Television

TV Gayed Again

OutSmart’s annual guide to June Pride small-screen viewing

By Nancy Ford

DList
Kathy Griffin returns in My Life on the D List.

This month being June, there are way too many Pride events and parties to attend to spend time couch-bound, watching television. So rev up that TiVo or DVR, because this month is jam-packed full of gay-infused programming often unavailable at any other time of the year.

It’s no surprise that June is a busy month for Fag Hag Numero Uno, Kathy Griffin. Her Emmy and GLAAD award-winning reality series, My Life on the D-List, returns to Thursday night viewing. All three members of Team Griffin led by the hysterically dry Jessica return as well, along with Griffin’s mother, doggies, and, of course, passel of gays. Among this season’s exploits: Kathy does Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney, a gay cruise in Bora Bora, and opens the Oprah-like Kathy Griffin Leadership Academy in rural Mexico.

The D-Lister with a bullet also hosts Bravo’s first-ever A-List Awards, honoring individuals who have made an indelible mark in beauty, design, fashion, food, and pop culture. You know, standard Bravo programming.

BrothersandSisters
Matthew Rhys and Sally Field, of Brothers & Sisters, attend the 19th annual GLAAD Media Awards.

Griffin also shows up when Bravo airs the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. She joins fellow presenters Tom Ford, Ilene Chaiken, Sally Field, Kevin Bacon, and a score of other gay and gay-supportive personalities attending ceremonies held earlier in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and South Florida.

Speaking of awards, Logo jumps on the accolades bandwagon with the network’s first annual NewNowNext Awards. Dirty Sexy Money’s Candis Cayne hosts the special which recognizes GLBT talents of tomorrow, with the sexually indefinable Miss Janet Jackson receiving the network’s very first “Always Next, Forever Now” distinction. Zippy gay categories include the “Totally Most Rad Sickest Blog Ever,” “Most Addictive Reality Star,” and “Best Upcoming Gay Gaming Industry Professional.”

The whole show not only airs on Logo, but also streams simultaneously on LOGOonline.com, AfterElton.com, AfterEllen.com, and Downelink.com.

Sundance Channel gets even gayer than usual in June with Saturday night double features and Monday DOCday premieres. Among the do-not-miss selections are two 2008 GLAAD Media Award winners: Eytan Fox’s romantic comedy/drama, The Bubble, and Daniel Karslake’s For the Bible Tells Me So.

Freeheld
Freeheld, winner at last year’s Academy Awards for best short doc.

Perhaps the most compelling GLBT-focused film airing this month is Freeheld, detailing the inhumane, if not inhuman, plight of a terminally ill law enforcement professional, Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester, to transfer her earned pension to her life partner, Stacie Andree, before she dies. Cinemax presents the 2007 Academy Award-winning short documentary, which (spoiler alert) doesn’t end well.

On the considerably lighter side, the wonderfully kitschy Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (Eyes of Tammy Faye, Party Monster) offer When I Knew. Cinemax airs the film treatment of Robert Trachtenberg’s book, extracting when-they-knew stories from gays and lesbians, cross-country. The film’s online companion piece, streaming Sundance Film Festival attendees’ “Eureka moment,” is at www.wheniknew.com.

For more complete scheduling information for the above programs, see below.

SUNDAY • JUNE 1
Mary McCormack (who played Sally Bowles opposite OutSmart coverboy Alan Cumming in the Broadway production of Cabaret) plays U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon, whose task it is to protect individuals who are part of the federal witness protection program. Season premiere. USA Network, 9 p.m.

In The Life
The award-winning series celebrates Pride month with “Leading the Way,” an episode hosted by Michael Billy that includes interviews with Judy Shepard, opera director Francesca Zambello, Xanadu star Cheyenne Jackson, and Nepalese GLBTs. Houston PBS, 11 p.m.

MONDAY • JUNE 2
 

Puccini for Beginners

A recently single writer finds herself suddenly involved with two very different women in this 2007 romantic comedy. Showtime, 5:30 p.m.

