November 2006 Archives

Thank God for Michael Jensen's new blog on AfterElton.com. called Best. Gay. Day. Ever. He posted this funny item of David Letterman’s Top Ten Shows on the new gay television network:

10) How I Met Your Brother

9) Gary’s Anatomy

8) Desperate Poolboys

7) Everybody Loves Raymond…Especially Steve

6) The King of Queens

5) Not-So-Smallville

4) I Dream of Gene

3) Gays of Our Lives

2) My Name is Earl…and I Like Construction Workers

1) His Deal or No Deal

Says Michael: "Pretty funny for the most part, and I’d actually tune in to watch a couple of these. Or have I already seen Desperate Poolboys on the motel…um, never mind. The only one I didn’t get was His Deal or No Deal. Can anyone explain it to me?"

I usually go about my day filing stories for the Daily News then move on to the next thing. I'm a busy guy, who has time to dwell? But as I wrote a story on minority hiring in film for today's paper, I stopped to tell me deskmates a story from my past that surfaced as I wrote the piece "Whites Get Majority of Acting Jobs."
Picture it: Orange County, Calif. in the 1970s. I'm one of the few little Hispanic kids at John A. Murdy Elementary School and decide to try out for the school's production of "Tom Sawyer." I'm shy but secretly crave the limelight (shocking, isn't it?) I want the lead and am waiting to audition one day after school. Sitting next to me is a red-headed kid with freckles named Clark. We start to talk:
Clark: What part are YOU trying out for?
Greg: Tom Sawyer.
Clark: A BLACK TOM SAWYER?
Greg: (gulp).
I had no clever comeback and couldn't even muster any measure of cool. I was pretty stunned. Then the drama teacher calls me in. I am more determined than ever to score the part. I do a reading that I think would've gotten me into Julliard.

I walk out, past Clark, and am quite confident he will be eating his words. I'm gonna be the best BLACK TOM SAWYER in John A. Murdy history. A few days later, the cast is posted. I'm in it all right, but red-headed Clark is cast as Tom (even though he has a tin ear!) and me, well, I am cast as Injun Joe!

I got my revenge on Clark on the night of the performance though. There's a courtroom scene where he identifies me as a suspect and I throw a knife at him and miss. It's a rubber knife and through every rehearsal and in the dress rehearsal in front of the school that day, I missed him, as scripted. But on the night of nights, our families in the audience, I threw the knife at him and whaddaya know, it hit him right-square in the middle of the forehead.

I didn't mean to do it , I swear. But I went home feeling pretty good all the same.

Last night's Ribbon of Hope Celebration 2006 started off much like many other award events with red carpet intervews, a pre-show VIP party, hellos and hugs. But after settling into my seat at the Television Academy Theater, the heaviness of the reason why we were all there took over. In addition to honoring actress/activist Judith Light, several television projects were recognized as responsible programming that educated and raised public awareness of this devastating epedemic for which there remains no cure - treatement yes, if you can afford it. But no cure.
The HBO film "Yesterday," sanctioned by Nelson Mandela and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, follows the struggles of a young mother who has been diagnosed with AIDS and wants to live long enough to send her daughter to her first day of school. The film is set in South Africa, 10 years after democracy arrived there. "the husband brought AIDS into the family and his reaction was to beat [her] to a pulp," actress CCH Pounder told the hushed audience after a clip of the film. "You really must see this film to understand its impact. This is...programming at its best."
Acter Peter Gallagher introduced the Cinemax documentary "Orphans of Nkandla" in which directors Brian Weeds and Deborah Shipley travel to the village of Kkandla in rural Zululand, South Africa where boys and girls share a common burden of having one or both of their parents die of AIDS. This leaves the older kids, as young as 12 years old, left to take care of younger siblings. "It breaks your heart," Gallagher said. The hero of the piece is Sister Hedwick, a nun who works at a local hospital whose mission is to locate and assist children from these devastated homesteads.
"General Hospital"Shifting the focus to AIDS in America, the long-running daytime drama "General Hospital" was recognized for its continuation of an AIDS storyline surrounding Robin Scorpio (portrayed by Kimberly McCullough, left) was was infected as a teenager by a boyfriend she loved. Robin is the portrait of a survivor who grew up to become a research pathologist but she still faces the everyday struggles of living with HIV. The AIDS storyline this year involves Robin's new love, Dr. Patrick Drake, who is exposed to HIV after cutting his finger while operating on a patient with AIDS. "We made a promise that we weren't going to let this storyline go away," GH writer Karen Harris said when she accepted the award. "Whatever Patrick's results are, we will continue to explore this subject. It is my hope that Robin will continue to live a full and joyous life."
Showtime's "The L Word" was selected to receive Ribbon of Hope's first honor outside the area of HIV and AIDS for its storyline on breast cancer during its third season. It followed the wrenching journey of Dana Fairbanks (Erin Daniels) from the discovery of a lump to her death from an opportunistic infection contrracted when chemotherapy weakens her immune system. "Lesbians have been virtually unrepresented in the popular culture," said Ilene Chaiken, the series' creator and executive producer. "It's a privledge to be taking part in television that makes a difference."
Shortly before his cancer diagnosis, Peter Jennings started work on a one-hour documentary devoted solely to the issue of AIDS in Black America. Black Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but account for over 50 percent of all new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That infection rate is eight times the rate of whites. Among women, the numbers are even more shocking—- almost 70 percent of all newly diagnosed HIV-positive women in the United States are black women. Black women are 23 times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white women, with heterosexual contact being the overwhelming method of infection in black America. The hour includes tough interviews with the likes of Jesse Jackson and a very telling interview moment from the 2004 vice presidential debate when moderator Gwen Ifil exposed Dick Cheney's absolute lack of awareness on the subject.
ABC's Terry Moran, who completed the work for Jennings, made some comments on his behalf: "He had a natural confidence that good journalism could make a difference. I know that Peter would be honored by this award - I am as well."
Also honored was the program "Frontline: The Age of AIDS on PBS which on the 25th anniversary of the pandemic, examines why humanity has failed to stop the spread of HIV.

