Noah's Arc: July 2006 Archives

Since I had only seen a few episodes on LOGO, was happy to get the entire box set of "Noah's Arc" on DVD the other day. It reminded me of "Sex in the City" which always seemed to be about four single gay men anyway, especially the sexually prolific Samantha. But "Noah's" is REALLY about four gay men, all African American, living in LA. We follow the daily lives of Noah, Alex, Ricky, and Chance through their relationships with their friends and lovers.

The title character of Noah (Darryl Stephens) is a struggling screenwriter who is in a new relationship with hunky Wade (Jensen Altwood), also a screenwriter. Ricky (Christian Vincent) owner a trendy clothing store on Melrose, is the Samantha of the group and Vincent is utterly terrific in the part. College professor Chance (Doug Spearman), recently married to a man with a young daughter, is the most straight-laced character which makes some of his attempts at being cool. Alex (Rodney Chester) is a campy HIV counselor who provides much of the comic relief. He is bold and sassy compared to Altwood's Noah who, quite frankly, was kinda dull at times. The character was not as flighty nor as fond of a series of unnattactive hairstyles in the original pilot which is also included in this DVD set.

BTW, a year ago, I bumped into a guy working the valet at an Outfest after-party on Melrose who looked just like Altwood. I said, "Hey! You look just like a guy on 'Noah's Arc!" He smiled and said, "That IS me." He was still making ends meet but I think the success of the show has probably changed that by now. Altwood told me he is straight but is comfortable playing a gay man on screen. No, he doesn't secretly enjoy the onscreen kisses with other men but he does do it convincingly. Hey, it's a living.

Anyway, I'm happy to see "Noah's Arc" about to begin its second season. Just a few summers ago, it was a show made on a shoestring that could only be seen online and the producers were hoping to gain enough attention to keep the show going. Looks like they have succeeded.