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   Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'

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Topic: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor' (Read 294 times)

Rhune
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Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« on: May 28^th, 2003, 10:10am »

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Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
Tue, May 27, 2003 12:20 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Jack Tripper, meet "The Bachelor."

That's essentially the premise for a new dating series on Bravo called "Boy Meets Boy." On the series, a handsome gay man will choose a "soulmate" from 15 potential suitors via group and one-on-one dates. The guy's best female friend will help him in narrowing the field.

The "Three's Company"-like twist is that a few of the suitors are actually straight -- something that will be revealed midway through the series. Bravo says the revelation "allows for numerous avenues of social exploration that challenge preconceived notions" about what "gay" and "straight" mean.

"We hope to open up the hearts and minds of gay and straight viewers as they experience both the romantic journey of our leading man, and the adventure of the straight mates having to walk a mile in a gay man's shoes," co-creator Douglas Ross says.

"Extra" correspondent Dani Behr will host the show.

Ross' company, Evolution Film & Tape, produced "Gay Weddings" for Bravo last season.

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Addams
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #1 on: May 28^th, 2003, 10:37am »

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Well I don't know very much about gay relationships and how they evolve - not that tv is the best judge of that either - but I think I may watch to try to learn a little more.

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Rhune
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #2 on: May 28^th, 2003, 11:54am »

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46900-2003May27.html

A Dating Game With No Straight Answers
By Lisa de Moraes
Wednesday, May 28, 2003; Page C07

Imagine a TV dating show in which a gay guy has the hots for another gay guy, only the producers have fooled him and it turns out the other guy is straight.

No, it's not the never-aired episode of "The Jenny Jones Show," it's "Boy Meets Boy," a dating reality series coming to Bravo cable network this summer.

The six-episode series, shot over eight days in Palm Springs, Calif., features a gay man who thinks he's getting the chance to pick a mate from among 15 gay contestants. Only when he has winnowed the pool considerably does he learn that some of the guys are heterosexual.

If the leading man picks a gay man to be his mate, he wins a cash prize and a vacation with his guy of choice. Should he pick a straight guy, the straight guy wins a cash prize because, executive producer Doug Ross told The TV Column, "to get them to do this on television you have to dangle more than a sociological experiment and exploring . . . gay issues."

Gay contestants on the show, which has already been shot, were all cast under the pretense of it being a gay dating series. Straight contestants were told that it was a reality game show and that they would be given more information later.

The producers sought hetero men who were "interested in exploring the same issues we were," Ross said, including "pushing the boundaries of what is normally considered straight and gay, to tear down stereotypes and blur the lines of commonly held beliefs." They ended up casting straight men with important people in their lives -- a relative, a college roommate, etc. -- who happened to be gay, Ross said. They were guys who were "willing to take this challenge and do it on television but who also wanted to walk a mile in a gay man's shoes.

"The overarching goal of the series is to examine what it is like in a gay world where the straight guys are the ones in the closet," said Ross, who also produced the well-received documentary series "Gay Wedding" that ran on Bravo last summer.

Several straight candidates were deemed unsuitable for "a variety of reasons," Ross said. "Specifically we were looking for people who in their general persona would be able to obscure their sexual identity. We did not want them to act gay," he said. Straight contestants were told "be yourself -- change your story."

Still, Ross acknowledged, some affected more "gay mannerisms" than others. "It was interesting to see them try to assimilate."

Assimilation did not extend to doing more than kissing, we were assured after asking if the leading man had been as rigorous in researching potential mates as had been, say, Trista of "The Bachelorette."

Unlike other prime-time dating series -- Fox's "Joe Millionaire" and ABC's "The Bachelor" come to mind -- the contestants on "Boy Meets Boy" were forbidden to do anything more intimate than kiss in order to protect the identity of the heteros, Ross said.

But when pressed on how that rule was enforced, Ross acknowledged, "We weren't there all the time, so perhaps things went on after the cameras went home and to bed." One junior camera person remained on the night shift, however, he added, "and as far as we were told, there was no improper behavior displayed."

When producers finally did tell the leading man that some of his guys were straight, he was stunned, Ross said.

"It really threw him for a loop. . . . He had to sit down and think about the people he had selected to go home and to stay; it caused him to reevaluate everything that had transpired."

