James Franco Is Finally Doing Porn!

It's official, James Franco is finally doing porn! Almost.  He has just signed on with HBO to do new TV series that follows the legalization and rise of the porn industry in New York's Times Square in the 1970's and 1980's.  Called "The Deuce", which is a nickname for 42nd Street at that time, it is inspired by real-life mobsters twins Frankie and Vincent Martino, and Franco, taking a leaf out of Tom Hardy's book, will be playing both parts. 

No word yet if Franco will actually get to join in (!) but we hear that his  role will comprise of scenes involving casual sex (on and off camera) and systematic cocaine abuse!  Sounds like fun.

The series will also co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal who will play entrepreneurial prostitute Eileen ‘Candy’ Merrell and act as a producer of the series too. Created and written by "The Wire's" David Simon and directed by "Breaking Bad's" Michelle MacLaren, this is definitely one to look out for this season ..... even if Franco is still teasing us all about if he will get down and get dirty at last.

The Get Down : T.V's next big smash hit.

Baz Lurhmann the award-winning filmmaker and creative genius behind such hits as "Moulin Rouge" is finally turning his hand to Television. He has teamed up with playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis ("The Motherfucker With The Hat") to create a new series for Netflix, which judging by the new trailer just released, is destined to be one of the breakout hits of 2016.

"The Get Down" is set in 1970's New York where a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nobodies and nothings with no-one to shelter them. The city is broken down, beaten up, cash strapped and dying, and these kids at the bottom of the pile are taking the full brunt of it.  This then is the story of how out of all this gloom and despondence and just as New York was on the brink of bankruptcy, it gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco which changed both the city and the kids lives for ever.

Luhrmann, who will direct the first two and the final episodes of the 13 part series,  has cast some familiar big-named actors such as Jimmy Smits and Giancarlo Esposito.  However look out for the whole batch of new faces who are really the stars of the series such as Shameik Moore ("Dope"), Sklyan Brooks ("Southpaw"), Justice Smith ("Paper Towns") , Jaden Smith ("The Karate Kid") and the debut of a stunning new talent Herizen F. Guardiola.

Take a look at this trailer and be prepared to be blown away.  The series is scheduled to start later this year.

Kylie's Trick In Getting A Shining Knight

queerguru loves T.V. shows that do not take themselves too seriously, and we have found a new one that we have fallen in love and with and put on the top of our 'must-see' list from now on.   When ABC's parody fantasy/fairytale musical sitcom Galavant was renewed for a second season despite it's poor ratings it came back this weekend with a very tongue-in-cheek series premiere entitled "A New Season aka Suck it Cancellation Bear".

It opened with a very funny song called 'A New Season' that asked the audience to 'screw all those apprentices and every batchelorette" and went in to boast of an upcoming roster of "new guest's who'll cost the network a fortune".

The first of these guests (who may or may not have indeed cost that much) was the wonderful Kylie Minogue who was even more outrageously camp than usual (hard to believe, we know). Kylie played The Queen (!) owner of the Enchanted Forest's resident gay bar who flirts with the (very hot) Galavant (Joshua Sasse) ordering him to either remove his shirt or be thrown to ‘The Bear’.

She sings to the knight: “You trespassed upon my kingdom, and now you’re in my sway. Which basically means as Queen of all queens, I’m going to make you pay. One thing for sure will settle the score, and trust me it’s more than fair. Off with his shirt! Strip him down. Don’t be shy boys, go to town.”

P.S. Like all fairytales, this one has a very happy ending.  Since the scene was filmed in L.A. in September the petite Australian 47 year -old diva and the hunky 28 year-old Brit actor have very much become an "item".  Here are pics of them (courtesy of Getty Images) on the happy couple celebrating at a rugby match.   Just like her big 1998 hit single 'I Should Be So Lucky' , we say that Kylie so deserves to be exactly as that.

Can men really be just 'Gay for Pay"?

Many gay men are very sceptical about the increasing number of gay porn performers who claim to be straight and are just having sex on camera with other man purely for the pay.  It is often very hard to believe that so many of them whose whole bodies are as stiff as their penises when they have to actually deliver some lines as dialogue, putting a whole new meaning on the expression 'getting wood', are really just acting the part.

The people behind the MTV series True Life believe them however and have made a couple of these adult industry 'actors' the subject of an episode called  "I'm A Gay For Pay Pornstar"

One of them is Luke who has a massive online following and he claims that he has managed to keep 'his work' a secret from his girlfriend, but the program's narrater asks if the weight of living a double life will finally force him to come clean?

Ben on the other hand, is a married family man who recently started performing in gay sex films for money to support his kids.   At one point he asks his Agent "What's my career looking like at this point?" and he who jokes back "You're the prettiest girl in class". Ben's wife Crystal thinks it's hot that this is his day job, but will everyone understand their unusual life, and is Ben prepared to commit to a long term career in porn? 

Check out the clip below to see the trailer that MTV has just released, and click on the link beneath it to see when the episode will air.

http://www.mtv.com/shows/true-life/tv-schedule

Jennifer Saunders is Vyle .....

If you simply cannot wait until next year to get a fix of Jennifer Saunders aka Edina Monsoon when Absolutely Fabulous the Movie is finally finished and released, then we have a tip for you. Check out The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle which was a British TV sitcom that aired in 2007 and which followed both the on-screen and off-screen life of fictional TV talk show host Vivienne Vyle, played by Jennifer Saunders. 

The program follows Vyle as she tries to balance her newly ascendant fame with her personal life. The series was written by Saunders and psychologist Tanya Bryon and was  lauded as "a dark comedy and a show-within-a-show", The BBC described the show as "Ab Fab meets The Larry Sanders Show with quite a bit of Ricki Lake and Oprah thrown in".   

