THEGAYUK

Tag: TV Review

All the latest TV reviews from THEGAYUK. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of TV reviews.

  • TV REVIEW | The Royals

    ★★★★ | The Royals

    When I first heard of this riotous royal romp, I thought no, cant be, can it? A soap opera based on our royal family, with good old Brit Liz Hurley as Queenie? But, yes, it can be and it is.

    And actually it isn’t half bad – if you suspend disbelief for a while. Like all good/bad programmes, it’s the idea that can turn you off but once you start watching…it goes and gets you hooked!

    This future camp classic has Elizabeth Hurley (Bedazzledand Gossip Girl via that safety pin dress) as posh tottie Helena, not born to the throne but also unlikely to give it up any time soon either. We have William Moseley (Chronicles of Narnia and Goodbye Mister Chips) as Prince Liam, Alexandra Park (Home and Away) as wild child Princess Eleanor and finally Vincent Reagan as King Simon (300 and Snow White and the Huntsman). This is a good cast and a well acted piece of TV.

    This first series introduces us to these characters and the background – old King Simon and his doubts about the future of the monarchy, Queen Helena as a model mother, well a model-wannabe judging by that sashay, Prince Liam as the spare to the heir Prince Robert and Princess Eleanor as the favourite of the London party scene – well, any party scene and a stranger to underwear apparently.

     

    This normal, happy family life is throw into turmoil when the heir Prince Robert (we never meet him) dies tragically and suddenly, Liam is being groomed for the throne – something he hadn’t really planned on – as he did his best party and bed hopping impression of a certain other spare we all know and love.

    Filmed at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Churchill, for the E! channel, it was written by an ensemble of good writers, mainly Marck Schwahn who wrote for One Tree Hill – and it shows. This is pure gloss, good music, party scenes aplenty and the odd nod to actual Royal protocol.Written with its tongue firmly in its cheek, this show will be Martmite to most – my BF hated it but I stuck with it and actually found myself rooting for Liam and his love life, hoping Eleanor never found her knickers and that Simon abdicated and found himself a nice farm somewhere!

    Give it a go – blame me if you hate it!BUY IT NOW from Amazon

  • TV REVIEW | American Horror Story

    ★★★★★ | American Horror Story

    American Horror Story, or AHS as it is abbreviated to, is a four season (soon to be five) long delve into the creative mind of Ryan Murphy, the creator. In case anyone hasn’t watched AHS yet, please do.

    I mean genuinely it is such a deep and intense show you can not afford to miss it. I will be honest, since Season four “Freak Show” finished in January I have re-watched season 1, 2, and 3 all over again in less than a week. I am an addict, I will admit. Now with the premise of season 5, “Hotel” featuring, Lady Gaga, I am struggling to keep my panties dry.

    I will commence with a season by season commentary, I will warn you, there will be spoilers.

    Season 1: Murder House.
    The Harman family move from the East coast to the West, LA, to settle down and try and get their family together again after a ‘brutal’ abortion and a cheating husband. Mum Vivian, dad Ben and daughter Violet move into their 18th Century house which appears normal. Until they slowly discover all of the deaths in the house. Almost every occupant who has lived there has died in that house. Each of them are wanting something. It isn’t long until Ben gets his first patient (he is a psychiatrist) and we meet Tate Langdon (Evan Peters *Clenches butt*). Violet and Tate hit it off great and it’s even more dramatic when we find out he is dead, and why… It is so damned intense! Vivian gets pregnant with twins, unfortunately for her, one of the babies is Ben’s but the other is a masked man’s in a gimp suit who raped her. Turns out it was Tate. Fast forward a little and she looses Ben’s baby in childbirth and gives birth to the rape baby, but dies in labour. At this point we find out Violet died from an overdoseThe neighbour next door, Constance (who we find out is Tate’s mum and is played by Jessica Lange) takes the rape baby because it is her grandchild. Ben is left alone and the other spirits kill him, which leaves Ben, Vivian and Violet together as a family in the house. It’s oddly a nice ending. It ends with them warding off new buyers so the don’t have to go through what the Harman’s did.

