"Strip Law": Animated comedy about an inept lawyer, gay adult performers, and Las Vegas. With n*de Adam Scott and Drew Tarver

 

Link to the n*de photos

I have a bad feeling about Strip Law (2026), a new animated series on Netflix.  Its animated comedies tend to be dark and nihilistic, like Bojack Horseman, or mistake disgust for humor, like F is For Family.  But Strip stars Adam Scott, who has played gay characters a few times.  And gotten n*de, although the photo on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends obviously shows a prosthetic (and  Jason Schwartzman's, too).

Janelle James, last seen on the gay-friendly Abbott Elementary; 

And Drew Tarver, who played gay characters in The Other Two and Running Point (and gotten n*ked; the photo on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends definitely shows his backside).

Plus the first episode promises a male str*pper. 

Episode 1.1: "Finally, a Show about Lawyers."

Scene 1: Lincoln (Adam Scott) is in the courtroom, interrogating an Austin Powers impersonator.  His story is complex, involving a buffet, performers dressed as Elmo, and something aboutfluids too disgusting to record here.   The jury isn't paying attention anyway; they're all watching the Big Game. A female str*pper comes in to announce closing arguments.  Lincoln wants to be a real lawyer, and doesn't approve of this circus atmosphere.

Scene 2: A tv commercial  A lawyer wants to move forward with the case but when he hears that their opponents are Nichols and Gumb, he tries to hurt himself 

Nichols (Keith David) tells us that his partner Gumb has died, so he's going to fire her inept son, Lincoln.   His new slogan: "He fired Lincoln Gumb!"

Cut to Lincoln watching the commercial, upset because it's still playing after six months.  We meet his inept team:

Glem Blorchman (Stephen Root), dressed in a 1970s leisure suit, has been disbarred in most states due to his ongoing scandals. 

And Lincoln's niece Irene, a butch teenager doing bicep curls, who hasn't actually been to school in three years. 

They have no clients, they're out of money, so Lincoln plans to hurt himself.  Glem can go live on the S.S. Pain Palace, where a "weird millionaire" makes men fight to the death.  Irene will fall in with a bad crowd and turn delinquent. Turn delinquent?  

Glem: "Hey, we have a client.  That big wet hunk of beef in your office."

Scene 3: Turns out that Mom Gumb took on the Hunk's case pro bono, and Lincoln has inherited it.  

Commercial: "Ladies, gay and bi dudes, come on down to the Brushfire Club, where we have the studliest hunks this side of the studinental divide!"  They do show men and women both cheering for the gyrating musclemen with bouncing speedos.

The problem: On "Freaky Friday," the str*ppers eat the customers' keys.

Lincoln: And that's popular?

Hunk: The customers love it!  But it's making us sick." 

So they're suing for medical bills. Problem: The club is being represented by the super-competent Steve Nichols (the one who fired Lincoln when his mom died).

Scene 4: Cut to Steve Nichols and the sleazy club owner eating spaghetti off a n*de lady and discussing how they're going to win the case.  It's personal to Steve, because he hates Lincoln Gum and wants to destroy him. 

In his office, Lincoln complains that he'll never win the str*pper case now.  He's disgraced his Mom's legacy. She jumps out of her photo to complain that because of his incompetence, she's in hell, where they have a disgusting process for going to the bathroom (I'm not describing it).

 He leaves to go get drunk, past Dennis the snake eater, the 666 Club, and Friendigan's.  Suddenly he comes across a street magician whose trick involves shooting a deck of cards: the bullet stops at the card you selected. 

Scene 5: Lincoln's assistants, Glem and Irene, visit client Bob Henderson, the used car king: "If you can find a better deal on a Toyota, you can off me."  Seems that a guy found a better deal, and wanted to off him, but the lawyers got him to settle for a maiming.  Now they want to be paid.  This is getting a little too cringe for my tastes. Why so many people inviting their own offing?

Meanwhile, Lincoln talks to the Magician, Sheila Flambé , "magician and three-year all-county s*x champion." Does he want to hire her or date her?

Turns out that she was Juror #5 on his last case.  Where he went wrong: "it was like a funeral for Saltine Crackers. This is Vegas!  You got to do it big!"

More after the break

Recker Eans: The gaydar boy on "Beyond Waverly Place" drums in gay-friendly videos, but is he gay in real life? With bandmate d*cks

Link to the n*de photos

In Season 2 of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2025),  the Dark Lord Morsus enlists one of his Orcs (Adam Nemet) to enter the human world, befriend Billie, the Chosen One, and when her defenses are down, bring her and her family to the dark realm.  

He appears as Quentin (Recker Eans), a middle school bad boy, makes contact, and grows to genuinely like her and her guardian, the wizard Justin (David Henrie).  At the school dance, accidentally reveals his true identity, but promises not to hurt Billie or her family. 

In the Season 2 finale cliffhanger, Billie's brother Roman (Alkaio Thiele) sees Quentin in his true form and, not realizing that he is an ally, banishes him to the Nowhere Zone, "a dark, cold realm of dangerous beasts."  They'll have to mount a daring rescue in Season 3. 

Although Billie has a crush on Quentin, it is unlikely that he has romantic feelings toward her, a being of another species who is 1/1000ths his age.  Actually, Quentin seems much more invested in establishing a friendship with Justin.  

Actor Recker Eans was certainly pinging my gaydar. Here he is tied up and terrified as actress  Janice LeeAnn Brown tries to lick him.  Just say no, buddy.

 

I started researching Recker, figuring that he would start with the usual community theater and commercial gigs, followed by a series of short films with odd subjects and guest spots on teencoms.  Not at all.

Recker was born in Gilbert Arizona on August 3, 2010, making him 15 as of this writing and 14 when he played Quentin.  

