"High Potential," Episode 1.11: the cleaning lady figures out whodunit in a rich family with secrets and gay sons. Bonus n*de Daniel, Noah, and Clark

   

High Potential, based on a French series, stars Kaitlin Olson of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Mick as a genius employed as a cleaning lady (often people with high iqs have trouble fitting into ordinary society). Her ability to find connections leads to a job as a consultant, helping the police solve murders.  I reviewed Episode 1.11, "The Sauna at the End of the Stairs," because I figured sauna means gay bathhouse.

Scene 1: An old rich guy is lying in his mansion, surrounded by medical equipment, addressing his wife, adult daughter, and three men.  Maybe his children and their partners, including a gay couple?  He's been keeping a secret for ten years: He killed Barry!  Everyone gasps.

Scene 2: Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) previously a cleaning lady, now a police consultant, brags about her new credentials to her beset-upon boss, Karadec (Daniel Sunjata, top photo and center).  

The higher-ups John and Mellon (Garrett Dillahunt of The Walking Dead) appear to celebrate the closing of a cold case:  Rich Old Guy George Donovan confessed on his deathbed! 

Wait -- who's the hunk with Morgan and Boss Karadec?  Maybe Officer Oz, played by Deniz Akdeniz (left)

Morgan has not heard of this before -- she was busy in 2014 -- so Detective Selena, who was assigned to the case, explains: the day after Thanksgiving, Barry (TJ Thyne), who was married to Rich Guy's daughter, was found dead in the sauna, "broiled like a Texas barbecue." But he had a broken neck: it was a murder!  Someone pushed him down the stairs, then put him in the sauna so it would look like he broiled himself to death.

Rich Guy had Barry's blood on his shirt, so he went to trial, but was found not guilty due to insufficent evidence.  What would his motive be, and how could a 70-year old with a hip replacement carry Barry all the way into the sauna?

The murder had a disastrous impact on the Very Rich Family, so Detective Selena theorizes that Rich Guy didn't really do it; he confessed so his family could live "normal lives" after his death.

Breakdown of the men in the Family:

1. Rich Guy's oldest son Clark (Jonathan Chase, seen here getting a boyfriend in Another Gay Movie).

2. His second son, Matty, whom everyone in "true crime" podcasts thinks is the real murderer.

More after the break

The Top 10 Hunks of Queerbaiting TV, Part 1: a 2012 gay video star, an alien from the 53rd century, a cucumber, Jack McBrayer, and Oscar Wilde

 

 I've been having bad luck with tv shows lately.  

1. I fast-forwarded through 14 episodes of Insecure, on Netflix, about two black women looking for love and sex, because it had a gay character, Ahmal, played by Jean Eli.  He was interviewed extensively about what it felt like to play a gay character, how he tried to subvert stereotypes, and so on.  Dude appeared for only a few seconds in each episode, when his sister called to ask his advice on something, or when she brought him as her date to a party.  He is shown with a man just once, cooking, for three seconds.

That's not queerbaiting, it's "gay but let's not admit it" erasure.

2. But at least there were a lot of hot black guys who showed their backsides as they got down with the ladies, such as Jay Ellis.

3. And Y'Lan Noel

I've been watching the tenth series of Doctor Who (2016-17) under the impression that the Time Lord's  companion Nardole is gay. First, actor Matt Lucas is gay.  Second, he's  sassy and snippy, he's dismissive of female companion Bill, he hides in another alien's crotch, and he acts like he's quite smitten with this blue-skinned fellow.

4.It took a lot of research to find the identity of the blue-skinned guy -- IMBD didn't know, and Google thought he was 2012-13 gay video star Justin LeBeau

 5. The Tardis Fandom website calls him Dahh-Ren, played by Peter Caulfield, who gets n*de on the gay British series Cucumber 

But Nardole's interest in Dahh-Ren is just a tease. Later in the episode, he mentions an old girlfriend.

Doctor Who often features gay characters.  Bill is herself a lesbian, and has fallen for women twice so far.  So why the queerbaiting?

