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May 15, 2025

Chris Demetral: If you think the 1990s teen idol is gay, "Dream On"

Star Trek fans will recognize Chris Demetral from his role as Commander Riker's 14-year old son, Jean-Luc.  He appeared in a 1990 episode of The Next Generation,  a hologram simulation created by aliens to fool Riker into revealing sensitive information.


















But come on, Riker's kid?  Trekkies were overwhelmed with glee, and started fan-fictioning Jean-Luc into real life adventures.



The 14-year old Michigan native had only been in Hollywood for two years, but he had already landed guest spots on several high-profile tv series, including Mr. Belvedere, The Wonder Years, and The New Lassie, and he would go on to guest on several more.









He was most famous for playing Jeremy Tupper, son of book editor Martin Tupper (Brian Benben) on the early HBO series Dream On (1990-96). Advertised as an "adult sitcom," it mostly featured Martin pursuing women and showing his backside).   Jeremy has his share of dates and romances, and even has teenage nookie during the December 18, 1993 episode.




But the heterosexist part didn't prohibit buddy-bonding elsewhere. In the spring of 1993, Chris became a series regular on Lois and Clark, playing a homeless teenager named Jack, whom Clark/Superman (Dean Cain) takes in.  Designed as a replacement for Jimmy Olsen, with some buddy-bonding and nick of time rescues, Jack didn't click with Superman purists, and he was written out.

In Blank Check (1994), Chris plays Damian, the brother of the 12-year old  (Brian Bonsall of Family Ties) who cashes a check for $1,000,000.  Damian's relationship with his brother Ralph (Michael Faustino, younger brother of David Faustino) is called into question when a computer repeats "Ralph and Damian sleep butt to face."


More after the break






Chris's last major role was in The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000), a Canadian tv series.  The French science fiction writer (Chris) travels around with his friends, Phileas and Rebecca Fogg (Michael Praed, left, Francesca Hunt), and his servant Passepartout (Michel Courtemanche), fighting monsters and the League of Darkness, and hanging out with Queen Victoria, Alexander Dumas, a teenage Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln...no Sherlock Holmes?








Not much buddy-bonding, but Jules is certainly gay-vague. Whenever the group meets a damsel in distress, the horny Phileas takes over.  Jules spends most of his time striking up conversations with strange men.


Chris disliked the "Hollywood lifestyle," or maybe he was disllusioned by the paucity of call-backs, so he retired from acting and moved home to Michigan. He currently works for talkhumor.com, where his bio states that he is "a reformed smartass" known for his love for his wife, family, friends, the Lakers, and his saviour Jesus. Uh-oh, having Jesus as your Saviour doesn't necessarily mean that you're homophobic, but the odds are very high.




 







I didn't find any references to LGBT people, positive or negative, on Chris's Instagram, just a lot of humorous posts, a "Cooking with Chris" podcast, and a billion photos of his daughter. 

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