, Wright referred to his fellow Angels nominees and said, "I share this with you, but I'll keep it at my house."

Frances Conroy, who plays the complex matriarch on HBO's Six Feet Under by out creator Alan Ball, won best TV drama actress, although Six Feet Under itself lost Best TV drama to 24.

In the cinematic categories, the big queer-related win of the evening was Charlize Theron's win as Best Actress in a Drama for her stunning portrayal of reallife serial-killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Theron went through a noticeable transformation, putting on 30 pounds and a lot of make-up to resemble Wuornos.