The door is cracked open. All of the television channels will soon be shocked to find out that one of their brothers is coming out. Sure, some of them are a little suspicious, and a few of them already have gay tendencies themselves.
NBC has "Will & Grace" and "Rosie" (who might as well come out now), Showtime has "Queer as Folk" and MTV - well, MTV might as well just change its name to Gay Television. Programming like "Real World" offers a look into gay lives, "Dismissed" isn't afraid to venture into the same-sex dating scene and MTV's commitment to the Take a Stand campaign are examples of how gay-friendly MTV really is.
Even with all of the gay-targeted programming on television, is the set ready for an all gay channel? A couple of companies have recently announced their plans to boldly go where no channel has gone before; full throttle into the gay market. This idea could be a major step in either direction.
Kevin: I'm not sure if an all-gay channel would hurt or help the image of gays today. It would depend on the programming. If it portrayed gays as drug-using, club-hopping nymphomaniacs, then it wouldn't be a good thing. But I guess nobody wants to watch an average gay person living his or her average life driving his or her average car to his or her average job. So maybe guys in leopard-print hot pants would drive up the ratings.
Mat: In terms of ratings, "Will and Grace" has lost my attention. I definitely would pay no attention to a gay channel that relies on gayness as its backbone, but then again, I'm not gay. That may be the problem with a gay channel. The target audience may be too specific. Black Entertainment Television works because it is not only black people who want to watch it. There is a large number of whites, Hispanics and Asians who watch it as well. I do not know many straight people who would watch an all-gay network.
Kevin: With the gay channel, straight women will watch it only to get disappointed that the men they are drooling over are playing for a different team. Straight men would watch it to get style tips.
Mat: Well it is true that fashion shows are successful. Here is another reason why women would watch it: All of the women I know are crazy for makeover shows.
Kevin: Other than makeover shows, what other programming would there be? The gay channel would end up turning into Lifetime, only with a different logo.
Old re-runs of "Golden Girls" and "Designing Women" would fill the gay airwaves. There are only so many stories about St. Olaf, Minn., one can listen to.
Mat: If it does happen and becomes successful I hope they at least do something creative with it. Dance shows, talk shows, dating shows and music videos are to be expected. I would possibly watch it if they had a few shows you wouldn't expect, like a show where everyone is gay, but nobody acts like a stereotypical gay person or says anything about being gay.
That way, people might not even notice that men are dating other men and women are dating other women. Maybe there could be a show where contestants compete to see who has the gayest or straightest personality. There could even be "Cops" re-runs from San Francisco.
Kevin: All in all, I question the companies' motives for creating an all-gay channel. They seem to use the claim that the new channel is for the advancement of views of gays. But in reality, it's all about the money. It's just a way for television giants to create more defined markets for advertisers. I can just see the advertisements now - Crest toothpaste that will leave your teeth feeling queerly clean and Skittles will sponsor televised drag shows so everyone across the country can get a taste of the rainbow.
Write to Kevin and Mat at twobsuguys@yahoo.com
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