Desi Arnaz, Jr.

Desi Arnaz, Jr. was born on January 19th, 1953, in the middle of a whirlwind of publicity, the child of most famous couple on television, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and also the first baby ever "born" on tv (Lucy's real life pregnancy was incorporated into the plot of I Love Lucy).  He was on the cover of the first issue of TV Guide, on April 3rd, 1953.

Growing up with that kind of publicity, and his parents' connections, he had little choice but to go into show business.  In 1965, he started a boy band with his friends Dean Paul Martin (Dean Martin's son) and Billy Hinsche.

He guest starred on The Lucy Show (1962-65), and became a regular on Here's Lucy (1968-72), as Lucy's teenage son Craig. And he landed roles in lots of movies.

Oddly for the son of a comedy legend, Desi didn't do comedies.  He specialized in tear-jerkers. Many were about the tragic consequences of boys and girls who fall in love (Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, She Lives, Having Babies, Black Market Babies).  

Others were gay-subtext movies about the tragic consequences of boys who fall in love with boys (Billy Two Hats, Joyride, To Kill a Cop).  

In 1983, he starred in a buddy-bonding series, Automan, about a computer whiz (Desi) who creates a computerized superhero (the hunky Chuck Wagner).  Unfortunately, it was promoted as a comedy, and Desi didn't do comedy.  He thought it would be a gritty urban drama.

After 13 episodes he left, and hasn't done a lot of acting since.  He is still involved with his music, and he owns the Boulder Theater in Boulder City, Nevada.

Although he was the subject of many gay rumors during the 1970s (my friend Cesar claimed to have hooked up with him), Desi was linked to several women, including Liza Minnelli, and he was married to Amy Arnaz from 1987 to her death in 2015.

See: Cesar Tells about his Hookup with Desi Arnaz Jr.


   

The Gay Guys of "The Trailer Park Boys:The Animated Series"

I've been watching the Canadian mockumentary Trailer Park Boys, about a trio of small-time hoods living in a run-down trailer park in Halifax, for what seems like forever (and in fact the first episode aired in April 2001): twelve seasons, three movies, three tv specials with the guys performing to live audiences, a spin off series that sends them to the United States.

I've seen the guys age from their 20s to their 50s, with few changes:
1. Julian (John Paul Tremblay) has managed to maintain his bodybuilder physique, and still has a full shot glass in his hand at all times but never actually drinks from it.
2. Bubbles (Mike Smith) is still living in that storage shed with cats.
3. Ricky (Robb Wells),  who constantly hatches crazy money-making schemes, has become a father, then a grandfather.

Corey and Jacob (Corey Bowles, Jacob Rolfe) still act like a gay couple, even though Jacob dated and then married Ricky's daughter Trinity.

Randy (Patrick Roach, top photo), the assistant camp manager, probably changed the most.  He began as closeted, keeping his relationship with  Mr. Lahey (John Dunsworth) a secret; he came out as bisexual, then as gay, and finally he and Mr. Lahey were married.  Don't worry, he still never wears a shirt.

I was wondering why they launched a spin-off animated series.  Were the actors getting too old to believably play Trailer Park Boys?  Did they want to do things that would be difficult to stage in live action?

I soon found out.  The first episode involves Corey getting his arm torn off and Jacob getting his head twisted backwards.

Don't worry, every episode doesn't involve amputated body parts.  They do other things that would be difficult to stage:  destroy downtown Halifax; host a concert for  thousands of people; fly into space; reminisce about their childhoods, when they all met over contraband hashish.

Mr. Lahey is carried off by a "shit hawk," leaving Randy a widower (John Dunsworth died in 2017). But he still appears out of bottles of liquor to offer advice and tell Randy that he loves him.

Gay people made the park denizens uncomfortable on the live-action series, but here they are met with nonchalance (in spite of Bubbles' incessant use of the term "cocksucker").

Julian signs up to play in a movie, without realizing that it's gay porn.  He tries to do it anyway,but finds it too uncomfortable, so he recruits Randy.

