Television

SHOWTIME, compiled by Blase DiStefano

GIRLS/GIRLS, BOYS/BOYS, BOYS WILL BE GIRLS, & GIRLS WILL BE BOYS

Gay-friendly Showtime runs the gay gamut in June

• Soldier’s Girl

Soldier’s Girl is the true story of Barry Winchell (Troy Garity), a soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who in 1999 fell in love with Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace), a beautiful transgendered nightclub performer from Nashville. In the closed, rigid world of the army, their love affair created jealousy and misunderstanding among Winchell’s fellow soldiers. Rumors spread that Winchell was gay. Eventually, on Fourth of July weekend, as Addams was winning Miss Tennessee Entertainer of the Year, Winchell’s Iago-like roommate Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy) goaded another soldier into brutally murdering Winchell. This extraordinary film premiered May 31 on Showtime; repeat airings are June 3 (7 p.m.), 22nd (7 p.m.), and 30th (10 p.m.).

• Bobbie’s Girl

Bobbie (Rachel Ward) and Bailey (Bernadette Peters) are two women living on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. Bobbie is English and Bailey is from New York. Together they run a pub, The Two Sisters, with David (Jonathan Silverman), Bailey’s eccentric brother who is another theatrical refugee from the Big Apple. Their lives are drastically changed by the sudden arrival of Alan (Thomas Sangster), Bobbie’s 10-year-old nephew. Alan, whose parents are tragically killed, casts the three adults in the unlikely and unexpected role of adoptive parents. Matters are complicated by the tragic news that Bobbie has been diagnosed with breast cancer. What follows is a sometimes painful but often comical struggle with changing circumstances, new responsibilities, and unexpected depths of feeling. Bobbie’s Girl is a story of love and honesty which only strengthen under pressure. Airs on Showtime on Saturday, June 7 (9 p.m.), 13th (3 p.m.), 18th (4 p.m.), 23rd (4:30 p.m.), and 29th (1 p.m.).

• Longtime Companion

The lives of seven New York gay men are powerfully impacted by the burgeoning AIDS crisis over the course of a decade in this searing portrait of the disease’s devastating effects on a community. Oscar nominee Bruce Davison stars with Dermot Mulroney, Campbell Scott, Mark Lamos, Patrick Cassidy, Stephen Caffrey, Mary-Louise Parker, and Tony Shalhoub in this shattering drama based on the play by Craig Lucas. Airs on Showtime on Wednesday, June 11 (8 p.m.), 14th (9 p.m.), and 23rd (12:45 p.m.).

• The Rainbow

D.H. Lawrence’s novel of passion and longing is transformed into an acclaimed motion picture by director Ken Russell. Sammi Davis stars as Ursula, a privileged young woman whose childhood fantasies of capturing a rainbow have turned into an adult quest for sexual fulfillment that is forever thwarted by her own idealism and the minimal living standards for women in her small Welsh community. Paul McGann, Amanda Donohoe (whose character has an affair with Ursula), and David Hemmings costar in this fine literary adaptation. Airs on Showtime on Wednesday, June 25 at 8 p.m.

• Relax … It’s Just Sex

At a dinner party thrown by Tara (Jennifer Tilly), assorted guests wax philosophical about the hot-button topics of AIDS and sex, and a violent incident is revealed, leading to some couples disintegrating while new alliances are formed. T.C. Carson, Mitchell Anderson, Cynda Williams, Lori Petty, Serena Scott Thomas, and Billy Wirth costar in this ensemble romantic comedy. Airs on Showtime on Wednesday, June 18, at 9 p.m.

• A Boy Named Sue

Julie Wyman’s compelling documentary chronicles the transformation of a transsexual named Theo from a woman to a man over the course of six years. The film successfully captures Theo’s physiological and psychological changes during the process, as well as their effects on his lesbian lover and community of close friends. Taking full advantage of the unlimited access she was given to an extraordinarily personal process, Wyman carefully composes a moving story about gender identity, relationships, and how even things that seem permanent can change. If you’re a night person, you’re in luck; if you’re not, learn how to work that VCR, because it’s scheduled to air one night only, Monday, June 30, at midnight. For latest info: www.showtimeonline.com.

SHOWTIME’S GAY FUTURE

• The L Word. This one-hour drama series will feature an ensemble cast, including Jennifer Beals, Scott Bairstow, Erin Daniels, Leisha Hailey (one of The Murmurs, you may remember her in All of Me), Laurel Hollomon (The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love), Mia Kirshner, Karina Lombard, Katherine Moennig, and Pam Grier. The L Word explores the lesbian community in Los Angeles through the eyes of a new arrival, Jenny (Kirshner), who moves from Chicago to live with her boyfriend Tim (Bairstow). Jenny befriends their next-door neighbors, Bette (Beals) and Tina (Holloman), a lesbian couple in a long-term relationship who are trying to get pregnant. Through them, Jenny meets their alluring friend, Marina (Lombard), who introduces Jenny to her first lesbian sexual experience. The series will follow Jenny at a crossroads between the straight and lesbian worlds as well as the lives of the other key characters in the lesbian community. The two-hour premiere was directed by Rose Troche (Go Fish, Six Feet Under). The L Word is slated to begin airing on Showtime in 2004.

• Going to College. With the cooperation of the University of Texas at Austin, film crews are following a dozen incoming freshmen around the clock for Showtime’s new series Going to College. Additionally, the freshmen have been given their own video cameras so that they can record video diaries of their lives both on campus and off, thus collaborating in the process. These freshmen, a mixture of different sexes, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientations, are all dealing with the complexities of leaving home and being in complete charge of their own destinies. Some of them are eager to “escape” their past lives by doing things that they’ve never done before in an effort to re-create themselves. Others are fearful of leaving their comfortable lives and are worried about not living up to their parents’ expectations. What they all share in common is that they are meeting new people, having new experiences, and finding out a lot more about themselves than they ever knew before. The 10-episode half-hour documentary series is slated to air on Showtime in September of this year.

• AIDS Shorts. Showtime Network and the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at New York University will join forces to work with students in the graduate film division to help develop their thesis projects. The films will explore AIDS-related themes. These shorts are part of Showtime Network’s ongoing commitment to participate in the Viacom and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation’s multi-year HIV/AIDS initiative entitled KNOW HIV/AIDS. The films are expected to air on Showtime in late 2003 or early 2004.

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