More after the break

"Surreal Estate," Episode 1.1: Realtor and his friends investigate paranormal events, with gay characters and a lot of Matt Whi tes

 

This review keeps yelled at by the Blogger censors, and I can't figure out why.  Is it because I mention a book on human ana tomy, do they think the word scoo bies is inappropriate, or do they think it's rac ist because I mention Matt Whi te?  It's a guy's name.

 So let's try one more time.

Link to the men named Matt Whi te

Surreal Estate (2021-23), on Hulu, appeared on Reddit about shows with "normalized" LGBT characters, not struggling to come out or fighting homophobia.  None of the episode synopses suggest gay characters, and the icon shows a man and a woman, but here goes, Episode 1.1

Scene 1: Night. A man in a 1940s detective costume walks through a thunderstorm to a creepy house. The sign says "For Sale by Owner." 

Inside, it's too dark to see much, but a woman in a bathrobe seems to be reading an antique book on human anat omy.   She gets scared when the surgeon in a photograph seems to be grinning evilly at her.  Suddenly the room catches on fire (at least we can see something now).  She runs outside, but runs into the Old Fashioned Man.  

Psych!  He's not the ghost of a 1940s detective, he just dresses like one: Luke Roman (Tim Rozon of Schitt's Creek), interested in the house.  So call in advance?  

She hugs him: "The house wants to kill me!"  That's every home owner's complaint, girl.

He can help with that.  They gaze into each other's eyes.  I'll be they start dating, and she joins the paranormal real estate team.

Scene 2: At Shirley's Diner, still too dark to see much, Homeowner Megan, says that her fiancé is coming to pick her up.  Don't you hate it when they mention a boyfriend halfway through the date?

Luke shows her a video about his company, SMEP, Specialists in Metaphysically-Engaged Properties, those with a market value depreciation due a tragedy occuring there.  Sometimes they are haunted, sometimes not, but the rumor makes it lose 37% of its market value and takes 317% longer to sell. 

Megan's swishy boyfriend Brock (Matt Whi te) flounces in with a teeth-click, a flamboyant wave of his umbrella, and a "What up, Girlfriend?"  Shouldn't be too hard to convince him to be true to himself, so you can have Megan for yourself.  

Matt Whi te has nine acting credits on IMDB, including six shorts,and three walk-ons.  This may not be the right one, but there are lots of other Matt Whites to choose from: a baseball player, a football player, an artist,  a musician, a comedian, a model, a billionaire, and an internet influencer (top photo).

Scene 3: At the agency, Luke tells his scoo bies, two men and a woman, about the case.  Homeowner Megan is a medical student who inherited the haunted house from her grandfather.  Swishy boyfriend lives with her (in his own room, I assume).  

On to their other case, a house with a poltergeist. It came out clean: no entities.  But Rita, the Evil Realtor who hired them, insists that things were flying around.  Nobody wants to confront her because she's so evil, so they get the New Girl to do it: a ringer who got $10 million in sales at her last agency.  

Introductions:

Father Phil (Adam Korson, right), a defro cked priest with nice biceps, does the background checks and due diligence.

More after the break

Chase Carlson: Bodybuilder, gay adult video performer, Power Ranger, but no tv or movie roles. Who's complaining?

 

Link to the n*de dudes

This picture appeared on the Male Celebrity Tumblr: Chase Carlson holding a rather light dumbbell.  Never heard of him, but it was a  celebrity site, which means actor or singer, and I doubt that he's a singer. 

He has 269,000 followers on his Instagram. He says that he wants to become a Power Ranger, but he doesn't appear on the cast list of any Power Rangers tv show.  

In fact, Chase's only credit listed on the IMDB is in Killian Knox show (2022-23), which appears to be gay adult entertainment.  Max Lorde, Troy Daniels, and Gunnar Stone also appear.

What else do we know about Chase?

He's won three super-heavyweight titles.

He lives in San Diego.

He is a spokesperson for Meat athletic wear and Mr., a HIV prevention pill.

According to his Facebook page, he grew up in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and graduated from high school in 2009.

A Chase Carlson registered with Mayhem Modeling in 2011, stating that he was interested in acting, stuntwork, runway modeling, fitness modeling, hair/makeup, lifestyle, and hosting.  

Probably not: he gives his height at 6'1", and our Chase is 6'4".

