CHIP AND REICHEN: RACE TO THE FINISH
As the Season Finale of The Amazing Race 4 begins Thursday night in Australia, gay married couple Chip and Reichen are in second place, trailing straight best friends David and Jeff but ahead of engaged couple Kelly and Jon. At stake is a $1 million prize for first place.
'I think a lot of people didn't expect us to get this far because we're gay,' Reichen says in the finale. 'I just think sometimes people perceive all gay people as really queeny and really effeminate, but I want other people to look at us and see 'strong, prepared and out to win.''
At one point, Chip drives their car off the road, and it spins a 180-degree turn, almost toppling. 'Chip! Oh, my God!' Reichen is heard yelling from the back seat. After they recover, back-seat-driver Reichen states the obvious: 'You can't do that again.'
Meanwhile, engaged couple Kelly and Jon scream gleefully at their misfortune, which allows them to pass into second place. They're OK. They're fine,' Kelly says, urging Jon to drive on quickly. Jon, meanwhile, laughs.
When they succeed in boarding a plane that Kelly and Jon just miss, Chip and Reichen gloat, 'The best part was we purchased economy (a requirement), but in the rush, they seated us in business class, so we just racked out in style and drank champagne.'
Meanwhile Kelly bemoaned missing the flight, using her nickname for Chip and Reichen: 'Those damned Chippendales!' Jon's wish for the frontrunners? 'Maybe they'll get serious diarrhea on the plane, or severe cramps, and they won't be able to run.' In straight Jon's gayest moment, he strips first to his briefs and then nude to retrieve an important rock from the ocean floor. He is seen nude, in a near-porno shot of his body.
20/20 ON 'OUT' BEING 'IN'
ABC's 20/20 ran a segment on 'America's new love affair with homosexuals' Aug. 15. 'Gays are not just out, they're in, on the hottest, hippest new shows on television,' 20/20 announced. The segment opened with footage from auditions for American Pride, a prospective new reality show that will search for the first openly gay country star. Reporter Chris Connolly then explored whether the recent visibility on TV, the Supreme Court pro-gay ruling and the naming of the first gay Episcopal bishop might result in a backlash.
Conservative gay commentator Andrew Sullivan worried, 'There's this enormous backlash against the possibility of gay people actually being treated as equal citizens. I'm scared that 2003 may be for gay people what 1968 was for Black people, the moment when all our hopes turned to rage and disappointment.' After speaking to Max Mutchnick, the openly gay producer who created Will & Grace with his straight production partner David Cohan, reporter Connolly said, 'Mutchnick wonders if the familiarity has indeed bred contempt, that any gay backlash might be the predictable result of overexposure in the media.'
'Look what happened with Ben and J-Lo,' Mutchnick said. 'They were the perfect couple. And look what happened. If we keep churning out all this programming, something's going to happen that's going to bite us in the ass,' Mutchnick worried. 'I just hope that it's ...' ' ... in a GOOD way,' Cohan jokingly added. Cohan also quoted Eric McCormack as saying, 'You know, ultimately what you want is an old lady in Kansas to say, boy, I'd like that Will Truman to meet a nice man. ... And I think we're almost at that point, actually, vI kind of think we are.'
QUEER EYE & Leno
Millions of viewers missed the Queer Eye Fab Five's first visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno, due to the blackout. On Aug. 14, the Fab Five flirted with Kevin Costner and talked about their show's unexpected smash success. They returned on Aug. 15, having made over Leno, the band, the green room and the show's set.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20
ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC, noon) Last week Bianca begged her mother Erica not to call the police about her rape. Erica gently insisted that Michael must pay for his horrendous crime.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21
AMAZING RACE 4 (CBS, 7 p.m.) Finale: Will Chip and Reichen win the million dollars???
PYRAMID (WCIU Ch 6, 7:30 p.m) Disco legends K.C. and Gloria Gaynor. Hosted by Donny Osmond.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23
TOTALLY GAY (VH-1, 11 a.m.) Fast, breezy clipfest highlighting the growing influence of gays and lesbians on culture and fashion.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
SEX AND THE CITY (HBO, 8 p.m.) 'Boy Interrupted' When it comes to matters of the heart, do we need to go back to high school? Stanford (Willie Garson) and Marcus (Sean Palmer) go to a gay prom, and ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell guest stars.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26
BOY MEETS BOY (Bravo, 8 p.m., midnight). James learns that one remaining mate is straight. QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT
GUY (Bravo, 9 p.m., 11 p.m.) The Fab Five re-do a bald cop.
REAL WORLD PARIS (MTV, 9 p.m.) Gay Simon, 18, has still remained mostly in the background.
Gay Boy Ric is a comedian and pop singer based in L.A. To receive free GTV E-Mail Alerts: gayboyric@yahoo.com