    Season 2: Asylum. Featuring Adam Levine.
    Set in the 1960s, this corrupt church owned mental institution is governed by the sick minded Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). She wrongly commits Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) into their care because she was snooping and wanting to write a story about an inmate, Kit Walker – Bloody Face, (played by Evan Peters), who was wrongly accused of skinning alive women. Move down the line and Lana thinks she finds her escape with a friendly doctor but turns out he is Bloody Face and he rapes her. She gets away and ends up back in the asylum. Finally, she gets out again and gets her story out and kills bloody face. In all of this time, Sister Jude has been forcefully committed to the asylum and her fellow Nun, Sister Mary Eunice who has been possessed by the devil was partially responsible. Queue a Nazi Doctor and you have an amazing story! Things progress, and Kit Walker gets free and later takes sister Jude with him. She dies and he gets abducted by aliens after he gets terminally ill (the aliens are explained in the plot). At the end, Lana is an old woman who is a very successful writer and ends up meeting her baby from Bloody Face’s rape she gave up for adoption. She shoots him in the dead and that’s it. End. Finito.

    Season 3: Coven.
    Set in New Orleans this school for witches sounds like a cheap and nasty Harry Potter magic school. It is far from it. It is set now. It is modern, sassy and darn right attention holding season. There is less explaining I can do here. A group of witch girls fight to become the new Supreme of the Coven and cause havoc on their way to it. People die, monsters die, zombies invade, slavery is witnessed and we see what hell is like. The majority of the soundtrack to this is Fleetwood Mac so if you like that you’ll like this because Stevie Nicks also makes an appearance as well. We end up getting to the point were there are two witches left and their new Supreme. The coven makes national news and they recruit a mass of new witches. This end well. Well worth a watch as this is my favourite.

    Season 4: Freakshow.
    You follow around Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) a German woman of wonder who is the owner of a travelling Freak Show. They settle down in New Orleans but the welcome is not great. They are losing audiences fast. Throughout this, we visit were Elsa has been, through picking out the freaks to getting mutilated, to where she wanted to be. On TV. In the show there are new acts, new drama, back stabbing, kidnap and a new and gorgeous fancier of one of the women there. Betty and Dot (Sarah Paulson) the two-headed woman is right in the sights of Dandy (there are a few bare butt scenes which are a bonus). Things get so out of hand at the end that Dandy buys the show, massacres the majority of the freaks and then gets drowned by the remaining few. Elsa gets her TV show but ends up dying. This doesn’t end well for any of Jessica Lange’s characters.

    Season 5: Hotel
    This season is coming out in October 2015 and features the one and only Lady Gaga. The saddest part is Jessica Lange is not in it anymore (my ultimate woman crush). All we know is that it is set in a hotel. It looks promising with many returning characters and I just hope it is too the standard of Murphy’s other work.

    Not only is AHS beautifully written and cast, it has some real personality. The cinematography is a gem, the mise-en-scene is fabulous, the sounds are eerie and well thought out and the editing is just as you want it. You can tell that Ryan Murphy has put every last thought into it. A masterpiece. The only criticism is can you please you not bring Emma Roberts back. That is all.

  • TV REVIEW: Grace And Frankie, Intelligently funny

    “If anyone gets to sit on Ryan Gosling’s face it’s me…” And with that iconic line, I hereby crown Grace and Frankie, the new Netflix Original, a hit.

    Chalk and cheese duo Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin), can’t stand each other, however for the last 40 years, they’ve been in each other’s life’s. One thing is now forcing them to re-evaluate their relationship, turning their lives’ upside down. Their business partner husbands (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) are leaving them, for each other – and they want to get married.

    Intelligently funny, but lacks the comedy pace of sayUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Grace and Frankie has its share of ‘old women’ jokes but looks not to diminish the women’s newly single existence, nor bang the drum for gay rights and same-sex marriage, which is one of the critical issues being fought in the US right now.

    Whether Grace and Frankie is to become an overnight success will remain to be seen, it seems that Netflix are playing the long game with its creations, crafting a raft of programming to reflect its massive audience. Some are instance success like House Of Cards some are grower like Marco Polo. The audience for which this show is aimed isn’t so clear-cut. Is it Golden Girls? Is it Modern Family? The New Normal? We’re not so sure. But it is good. Very good. Plus you get to hear Jane Fonda say f**k. I mean that’s worth the view right?

  • BRUCE JENNER: “I Am A Woman Now”

    ‘I JUST CAN’T PULL THE CURTAIN ANYMORE.’

    At the beginning of the interview Diane Sawyer made it clear that Bruce was still using the pronoun He, therefore our review of the interview reflects that.

    When Bruce Jenner won the Olympic Gold Medal for the Decathlon in 1976 he broke the hold that the Soviets had on that event for years and instantly became an American Hero. For years this strapping handsome 6’4” man was recognised as the World’s Greatest Athlete. Tonight however she is sitting down to give an exclusive interview with ABC TV’s Diane Sawyer to finally confirm the news that he worries may disappoint so many of the fans who have looked up to him for years.