For the Bible Tells Me So
Director Daniel Karslake tackles the antigay arguments of biblical literalists, examining oft-cited verses and stories with the expert input of respected theologians. Winner 2008 GLAAD Award for Outstanding Documentary as well as the 2007 Audience Award and Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival. U.S. television premiere. Sundance Channel, 8 p.m.

In Plain Sight

WEDNESDAY • JUNE 4

Freeheld
(See intro for details.) Cinemax, 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY • JUNE 6

The Opposite of Sex

16-year-old Dedee Truitt (Christina Ricci) visits her gay half-brother and seduces his new boyfriend in this 1998 indie favorite. IFC, 6:30 p.m.

All Over Me

A 1997 lesbian coming-of-age drama featuring Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, and The L Word’s Leisha Hailey. IFC, 8:15 p.m.

KisstheBride
Tori Spelling stars in Kiss the Bride.

Kiss The Bride
Robert Foxworth, Joanna Cassidy, and Tess Harper star with Tori Spelling in this My Best Friend’s Wedding -type comedy with an even gayer twist. Here! TV, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY • JUNE 7

NewNowNext Awards
(See intro for details.) Logo, 8 p.m.

Breakfast on Pluto

Director Neil Jordan and novelist Patrick McCabe’s phantasmagorical tale about a transvestite’s search for identity, set in the violent 1970s Ireland. Sundance Channel, 9 p.m.

C.R.A.Z.Y.  
This award-winning Canadian film paints a wry, smartly detailed portrait of a teen’s coming of age in’70s Montreal. Zac is enthralled by David Bowie and deeply conflicted about his sexuality, much to the dismay of his father. Sundance Channel, 11:15 p.m.

MONDAY • JUNE 9

 
Gay Muslims
Five gay British Muslims open up about their experiences as members of a religious culture that condemns their sexual orientation. U.S. television premiere; directed by Cara Lavan. Sundance Channel, 8 p.m.

Gimme Sugar
Premiere of a provocative, multi-ethnic reality series following a group of Los Angeles lesbians seeking to start a weekly dance party. Logo, 9 p.m.

THURSDAY • JUNE 12

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
(See intro for details.) Bravo, 8 p.m.

The A-List Awards
(See intro for details.) Bravo, 9 p.m.

We’re All Angels

A 2007 documentary about rising stars Jason and deMarco, two Christian pop singers who are also lovers. Show-time, 7:30 p.m.
 
FRIDAY • JUNE 13

A Very Serious Person
Set in Rockaway, New York, this coming-of-age tale from out director Charles Busch focuses on the relationship between a young boy obsessed with Old Hollywood and his Danish mentor. Showtime, 11 a.m.

Lost and Delirious

Mischa Barton portrays a quiet girl who is sent to an all-girls college where she becomes fast friends with two lesbians experiencing relationship drama. IFC, 6:15 p.m.

Urbania

Jon Matthews’ (not the former Houston radio guy) edgy film about a gay man’s (Dan Futterman) late-night New York odyssey. IFC, 8:05 p.m.

Cut Sleeve Boys
In this 2006 film, two British Chinese gay men reflect on their lives after a friend passes away. Here! On Demand.

Pride Jerusalem

The struggles for legitimacy of the GLBT community in Israel are shown in the violence and condemnation that plagued the 2006 Jerusalem Pride Parade. Here! On Demand.

SATURDAY • JUNE 14
 
Set in Tel Aviv, this smart comedy/drama follows the lives and loves of three 20-something Israelis. When Noam falls in love with a Palestinian man named Ashraf, the three roommates join forces to help Ashraf stay in Tel Aviv, despite his lack of papers. U.S. television premiere; directed by Eytan Fox. Sundance Channel, 9 p.m.

Tropical Malady

The dense, strange jungles of Thai-
land loom large in this poetic exploration of desire, surrender, and loneliness. U.S. television premiere; directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Sundance Channel, 11 p.m.

