As a rule, I loathe "realty" television, which is not even close to reality. Unscripted is the industry term. Contrived works for me as well. Dear God, anyone remember how complete fake and absolutely terrible Boy Meets Boy was? Ugh. This show looks on par with the artificiality typical of "reality television." But..it also looks entertaining. And I do love watching shows where I have a personal relationship with the locations.
This season centers on four gay guys and the girls who love them/their BFFs. I know half of the guys. Not well mind you, but still. The Nashville gay community may be wide but it's not all that deep.
The "gay dad" in this is Keith's boyfriend. He was approached to be a central figure, and after much deliberation, declined. Later, he was asked repeatedly to be a part of the show as he and Peter began dating and became a couple. Sure, being on national television is exciting, but there was just too much of a questionable and manipulating risk factor to make it worth it. In my opinion, his decision not to participate was a wise one. (Of course, while the Jersey Shore whores are an international laughing stock, they are comforted by their piles and piles of money. FWIW.) While personally and professionally I think Keith should shy away the cameras, I think Peter's participation is likely a good thing for him. He is rising as a stand-up performer and actor and for that industry, sometimes any exposure is good exposure, and I want to be supportive of his professional aspirations. He appears to be a genuine and solid guy and I hope he is "cast" as such by the editing.
I first met Brent, who appears to have been cast as the Hot Mess in this show, when I was home in the summer of 2007. I always found him to be charming and nice if not manic and socially determined. From my perspective, he was setting himself, fairly successfully, as The It Gay Guy in New Nashville. He worked pretty much every angle, was at every party, and made sure to know as many people as he could, and to be the center of any event he attended. I do not say these things as aspersions, and actually have respect for his knowing what he wanted and putting in the effort to get it. Of course, he could also be exhausting, and unabashed social climbing tends to rub me the wrong way. So perhaps the "hot mess" the promos present him as is not too far from the truth.
"Cast" members aside, I don't have any respect for producers or show runners of reality television. Reports from Keith included conflict pitches from producers. I imagine they wanted dramatic scenarios where drama ensued with a girls best gay friend gets a boyfriend and it becomes all southern trashy jealousy and sass. (And Keith, knows he can pull out that sass and turn on a heel when warranted. I am glad, though, that it won't be on air or online.) Last June me and mine attended a benefit "Princess Party" featuring Debbie Gibson and sponsored by, among others, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. Yes, gay men may have straight female close friends. However, we tend to call each other "friend," not "gay friend" or "straight friend." That really cheapens a genuine friendship. (Likewise, we argue that it's not "gay" marriage. It's just "marriage." We don't gay park our gay cars either.)
At the Pride event, producers from the show repeatedly hounded my friend soliciting her participation on the show. The female producer was intrigued because when she asked, "Which one of these guys is your GBFF?" her response was, "umm...they're just my BFFs, minus the G." Which of course, had the opposite effect, and then the producer wouldn't leave her alone. That my beautiful, successful and self-assured friend had more than one "gay best friend" must have made her look like a gold mine, or in reality television terms, crack. The producer even pitched a variety of attention-getting scenarios, all of which centered around pitting one friend against another. I suppose she was looking for a catty bitch fight, but if these people are your friends, why cause them grief? With friends like those, who needs enemas.
My friend was pretty clear that she had zero interest in participating. She was much more polite than I would have been. I wanted her to say something like "No thank you. I am interesting without being on television."
We were IM'ing about this when the promos came out:
A: And that's EXACTLY why I have no interest in reality TV. Because it's not real. And in no way would this show have been an accurate portrayal of us.
A:We're way darker.
B: Seriously. How can we dispose of the bodies with a camera crew following us around?
A: Oh, I'd like to take that challenge.
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