    Jenner is visibly extremely nervous as the cameras start to roll but she soon finds confidence as he begins to tell the real story for the very first time. What we discover in the next two hours is an outstandingly honest and open person who is also disarmingly charming. Jenner doesn’t shy away from any of Diane Sawyer’s probing questions and is utterly frank with his answers. Jenner’s words evoke a response from Brandon, his son, who puts it very simply when he tells his Dad that he was proud of his when she won all her medals, but that pales into insignificance with Jenner’s bravery now.

    Jenner tells the waiting world “I am a woman now. I have told a lie all my life, and this is who I am. I cannot hide anymore and I just can’t pull the curtains”. He adds “I still have all my male parts but I identify as female.” He believes that what he is doing is going to change the world by talking about it all now.

    Jenner explains that this is the very last time he will do an interview as ‘Bruce’ as he is about to undertake more of his transitioning which she reveals she started back in the 1980s when for a few years she took hormones.

    A deeply religious and a family person Jenner married Chrystie the first wife in 1972 and they had two children before they divorced nine years later. Wife number two was singer Linda Thompson and they had two children before they separated five years later, and then in 1991 Jenner married Kris Kardashian and as well as fathering two daughters Jenner became the step-father to the infamous Kardashian sisters. Jenner shares that the first person he revealed her gender confusion too was Chrystie, and he is very quick to point out that this was not the cause for the failure of this, or the other marriages.

    Jenner makes a point of explaining to an inquisitive and rather bemused Diane Sawyer that he is 100% heterosexual and has never ever even considered having sex with a man. He however has done his homework on this particular topic beforehand and quotes a very simply way of explaining the situation.

    “Sexual identity is about who you go to bed with, whereas gender identity is about who you go to bed as.”

    Jenner has been an integral part of her family’s infamous hit Reality TV Show for years, so his relationship with all the children has been carried out under the glare of spotlights for some time now. His four eldest asked to be part of the interview so that they could publicly express their support for their father’s transition.

    I think even Diane Sawyer was surprised with the answer Jenner gave when she pushed Jenner on how the ubiquitous Kim Kardashian had reacted. Kim had said that her husband Kanye had turned her around to the whole idea. West used his own life as an analogy: “I can be married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and I am. I could have the most beautiful little daughter in the world, and I do. But I’m nothing if I can’t be me. If I can’t be true to myself, they don’t mean anything.” Kim added her own advice telling her dad “you’ve got to rock it”.

    Aside from the sensationalism of having a celebrity having the bravery to come clean to the world with such astounding and highly personal news, both Jenner and Diane Sawyer took time out to acknowledge the ongoing struggle of other people transitioning which is still so greatly misunderstood and still results in suicides and violent crime. Jenner expressed her deepest hope that talking about this topic in this manner on primetime TV may save more lives and give others the strength to become who they really are.

    When Jenner explained to Diane Sawyer that next time they meet she would only see Jenner as the woman she now is and she finished the interview with “I am saying goodbye to peoples perception of me, but I am not saying goodbye to me.”

    I think when the reviews are in, we will find she is even more of a Hero than ever before. Certainly in our book.

    The similarities of Jenner’s story with that of the Award winning TV series TRANSPARENT is remarkable . That featured a retired Professor also in his 60s who finally decides to transition and has to share the news with his adult children. It’s a rather joyous positive journey based on the real life story of the series creator Jill Soloway’s father .

    by @RogerWalkerDack

  • W1A Series 2 Returns Roaring Its Timid BBC Head

    W1A roars back onto our screens with a laugh a minute. Okay, cool, yeah.

    Life it seems, goes on – at a snails pace sometimes at the BBC.

    BBC 2’s hit comedy, W1A triumphantly returned to our screens last night in a laugh a minute episode, which saw the ‘way ahead taskforce’ and a clueless PR, plan a visit, in the ‘Frankie Howard room’ from royalty.

    An episode in which not a lot happens, which seems to be the running joke. The BBC also needs to sex up its Wimbledon offering as the corporation is in danger of losing its contract. Siobhan Sharpe the PR genius, comes up with brand hash… Mixing brand BBC with brand Wimbledon.

    “Yes,”

    “Brilliant,”

    “Cool,”

    “Great…”

    “The fact is this, it needs to be better.”