Ross also acknowledged that there was "anger" but says he has no concerns about this turning into another "Jenny Jones" tragedy because of the pains they took to select the participants and because "it was intended to be very good-natured."

"This had a completely different trajectory than 'Jenny Jones,' " he said, referring to the never-aired episode of the syndicated show in which a heterosexual guest named Jonathan Schmitz agreed to appear to find out about a secret admirer, only to learn during taping that the admirer was a gay man, Scott Amedure. Three days later Schmitz drove to Amedure's home and killed him with a shotgun blast.

"There was no maliciousness about this," Ross said of his show. "This was played in the spirit of fun and progressive gay values."

Adding the straight guys to the dating pool, Ross speculated, will bring straight viewers to a show that might otherwise have attracted only a gay audience. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Among those additional viewers are sure to be members of the Traditional Values Coalition, whose executive director was already alerting its 43,000 member churches about the series so that they could protest it, the Associated Press reported.

"What's next," Andrea Lafferty asked, " 'Boy Meets Sheep'?"

"This is a knee-jerk reaction," said Scott Seomin, entertainment media director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. " . . . This is predictable. They do not want the lives of gays or lesbians portrayed on television."

CNN has picked James Miller to run Paula Zahn's new 7-to-9-p.m. program "American Evening," which will officially debut this summer.

Miller most recently served as a consultant to ABC's "Good Morning America." Before that he was executive vice president in charge of original programming at USA Networks, where he was best known for developing the drama series "Monk" and for trying to steer the cable network away from women-in-peril TV movies. He is also author with Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales of the bestseller "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of 'Saturday Night Live.' "

Earlier in his broadcast career Miller was a producer at CBS News, vice president at Norman Lear's Act III Communications in Los Angeles, special assistant to Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, consultant to the late Brandon Tartikoff on his short-lived "Last Call" series, Hollywood screenwriter, executive producer of Dick Wolf's short-lived Washington interns drama "D.C." for the WB network and a founding member of The Washington Post's own TV Team.

Miller said he did not discuss specifics of the Zahn show when he was in talks with CNN execs.

"Right now begins the task of determining what the show is," Miller said. "Everything is on the table. I'm going to roll up my sleeves and think for several weeks and come back to them with a 'vision thing.' " He also vowed not to take time-slot competition, which includes Fox News Channel's formidable "O'Reilly Factor," into consideration when developing the program.

"The best way for me to approach it is to concentrate on this show," he said. "This is like 'Field of Dreams': If we build it, they will come."

Š 2003 The Washington Post Company

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MzWings
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #3 on: May 28^th, 2003, 1:16pm »

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Just my two cents - I will not be watching this show. I didn't care for the skewed trickery in Joe Millionaire, but IMNSHO - is going waaaay over the line.

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"Senility Prayer"...God grant me...
The senility to forget the people I never liked
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do
And the eyesight to tell the difference."

MzWings
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #4 on: Jul 27^th, 2003, 6:53pm »

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Okay - I am at least going to try to watch this. Well, I AM a woman you know, and allowed to change my mind. Wink

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"Senility Prayer"...God grant me...
The senility to forget the people I never liked
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do
And the eyesight to tell the difference."

azure
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #5 on: Jul 27^th, 2003, 7:09pm »

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lol wings

love ya girl! Kiss

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KevinFV
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #6 on: Aug 3^rd, 2003, 4:11pm »

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I saw it, and the re-run too Grin

its REALLY interesting, different from all the other reality dating shows and fun. I cant wait for next week's Wink

Cmon people, give this show a try. for more info check . www.bravotv.com for your local bravo channel listings. Trust me on this one. very entertaining, funny, interesting, mindblowing all at the same time

Anyone thought Dan or Brian was cute? Noo cant believe Brian got elminated! thats a bummer, he shoulda stayed

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luci
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #7 on: Aug 3^rd, 2003, 5:01pm »

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Not me, not even going to give this one one minute of my time.
Now, who is surprized that I made this statement Huh

« Last Edit: Aug 3^rd, 2003, 5:01pm by luci »

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david
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Re: Bravo Does Gay Version of 'The Bachelor'
« Reply #8 on: Aug 3^rd, 2003, 6:47pm »

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No surprise ther if you had said you were going to watch i might have :faint:

lol

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