Just got back from the 10th annual Ribbon of Hope Celebration honoring people in television who have contributed to responsible programming with regards to educating and raising public awareness of AIDS. It was a heart-warming, star-studded night. But I'll write about the dish in another post because this one is reserved for Judith Light, the star who shined the brightest at the Television of Television Arts and Sciences theater Thursday evening.

Judith received the evening's only standing ovation and it was heartfelt and filled with love for a woman who has more than done her share, for decades, in the battle against AIDS. Before the show began, I chatted with the two-time Emmy winner ("One Life to Live") and beloved star of the long-running sitcom "Who's the Boss?" who currently has a recurring role on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

On how she became an AIDS activist:
"I was always connected to the gay community, I grew up in theater and that's synonymous with the gay community. So all of my good friends who always supported me and were always wonderful to me were out of the gay community. So when AIDS started, I really felt it was important for me to start looking at this and say, 'What a minute. My friends are dying, they need help. Someone's got to be talking about this. This isn't politically correct but i gotta get out there. I did it to support my friends."

"You can't live in a country where you tell everybody you're compassionate and you love everybody and then treat the gay community like they don't exist and let them die. You cannot do it. I mean, you're doing it but I'm going to tell you that it's absolutely unconscionable. So I began to see how much homophobia was really layered underneath this AIDS crisis and why people weren't talking about it. You know that if this was a good ol' white boys disease, they would've been on it in a heartbeat. I'm not saying that we shouldn't take care of everybody but the point is, it was purposeful. People may say, 'Oh no, people would never really do that.' But whether it's conscious or unconscious, that was what was happening and I just didn't want to see that happening to people who I knew and loved."

Among the 15 television movies Light has starred in is "the Ryan White Story" and her AIDS-related advocacy includes representing Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS, The Names Project, AIDS Memorial Quilt, Project Angel Food, The Point Foundation, the Trevor Project, and The AIDS Memorial Grove, among others.

On being honored with the Ribbon of Hope:
"It's really kind of amazing. I do the work because it's the work and then somebody comes along and says, 'We want to give this to you.' And I'm here and I'm happy to be here."

Light was presented her award by Bruce Vilanch who called his friend "an incredible humanitarian on so many levels. She is a television icon who has made herself visible from the very beginning for a cause that no one wanted to be associated with. This never got in her way."

Chad Allen, who stars opposite and produces the gay-themed indie film "Save Me" with Light and Robert Gant, also gave a shout out to his friend when he was on stage presenting another award: "Judith Light, thank you. You are like family to me and I'm so proud to say that. I love you."

This seems to be a big day, week and month for Daniel Craig news and I am only too happy to share all of it with you. The new James Bond has been nominated for a Film Independent's Spirit Award in the best supporting actor category for his fine performance as a cold-blooded killer who happens to be gay in the Truman Capote biopic "Infamous." As a blond and buff Craig dazzles the world as Agent 007, it's nice to see him recognized for this smaller film which has suffered by coming out a year after "Capote," a film with an identical storyline. But the film is solid and Craig's performance as one of the killers Capote writes about in his novel "In Cold Blood" and seems to fall in love with is not to be missed.

Leading the pack in Independent Spirit nominations is one of my favorite films of the year, "Little Miss Sunshine" which earned five nods including best picture. Even though Steve Carrell, who played a suicidal gay man in the film, did ot receive an individual nod, his co-stars Alan Arkin Paul Dano did. Also nominated were co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and screenwriter Michael Arndt. This movie gem about a dysfunctional family on a road trip is out on DVD Dec. 19 with many bonus features ncluding four alternate endings, audio commentaries, music video and more.

And here is a well-deserved Indie Spirit nomination: up for the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for less than $500,000 are out filmmakers and real-life couple Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland for "Quniceanera." Their film has several key gay characters and won both the grand jury prize and the audience award at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Finally, up for the IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Awards, which includes a grant of $50,000 to a new filmmaker, is Richard Wong who directed the terrific "Colma: The Musical" which screened at the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles last summer.

Congratulations to all!

Well, isn't this just a dandy little morsel of information just making its way around cyberspace? According to the site Contactmusic, the hunky Daniel Craig is urging movie bosses to modernize the James Bond series by including gay scenes involving the superspy.

"Why not? I think in this day and age, fans would have accepted it," Craig reportedly says. "I mean, look at (British TV series) Doctor Who - that has had gay scenes in it and no one blinks an eye."

Hmmmmmmm. Do I think this is a good idea? HECK YEAH!

Anyway, the blond Bond, who debuted worldwide last week in "Casino Royale," has also reportedly made it clear that he has no inhibition about doing film a full frontal nude scene to please both his male and female admirers.

OK, I think I'm gonna faint now.

Sometimes, movies can really give you some much-needed perspective. While gay rights in this country still have a ways to go, I am so glad to be an American gay man in 2006 (and actually writing a gay-themed blog) and not a French gay man in 1942. That is the year in which the moving period drama, "A Love to Hide" is set. I recommend that every gay person see this film, released on DVD Dec. 5. In French with English subtitles, this sweeping and unforgettable wartime epic about gay life and love in Nazi-occupied Europe was easily the best movie I saw at last summer's Outfest, the one movie that made me cry. See it and you will understand why. You will understand what it was like to be gay in another time and place and feel grateful for what we have even as gays and lesbians continue to fight for full equality in this country.

