Gay-Friendly Blu-rays (1 Viewer)

[ptb2017fr]

Why do so many gay stories end in unhappiness or misery? Elite season 6 in Spain was horrible, while an earlier series Merli had a lovely happy ending for the gay couple. French series Skam had a happy ending for the two boys as I believe did they Norwegian original. But writers and producers still seem to love making gay guys suffer and end miserable. Time to change. Instead of all those sickly Hallmark romances where the girl gets the guy at the end how about a series when the guy gets the guy? By the way, so many of those Hallmark heroes look gay to me!

 

[Joel Arndt]

By the way, so many of those Hallmark heroes look gay to me!

Because some of them are. Luke Macfarlane for one.

 

[Will Krupp]

By the way, so many of those Hallmark heroes look gay to me!

Because some of them are. Luke Macfarlane for one.

"Whaaaaaaattt?"

 

[Mark-W]

Because some of them are. Luke Macfarlane for one.

I do watch a lot of films with my mom. And for every intense or dark drama, I have to give her one or two light-hearted movies. Hallmark movies, for all the cheese and utter predictability, provide us that lightness.

I do love when watching one, my heart gets a little flutter and the fella causing that palpitation turns out to be gay in real life.

To Hallmark's credit, even before the backlash when they pulled that lesbian couple add and and then their 180 and started including openly gay side characters, they were hiring known-to-be-gay, out actors as romantic leads in their films.

Peter Porte was a surprise to me,

s
even though he had done a featured photospread in DNA Magazine with another fella (Like all of DNA's spreads, was not subtle!) prior to at least several of his Hallmark gigs.

He went on to do more Hallmark movies and one gay holiday romance, Dashing in December, for Paramount:

And, of course there is Jonathan Bennett, that was in few Hallmark films before doing the LGBTIA+ inclusive "A Christmas House" and its sequel "A Christmas House 2" with his real life partner.

Chad Connell, who has played gay in a film or two, '

continues to get straight romantic leads in films> He was the lead in Hallmark's A Cheerful Christmas and played the straight brother in The Christmas Set Up with Fran Dresher and another real life gay couple playing opposite each other.

And now we have two newer Hallmark actors, both of which are sexy AF: Julian Morris and Kyle Dean Massey
Julian has been in two so far, both of which were more enjoyable than the average Hallmark film:

If Julian looks familiar, you might remember him as the gay grandson of Vanessa Redgrave in the exceptional The Man in the Orange Shirt, which I just re-watched after seeing the fine, but inferior My Policeman.

Here is Julian with his husband. (They have been together 19 years and just got married.). #swooning

And now we have Kyle Dean Massey,

who recently starred in Hallmark's A Merry Christmas Match

and will be the gay romantic lead playing opposite his real husband in Lifetime's A Christmas to Treasure, which airs December 16th here in the USA:

Here is a link to A Christmas to Treasure's trailer:


Sadly, I don't think it will include images like these from Kyle's Instagram:

Nor this one which might freak out the mouth-breathers in our country (Yep, they're dads.):

Kyle also does a lot of live theater, which I hope I get to see at some point.

Broadway credits (Source info in this link):​

Company (Dec 09, 2021 - Jul 31, 2022)​

• Also Starring: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Theo - (Mar 02, 2020 - Mar 11, 2020

​

The Boys in the Band (May 31, 2018 - Aug 11, 2018)​

• Standby: Kyle Dean Massey [Donald, Larry, Cowboy]

​

Pippin (Apr 25, 2013 - Jan 04, 2015)​

• Performer: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Pippin - Replacement (Apr 01, 2014 - Oct 29, 2014)

​

Next To Normal (Apr 15, 2009 - Jan 16, 2011)​

• Performer: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Gabe - Replacement (Jan 04, 2010 - Jan 16, 2011)
  • Gabe - Replacement (Jun 09, 2009 - Sep 06, 2009)