Weight 165, and  our Chase is 331.

Shoe size 10", and our Chase is.... 

More after the break

Julian Hiliard: Gay superhero, gay-vague German boy, 19th century aesthete. With bonus Nicholas Cage and Ruairi O'Connor

Instagram suggested that I follow  "Julian Hillard," who has 183,000 followers: "gamer, dog lover, actor."

Never heard of him, until I started doing research, and realized that I had seen him in several movies and tv shows.

He was born in Dallas in 2011, and began acting in 2012.  He was nominated for a Young Actor Award for his performance as the young Luke Crain in The Haunting of Hill House in 2018.

The adult Luke Crain, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, is gay-vague.

Julian appears in nine episodes of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020), about paranormal events in Los Angeles in 1938.  His Tom Craft meets and becomes best friends with German refugee Frank (Santino Barnard).  

Hudson West (right) plays his older brother, Trevor.

Julian played Billy Maximoff, son of The Scarlet Witch, in Wandavision (2021) and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022).   Billy is gay in the Marvel Comics and in Agatha All Along, where he is played by Joe Locke.  

More after the break

Searching for Brandon Johnston through twins, Elves, fitness instructors, various n*de guys, and the Mayor of Chicago

  

Link to n*de dudes

I've been going through the posts on the RG Beefcake and Boyfriends site, trying to make them appeal to a general audience. I did it with Dillon B., and I couldn't even use his last name.  But Brandon Johnston turned out to be a problem: 

1. The original post called him  "Johnson."

2. It records his roles rather than titles of his projects: Elf Photo Clerk,  Valet, College Student 2, Audience Member, Golf Caddie Twin, and Genius Clone.  

A search for "Brandon Johnson" on the IMDB yielded this guy, known for Ingrid Goes West and Rick and Morty.  He's middle-aged and black.  My Brandon is young and white.

Although I wouldn't mind researching this Brandon next.

Googling revealed Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago.  Probably not the same guy.

"Brandon Johnston"?  Nothing.

Searching on Facebook yielded 16,000 Brandon Johnsons/ Johnstons, including this fitness coach from Ogden Utah.  

How about "Brandon Johnson/Johnston" and "n*de"?  Warning: the first hit is a n*de lady. 

The second is Bryce Johnston, who must be famous for something, since celebrity websites gushed over a video of him skinny-dipping.

But when I googled "Bryce Johnston," all I found was the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and the heavily tattooed Father Midnight.

The original post also mentions that Brandon Johnson/Johnston is interested in gay Hollywood History. 

"His Instagram videos tell the stories of many LGBTQ pioneers in the industry, such as Dorthy Arzner, William Haines, and James Whale."

More Brandon, probably, after the break

A new, improved batch of Adam Devine beefcake, bulge, and backside photos. With maybe a d*ck or two.

 

Link to the n*de photos

I thought I had seen every bulge, backside, and d*ck scene in every one of Adam Devine's movies and tv shows, but nope, there are more.  I'm not even going to think of clever comments; let's just get to the goods.

1. From the Righteous Gemstones Season 4 trailer.  Kelvin gets up off his knees and tells Keefe: "This our world now. We can do what we want."  I have  pretty good idea what he wanted, but the question is, did he swallow?

2.  Adam wigggling his jelly roll in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.  Wait until you see Zac Efron later on!

3. Adam as Adam, with a snake and an apple.  I'm not sure about this one.  Backside looks a little too hairy.

4. A very young Adam in a football uniform.  Looks like he's packing.

5. A side view in a hospital gown in Workaholics.

6. Hey, who let the gay guy from Bumper in Berlin in here?

More Adam, Tony, and Ders after the break

Avan Jogia: The Johnny Depp of "Victorious" grows up, dates Beau Mirchoff, but is he gay?

I only watched a few episodes of the Nickelodeon teencom Victorious (2010-2013).  It was about the same as a dozen other Nick/Disney Channel teencom, with:

1. A girl who wants to be a singer (does any girl ever have any other career goal?)

2. A best friend

3. A snobbish frenemy

4. A dork who is crushing on her (Matt Bennett).

5. A black guy (Leon Thomas III).

6. The hunk she is crushing on (Avan Jogia. above, who looks a lot like a young Johnny Depp). . 

 In my review, I called it "alnost gay" due to a buddy-bonding subtext and one line: a character says that she is going to visit "her uncle and uncle" in San Francisco.  Fans went to extraordinary lengths to argue that she could not possibly have meant a gay couple.