 Julian tries to make money with a car wash featuring girls in bikinis, but soon realizes that if he takes his shirt off, the car wash will draw a lot of well-tipping gay men.  Ricky meanwhile charges them to use his makeshift swimming pool.  His girlfriend is upset, asking "Are you gay now?"

"No.  What's the problem?  They're perfect customers," Ricky responds.  Then, when she continues to push, "Ok, you got me, I'm gay again."

Bubbles also assumes that Julian and Ricky are gay, and assures the news crew "I love the LGBT community.  I'm glad they finally came out."

Meanwhile Randy is peering through binoculars, making comments like "Perfect chest!"  The camera pans out, and we see that he's looking at Julian!

Wait -- what's the joke?  The audience knows that Randy is gay -- who else would he be looking at?

Mixed messages.  Business as usual at Sunnyvale Trailer Park.
.

See also:Trailer Park Boys

Fleabag: Britcom Filled with Hunks and Horror, but no Lesbi....

I've only heard the term "fleabag" in reference to a cheap hotel, but on Fleabag (2016=2019), on Amazon Prime, it's a woman (Phoebe Walter-Bridge) who addresses the camera and makes jokes to keep from crying. She has a lot to cry about:

She is running a struggling coffee shop, but can't get a loan to keep it afloat.

Her close friend/business partner Boo accidentally committed suicide by walking into traffic (planning to be injured and get attention,but ending up dead).

She hates her family:

Demanding,perfect sister

Brother in law who makes snarky sexual innuendos and then, when she gets offended, complains that she can't take a joke

Elitist artist stepmother who ha an exhibition of works devoted entirely to her sexual activity (I definitely want that penis wall for my living room).

Father who can't stand to be alone with her (and she instantly recognizes his penis from the penis wall.  What was going on in that family?).

Fleabag tries to fill the yawning void of guilt and pain in her life with sex.

1. Steady Boyfriend (Hugh Skinner, left, Prince William on The Windsors), who insists on slow, boring, "making love" instead of just doing it.  Fleabag dumps him regularly, which gives her an opportunity to get other sex partners (and he always cleans her apartment).  At the end of Season 1, he makes the breakup permanent.

2.  Arsehole Guy (Ben Aldridge), who suddenly stops being able to stay aroused during sex.  Fleabag informs us that this is a sign that he's in love, so all his blood is rushing from his penis to his heart.  He's in love, all right, but with someone else.

That's not why he's called Arsehole Guy. 

3. Bus Rodent (Jamie Demetriou), who has bad teeth.  This would be a deal-breaker, except that Fleabag is horny.  She gets angry when he won't put out on the first date,but gets revenge by introducing him to her family as "her new boyfriend," then dumping him (after sex).

4. Jack (Anthony Welsh), Boo's boyfriend.  Their affair made Boo decide to walk into traffic,which is one reason why Fleabag is such a mess.

5. Hot Misogynist (Ray Fearon, left)

6, Chatty Joe (David Hargreaves)

7. Hot Priest (Andrew Scott, left).  Fleabag spends most of Season 2 chasing him, even though she feels guilty about making him break his vow of celibacy, and seems to think that it's illegal.

Fleabag does not have sex with:

1. Her brother-in-law (Brett Gelman, left), although he tries to kiss her and then claims that she tried to kiss him.

2. Her possibly-autistic nephew (Angus Imrie), although he does spy on her in the bath.  When he begs her to ask his Mom to leave his Dad, one wonders what's going on in that family.

3. Boo (Jenny Rainsford), although the intensity of their relationship (in flashback) does suggest a lesbian subtext.

No gay characters appear or are  mentioned, except we are told that Hot Priest's mother "was originally a lesbi...."  What did she do, convert?

Oh, I forgot to mention: Fleabag is a comedy.

"Young Sheldon": Gay Subtexts in East Texas, 1989

I was never a big fan of The Big Bang Theory: the gang of nerds was too obsessed with  stereotypic masculinity, loudly proclaiming "Aha!  You're really a woman!" when one of their crew (usually Raj) made the slightest feminine gesture.  And gay people did not exist, except for an occasional homophobic joke.