In "A Love to Hide," two gay lovers, Philippe (Jeremie Renier) and Jean (Bruno Todeschini), living in Paris hide their love from their families and from the occupying Nazi army. Philippe works with the Resistance while Jean runs his family business, a dry cleaner. When Jean’s childhood sweetheart Sara shows up their door, her family murdered by the Gestapo, they take her in and nurse her back to health. Philippe gets her a fake ID and Jean obtains her a job at the cleaners.

Even though Sara still loves the handsome and sweet Phillipe, she accepts his relationship with Jean. But it's still quite a struggle keeping their ragtag family safe from the Nazis. Jean’s brother is a collaborator and his dad a sympathizer. Tragedy closes in as Jean is accused of being a member of the “third sex� and having an affair with a Nazi officer. It is an important, beautifully-acted and heart-breaking film. I cannot recommend it enough or give enough praise to the filmmakers who provide such strong attention to details as the Nazi occupation of France from scenes in a ‘40s gay bar to the papable anxiety everyone was forced to live under.

"A Love to Hide" is released by Picture This! Home Video.

Outfest, Fusion: The Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival begins its three-day run on Friday night and I am so looking forward to it. I missed last year's inaugural edition of the event, the only multicultural, gender-inclusive film festival of its kind. But I'll be there this year for the opening night gala at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

The festival will kick off with a series of a diverse short films from the US and around the world, featuring beautiful radical lesbians, spirited queer youth, and relationships stemming from unlikely attractions. Of course, since I do like a good party, also fun should be the opening night post-movie gala, an electric party with music that organizers say will make you movewith delicious food from hot LA restaurants, and a hosted Absolut bar.

I. Am. So. There.

For a full schedule, click HERE and check out the festival Web site.

In addition to the Aratani/Japan America Theatre, 244 South San Pedro Street, movies will also be screen Saturday and Sunday at both the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, and the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood.

Tickets will be available at the box office prior to all Fusion events or by Phone: 213-480-7088.
TICKET PRICES Opening Night and Closing Night Galas (includes screening and after-party):
General: $12
Members of Outfest and Collaborating Organizations: $10
21 & under / 62 & over: FREE

Other Programs:
General: $8
Members of Outfest and Collaborating Organizations: $6
21 & under / 62 & over: FREE
Special Offers:
Pass to All Fusion Programs: $35
Outfest Membership: Buy a Fusion Pass, add $15 and receive an Outfest Crew level Membership ($50 value)

I don't care how good he looks in a towel on "Grey's Anatomy," Eric "Dr. McSteamy" Dane is rather clueless when it comes to the reality of the same-gender marriage debate which continues to rage in our country. Dane, co-star of the upcoming A&E movie "Wedding Wars," gave an interview to Instinct magazine, parts of which have left me incredulous.
In the movie, he plays a speechwriter set to marry the daughter of a politically conservative Republican governor who is against gay marriage. His brother (played by John Stamos) is a gay wedding planner who goes on strike in protest to his brother's future father-in-law's political stance. "Ben's a politician," Dane explains. "What's more, he's protecting a politician as his campaign manager. He's taking polls and listening to polls, and he's gonna take the position of what the state says regardless of how Ben feels personally. I think that at the core, Ben thinks there's nothing wrong with gay marriage."

Q. So how will Middle America react to the movie's premise?
A. "Well, I think simply...this is a good film. This is ot a "gay" film. It's a romantic comedy that happens to have a gay guy in it and some gay themes. They've done a real good job about being really subtle with what could be a heavy-handed issue."

Q. Do you think this movie will change minds?
A. "I don't think people should come away from this film thinking, 'I have a new perspective on gay marriage' because I think you want to shy away from that to the point where there doesn't need to be any thought going on about it. I don't want people coming away from this movie thinking anything other than, 'I just thought saw a good movie, because [gay marriage] should be something that's so accepted that it doesn't even cross your mind as something you would need to recognize."

Uh OK. Well McSteamy, we live in the REAL WORLD and in the real world, 49 states in the U.S. do not allow gay people to get married and there are plenty of people out there who want to keep it that way. We are in the trenches right now fighting for that civil right.

Your co-star, the thoughtful and informed John Stamos recognizes "Wedding Wars" as an opportunity to perhaps get Middle America to watch and maybe learn, maybe open up their kinds a bit. “[It’s] a light, frothy romantic comedy with, obviously, an important message,� Stamos told the show "Extra" this week which was the first to show him the new issue of The Advocate, with John as the cover boy promoting the movie with the headline "Would You Take This Man?�

“I don't care what anybody says,� Stamos says. “It was funny; I got a call today from someone who said that there was a big debate in some hair salon because I was on the cover. They said, ‘Exactly, we knew he was gay. Isn't he gay?’ The girls were saying, ‘No, he's not gay!’ I'm proud to be on it.�

John’s cover boy issue of The Advocate is on newsstands and “Wedding Wars� premieres Dec. 11 on A&E.

Was flipping through the latest issue of Instinct magazine last night and came across an interesting sidebar to the cover story on Beyonce in which she shares her thoughts on her many gays: "I love my gay fans and I thank them for Destiny's Child and Kelly, Michelle and Solange from day one!"

The singer, sensational in "Dreamgirls," comes from a strong faith but does not believe religious beliefs should make you intolerant: "I grew up going to church, but I was raised by my uncle who passed away from AIDS a couple of years ago. He was my mother's best friend. He brought me to school every day. He helped me buy my prom dressz. He made my clothes with my mother. He was like my nanny. He was my favorite person in the world. And you know, I never really mixed Christianity with how I felt about him. I am about faith and spirituality more so than religion. Doing right by others and not judging.

What she would say to her child if he were gay: "That I love him for the person he is with no expectations back. That I support whatever he does. That who we are is from the inside out."