He got a drum set for his fifth birthday, and started taking lessons at the School of Rock (a real music school a few blocks from his house).  By the age of seven, he was featured in a drumming documentary, and interviewed in Gilbert Lifestyle.  

He started his own band, the Twits, and soon they were performing throughout the Phoenix area. Eventually they opened for Devo in Las  Vegas.  Plus he starred in three episodes of  a BBC science program, The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed; and an ad campaign for Gap Kids.

At the age of nine, Recker was featured as one of The Great 48, "The 48 most influential people living in the Valley Today," for Phoenix Magazine.

By age ten, he was drumming for Neffex, Volbeat and Signals.

I watched a couple of the music videos.

Neffex, "The Worst in Me" (2020)

Just yesterday I was making you laugh
How did things get so bad?
How do I make you so mad?
I look at you and I miss what I've seen
A smile so bright with your eyes so green
And I'll wait for the day it comes back to me

No girl-pronouns!  The lyrics could be addressing anyone. Plus, as the two guys (Bryce Savage, above, Cameron Wales) sing on an open truck bed, they attract the attention of an elderly woman, a young woman fixing a car, two bodybuilders, a girl on a bike, a skateboarder, and Recker getting a tattoo. 

Signals, "Disastermind" (2020):

The boy (Recker) tries to get the attention of his parents, but is ignored.  He makes a mess, and gets in trouble.  Finally, he makes a pair of angel wings and a sword, and runs down the street, while Michael "Jag" Jagmin and Jonathan Kintz sing:

Locked away in a tower above the sky
When I wake, am I still nothing?
Hate me, break me
When I wake, am I still nothing?
It's easy to flee when you feel like you're meant to be
On the other side

Gay boys growing up amid the constant  "what girl do you like?" interrogation can relate.

Of course, Recker had no control over the lyrics, but it is interesting that he gravitates toward gay-friendly or at least non-heteronormative work. 

More after the break.  

Jake Diaz dates dudes, hugs Alkaio's ex, lives with a muscleman, poses for Man Crush Monday. What else do you need to know?

  

The photo below drew my interest because it shows Kayden Koshelev, the obviously gay ex-buddy or boyfriend of Alkaio Thiele (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place), at Paramount for the American premiere of the Smurfs movie (June 28, 2025).

 He's hugging a guy named Jake Diaz (the one in the crazy Smurfs cap).  A new boyfriend, or is Jake just getting a photo with a celebrity, like we used to get autographs?  

For that matter, who is Jake Diaz?  I don't profile non-actors except for an occasional muscleman, so he'd better be in the industry.

Kayden's posts about the event show him on the "blue carpet," trying various Smurf-themed snacks, and hugging other guy in "the industry," so I imagine Jake was just another premiere guest.  But a brief look at his Instagram reveals that he goes to a lot of events with guys as his plus-one, so I still want to know if he's gay. 

"Today I fell in love." Not telling me much, buddy. 

Question 1: What is Jake Diaz famous for?

On his Instagram, Jake describes himself as the Kidadventurist, Influencer/Actor, Sweetie High, Man Crush Monday.

Man Crush Monday?  Are you the subject or a fan?

Turns out that Sweetie High isn't a tv series, it's a "Gen Z Media Destination," with posts on media figures of interest to teenagers.  Jake was featured on "Man Crush Monday" in January 2025. 

The Kid Adventuring involves wearing interesting costumes, promoting various products, and going to events. Here Jake attends a Great Gatsby-themed party to celebrate the launch of AJ Jordan's book Eerily Wrinkling.  It will benefit the Book Truck, which promotes literacy among foster, homeless, and low-income teenagers.  About 40% of homeless teenagers are gay.

I spent a lot of time researching AJ Jordan and the guy he's always hugging.  Turns out that it's his brother.

Question 2: Any gay roles?

Jake seems to be mostly an interviewer/influencer, but he has seven acting credits:'

The video game Mobile Legends Bang Bang (2016)

The music video "Popular" (2020) by Dat Kid Maddy

A short, The Legend of Elumndor (2020).  No plot synopsis, but it shows a modern-day guy (Conner Marx) interacting with a guy in a demon mask

The music video "Something Beautiful" (2020) by Tom Walker.  Not the fundamentalist "Something Beautiful" that I recall from my childhood, but still very Evangelical. 

One of those clickbait videos, "Students Pick On A Girl For Being Emo. What Happens Is Shocking (2022)."  Jake befriends the bullied girl: "Are you ok?  I've heard some unsettling things about you."  Who talks like that?  Eventually they start dating.

The short Innocence  (2022), not to be confused with the other two Innocence shorts released in 2022 and 2023.  This one features frequent "buff guy" guest star Jess Allen, and three teenagers: Jake, Conor Kowalski, and Jaden Moore. 

More after the break

Jinn: The Archie gang in Jordan, with a gay drug dealer, a Bedouin boy, a demonic being, and an ancient city.

In Episode 1 of the Netflix Arabic-language tv series Jinn (2019), a group of high school students sets out from Riverdale...um, I mean Amman, Jordan...on a field trip to Petra, the famous archaeological site.  

Nasser/Reggie (Mohammed Nizar) has just broken up with Veronica/Mira. 

"How do you spell provocative."

"R-E-G-G-I-E."

So you think he's hot, Arch?   

Fahed/Archie (Yasser al Hadi) is dating good girl Betty/Layla.  

Hassan/Dilton (Zaid Zoubi) is a frizzy-haired know-it-all.

In just seven days, I can make you a man....

Yassim (Sultan Alkhail) is a bullied good boy.  Sorry, I couldn't think of an Archie equivalent.

More after the break