So I finally got around to watching the first two episodes of Fox’s Playing It Straight. Well, I think we did more fast-forwarding than actual watching. Ugh. I don’t know why I had some glimmer of hope for this show, but really, most of it is unwatchable.
I won’t even try to completely explain the premise, except to say that it’s basically Bravo’s Boy Meets Boy turned on its head. (In fact I just read an interview in which one of the Playing It Straight cast-offs says the show was pitched to him only as a Mole-type competition, so he didn’t know it was going to be a “relationship show” at all. So much for any pretense of looking for love.) And none of the guys know whom among them is straight or gay. So not only do they have to present themselves as straight to Jackie, the leading lady here, but the guys have to keep up appearances with each other as well, lest they be perceived as gay or get ratted out. If I do keep watching the show, I’d probably get in the habit of just fast-forwarding to the end where she whittles the group down, and skip all the posturing and maneuvering that make up the bulk of each episode. To be honest, I don’t even know how indignant to be about the whole concept and the way everyone is acting. Anyway. I’m done ranting.
Speaking of gay TV, is it just me or has Will & Grace been funnier lately? I’ll admit that the show has slowly gotten kind of stale, but the last few episodes were good for quite a few laughs.
One reply on “‘Playing It Straight’”
I think that Will & Grace has become almost a sketch in the middle of Friends and The Apprentice–the typical episode now only runs about 18 minutes when you take out the commercials. It must seem funnier because it’s been edited WAY down and only the jokes remain…