Sam Harris' Perry Pearl, the gayest-straight-man-ever, did not appear on Monday night's episode of CBS' "The Class" but one of the real gay characters on this often-funny sitcom, Kyle ( Sean Maguire), shared some terrific scenes with Ethan (Jason Ritter). I think this friendship between a straight man and a gay man could really invigorate the show which has suffered from its large cast not interacting enough with each other.

So Ethan (he doesn't know Kyle is gay) shows up at Kyle's apartment to pick him up for a raquetball came and sees a picture of Kyle's boyfriend.
Ethan: Is that your brother?
Kyle: It's my partner.
Ethan: Oh, your business partner?
Kyle: My PARTNER partner.
Ethan: Oh! That's fanTAStic! It's fine...it's...REGULAR.

So with that out of the way, they become involved in the episode's plot where one of their friends has crashed into a liquor store (he lost control of the car when a bee flew in the window). and their comic chemistry was very fresh and welcomed. So hopefully Ethan will hang out with Kyle and his boyfriend in future episodes and maybe he'll even get to interact some with Perry Pearl!

At a time when I feel frustrated by the discrimination against gays not being allowed to get married in 49 states (unlike the thoughtful Pam Anderson or Britney Spears) or frustrated that gays are still not able to openly serve in the military, I find solace in the unlikeliest of places: Monday night's episode of the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother."
I hope a lot of the teens, or anyone, who are struggling with being gay and feeling good about themselves saw this episode. Not only was in wickedly funny and touching, but it was absolutely devoid of homophobia. And trust me, it was a VERY gay episode. The characters were just all very evolved and a view of how much better off we'd all be if people would get rid of their hang-ups.

The CLASSIC episode of "Mother" featured a very funny Wayne Brady as the gay brother of Neil Patrick Harris' womanizing Barney character and focused on Barney's reluctance to accept the fact that his brother is...in a RELATIONSHIP! Barney's friends clue in before he does when the group hits a gay bar and the usually very "social" James starts turning down every hot guy in the place who approaches him: "He's too in shape," he says of one. "He'll spend all night talking about his level of body fat."
But Barney remains in denial and insists his brother is still a swinging bachelor despite such tell-tale relationships signs as "he's a little sleepy and he hasn't had sex with anyone in a bathroom stall and he's texting!"

They have different fathers, obviously, but are two peas in a pod in terms of personality and attitude. They had been each other's wingman on the single's scene forever and even scored a brother and sister once. I loved the sequence that showed all their different tag-team pick-up techniques. for example, James offends a woman by coming on too strong and she is rescued by Barney who sweeps in and says something like, "Is this guy bothering you?" They even scored a brother and sister once which James describes as "she was a little bit country, he was a litle bit WAY into black guys!" Suffice it to say, James is the homosexual version of Barney's aggressive heterosexual character and Brady is a delight in the part.

Once Barney learns of his brother's marriage plans, he tries to get him hooked up at the bar, approaching potential hook-ups and telling them to ply his brolther "with a few dirty martinis" and he'd be all theirs. But Barney is stopped cold when James tells him he's in love with Tom and they are getting married.
Barney: 'I don't support this!"
James: "Gay marriage?"
Barney: "Not the gay part! Marriage!"

Barney explains: "Here’s my thing. If gay guys start getting married, then suddenly the whole world’s gonna be doing it. That’s how it works. They start something, then six months later, everyone follows…Gay marriage is going to cause single life as we know it to die out. Think of how the American family will be strengthened."

As an aside, I found some silly of the interactions between Barney's straight guy friends Ted (Josh Radnor) and Marshall (Jason Segel) being hit on by men at the gay club hysterical. Says Marshall to one admirer: "I'm flattered and objectively, you're a very attractive man."
Adds Ted: "I'm straight too but I appreciate your time and you appreciating my body."
But later, after a not-so-cute guy walks up and puts his arm around both of them and says: "Look at me, in the middle of a yummy sandwich!" Ted complains: "It's never the hot ones - it's always the losers. Bums me out!"

Barney's anti-marriage campaign ends though when his brother tells him that he and Tom are going to adopt a baby. Barney immediately changes his attitude and Harris is so good in this moment of conveying his love for his brother.
The episode flash-forwards to a year later and the wedding reception with uncle Barney having a heart-to-heart with his baby nephew: "Just because you're being raised by married people doesn't mean you have to choose that lifestyle...I am going to teach you how to live!"

Also at the wedding reception, you can see two men dancing together, two women dancing together, a man and a woman dancing together. It's all just there, everyone being who they are. And it's on at 8 p.m. on network prime time. I love it! Kudos to CBS and especially to the show's creative team. Mostly, kudos to heterosexual Wayne Brady for his terrific performance as a gay man and to the openly gay Neil Patrick Harris, for his continually convincing performance as a heterosexual man!

Gay Democratic congressman Barney Frank says he has every intention of pushing for a modification of the military's antigay ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy.
"What we have is a shortfall in the military," Frank pointed out on Fox News Sunday. "I think when you have people being fired who can read Arabic and understand Arabic, because of what they do when they're off duty, that that's a grave error.''
The current policy prohibits officials from inquiring about the sex lives of service members but requires discharges of those who acknowledge being gay - as if there is something wrong with being gay. A report in 2005 by the investigative arm of Congress estimated it cost the Pentagon around $200 million to recruit and train replacements for the nearly 9,500 troops that had to leave the military because of the ban on openly gay personnel. The losses included hundreds of highly skilled troops, including translators, from 1994 to 2003.
To continue this legal form of discrimination is, in my opinion, not only bigoted, it's detrimental to the military and to the country. So why does the ban continue? Because some guys are worried about sharing a tent with a gay man or is shy about taking a shower? Get over yourselves and think about what is best for your country which needs trained military personnel more than ever now.

