S I G H T S | Channel Surfing

I Want My Gay TV!

by Alana Kumbier

News that Viacom’s MTV and Showtime are teaming up to launch a cable channel aimed at gay viewers sparked a multitude of responses, including this satire in the Washington Post and more thoughtful pieces like Michael Joseph Gross’ commentary in Slate. Both perspectives raise important questions about the purpose of a television network that targets a niche demographic: Whose interests will the programming serve (viewers, advertisers)? How does the network’s programming define its audience within larger cultural contexts — or challenge those definitions? Will members of the intended demographic actually tune in?

The way the execs behind the new gay TV choose to answer these questions will make a big difference. While the Post’s jokey line-up seems a bit too stereotypo-homo, it’s not hard to imagine a network that takes the easy route, filling its days and nights with camp classics, reruns of Will and Grace, talk shows, infomercials disguised as programming content, fashion television and softcore gay porn (not that that’s all bad …).

One problem with programming like this is that it panders to a slew of gay-bi-and-lesbian stereotypes; while it would be full of lovely eye candy and guaranteed ad revenue, it would probably be a big disappointment to its intended viewing audience. I know I’m disappointed every time I click past Lifetime with my remote control. The network assumes women most enjoy watching female characters undergo various types of dramatic trauma (domestic abuse, stalkers, violent cheating husbands, murderous children, etc.) in low-budget made-for-TV movies.

Michael (Hal Sparks) and Brian (Gale Harold) play friends and lovers on Queer as Folk / Showtime

I much prefer Oxygen with its women’s travel-adventure programming, smart film reruns (including Chasing Amy; Truly, Madly, Deeply; and even Barbarella (!)), and interesting documentary programming (I once saw a great feature on a woman who works at a biorobotics lab in Cambridge, Mass.). Where Lifetime imagines that American women enjoy victimization-as-entertainment, Oxygen suggests that women might have other, more dynamic, agendas. Its ‘make the most of your life” mentality gets a bit Oprah-esque at times, but it at least presents viewers with a challenge to be active participants in their communities.

Gay TV would be wise to learn from the blunders made by the Black Entertainment Network. When members of BET’s target audience (specifically, the Council of Presidents, a coalition of African American leaders from sororities and fraternities at America’s black colleges), got fed up with BET’s slim program offerings, they took action and threatened a nationwide boycott against the network, complaining about BET’s reliance on graphic rap videos and infomercials over meaningful content.

Like Gross, I’m hoping that the U.S. version of gay TV will follow the example of Canada’s gay network, PrideVision, which offers everything I’d want out of a rainbow-hued channel. With a dreamy satellite connection, I’d be able to watch Dyke TV every week. Imagine! Mini-doc features on Eileen Myles, drag kings, the Dyke Action Machine, even an eyewitness segment on Thailand’s sex workers by my cool grad professor Ara Wilson!

I could really enjoy watching episodes of the lesbian erotica series Frisky Femmes. I could get caught up on armchair travel with Bump!, a series that focuses on lesbian-bi-and-gay human interest stories as its hosts work their way around the globe. And I could finally see what all the fuss is about on reruns of the Showtime drama series Queer as Folk. What PrideVision offers its viewers is the opportunity to enjoy familiar TV comforts — think well-acted dramas, some campy commentary, and other pleasurable programming (eye candy? check.), while also offering programming that challenges viewers to think about the nature and agency of their particular “niche” community (difficult as it may be to define).

And best of all, PrideVision’s programming is original and intelligent — boosting the network far beyond advertainment and second-tier TV-movies. If the MTV-Showtime collaboration follows suit, I’ll be watching.

Enter the Pop Forum
What would you watch on gay TV?

Alana Kumbier, television editor for PopPolitics, is a writer who lives in Columbus, Ohio. Her previous articles can be found here.

Related Sites
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