But I did like the character of Sheldon (Jim Parsons), a theoretical physicist whose eccentricities place him on the autism spectrum.  At first I thought he was gay; then he starts dating a girl,but insists on no physical contact, so I concluded that he was a hetero-romantic asexual.

The prequel, Young Sheldon (2017-)  cost an exorbitant $35 per season on Vudu (I won't even pay that much for Riverdale),but it just dropped to $15,so I plugged it in.  I've seen the first three episodes.












It's 1989, and 9-year old Sheldon (Iain Armitage) is living in East Texaa with his Dad, football coach George (Lance Barber) and his Mom Mary (Zoe Perry), who is a quasi-fundamentalist Baptist (there are wine and cards in the house, which a real Baptist would never permit).

 He also has a 9-year old twin sister (Reagan Revord), the standard pre-teen operator, and a jock older brother Georgie (Montana Jordan, the only one of the cast with beefcake photos available).

"Meemaw" Connie (Annie Potts) differs considerably from how she is described on The Big Bang Theory.  Here she is a chaotic presence, drunken, shady ("Shelly, can you use science to predict who will win the big game? Meemaw owes some people money...")  I'm surprised the parents let her babysit; she'll just get drunk, fall asleep, and leave the kids alone to get into mischief.

His parents can't afford to send him to a private school for the gifted, so Sheldon is going to high school with teenagers.  This would be a problem for any 9-year old, but Sheldon's quirks make it worse. For instance, he insists on pointing out the violationa of the school dress code and hygiene code, for both students and teachers.

After three episodes, it is obvious that this is no sitcom; it is a family warmedy, like The Wonder Years (with the adult Sheldon narrating), dedicated to demonstrating that, in spite of his intelligence and various quirks, Sheldon loves his family and will do anything to help them.

Mom: Who's going to church with me today?
Sheldon: I'll go.
Sister:  But you don't believe in God
Sheldon:  But I believe in Mom.

They get the church right, anyway, instead of making the Baptists Catholic. Pastor Jeff (Matt Hobby) is apparently a regular, stopping the service to spar with Sheldon about the six-day creation of the world:

Jeff:  There was no Big Bang, just the Word.
Sheldon: What word was that, "Kaboom"?

I was interested in the episode where Sheldon promises to demolish Pastor Jeff's belief in God "next week."  But then his Dad has a heart attack,so Sheldon finds the hospital chapel and prays for his recovery (to French philosopher Blaise Pascal, not to God, but still...).

Beefcake:  None.  There are some locker room scenes, but the entire football team seems to be comprised of 14-year olds.

Other Sights:  No.  There are some exteriors, but nothing impressive.  By the way, they drive through endless farmland to get to school, but the psychiatrist's office is walking distance.  Somebody check the geography of this town!

Gay Characters:  Like on The Big Bang Theory, gay people do not exist.  But like The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon's lack of heterosexual interest can give him a gay reading ("Cheerleaders hugged me!  It was dreadful!").  The other 9-year olds on the show, Sheldon's sister and the dimwitted boy next door, are hetero-horny.

The gay reading is particularly evident when Mom encourages the loner Sheldon to make a friend, using the same language you would use to promote romance ("you can't be alone -- you need somebody.").  When Sheldon finally finds Tam (Ryan Phuong), the family is so excited that they invite him over for dinner and pepper him with questions ("So -- how did you two meet?), precisely as if he is a boyfriend.

In the next episode, Tam shows up at the front door, wearing a suit, and asks "Is Sheldon at home?  I want to ask him to come wijth me to a party.").  It turns out that he is just using the newly-popular Sheldon to get into a popular party, where he can meet girls, but he acts precisely as if he is asking Sheldon out on a date.

I'm not even going to go into the gay symbolism of the scene where Tam is eating Red Vines, and Sheldon becomes fixated with his mouth.  He's actually just hungry, having had no solid food for several days, but still....

See Also: 10 Homophobic Things about the Big Bang Theory