Looking for one of the Victorious stars to profile, I checked two things: Is he gay?  Does he have any n*de photos online?

1. Matt Bennett.  

Gay: No.

N*de: In The Virginity Hit (2010), he shaves his pubes, and you can kind of see an outline.

2. Leon Thomas III.

Gay: No

N*de: Rear shot as he is getting cozy with a woman in Insecure (2016-21).  There are like twelve rear shots of black guys, two of whom are gay, so I'll have to look it up later.

3. Avan Jongia

Gay: Probably.  He uses he/they pronouns, and he dates Beau Mirchoff in Now, Apocalypse (2019-20)

More after the break.  

Gemstones Episode 2.4, Continued: Patricide, incest, cake, and frolicking muscleboys. With a n*de wrestler bonus

 

In case you want my insightful analysis without the icky n*ked guys, here's a G-rated version of Episode 2.4.

Nope, let's see the icky n*ked guys.

The Baptism After-Party: An elaborate affair, with many humorous set-pieces that reveal the inner state of the characters:

 

Levi, the only single member of Jesse's crew, dances joyously by himself amid dozens of pink balloons.

A life-sized BJ cake, so you have to cut slices out of his head. 

The outraged Kelvin chooses two cupcakes, carefully removes the pins, places a napkin on top of them, and splat!

Jesse and Amber seethe with rage as Eli dances with a lady.

Eli tries to be friendly to BJ's family, but Judy interrupts him: "They're from Asheville.  They hate God."  "Yes, but God loves them."

When BJ enters in his shiny pink "romper with a cummerbund," his family criticizes him for being feminine, but he counters that men can wear one-pieces.  Then they complain that he is a child, a little baby, not a man at all. (Notice the parallel with Kelvin constantly trying to prove that he is a "fully-grown adult man.").  He's ridiculous, the Gemstones are ridiculous, he's ruining his life.   BJ rushes back to his dressing room and tears off the outfit (some momentary beefcake).

Since when does Eli Gemstone like ladies?;.  As the party is winding down, Kelvin and Jesse meet at the baptistry and discuss how Eli always ruins their plans, "I wish I could fight that man!" Kelvin exclaims.  "I'd destroy him...make him look like a fool."  Eavesdropping, Baby Billy notes that he's wanted to fight Eli many times over the years.

Kelvin tells him that Eli has been having  encounters with "multiple somebodies"  Jesse continues: "Dude fancies himself a damn c*cksmith...trying to make himself into a big character for the ladies." Interesting that Jesse specifies women, but Kelvin does not.  Women just don't pop into his head when he thinks of s*x. 

Baby Billy finds this hard to believe. "Eli Gemstone...with the ladies?"  Why, when you were young, was he just into guys?

All women want to screw their brothers: Judy accosts BJ's sister KJ in the ladies' room, claiming that "siblings have to hate siblings' spouses."  Jesse and Kelvin hate BJ, because he "took her off the market," made her unavailable: "They may be my brothers, but that don't mean they're not sitting in their room at night, thinking they might someday get to hook up with me." Does she not know that Kelvin is gay, or does it not matter?  Judy is definitely delusional, but we see how she has solved the eros/phileo problem: hook up with your relatives.   

KJ protests that Judy's theory is "disgusting": she would never hook up with her brother.  "Well, what if I held a gun to your head?"  Then she might consider it. "I knew it!" Judy exclaims in triumph. "BJ is mine!  Stop fighting me for him!"  

The Fist Fight:  As Keefe passes out the food he stole, Kelvin seethes and bursts balloons,  and KJ complains that the Gemstones are a "train wreck" of a family, BJ throws a piece of cake at her -- which hits Eli just as he is schmoozing with a senator!  "You kids are an embarrassment!" he exclaims.  

As Eli leaves the party, Kelvin appears to yell  him about the Judean desert trip: "You made me look like a fool in front of my men." 