Any one of us would hope to live to be 89, especially if until the end we could remain witty and engaged and beloved. Still, I was so saddened to learn of the death of Betty Comden in New York a few days ago. Along with professional partner Adolph Green, Comden is responsible for some of the greatest musicals including "Singin' in the Rain," "Wonderful Town," "Auntie Mame," and the great "On the Town" which features the classic song "New York, New York...(It's a Helluva Town)."
In early 2001, Comden and Green were the recipients of the Writers Guild of America's Laurel Award. I was a film writer at The Hollywood Reporter at the time and was assigned to write a story about the pair. I phoned them separately in New York. We had such nice conversations and I'll never forget it. Green died in 2002 but lived long enough for the two to make it to the DVD premiere of "Singin' in the Rain" in Beverly Hills. Sorry I missed that event!
The pair were Tony winners for "On the Twentieth Century," "Hallelujah Baby!" and "The Will Rogers Follies," among others. Their other credits include "Peter Pan," "Bells Are Ringing," and "Applause," the latter a musical version of "All About Eve" that ran for several years and won Lauren Bacall the first of two Tonys. I interviewed Bacall a few years ago and she told me that the show was absolutely "a career high for me" and allowed her to finally emerge from the professional shadow of her late husband Humphrey Bogart. They created the show with Bacall in mind as they did "Bells Are Ringing" decades earlier for Judy Holliday who also won a Tony.
Among the songs written by the Comden and Green team were "Just in Time," "The Party's Over" and "Make Someone Happy." They were twice nominated for an Academy Award for writing "Band Wagon" and "It's Always Fair Weather."
In closing, I gotta say, the passing of someone like Betty Comden really makes you think about the artistic contributions of some of the people who have walked this earth and how much joy their work gave to so many of us. The songs we hum, the movies we remember, the stage productions we will never forget. It's far more interesting and deserving of attention than what we heap on so many of these no-talent party girls with hair extensions on the cover of every magazine. Betty Comden will be remembered long after we forget about every single one of them.

Remember Tom Cavanaugh from the charming series "Ed" on NBC? I just think he's the sexiest thing and very talented.His guest spots on "Scrubs" as Zach Braff's brother are always very welcome and he brought a lot to the short-lived WB show "Jack and Bobby" which cast him as the gay uncle to Christine Lahiti's two sons.
Now Cavanaugh is playing gay again in "Breakfast with Scot," a movie about a gay hockey player. It tells the story of a gay couple who who end up adopting an 11 year old boy. What is really cool is that the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs have given the go ahead for the filmmakers to use the Maple Leafs’ name and logo. Well,Canada IS a country where they actually let gays get married. Still, Cavanaugh says: “I never in a million years thought when we finally went to shooting we’d be donning Leaf sweaters. I thought it’d be that thing where it’s the Toronto Razorbacks or whatever.�

The Maple Leafs apparently didn’t have the least bit of a problem with it, according to Towleroad.com. Leafs’ general Scott Ferguson said that while they aren’t trying to make a statement, it wasn’t hard for them to give permission once they had permission from the NHL.

But it DOES make a statement, a big one.

I don't mean to be completely unkind but I ask you, is there a grosser minor celebrity on the planet than David Gest, the strange music promoter who Liza Minnelli inexplicably married earlier this decade? I thought he was a creep from their first interview together and he set my gaydar off so loudly that I believe I broke the city noise ordinance. Anyway, the courtship went like this: Gest meets Liza when she appears on a Michael Jackson birthday special that he is producing. She's massively overweight and in a career slump.
Next thing ya know, she's lost like 100 pounds, they get married in a lavish ceremony where he kisses her like a 12 year old boy who had never kissed a girl before. Liza records a live CD "Liza's Back!" Of course, above her name on the CD read: "David Gest Presents..." and they agree to do a reality show for MTV. But the show gets yanked and the couple splits and soon Gest is saying big ol' linebacker Liza had regularly beat him and verbally abused him. That Liza. What. A. Bully. Thank God David got out of there alive before Liza picked him up and threw him out of a window or something.

Anyway, now Gest is appearing on an Australian reality show similar to ABCs best forgotten "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" where "celebs" brave the elements in the jungle. Here is some excerpts from what Gest has been saying while in the rough: "They said 'was I straight, was I gay?' I always said, 'bring me one guy I’ve been with' - I’d love to meet him because, if I was into it, I’d be proud of it. I have tons of friends that are gay. They said that because of my wife who I’m getting divorced from was [a gay icon]. I never had a Judy Garland room, I never had a Shirley Temple room. These are all ridiculous things."

On his over-the-top kiss with a seemingly suffocating Minnelli at their church: "Donald Trump said to me that night I have never seen a kiss like that in my life. I was so excited and so in love that when I took my tongue it looked like I was eating a part of her because I went all the way through her mouth. It looked like I was a shark going in and I took every part of her mouth out with my tongue. And it was like a nine-minute kiss. When I saw it three months later when we were in bed I took the covers over me. I was going: 'Oh my God, Liza!'"

Oh my God is right...

I just received the terrific news that "Save Me," a film produced by and starring openly gay actors Chad Allen and Robert Gant as well as gay rights supporter Judith Light, has been accepted into the Sundance Film Festival in January! When I ran into Chad at an event last month I told him I wanted to do a big write-up on the film. But Chad was nervous about drawing too much attention to the movie because it might hurt its chances of getting into Sundance. Well, now that it's in, I feel free to write about "Save Me" all I want.

