Boy Meets Boy (TV series)
Boy Meets Boy is an American reality television show in which a gay man met and chose a mate from a group of 15 potential male suitors. The show featured the twist that the "leading man" did not know that the mix of suitors included both gay and heterosexual men.[1]
| Boy Meets Boy | |
|---|---|
 Season 1 DVD Cover | |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Created by | Douglas Ross Dean Minerd Tom Campbell |
| Directed by | Becky Smith |
| Presented by | Dani Behr |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Frances Berwick Kathleen French Amy Introcaso-Davis Dean Minerd Douglas Ross Greg Stewart Jayson Dinsmore |
| Producer(s) | Mario Yates |
| Production location(s) | Palm Springs, California |
| Cinematography | Derth Adams Gretchen Warthen |
| Editor(s) | Kim Desch Sax Eno Nimrod Erez Scott Gamzon Barry Murphy Paul C. Nielsen Tony Reece |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 46 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Bravo |
| Original release | July 29 – September 2, 2003 |
The show premiered July 29, 2003, on the Bravo cable television channel.[2] A total of six episodes were aired weekly until the finale on September 2, 2003. The show was taped in Palm Springs, California and hosted by Dani Behr.
Premise
The show featured a gay man named James Getzlaff selecting another man to date from among a group of 15 potential suitors, known as "mates". Helping him choose was his best friend Andra Stasko. The "controversial" twist was that some of the housemates were gay, while others were straight. James was not told of this fact until nearly the end of the series' run, and the gay mates were never informed. If James' final choice from among the mates was gay, James and the mate would win a cash prize and a trip for two to New Zealand provided by Alyson Adventures of Key West, Florida, which specializes in gay and lesbian small group tours throughout the world. If James chose a straight mate, James would win nothing and the mate would win $25,000. The producers managed to keep a mixture of gay and straight men in the house despite the eliminations by putting the men into "groups" that prevented the contestant from eliminating all of the gay men or all of the straight men. At the end of each episode, the sexual orientation of each eliminated mate was revealed to viewers.
Contestants
| Contestant | Age | Orientation | Occupation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wes Culwell | 24 | GAY | Fundraiser | Winner |
| Franklin Ferguson | 23 | STRAIGHT | Wine Steward | Runner-Up |
| Brian Hay | 23 | GAY | Executive Assistant/Bartender | Eliminated in week 6 |
| Sean | 27 | STRAIGHT | Artist | Eliminated in week 4 |
| Robb McArthur | 30 | GAY | Event Planner | Eliminated in week 4 |
| Darren O'Hare | 24 | GAY | Store Manager | Eliminated in week 4 |
| Dan Wells | 29 | STRAIGHT | Actor | Eliminated in week 3 |
| Matt | 27 | GAY | Inventory Manager | Eliminated in week 3 |
| Michael Godinez | 30 | STRAIGHT | Computer Assistant | Eliminated in week 3 |
| Marc | 33 | GAY | Attorney | Eliminated in week 2 |
| Paul | 23 | STRAIGHT | Drafter | Eliminated in week 2 |
| Jim | 23 | STRAIGHT | Claims Examiner | Eliminated in week 2 |
| Brian Austin | 30 | STRAIGHT | Chiropractor | Eliminated in week 1 |
| Jason Tiner | 26 | GAY | US Military | Eliminated in week 1 |
| Chris | 23 | GAY | Biologist | Eliminated in week 1 |
Contestants' ages are at the time of filming.
Episode list
| No. | Original Title | Original airdate | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Boy Meets Boys and Overexuberant Host" | July 29, 2003[2] | 101[3] |
|
James and Andra move into their Palm Springs house and meet the mates, who are living together in a separate house. James and Andra spend time with the group at a luau, and James spends some time individually with several of the mates. Later that night, James made his first round of three eliminations. He eliminates Chris (gay), Jason (gay) and Brian A (straight). Twelve mates remain. Mate Jason (full name Michael Jason Tiner) was on active duty in the United States Navy when he participated in the program. He advised his commanding officer of his sexual orientation before the show aired and was discharged under Don't ask, don't tell.[4] | |||
| 2 | "Where Have All The Possibly Straight Cowboys Gone?" | August 5, 2003[3] | 102[3] |
| The 12 remaining mates are split into two groups. The first group of six goes with James on a group date to a ghost town, where they have country-western dance lessons. The next day, the second group of six mates go on a group date with James, rock climbing, while the first group go on a shopping trip with Andra to buy James a gift (apparently the second group had gone shopping during the dance lesson date, but this was not shown). Back at the mates' house, James, Andra and the mates have a backyard barbecue and present James with their gifts. James and Andra are pulled out of the party by Dani to make the next round of eliminations. Unknown to James, the remaining twelve mates are divided into three groups of four and James must eliminate one from each group. James eliminates Marc (gay), Paul (straight) and Jim (straight). Nine mates are left. | |||
| 3 | "It's Raining Gay and Secretly Straight Men" | August 12, 2003[3] | 103[3] |
| James, Andra and five of the remaining mates go on a group outing to a wildlife preserve. After the outing, back at the mates' house, James and Andra confront Dan over conflicting stories he has given them regarding his current dating status. Later that night, James, Andra and the other four remaining mates go out for a night of "gay karaoke" hosted by Miss Coco Peru. At the next elimination round, the remaining nine mates are divided into three groups of three with James eliminating one from each group. Andra is given "veto power," allowing her to overrule one of James' choices and keep the eliminated mate in the house. Andra does not exercise her veto, and James eliminates Matt (gay), Michael (straight) and Dan (straight). There are six mates remaining. | |||
