November 5, 2004

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 9

Watch any show, any episode, any time

Entire seasons of BBC shows are now easily had on DVD

by Anthony Glassman

It sits there, lurking in the homes of millions of Americans. Virtually every house has at least one.

When noticed, it is almost a part of the family. When nobody is looking, however, it sits silently, waiting to strike.

It is (cue the menacing music) the television, and it's not waiting for network scheduling any more!

Well, it was just Halloween, so the horror motif is appropriate. It does not hide the fact,

Many shows have been

available on VHS tape, but this was fairly space-consuming.

however, that the advent of DVDs creates the perfect opportunity for TV programs to be available on demand instead of simply when networks or individual stations decided to show them.

It started before DVDs, of course. Many television shows were available on VHS, but with a maximum of six hours on each tape it was fairly space-consuming, even for British television shows, which typically have shorter

seasons.

The Black Adder boxed set, for instance, was about the size of a microwave oven.

DVDs, though, are slim and elegant. And the storage capacity! A three-hour movie plus hours of extras, all on one disc. Suddenly, everything is available on DVD--the Krofft kids' shows, Battlestar Galactica, I Love Lucy, even some gay-themed shows, like Will and Grace and Soap, the first TV show with a recurring, major gay character.

The ones who really know how to use DVDs, however, are the British. In the space of one season's worth of Absolutely Fabulous on VHS, one can fit the entire run of the series on DVD, even the fifth season, which is now available.

Of course, some may argue that AbFab isn't gay so much as gayish. However, with out fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier and icon Elton John hamming it up in episodes, even the lack of Edina's gay son Serge doesn't detract from the homo content of the season. Throw in a Spice Girl and Minnie Driver, most recently seen in Will and Grace as  ́. Karen's rival, and the show officially becomes queer.

Need more gay? How about the world's most homo leprechaun, who has muscle-

bound hunks accompany his guests to their seats, who is comfortable having celebrities call sex lines and who gave Marilyn Manson an electric masturbation device?

Yes, it's Graham Norton, the saucy Irishman who segued a standup career into a popular talk show that has given audiences on both sides of the Atlantic the opportunity to make jackasses of themselves in front of international viewers.

For the beginning of the run of his Comedy Central show The Graham Norton Experience, the BBC released The Best of So Graham Norton, two hours of material featuring Cher, Dolly Parton, Elton John, hunk of the month Orlando Bloom, Chris Rock and others.

Finally, a third present from "Aunt Beeb," one the defies explanation almost as much as it defies belief.

How does one categorize a talk show featuring a heterosexual actor who stumbled across a character that made his career, one modeled after the typical Australian housewives around whom he grew up?

A typical Australian housewife who, over the years, went from being a frumpy old woman to a dame, who grew glitzier by the year, until she emerged as an international phenomenon?

Of course, it's Dame Edna Everage, the brainchild and alter-ego of Barry Humphries, who has been rendered unrecognizable out of drag by the success of his creation.

The BBC thus far has released three collections of The Dame Edna Experience. So far, Series One and Two and a collection of Christmas specials are on shelves, the two latter having been released the most recently.

Featuring celebrities including two James Bonds, sexy stars from the past and Liza Minnelli, the truly divine and sublime nature of the show begs the question:

The Best of

BBC

Ashley f. Blus

BBC

Graham Norton

If, as the saying goes, to become a dame you must kneel before a queen, what happens when you kneel before a dame?

There are, of course, other ways to get all this wonderful material. One could wait until BBC America starts replaying Graham Norton's show or use up dozens of VHS tapes trying to capture all the best moments.

One could troll the listings looking for missing AbFab episodes, or pray for Trio to go Dame Edna-crazy again. Or, one could simply go to the bookstore or mall and grab these hot collections. It's easier, faster, and probably in the long run cheaper.

It's also probably a good idea to feed the television before it decides to attack you in your sleep.

DAME EDYA

Dykes ToWatch Out For by Alison Bechdel

ABSOLUTE VALUE

WHAT'S

A

LESBIAN REPUBLICAN

OF ALL THE TIMES TO COME OUT TO YOUR FAMILY, I HAD TO DO IT RIGHT BEFORE THE LAST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE. DAMN THAT JOHN KERRY!

CYNTHIA, I'M SORRY YOUR PARENTS ARE HAVING A MELTDOWN, BUT IT'S HARDLY JOHN KERRY'S FAULT.

176 JORN

WHEN HE CALLED MARY CHENEY A LESBIAN, I FELT LIKE I'D BEEN DROP-KICKED.

WELL, MARY CHENEY IS A LESBIAN. AND YOU'RE A POLITICAL FOOTBALL. WELCOME TO THE CLUB.

BUT IT WAS A NASTY RHETORICAL TRICK! A CODED MESSAGE TO SCARE OFF BUSH'S EVANGELICAL BASE.

HEY, THE CHENEYS ARE THE RHETORICAL CONTORTIONISTS! THEY MANAGED TO SIMULTANEOUSLY GAY-BASH THEIR OWN DAUGHTER AND BLAME IT ON KERRY! IT MAKES MY BRAIN HURT!

THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO PROTECT HER. MY PARENTS ARE THREATENING TO CUT OFF MY TUITION.

11/3

TO

DO?

102

452

@2004 BY ALISON BECHDEL

OH, THEY'LL CALM DOWN. GIVE THEM A LITTLE TIME.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. THEY HOME SCHOOLED ME BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAP OF THE VALUES I'D PICK UP IN THE PUBLIC SYSTEM.

THEY WANTED ME TO GO TO A RELIGIOUS COLLEGE. I HAD TO REALLY STRUGGLE WITH THEM TO COME HERE. AND NOW LOOK! THEIR WORST FEAR HAS COME TRUE.

SAFE SPACE

CH.JEEZ. WELL, UH... MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE.

www.DykesToWatchOutFor.com

I THOUGHT I WAS.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE COLLECTIVE...

THIS K-8 SCHOOL

HAS BEEN OKAY FOR HER. BUT WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEAR?

IF ONLY WE HAD A QUEER HIGH SCHOOL.

WHY DON'T YOU HOME SCHOOL JONAS? I MEAN, JANIS. THAT'S WHAT I'M GONNA DO WITH J.R. SHE'S NEVER SETTING FOOT INSIDE ONE OF THOSE CONFORMITY MILLS.

BUT SHE'LL BE DOING STUFF LIKE ALGEBRA AND FRENCH.

I WAS QUITE A DAB HAND AT MATH. HAD AN AFFAIR WITH MY TRIG TEACHER.

ET JE

PARLE

FRANÇAIS

LIKE A

BASTARD!

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