The drama chronicles the life of a young gay man (Allen) who flees his life of drugs and sex to return home to find himself. He arrives at a Christian ministry run by Light which promises to transform him from gay to straight. While there, he meets and falls in love with another gay man (Gant) who is also trying to go "straight." Also in the cast is Allen's real-life boyfriend, actor Jeremy Glazer.

The movie wrapped production this fall and I am rooting for it to make a big splash at Sundance. We need intelligent, gay-themed films and the level of talent and heart from Allen, Gant and Light pretty much ensures that. While Lance Bass may get more ink these days for being an out gay man, Allen and Gant were trailblazers in this regard and seem to be two of the more thoughtful and well-adjusted actors around. And Judith Light is simply an angel to the gay community. She cares so much and is a very special human being.
A big "Out in Hollywood" CONGRATULATIONS to all!

Took in Carrie Fisher's one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," at the Geffen Playhouse Sunday night and a couple of times got the church giggles - the kind where the more you try not to laugh the more you want to and your shoulders start to shake and it all just starts to fall apart for you. My friend Eddie and I love Carrie Fisher and believe that her "Postcards from the Edge"screenplay has some of the best dialogue of any film we have chosen to memorize and incorporate into our unique and strange lexicon. We felt like were at a really great cocktail party with Carrie Fisher at the center of it.
We were easy-to-please audience members since we could practically mouth the words of some of the anecdotes but Fisher was an immediate hit with most of the capacity audience from the start: "I'm Carrie Fisher, I'm an alcoholic, and this is a true story" she states before singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" which was hilariously accompanied by a slideshow of headlines from everything from the New York Times to the National Enquirer chronicling her very taboidly life. She says: "If you think all of this is over the top, you can't even imagine what I left out!"
She's got more material for a one-woman show than just about anyone except maybe Elizabeth Taylor, her most famous stepmother. She is the daughter of the beloved movie icon Debbie Reynolds ("Singing in the Rain." "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," "Mother") and former star Eddie Fisher who famously left Reynolds for a recently widowed Taylor in the late 1950s: "Think Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie as Elizabeth," Carrie told the audience at the Geffen. Her mother's terrible choice in men is covered here and Fisher clears up any question of whether or not her mother is a lesbian. Sne's not, "she's just a really bad heterosexual."
Fisher does a hilarious and dead-on impersonation of her mother who is peppered throughout the show. Considering what a shit her absentee father was/is, Eddie Fisher gets off pretty easy here although there is one great anecdote of him swallowing his hearing aids and his daughter and grandaughter talking to his stomach and ass so he could hear them better.

Fisher was just in high school when Warren Beatty asked her to be in his movie "Shampoo" and a few years later, she beat out a large group of hopefuls including Jodie Foster to land the plum part of Princess Leia in "Star Wars." Two hugely successful sequels followed and Fisher cemented her place in film history. Then came a decade-long relationship with singer Paul Simon, including two years as husband and wife, roles in such films as "The Man With One Red Shoe," "Hannah and Her Sisters," and "When Harry Met Sally," and a wildly successful writing career that includes four best-selling novels.

Fisher recalls the good times in her show and has a good sense of humor about the bad times which includes being told by the father of her daughter, superagent Bryan Lourd, that not only was he gay, but he was gay BECAUSE of her and her drug problem. Then there were her serious drug problems, being diagnosed with manic depression after a serious psychotic break, and having a close gay friend not only unexpectedly die in her home, but in her bed.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true," she says in the show. "And that would be unacceptable."

Fisher talks about it all with self-deprecating humor and honesty. The woman does have a way with an anecdote and we love her for it. At 50, she is a real survivor and was well worth an evening at the Geffen where her show runs through much of next month.

Anything that has to do with the character of Barney on "How I Met Your Mother" is bound to be pretty damned funny but this may top all: on tonight's episode of the popular CBS sitcom, real-life heterosexual Wayne Brady is going to play the gay brother of raging on-screen heterosexual Barney, played by Neil Patrick Harris - a gay man in real-life.
Yes, one is also black and the other white and I have no idea if that will be explained but I get the feeling it will be pretty funny.
Here is what I know about the plot: Barney is already struggling with the fact that all of his friends have settled into the boring state of "coupledom." Then his number one wingman, his gay, black brother James, arrives on the scene. James is bacsically a gay version of Barney, always on the prowl. But he's found a guy and is settling down which further causes Barney to confont being a bachelor on his own.
Word has it that Brady could return for future guest spots. I imagine they would only make an already good show even better!

I'm really enjoying the addition of Dixie Carter to the cast of "Desperate Housewives." Gloria Hodges is no Julia Sugarbaker that is for sure. Anyway, when I wrote up a story on Dixie's guest stint for the Daily News a few weeks ago, i was a bit miffed when ABC could not deliver series creator Marc Cherry for a quick chat. Marc had worked for Dixie as her personal assistant during part of her run on "Designing Women" and had always wanted to get her on the show in some way. I knew they were delivering an exclusive to TV Guide together (Marc and Dixie). So, because I'm wild about both of them, I'll try and be big about it and share some of the conversation with TV Guide's Mary Murphywith the readers of "Out in Hollywood."

It all began when Marc moved to Los Angeles in 1988 to be a writer. "Designing Women" was in its third season and and a friend of the unemployed Cherry said an actress and her husband needed help moving from Bel Air to Hancock Park. The actress was Dixie Carter and the husband was the great Hal Holbrook. Cherry became Carter's assistant and says working for her was funnier than any project he has ever been associated with.

Cherry: "Every morning Dixie would sweep out of her bedroom and make an entrance. I'd say, 'Dixie, I'm the only one HERE.' It didn't matter. That was when I knew she was a star...I remember one day I counted and there were two maids, a yoga instructor, a voice teacher, a chauffer and a cook in the house and I thought I was in the middle of 'Upstairs, Downstairs.'"