Saunders made just six episodes of the show which also aired in Canada and the US (Sundance Channel) before it quickly disappeared. However it garnered something  of a cult following due not to just Saunders, but also some of her co-stars and guests that included an hysterically funny performance by Miranda Richardson, plus Harriet Thorpe & Paul O'Grady.

Most of the programs are now available on You Tube and here is a hilarious clip from the final episode when she is forced to admit that her screaming queen of a husband is really gay!

Ben Whishaw Falls In Love

The UK's BBC TV Channel have just announced that out gay actor Ben Whishaw is to star in a new spy/gay romance miniseries next month called 'London Spy'.  It is the story of a chance romance between two people from very different worlds, one from the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess.  

Whishaw plays Danny – gregarious, hedonistic, romantic and adrift, who falls for the anti-social enigmatic and brilliant Alex (played by 'Wolf Hall's' Edward Holcroft). Just as the two of them realise that they're perfect for each other, Alex is found dead. Danny, utterly ill-equipped to take on the complex and codified world of British espionage, must decide whether he's prepared to fight for the truth.

Written by Tom Robb-Snith ('Child 44') the series also stars Oscar Winner Jim Broadbent and veteran actress Charlotte Rampling. 

Whishaw meanwhile can be seen on screens around the world next week when he reprises his role as 'Q' in 'Spectre' the latest James Bond thriller

Marlo is now Myrna

Up until about seven years ago actress Marlo Bernier was known as Mark. Marlo is transgender, and having completed her transition from male to female, she has stories to tell about her journey. And that's what she intends to do in a new TV dramedy series called Myrna that she has created and co-written.

Bernier is the creator and co-writer of a new dramedy series in development, Myrna. The story, mirroring Bernier’s real life, follows the journey of an actor, who after a successful career on stage and screen, is willing to sacrifice everything when he finally confronts his true gender identity and transitions from male to female.

The series follows Myrna who has sacrificed everything when she finally confronts her true gender and transitions and then struggles to find work as an actress, wrestles with a manager who still wants to send her out as her formerly-famous self, Michael, and deals with the drama of her friends’ reactions as they make an effort to come to terms with Myrna and her life-altering transition.

The series pilot has its Red Carpet World Premiere at the Hollywood Film Festival on Wednesday 23rd September 2015 at Arclight Cinemas on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles.  Email PR@M4PR.com to try and blag an invite and mingle with the stars too.

Downton Abbey : Almost Time To Say Goodbye

'If I could stop history in its tracks, maybe I would. But I can't, Carson. You nor I can hold back time.'  Thus speaks the stoic Earl of Grantham when he is rumored to have to leave his precious Downton Abbey for good.  Most of the US and a fair percentage of viewers back in the UK are wishing he didn't have to depart and bring one of the world's most popular TV costume dramas to and end.  Life however must go on in a modern world where soon everyone will have a motorized vehicle and all the downstairs staff will want to chuck in their uniforms and get lives of their own.

When Dame Maggie Smith had initially mooted the idea  that this would have to be her last season as the formidable Dowager Countess she adroitly remarked that the year would be 1924 and her character would be approaching her 125th birthday! We are so going to miss her the most.

The cast and crew have been very tight lipped about how its all going to end but there were several heavy hints when the trailer was launched at the Edinburgh Television Festival recently.  Jim Carter who plays the butler Carson, warned that they would need "two hankies" for the series which will begin  in the UK on 20 September, with the final episode reserved for Christmas Day. PBS viewers in the US will have to wait until January to see how season six finally play.

Boy Meets Girl : a new groundbreaking BBC sitcom

The B.B.C., the public service broadcaster of the UK and in fact the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation, has an unimpeachable record for not just being one of the most reliable source for news, but also one that is always at the forefront of chronicling the major changes in our society and culture. It's announcement today of a new 6 part sitcom called 'Boy Meets Girl' is the latest in a long line of groundbreaking TV that it has produced over the decades.

The series tells the story of a developing relationship between 26 year-old Leo and 40 year-old Judy . It is however not the age-gap that is the focus of this new comedy but the fact that Judy, and Rebecca Root the actress playing her, are both transgender. It will be a first for the BBC, but full credit to Sophie Clarke-Jervoise the series Executive Director who didn't even think about auditioning anyone who wasn't a trans actress for the part.

The seed for this new program was planted back in 2012 when 'All About Trans' organized an event 'Trans Camp' involving both people from the trans community and from the media with the aiming of nurturing a better understanding of each other. As a result the BBC ran a talent search called 'Trans Comedy Award' which offered comedy writers up to £5000 for scripts with positive portrayals of transgender characters.

The BBC received 320 entries with one of the winners being Boy Meets Girl (then titled Love) by Elliot Kerrigan. They made a pilot which was showcased last year and it was such a success that the series was commissioned. Kerrigan was kept on board to write the scripts but was joined by two-co-writers Simon Carlyle and Andrew Mettam.

BBC Commissioning Editor Kristian Smith said: 'Boy Meets Girl is a heart-warming romantic comedy that draws on the glorious differences that shape all of us.'

The buzz from the critics who saw the pilot episode is that it is as good as 'Gavin and Stacey' the award-winning BBC comedy from 2007- 2010 that, amongst other things, helped launch one of it's stars and co-writers James Corden into international stardom. 

The series will be aired in BBC TV this autumn : watch this space for further details and if it gets world-wide distribution.

P.S. This should not be confused with Eric Sheaffer's excellent movie of the same name released earlier this year and starring trans actress Michelle Hendley which is now out on DVD/VOD http://www.queertiques.com/2014/10/boy-meets-girl.html