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05-28-2003, 05:38 PM
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#1 of 53 
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Member
Location: New Zealand
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Local Date: 10-13-2008
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From MSNBC News
Quote:
Bravo starts new gay reality show
‘Bachelor’-like ‘Boy’ to mix hetero-, homosexual suitors
NEW YORK, May 27 - 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. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)
“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.
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Wasn't the whole reality TV bubble supposed to have burst, and all the stations are returning to scripted entertainment? Apparently not.
I've never been a fan of reality TV, and find the whole phonomenon generally distasteful. When I hear about shows like this, I am just so grateful I never got hooked.
I especially love the way they try to dress it up as though it actually has some redeeming merit - "the show is really all about challenging assumptions about sexuality". Yeah, right.
EDIT: In response to some comments in this thread, the offensive idea in this show that causes me to call this a new low is NOT the fact that it is a show with a gay bachelor. Rather, I found the total notion of deception to be offensive. For further explanation of this, including why I consider this to be different from still-offensive-but-not-quite-so-offensive shows like Joe Millionnaire, see post 32 of this thread.
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05-28-2003, 06:13 PM
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#2 of 53
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Member
Join Date: Dec 1969
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Quote:
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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.
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Now, that's just crass. I don't think the dating shows are inherently bad - in a way, it's less silly and random than meeting someone in a bar - but there comes a point where you're just being mean.
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Trading Post Inn - Another gender-bending soap, with different collaborators writing different points of view.
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"If I feel even one bullet hit me, I will rip your lungs out through your nostrils!" - Ron Silver as himself, "Heat Vision And Jack"
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05-28-2003, 06:38 PM
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#3 of 53
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Local Time: 03:39 PM
Local Date: 10-12-2008
Posts: 1,961
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Quote:
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I THINK THIS will be truly groundbreaking television,” said series executive producer and co-creator Douglas Ross
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Douglas Ross: smoking crack since 1989 and proud of it. |
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05-28-2003, 06:42 PM
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#4 of 53
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Member
Location: The stars at night.....
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Quote:
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...serious sociological exploration of male stereotypes that enlightened the show’s participants and will do the same for viewers.
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Oh Puleeze! How about a spinoff where you don't know that some of the participants are jailbait!
Good times
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05-28-2003, 06:51 PM
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#5 of 53
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Join Date: Dec 1999
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The problem is that they're going to be pushing stereotypes and not reality. Tons of muscle-hunks, twinks and screaming queens. Never the nice average guy that makes up the other 90% of the gay population.
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05-28-2003, 06:59 PM
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#6 of 53
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Local Time: 03:39 PM
Local Date: 10-12-2008
Posts: 1,961
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So if the gay dude picks a hetero guy and really wants him what happens next?
And don't say 'watch the show'.
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05-28-2003, 08:07 PM
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#7 of 53
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Thomas
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Location: Columbus, OH
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I'd have no problem with this if it was public knowledge that everything related to "reality TV" was rigged, but this goes beyond stupidity and falls into the category of being inhumane. I hope he fishes out the straight ones easily for his own good.
The man I loved - the man who vanished - he never came back at all. But maybe he's still out there, somewhere. Maybe some day, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again.
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05-28-2003, 08:47 PM
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#8 of 53
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Join Date: Apr 2000
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Make that another gay-themed show I won't watch, not only because I don't get Bravo.
Tacky, tacky, tacky.
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05-28-2003, 09:18 PM
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#9 of 53
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2000
Local Time: 04:39 PM
Local Date: 10-12-2008
Posts: 6,367
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Quote:
| Any sexual intimacy beyond kissing was strictly prohibited on “Boy,” |
Will they at least show the kissing then?
Sounds like it could be an interesting show, but I too wonder what'll happen if the "chosen one" is straight.
/Mike
/Mike
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05-28-2003, 09:39 PM
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#10 of 53
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