On working with his old boss again: "I got very emotional when I introduced Dixie to the cast. I said, 'This was my start in show business.' And I had a momentary feeling like, 'I guess i have come a long way.' Ever since I started 'Desperate Housewives,' I have thought about her a secret weapon.

Carter says she is surprised at the level of Cherry's success: "I knew Marc was talented but I never knew his trajectory was going to be like this. And I never knew he would turn out to give me the best job in show business." She adds that as her personal assistant, Cherry "never got out of sorts with me. He just had a kind of wry, amised look at everything. He used to say my house was like a sitcom because I'm so disorganized."

Cherry says "Mrs. Holbrook" is still the boss: "When I am working with Dixie, the kid gloves are on. I just want to make sure she is happy."

Being ridiculously behind in my movie-going, I'm now gaining some megaplex momentum after seeing "Dreamgirls" on Wednesday then a Daniel Craig double-header this weekend: the Truman Capote drama "Infamous," and the new James Bond movie everyone is buzzing about: "Casino Royale."
As Bond, Craig has tremendous screen presence and charisma with blue eyes that say so much. He's also the hunkiest and most physical Bond ever which is obviously very appealing. While the publicity shots of him walking out of the ocean looking like an Adonis initially had me smitten as any regular reader of "Out in Hollywood" well knows, it ends up just being icing on the cake.
This is the most character-driven of any Bond film iis also a mostly fast-paced (although about 20 minutes too long with a 2.5 hours running time) thriller that has spectacular chase scenes (including a real doozy on foot), plenty of twists and turns, and endless action. I don't want to spoil for you but trust me, it is non-stop and more realistic than previous Bond films. When he kills someone, it is not pretty. This movie is not played out like a cartoon. As for the romance, Craig has his match in the lovely Eva Green who I would not be able to classify as a Bond girl. She is a woman, her own woman. These are two actors who have depth and know their craft but are also oh-so sexy. The nuances, the eyes, the chemistry, the repartee. It's all there. And you add Judi Dench to the mix and give her more to do as M. than in any of her previous Bond movies, and "Casino Royale" is a wonderful winning hand.
Sean Connery will always be the definitive 007 for most Bond fans but Craig and the filmmakers I think accomplish something remarkable: they literally re-start a franchise that can be better than ever moving forward. It feels brand-new again! "Casino Royale" is on track to cross the $100 million mark in domestic grosses this weekend and is making a killing overseas.
Since I had seen, and liked, last year's "Capote" which won Phillip Seymour Hoffman an Academy Award for best actor, "Infamous" didn't feel so brand-new to me. But that didn't mean it wasn't every bit as good as the oither movie because it is in many ways.
Craig plays one of the men who brutally murdered a Kansas farm family in “Infamous,� which examines Truman
Capote’s emotional journey into the minds of two killers that formed the core of his true-crime novel, “In Cold Blood.� An attachment grew between Capote (Toby Jones) and confessed killer Perry Smith during the long periods the author spent in Kansas teasing out their story. In a pivotal moment, the two men kiss.
Craig is nothing like Bond in this movie (obviously) but the contrast allows you to see what a versatile and mesmerizing actor he is. As Perry, he's scary and angry yet tender and vulnerable and the performance allows a cold-blooded killer seem human. "Infamous" helped me to understand the night of the killings better than "Capote" did. I think Jones is physically more like the real Capote and certainly has the voice down, but Hoffman was better at conveying how much researching the book was destroying him. Sandra Bullock was every bit as good as Catherine Keener in the Harper Lee role. This movie is definitely a must-see when it comes out on DVD and I hope it isn't forgotten at Oscar time.
My friend Eddie and I took in "Infamous" at the Recency Fairfax theater on Friday afternoon where every seat is $3. Can't beat the price! But who you sit near, that is the wild card. After the lights dimmed and previews began, a loud lesbian couple plopped down in the seats directly in back of us. The two squeakiest seats in the place and they took about the first 20 minutes of the movie to finally settle in. Squeak! Squeak! But that was preferable to the sound of one of them munching on her popcorn. You woulda thought she was chomping on dry Cap'n Crunch! I almost turned around and said, "Did you order the EXTRA CRUNCHY popcorn?" Then one gets a cell phone call. She answers (of course). When she returns from taking the call, the other one explains (and not in her whisper voice) what she had missed. I wanted to move but a jet-lagged Eddie had fallen asleep. So, I turned around every few minutes to give every dirty look I have in my collection. As we were walking out, Eddie casually says to me, "Hey, did you notice those two were kind of loud?" I look at him incredulously: "Gee, ya think?"

Fast-forward to The Abbey about an hour and one margarita later and I am back to my shallow self.. No more grumbling about the loud lesbians in the $3 movie theater, just guy talk: "So isn't Daniel Craig hot even as a cold-blooded murderer?"

So how was your Thanksgiving? That piece of pecan pie right before watching "Ugly Betty" just about put me over the edge last night. (burp.) I'll have to write quick if I am to make my emergency liposuction appointment this afternoon....And speaking of "Ugly Betty," I hadn't seen much of it but my sister is hooked and got me to watch it with her after dinner as we looked at each other and wondered, once again, "Why did we EAT so much?" So "Betty" is the bomb! Love her. As Betty, America Ferrera has one of the most appealing characters in prime-time and as an evil bitch who works at her magazine, Vanessa L. Williams is a HOOT! As far as eye candy, no need to look any further than Eric Mabius who plays the editor of the magazine where Betty works. Love the show.
And how about this? Her young nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato), more interested in fashion and design than in football and skateboards, is being encouraged by his mother (Ana Ortiz) and grandfather (Tony Plana) to just be who he is. This episode featured his flaky, absentee father trying to turn him into a "man" by getting him to put down the crafts and go out and play some ball. Mom just says NO: "We let him be who he is." Amen! I hope he finds a little boyfriend too but no unchaparoned dates until high school. I think the development of this kid could be more revolutionary than anything else going on in network television right now when it comes to gay characters...

