BOY MEETS BOY: WAS STRAIGHT FRANKLIN ROBBED?
Now that the series is over, tongues are a-wagging non-stop about BOY MEETS BOY.
It's hard to produce a six-hour reality series, filmed over eight days, and have not a single second of reality left in the final cut, but Evolution Film and Tape, the company that produced the series for Bravo, managed to do it. It's a little understandable—Evolution wanted to emulate THE BACHELOR, adding a JOE MILLIONAIRE-like twist. But in this strict focus, they missed seeing the potentially compelling reality show that they ignored and ended up simply leaving on the cutting-room floor.
Hints of that potentially compelling behind-the-scenes reality leaked out the day after the finale, when two mates—straight Dan and gay Darren—called in to Sirius OutQ's THE DEREK AND ROMAINE SHOW. Of all of the comments on BOY MEETS BOY I've heard, co-host Derek Hartley had the most insightful and to the point: that the producers ruined their own gimmick by letting James in on the 'straight' twist before his final selection ... the only thing that led him NOT to pick Franklin.
'I think that if James had not been told the twist—that there was a straight guy in the mix—then Franklin would have won and would have gotten the $25,000,' Hartley said. 'Because James definitely liked Franklin, and I think that once he knew that somebody was straight, that it was very clear that Franklin was the straight one. I mean, it pretty much had to be. There really wasn't anyone else that it could have been.'
In other words, thanks to Evolution, Franklin was robbed of the $25,000, which he should have won for 'fooling' the gay bachelor (however offensive some may have found that aspect of the game). Franklin was there to play the game; for instance, the camera showed him touching James's knees and being physically suggestive of intimacy. As Hartley observed, 'Franklin looked very disappointed when James said he knew he was a straight guy and that's why he didn't choose him.'
Talking on DEREK AND ROMAINE, straight Dan revealed something that no one watching the series would have known: that the housemates actually had a great energetic time together: 'There was a lot of fun partying—it was hysterical. I wish you guys could have seen it.' The bonds formed were strong enough that Dan even told the producers that he seriously wanted off the show once he realized that lying to his new gay friends about being gay was essentially toying with their feelings and might result in some hurt. As Dan described it, 'When you saw me leaning against the wall, thinking, the next instant I walked into the producers office and said, 'Guys, this is just wrong. I'm not going to do the show any more. I had fun for three days, I appreciate it, but I'm quitting.' It was a big fiasco; they were like, 'Dan, calm down. It's not a big deal, you need to relax. We promise we will get you off in the next round,' and it's no coincidence that they put me up against two of the finalists, because those were his favorites at that time.'
'It sounds like a lot of the straight guys who were on the show had the same reaction you did,' said Hartley. 'Which is that they thought it might be fun or interesting, but once they got there and saw that the guy was really genuinely looking for a boyfriend, (that changed).'
'Yea, Brian and I were, like, partying,' said Dan. 'We were drunk the whole first few days, jumping around in the pool, and then all of a sudden you see Andra crying and you're like, 'Oooh, OK, this isn't actually as fun as we had thought.' And James didn't even know the twist ... I was just like, dude, if you ONLY knew ...'
Straight Dan was actually sought out by NBC's head of reality / alternative programming to be on BOY MEETS BOY, who knew of him because Dan had previously won $130,000 as a contestant on LOST, an NBC reality show that aired two years ago.
Gay mate Darren said James and Wes were not, in fact, dating, and that—at a post-finale cast party at HERE in West Hollywood, they were not intimate. 'They were friends. James even said it on the show: 'I can't see anything going anywhere with Wes.' They're friends.' 'So ... there was no love match made,' concluded DEREK AND ROMAINE co-host Romaine Patterson.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW (NBC, 10 a.m.) Betty White.
ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC, noon) Daily. Last week, Bianca admitted she's torn between terminating her pregnancy or keeping the baby despite the brutal way it was conceived. Bianca's half-sister Kendall then returned home and announced to a shocked contingent of friends and police officers that she has just married Bianca's rapist Michael Cambius.
THAT 70s SHOW (NBC, 7 p.m.) Repeat: Fez (Wilmer Valderama) has an erotic dream about Kelso (Ashton Kutcher).
TOTALLY GAY (VH-1, 9 p.m.) Repeat: Fag Stags, Tatusexuals, Yestergays, Hasbians, The Dorothy Dollar, Dykon, Metrosexuals, Lesploitation, and Lugs—they're all here.
RENO 911! (COM, 9 p.m., 11:30 p.m.) Funny spoof of cop reality shows, including gay Lt. Dangle (Thomas Lennon).
BOY MEETS BOY (Bravo, 1 a.m.) Bravo is repeating an episode of the series each night this week.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW (NBC, 10 a.m.) Megan Mullally, Michael Vartan
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW (NBC, 10 a .m.) Dennis Quaid, Lisa Marie Presley
GAY WEDDINGS MARATHON (Bravo, noon - 4.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
AMERICAN JUSTICE (A&E, 7 p.m.) 'The San Francisco Dog Mauling' A look at the case of lesbian Diane Whipple who was killed by her neighbor's two dogs in her apartment building.
CRANK YANKERS (COM, midnight) Elmer (Jimmy Kimmel) tries to book a vacation with a gay cruise line.
COPS: LOS ANGELES (Ch 12, WFLD) The first program following the L.A. Sheriff's Department includes the investigation of a suspected gay murder.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
REAL WORLD (MTV, 11 a.m.) Repeat: Simon's cute Spanish boyfriend Tkisco visits, and Adam goes to a gay bar with Simon and Mallory.
SEX AND THE CITY (SHO, 8 p.m.) Summer Season Finale. Mikhail Baryshnikov debuts as as Alexandr Petrovski, an internationally acclaimed artist who sweeps Carrie off her feet. Miranda and Steve celebrate Brady's first birthday. Samantha frets about her appearance.
FRESHMAN DIARIES (SHO, 10 p.m., 3 a.m.) Documentarian R.J. Cutler (THE REAL ROSEANNE SHOW, AMERICAN HIGH) follows a group of students through their freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin. Tonight: Luis and Neil embark on their first gay relationship.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW (NBC, 10 a .m.)
Sean Hayes. This will be fun to see: Sean denies being gay, and Ellen is actively trying to not mention gay topics too much her show ...
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW (Oxygen, 9 p.m.) Oxygen will now air week-old repeats every night. Tonight: the premiere, with Jennifer Aniston and Macy Gray.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW (NBC, 10 a.m.) Sharon Stone.
ELLEN ON SNL (E! TV, 3 p.m.)
WHOOPI (NBC, 7 p.m.) A bomb scare sends guests scurrying, and Mavis (Whoopi) confronts her worst fear: claustrophobia.
QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY (Bravo, 9 and 11 p.m.) New episode.
REAL WORLD PARIS (MTV, 9 p.m) Features gay Irish roomie Simon.
NIP/TUCK (FX, 9 p.m., 10:30 p.m.) New drama about two L.A. plastic surgeons, from out producer Ryan Murphy (Popular). Features Roma Maffia as lesbian anesthesiologist Liz Cruz.
Gay Boy Ric is a comedian and pop singer based in L.A. To receive free GTV E-Mail Alerts: gayboyric@yahoo.com