"I'm not spending one cent so you and your muscle boys can frolick in the desert!'   Frolick is feminine: Eli believes that Kelvin is planning an homoerotic orgy in the desert.  Referring to them as muscle boys, not men, enrages Kelvin, and he attacks.  

The two have a fist fight in the foyer of the church, with everyone watching, Keefe and the musclemen doing a chest-pound display of loyalty.  Kelvin throws one of BJ's gifts at Eli: he ducks, and it smashes a picture of Aimee-Leigh.

"You could have killed me!"

"I wish I had!" Kelvin cries.  Wait -- killing your father, sex with your siblings.  This episode is overloaded with Freudian symbolism. 

More after the break

"Keeping Company": Insurance agents fight psycho-slasher, with gay characters, Chris Estrada, William Russ, and a bonus Adam Devine

Keeping Company (2021), on Paramount Plus, not to be confused with the other Keeping Company (2021), has a promo that looks very much like an insurance agent trying to sell to a gay couple.  Naw -- impossible.  The studio suits would never allow it.  They must be brothers or something.

Still, it has gay performer Chris Estrada in a minor role, so it's worth checking out.

Scene 1: A drug dealer waits on a lonely corner. Shy  eyeglassed Lucas (Jacob Grodnik) drives by, locks him in the trunk, and returns to his middle-class neighborhood.  He glances at a photo of the Girl (heterosexual identity established at minute 1.48), opens the trunk, and does something off-camera to the drug dealer.

Scene 2: District attorney Glen Garry (William Russ, left) films a re-election commercial, promising to reduce the "all time high" crime rate.  

The crime rate in the U.S. is at a 30-year low, and you don't elect district attorneys. 

The commercial is playing at the home of a newlywed couple (John Milhiser, Bryan Safi), listening to an insurance spiel.

They did it!  They really did it!  The insurance agents are trying to sell to a gay couple,  with absolutely no discomfort or any indication that this is unusual.  They are newlyweds like any other newlyweds!

The actors are both gay in real life. John Milhiser has 73 acting credits on the IMDB, including Adam Devine's House Party, Saturday Night Live, UCB Comedy Originals, Gay of Thrones, Foursome, and Adam Ruins Everyrthing.

More after the break

One Night in Bangkok, Three Hundred Nights at Mugi

From 1985 to around 1993, I was in Mugi, the gay Asian bar in Hollywood, at least once a week, sometimes twice.  Probably 300 times in all.   And every single time I was there, they played "One Night in Bangkok."  It was ingrained into my brain; even today I often catch myself singing:

One night in Bangkok, and the world's your oyster.
The bars are temples, but the pearls ain't free.

Oddly enough, when I visited the real Bangkok in 1988 to "rescue" Alan, I never heard the song once.

I guess the owner was a little short on Asian-themed pop songs.  "One Night in Bangkok" was composed for the musical Chess (1984).

Yes, there was a musical about chess.  It was based on the match between chess superstars Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky at the 1972 World Chess Championships,an American and a Russian, one of the epic battles of the Cold War.

I haven't seen it -- reviews complain that it is over-long, over-wrought, clunky, and exceedingly dull.  And it sounds rather homophobic. .

Chess champion Freddie Trumpeter (played by Murray Head in the British version and Philip Casnoff in the American) must face gay "accusations."  His father states that he's "probably queer," and his Soviet opponent, Anatoly (Tommy Korberg, David Carroll) calls him a "fruit" (a "nut" in the American version), and steals his girlfriend.

"One Night in Bangkok" appears on the night before an early match between Freddie and Anatoly.  Freddie wanders around town, trying to stay focused.

He dislikes Bangkok, "Oriental city," with its "muddy old river," its decadence, and its evil: "I can feel a devil walking next to me."

He disapproves of the drag queens: "the queens we use would not excite you."

And especially the feminine gay men: "you'll find a god in every golden cloister, and if you're lucky, then the god's a she."

Not the message you want to send to patrons of a gay Asian bar!

But at least gay people and transvestites are mentioned, a rarity in the 1980s.


See also: The Theme Song of 1000 Nights in a Leather Bar.