And speaking of gay characters on network television, I was reading online somewhere (who can remember where?) some speculation that it is not entirely out of the question that Kevin (now Scotty-less) on "Brothers and Sisters" could end up involved with Rob Lowe's character. I don't know if this is just wishful thinking but we do know that Kevin (the sensational Matthew Rhys) will become involved with someone who he meets through Kitty (Calista Flockhart).
Lowe's character, a Republican senator, recently went through a divorce (we don't know why but the Dec. 3 episode is titled "Affairs of State" and it teases that the Walker family learns of the senator's most painful secret). If he had been a Republican congressman then I would be SURE he would end up being a closet case. So we'll obviously stay tuned on what happens there alothough there will be NO "Brothers and Sisters" episode on Sunday.
"Boston Legal" will air instead which I can take or leave but will stop in my tracks anytime that blond and beautiful Mark Valley is on screen. I gabbed with the star of the short-lived but memorable Fox series "Keen Eddie" at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last year and he could not have been nicer or more handsome. Also, Candice Bergen I'd watch reading the phone book.

I am curious about a new show set to debut on the Lifetime channel (television for women...and GAY MEN!) on Jan. 8. It's called "Gay, Straight or Taken?" Each episode follows a woman (ineligible to play are McGreevey's ex-wives, Ted Haggard's wife and Liza Minnelli) on a series of dates with three different guys: one gay, one in a relationship, and one single and straight. She will try and figure out who is who (it's just getting SO more difficult these days. If she picks the straight single dude then she gets to go on some kind of exotic trip with him (to quote Shirley MacLaine in "Postcards from the Edge," I hope they use CONDOMS!"). If she picks the gay guy or the involved guy, then he and HIS significant other get to take the trip. Here is the line-up for the debut show: Chris, a personal trainer (I pick him! i pick him!), Luciano, a bartender (hmmm, he sounds good too!) and Mike, a club promoter (I dunno). It's worth a view before I give it a thumbs up or down
...And speaking of gay, straight or taken?, I think we should all give thanks on this day after Thanksgiving that Matthew McConaughey and his "bro-mance" buddy Lance Armstrong like to go around shirtless so much of the time and that cameras follow them wherever they go. It is such a beautiful thing.

I'm real thankful for the support I've received in doing this blog and for the growing readership of "Out in Hollywood." Now for a rare day off. I'll be kicking the soccer ball around with myspirited nephews, watching some kind of DVD with my precious nieces (please, not 'Shark Tale' again!), then sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner with my enormous family in The O.C.
Will resume with some light posting sometime Friday...
Enjoy your day!

It was the perfect pre-Thanksgiving treat: a special screening of the upcoming musical "Dreamgirls" in Hollywood in a theater filled with people so appreciative of the talent on screen that they applauded at least a dozen times throughout the movie.
This is the best musical Hollywood has produced in forever. I feel like a chump for thinking "Chicago" was the living end. This makes that one, good as it was, look like a high school production. This movie has real singers, real heart, and a real story. And it is just beautifully done with an absolute first-rate cast.
"Dreamgirls" follows the rise of a trio of women - Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Deena (Beyonce Knowles) and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) - who are part of an all-girl group, The Dreamettes. Discovered by an ambitious manager named Curtis Taylor, Jr (Jamie Foxx), The Dreamettes are given the chance to enter the big league as the back-up singers for headliner James 'Thunder' Early (Eddie Murphy)
I stayed through the end credits so I could hear all the songs on the soundtrack and had to laugh when it said on screen that any similarity to real-life events was "coincidental." OK, just try and pretend that you aren't watching the story of The Supremes (pictured, left), that Beyonce Knowles isn't playing Diana Ross (at times she seemed to be channeling Miss Ross onstage), that Jamie Foxx isn't Berry Gordy, that Rose isn't Mary Wilson, and that Hudson (get your Oscar speech ready girl) isn't a triumphant version of the tragic Florence Ballard. While it's no surprise that Foxx is terrific in "Dreamgirls," I was not prepared for the absolute revelation that Murphy is in the film. His acting is not only first-rate and mature, he sings wonderfully as does Foxx, whose best song is "When I First Saw You" and who won an American Music Award on Tuesday.
Hudson's version of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" was not only spectacularly sung, but beautifully acted as well. It felt like one of those great old Hollywood musicals. It felt like a classic. Who can ever forget Jennifer Holliday's singular version of this song? Hudson almost makes it happen and she most certainly makes the song her own. Hudson also shines on "Love You I Do" and "I Am Changing" and the whole cast is wonderful on "Family." And a wonderful touch was including Loretta Devine in the movie (she starred on Broadway with Holliday back in 1981) and she even gets to do part of a song to remind us of how multi-talented she remains.

On the "Out in Hollywood" movie scale, "Dreamgirls" gets four stars (out of four)! Congratulations to the cast, to director-screenwriter Bill Condon and to Paramount Pictures who are going to not only have a big hit on their hands, but many Oscar nominations to promote!
Original Supreme Mary Wilson has said that "Dreamgirls" is most certainly the story of the Supremes and even named her best-selling 1986 memoir "Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme." And in the book, Ross and Gordy come off as ambitious villians and Ballard, the original Supreme fired from the group at the height of its success and replaced by Cindy Birdsong, a self-destructive victim. I never felt the same way about Diana Ross after I read the book and neither did a lot of people: she never had another hit song after its release after a two-decade unbroken string of hit songs first with the Supremes then as a solo artist.