​

Xanadu (Jul 10, 2007 - Sep 28, 2008)​

• Performer: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Thalia, Siren, Young Danny, '80s Singer, Cyclops - Replacement (Apr 15, 2008 - ?)
• Understudy: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Sonny - Replacement

Wicked (Oct 30, 2003 - Present)​

• Performer: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Ensemble - Replacement
• Understudy: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Fiyero - Replacement
• Also Starring: Kyle Dean Massey
  • Fiyero - Replacement (Aug 13, 2019 - ?)
  • Fiyero - Replacement (Dec 17, 2013 - Feb 22, 2014)
  • Fiyero - Replacement (Jul 31, 2012 - May 26, 2013)
  • Fiyero - Replacement (Jan 25, 2011 - ?)

Watch Hallmark and Lifetime (Skip the homophonic GAC channel.) this season knowing some of those fellas are part of our community, either openly or otherwise!

Cheers!

 

[Anthonydasher]

I might also suggest a couple of obscure BBC tv shows, Beautiful People with Olivia Coleman playing the boozy mother to a gay son in 90’s UK, great soundtrack, hilariously funny. Was out on bluray for a while. Also Gimme Gimme Gimme is a kind of Will and Grave on acid, again hilariously funny. So many titles just go out of print or never make it to bluray.

 

[Will Krupp]

Also Gimme Gimme Gimme is a kind of Will and Grave on acid, again hilariously funny.

I love Gimme, Gimme, Gimme! Kathy Burke's Lindy is everything. I was fortunate enough to grab the whole set on R2 DVD years ago and it's long been a favorite.

 

[ptb2017fr]

Saw one Hallmark in which the leading man had no glass in his eyeglasses and make up on you could clearly see in close up and he was absolutely gorgeous, and showed more interest in his best friend on screen than the girl he was supposed to be after. Wish I'd made a note of his name and the name of the film! But so many Hallmarks seem to just waft past me!

 

[Kenneth_C]

Following on from Mark-W's post above, I wanted to point out that Jonathan Bennet will be in a new Hallmark movie this weekend and, unlike the two Christmas House movies, the main relationship in this one will be GAY. Yes, Hallmark has finally made a movie that does not feature a heterosexual couple as the focus.

It's called The Holiday Sitter and it premieres this Sunday, December 11.



I plan on watching both it and A Christmas to Treasure mentioned above, which premieres the following Friday, December 16, on Lifetime. And, speaking of Kyle Dean Massey (how's that for a segue?) I have seen him as the lead in Pippin, both on Broadway and on tour in L.A. He's phenomenally talented -- and phenomenally good-looking. I spoke with him briefly after the show in L.A. and don't think my tongue was hanging out too much. Going further off topic, the following is one of my favorite watches on YouTube:



Back on topic: I recorded several Luke Macfarlane Hallmark movies over the past month and have so far watched Christmas in My Heart. It wasn't horrible, but I don't think I could've made it through were it not for Luke.



I also recorded A Royal Queens Christmas with Julian Morris and plan on watching it later this week.

Last but (hopefully) not least, I recorded A Clüsterfünke Christmas off of Comedy Central last year and hope to finally watch it this month. It's a parody of Hallmark-type movies, with the requisite hunky love interest being played by gay actor Cheyenne Jackson. Nils Hognestad (who is also gay -- and pretty easy on the eyes himself) plays the gay best friend of the female lead.

 

[KeithDA]

new Hallmark movie this weekend

We don't get these over here (unless they're on some streaming service I don't have). I remember some pre-release excitement (including mine) over last year's 'Single all the way' which I thought was pretty awful fluff. I want to be challenged and entertained a bit more than this. Life's too short and there's so much other stuff to watch.
(Sorry for being such a pre-holiday curmudgeon)

 

[Matt Hough]

I felt the same way about Single All the Way. I had eagerly looked forward to it, but I didn't find it very engaging despite liking the cast very much. I'm grateful they gave it a go, and I'll certainly watch this year's various same-sex focused offerings with hope, but the objectives for these projects don't seem to be set very high.

