1/11/05

1/11/05—The Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Bravo

Would the Fab Five approve of a clip show? It shouts “we’re cheap!” But it is practical recycling and gives extra screen time to a fun bunch of guys who can’t get enough of themselves. And you can always learn something new from something old, so long as it doesn’t smell. Clip show? Definitely. More time to sip cocktails and riff on style without the heavy work of changing some clueless het’s life. One can break a sweat, stain clothes, and waste perfectly good product. Smegma-sniffing ain’t easy work girls.

Clip shows have become the end of season signal staple. Let’s recap, shall we? Why bother creating a contrived plot or an extravaganza where Dr. Phil interviews the changelings six months later to see if the results were transformation traumatization. Let’s just see Carson, Jai, Kyan, Ted, and Thom being their dishy best.

I like that every queer guy has a purpose on this show. They don’t need a host to look good and segue when every staple character is sufficiently out to speak for himself. If Paige Davis had a skill other than perk, Trading Spaces would be much better. Carson seems to dominate the Fab Five, but it could be because the producers see him as the queen bee, the queerest of them all.

And at least this show doesn’t hide the fact that the show is about the staple characters more than its about the transformation. Sure, they did a tremendous job with the toupee-wearing dad, but some of their fashion suggestions were kind of gay...lame perhaps?

Speaking of lame, I’m not sure how Queer Eye for the Straight Girl could work. Dyke Eye would have been more interesting, and works with the Queer Eye premise. Not that there’s a prejudice against dyke style or anything—and they do have the token same-sex female on the show. But the little I saw indicates that she's not taking up time the way her Queer Guys do.