MONDAY • JUNE 16 
 

TenMoreGoodYrs
Nicole attends the GLAAD Creating Change Conference in the documentary Ten More Good Years.

Ten More Good Years
This blueprint for future action maps the growing network of organizations and individuals who are stepping in to care for senior members of the GLBT community. U.S. television premiere. Sundance
Channel, 8 p.m.

Weeds
True, it’s not gay programming, per se, but see page 124. Showtime’s most-watched series returns for a fourth season, revealing how much of Nancy Botwin’s (Mary-Louise Parker) fair Agrestic has gone up in smoke. Showtime, 9 p.m.  

THURSDAY • JUNE 19

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
(See intro for details.) Bravo, 9 p.m.
 
SATURDAY • JUNE 21

The Event  
A district attorney (Parker Posey) investigates the death of an AIDS-afflicted musician as a possible assisted suicide. As she interviews his friends, lover, and family members, the film reconstructs his life as well as his final hours. Directed by Thom Fitzgerald, and also starring Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis. Sundance Channel, 9 p.m.

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

Vivacious, unabashedly feminine 12-year-old Maxi’s (Nathan Lopez) family is a relatively well-liked criminal gang in their Manila slum. His family life is threatened when he develops a crush on Viktor (JR Valentin), a young policeman whose straight-arrow ethics pose a direct threat to Maxi’s thieving kin. U.S. television premiere; directed by Auraeus Solito. Sundance Channel, 11 p.m.

MONDAY • JUNE 23
 

Stefan Braun
A charismatic man who expressed himself through fashion, Israeli furrier Stefan Braun juggled a thriving business with a luxurious lifestyle that included numerous beautiful boyfriends and a devoted yet far-from-glamorous live-in lover, Eliezer “Laci” Rath. An intriguing study of a complicated, enduring romance. U.S. television premiere; directed by Itamar Alkalay. Sundance Channel, 8 p.m.

TUESDAY • JUNE 24

30 Days
Kati, the mother of two adopted sons who believes that children should not be raised by same-sex parents, spends 30 days with a gay couple and their four adopted sons in Ann Arbor, Michigan. FX, 9 p.m.
When I Knew
(See intro for details.) Cinemax, 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY • JUNE 26

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
(See intro for details.) Bravo, 9 p.m.

FRIDAY • JUNE 27

19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards
(See intro for details.) Bravo, 6 p.m.

Brokeback Mountain
Basic cable premiere of director Ang Lee’s award-winning, groundbreaking love story. Bravo, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY • JUNE 28

Being Julia
Annette Bening earned a Best Actress Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for her delectable turn as a flamboyant American stage actress beset by mid-life boredom in 1938 London. Directed by István Szabó. Sundance Channel, 9 p.m.

Loggerheads  
A trio of North Carolina stories—one about a young drifter (Kip Pardue) visiting a seaside resort; a second following a conservative pastor (Chris Sarandon) and his wife (Tess Harper); and a third in which a birth mother (Bonnie Hunt) tries to locate the son she gave up for adoption many years earlier—intersect in this award-winning feature from director Tim Kirkman (Dear Jesse). Sundance Channel, 10:45 p.m.

MONDAY • JUNE 30

Jam!
Director Mark Woollen’s highly acclaimed documentary follows an eccentric crew of former roller-derby stars—most in their 50s and 60s—as they lace up their skates and set out to re-popularize the sport. Onetime skater Tim Patten, an HIV-positive San Franciscan who sinks his life savings into launching a new national league, credits his roller-derby mania with keeping him alive. U.S. television premiere. Sundance Channel, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY • JULY 3

As the World Turns
Cyndi Lauper performs and offers romantic advice to gay teen Luke Snyder. CBS, 1 p.m.

Bravo www.bravotv.com
CBS www.cbs.com
Cinemax
www.cinemax.com
FX
www.fxnetworks.com
H ere ! www.heretv.com
Houston PBS [email protected]
Logo www.logoonline.com
Showtime www.sho.com
Sundance Channel
www.sundancechannel.com
USA Network www.usanetwork.com

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