 

[Kenneth_C]

I felt the same way about Single All the Way. I had eagerly looked forward to it, but I didn't find it very engaging despite liking the cast very much. I'm grateful they gave it a go, and I'll certainly watch this year's various same-sex focused offerings with hope, but the objectives for these projects don't seem to be set very high.

The same could probably be said about the typical, straight Xmas romances. I've only seen a couple, but they don't aim very high either. Once they think of a premise (kids, cats, candy stores, etc.) and cast attractive leads, they're good to go.

I will continue to watch any gay-themed ones, however. I think it's important to show support when a company (Hallmark, Lifetime) goes outside their comfort zone. That way we can hope that more will be produced and that something better might come along.

I was disappointed in Single All the Way, too. Because it was coming from Netflix, I thought it might be less cliché and have a bit more meat on its bones -- but it didn't. (The movie also asked me to believe that a single, unattached gay man would turn down Luke Macfarlane. We're talking high fantasy here.)

Of the gay-themed Xmas movies, I liked Dashing in December (Paramount) and The Christmas Setup (Lifetime) the best. Dashing seemed more down-to-earth than the others, perhaps because its leads were older. And Setup had a nice subplot about saving the town's old train station that was moving without being cloying. I also liked that the lead actors, Blake Lee and Ben Lewis, were married in real life.

 

[Matt Hough]

The same could probably be said about the typical, straight Xmas romances. I've only seen a couple, but they don't aim very high either. Once they think of a premise (kids, cats, candy stores, etc.) and cast attractive leads, they're good to go.

Of course it could which is why I NEVER watch those. Like you, I will support by watching any same-sex related holiday offerings and hope for the best. I, too, found Dashing in December a step up from the ordinary. It had its own problems, mind you, but I did find it a bit more sophisticated in its conception and construction.

 

[ptb2017fr]

Just binge watched wonderful Spanish series Smiley starring the very sexy Carlos Cuervas playing gay for the fourth time I know of, he was Pol in Merli. It's about two guys who hook up almost by accident then while both want it to continue don't know how to tell each other. There are many meetings, many misunderstandings, a lot of comedy, a lesbian co worker couple of Carlos' and a str8 co worker couple friend of Bruno, the other guy, also having problems, Carlos' mother finding out a secret from her past, and lots and lots of sex, as in many Spanish productions, quite explicit gay sex. And lots of Carlos with his kit off. No full frontal as in Merli Sapere which showed how well hung Carlos is, but still, he has a gorgeous body. It's on Netflix and while incredibly frustrating at times how they won't follow their hearts for a lot of the series it does have a happy ending. Set from just before Christmas in Barcelona until New Year. Highly recommended.

 

[Mark-W]

I might also suggest a couple of obscure BBC tv shows, Beautiful People with Olivia Coleman playing the boozy mother to a gay son in 90’s UK, great soundtrack, hilariously funny. Was out on bluray for a while. Also Gimme Gimme Gimme is a kind of Will and Grave on acid, again hilariously funny. So many titles just go out of print or never make it to bluray.

I just ordered the Blu-rays off of eBay for seasons one and two of Beautiful People. Gotta see Olivia in this!

 

[Matt Hough]

Just binge watched wonderful Spanish series Smiley starring the very sexy Carlos Cuervas playing gay for the fourth time I know of, he was Pol in Merli. It's about two guys who hook up almost by accident then while both want it to continue don't know how to tell each other. There are many meetings, many misunderstandings, a lot of comedy, a lesbian co worker couple of Carlos' and a str8 co worker couple friend of Bruno, the other guy, also having problems, Carlos' mother finding out a secret from her past, and lots and lots of sex, as in many Spanish productions, quite explicit gay sex. And lots of Carlos with his kit off. No full frontal as in Merli Sapere which showed how well hung Carlos is, but still, he has a gorgeous body. It's on Netflix and while incredibly frustrating at times how they won't follow their hearts for a lot of the series it does have a happy ending. Set from just before Christmas in Barcelona until New Year. Highly recommended.