| 4 | "Yeah, But Do You LIKE Me?" | August 19, 2003[3] | 104[3] |
| While Andra has a day at the spa, James and the remaining six mates go on a horseback riding group date. Later that night everyone gathers at the mates' house for a buffet supper. After dinner, a pair of strippers arrive at the mates' house and each of the mates end up giving James a lap dance. The next day brings the next round of eliminations. The mates are split into pairs and one from each pair is eliminated. James eliminates Darren (gay), Robb (gay) and Sean (straight). Three mates remain: Franklin; Wes; and Brian. At the end of this episode, Dani reveals the twist to James, that one of the remaining mates is straight. | |||
| 5 | "The Possibly Straight Cat's Out Of The Bag" | August 26, 2003[3] | 105[3] |
| Andra has breakfast with the three remaining mates while James absorbs the twist. He reveals the twist to Andra, who flips out. James changes his game strategy from trying to choose someone to date to avoiding choosing the straight man. Each mate goes on an individual date with James. Franklin and James go to a spa for massages and dinner. Brian and James take an early-morning balloon ride and have breakfast at a resort. Wes and James take a limousine ride to a "lookout point," followed by a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and a back yard candlelight dinner (at which several dozen of the candle flames merge, explode and set a table on fire). All three of the remaining mates remain; there is no elimination. | |||
| 6 | "Finale" | September 2, 2003[5] | 106[3] |
|
In the series finale, the final three mates spend their last night and day together, while Andra and James try to figure out which of them is straight. Andra has a final confrontation with the mates before James makes his final choice. James eliminates Brian (gay) and Franklin (straight). His final choice, Wes Culwell, is gay, so James wins the money and he and Wes win the trip. The trip was awarded in the form of travel vouchers.[6] James and Wes did not travel together to New Zealand.[7] | |||
DVD release
The entire six episode series was released to DVD as a box set in the United States on May 25, 2004. In addition to containing all six episodes, the DVD set includes additional interviews and footage with behind the scenes featurettes, casting reels, performances by Miss Coco Peru, the original unaired opening sequence, cast biographies, and a "Where Are They Now?" segment with updates on some of the participants.
Second season possibilities
Boy Meets Boy creator Doug Ross held out hope for a second season. He acknowledged that the popularity of season one would make it practically impossible for another season with the same twist but also said that he has come up with another twist which Bravo executives thought was fun. Speaking in 2007, Bravo executive Frances Berwick pointed to public knowledge of the twist as a stumbling block to a second season, noting the difficulty Bravo had selling the series overseas because of international press reports on the twist. On the possibility of a season two with a new twist, Berwick said, "What Bravo does best is to do things first and to really sort of shake up people's preconceptions and notions about things. And we would accept many different formats [for a Boy Meets Boy-type show]. I'm not saying that they wouldn't be as good, because you can always come up with something else. [But] until we find the perfect way to do it..." Berwick also suggested that at the time a series as gay-specific as Boy Meets Boy might not have fit into Bravo's overall programming strategy. "It has to feel like it's broad enough, and multidimensional enough to work for our incredibly smart audience."[8]
In popular culture
Boy Meets Boy was parodied on the ninth season of Mad TV with Getzlaff impersonated by Josh Meyers and Stasko by Michael McDonald. One sketch had a second season of the show called Boy Meets Goy, while recurring sketches had the pair appear on Scare Tactics and then on Hollywood Squares.
Boy Meets Boy is also mentioned in the South Park episode "South Park Is Gay!", which lampoons the metrosexuality and gay reality TV fad.[9]
References
- Stanley, Alessandra (July 24, 2003). "Television Review; NBC Joins In to Help Hapless Heterosexuals". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
- Ross, Dalton; Bruce Fretts; Ken Tucker (August 1, 2003). "What to Watch". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
- "TV.Com Boy Meets Boy Episode List". TV.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- Roundy, Bill (2003-08-22). "Navy expels: Gay contestant on 'Boy Meets Boy' came out to supervisors before show aired". Southern Voice. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- Stanley, Alessandra (September 2, 2003). "The TV Watch; Frontier of Surreality: Mocking Reality Shows". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
- Andreoli, Richard (December 2003). "What a Year!". Instinct magazine. pp. 42–5.
- Rogers, Steve (2003-11-24). "'Boy Meets Boy's James Getzlaff and Wes Culwell ended relationship, but rumors of James dating 'Queer Eye's Jai untrue". Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- Why hasn't there been a second season of Boy Meets Boy? Archived January 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ""South Park" South Park Is Gay (2003) – FAQ". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
External links
- "Archived copy of the official website". Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-11-16.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- Boy Meets Boy on IMDb
- Boy Meets Boy at TV.com