I started it this afternoon. I don't binge, so it'll take me several days to see the whole show, but I certainly enjoyed the first episode.

 

[davy2]

Yes, just also watched episode 1 tonight, I like it!

 

[Mark-W]

Following on from Mark-W's post above, I wanted to point out that Jonathan Bennet will be in a new Hallmark movie this weekend and, unlike the two Christmas House movies, the main relationship in this one will be GAY. Yes, Hallmark has finally made a movie that does not feature a heterosexual couple as the focus.

It's called The Holiday Sitter and it premieres this Sunday, December 11.



I plan on watching both it and A Christmas to Treasure mentioned above, which premieres the following Friday, December 16, on Lifetime. And, speaking of Kyle Dean Massey (how's that for a segue?) I have seen him as the lead in Pippin, both on Broadway and on tour in L.A. He's phenomenally talented -- and phenomenally good-looking. I spoke with him briefly after the show in L.A. and don't think my tongue was hanging out too much. Going further off topic, the following is one of my favorite watches on YouTube:



Back on topic: I recorded several Luke Macfarlane Hallmark movies over the past month and have so far watched Christmas in My Heart. It wasn't horrible, but I don't think I could've made it through were it not for Luke.



I also recorded A Royal Queens Christmas with Julian Morris and plan on watching it later this week.

Last but (hopefully) not least, I recorded A Clüsterfünke Christmas off of Comedy Central last year and hope to finally watch it this month. It's a parody of Hallmark-type movies, with the requisite hunky love interest being played by gay actor Cheyenne Jackson. Nils Hognestad (who is also gay -- and pretty easy on the eyes himself) plays the gay best friend of the female lead.

Kenneth_C,
I love your response! I would have missed The Holiday Sitter tonight. I have it set to record! Now my mom and I will have something we can watch tonight where neither of us feel like we're accommodating the other.

I also never would have found A Clüsterfünke Christmas which will definitely be watched next weekend!

I have two other asides I want to mention.

1. It has been interesting seeing the chatter about Hallmark vs GAC and LGBTIA+ inclusion in programming:
   • https://tvline.com/2022/12/05/gac-family-neal-bledsoe-leaving-candace-cameron-bure-controversy/
   • I won't dive deeper other than to say I will make a point of revisiting Neal Bledsoe's Hallmark films with some additional appreciation, along with those of peers that are supporting him. (Andrew Walker is my mom's favorite, so it was nice seeing his support of Bledsoe's decision.)
2. I went to the theater to see Spoiler Alert! yesterday. I thought it was well done. It did a lot of things right. For starters, it is based on a true story, so it is hard to fault it for being a romantic-dramedy. By keeping the to the truth of these two men's relationship, it also covered some of the realities that either get adjusted to idealize the relationship (see Philadelphia), or go full D.R.A.M.A! There was only one scene that did not work for me, that pulled me out of the movie. Most importantly, yes, I cried. I teared up a lot. But, in the end it did not destroy or depress me the way dying-by-AIDS shows and movies have. I left the theater feeling appreciative and not like I need to go lay down for the rest of the day.

Cheers!

 

[Mark-P]

Holiday Sitter wasn’t bad at all. Yes, it’s mushy and completely in the Hallmark formula mold, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt that the characters were genuine and I was emotionally invested in the gay romance which was the primary storyline this time.

 

[Matt Hough]

I saved it to watch today. Looking forward to some old-fashioned romance.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched The Holiday Sitter this afternoon. Yes, pretty much as Hallmark as they come, but I was never bored, and I did get invested in the lead couple. I had to laugh, though, at the spotless, sparkling homes that everyone lives in. Not a stick of furniture nor ornament out of place anywhere (except for the ones Jonathan Bennett bumbles with that made me burst out laughing), and everything is so clean and new. I have a kitchen full of appliances that are from 2 (microwave to replace a 38-year old one)-40 years old (Jenn-Air range) and hard as I mop, my kitchen floor will never sparkle.