    Brilliantly observed we assume and expertly delivered. I laughed at least 5 times in this 1-hour mud flinging, stinging satire on what exactly is wrong with our broadcast services in the UK

     

  • TV REVIEW | Newzoids, Flat Dull and Unfunny

    Watching the leaders’ debate gave opportunity for more satire than ITV’s latest offering, Newzoids, in last night’s debut of this long awaited, much anticipated show.

    Promises of 80’s ingenious were expected, or rather hoped for, but Newzoids failed to deliver and don’t blamed the subjects, just because Margaret Thatcher isn’t around anymore doesn’t mean you can’t make political satire funny.

    And stop already with the inane Clegg/Cameron housewife/underdog situation, it’s been done… Done I tell you.

    In a Twitter age where we’re expecting fresh content every nanosecond, Newzoids, felt positively ancient as it dealt with the first leaders’ debate, Jeremy Clarkson and Russell Brand – these are all so last week/month/minute.

    Browsing my Twitter timeline it looked as though many agree that Newzoids is as awkward as the puppets’ CGI’d mouths.

    Apparently Spitting Image wasn’t an overnight success, so perhaps Newzoids will become a grower.

    And that Andy Murray sketch was just downright weird… So maybe…

  • TV REVIEW | Cucumber, Banana, Tofu

    ★★★★ | Cucumber, Banana, Tofu

    He’s a clever bugger that Russell T. Bloke – you know the one who is basically is the godfather of Gay TV.

    Forget Kim Kardashian breaking the internet, Russell T Davies’s Queer As Folk broke terrestrial television with many asses back in 1999 and it looks as though he’s about to do it again with a brand new interwoven, multi-platform series that celebrates sexual and gender diversity, like no other writer or broadcaster for that matter, has ever done before.

    The erect penis has been studied, not just in this office, but scientifically, yes money has been spent on measuring how hard penises are – and they (the scientists) came up with a scale of hardest – from Tofu to Cucumber. Meet Henry, the story which Cucumber, the terrestrial offering from Channel 4. He’s a man in his late forties who hates the gay scene. Absolutely loathes it. It doesn’t resonate with him anymore, the young’un with their apps and inability to hold a conversation longer than their ejaculations. He’s been in a sexless, long term relationship for years and is having a bit of crisis of his placement in ‘the community’; fifteen years on is this how Stuart Jones would have turned out?

    But let’s get this straight, as best we can, Cucumber isn’t Queer As Folk 2.0. It’s a different story, a different set of characters. It’s gay-centric, but packs huge laughs, sex and asks the big questions: What do ‘WE’ want? That’s the big ‘WE’ of course – and while Cucumber focuses mainly on a gay man, Banana delves into the world sexuality and gender and rips it open in a way that could break the digital channel.

    Banana is the other side of the story. The young guns with their apps and their multi-sexual and gender identities and how these can collide. If Cucumber is generation gay, Banana is generation ‘Whatever’.

    Boxes and labels are so 1997/2004, so BBC 3… Generation just-get-on-with-it, are about to have their say, and while viewers on e4 probably won’t bat an eyelid, their parents might just be a little confused at the ever changing landscape.

    Then there’s Tofu an on-demand series, this is where the beauty of interwoven, multi-channel programming come into its own. Prepare to see people, yes real people, from all demographics talk about their sex lives. Even legendary Corrie actress Julie Hesmondhalgh talks sex – and as we heard at the press conference, “you heard it here first…”

    Potentially not a groundbreaking as QAF, (times have changed) but certainly just as necessary. It is about time than the LGBT demographic had something more than a storyline here and there. We want our own series dammit and Cucumber, Banana and Tofu deliver this in loads… (wipe the smile off your face, you dirty bugger).

  • TV REVIEW | The Hotel, Sometimes it is best to leave a classic alone.

    ★★ | The Hotel

    Unfortunately, the new series of The Hotel fails to ignite any excitement but does raise questions on why bother to invest time and money in a programme that is as dull as the hotel’s carpet.

    When Mark and the hotel first checked on to our screens, it was fun, it was campy and was an hour of guilty pleasure television as former hotelier Mark Jenkins misdirected his team into more and more moronic situations. However, this time round Mark is stymied at every turn and the programme has become turgid and rather dull.

    This season sees Mark return to the Cavendish Hotel in Torbay, except this time, he’s not the boss; he’s the entertainment management. The roof is leaking and finances are at rock bottom. Desperate for a new lease of life, owners Vicky and Andy have agreed to take on the hapless Mark for the season as their new entertainment’s manager. Except the owners, Vicky and Andy won’t let Mark get on to it.

    You do have to question why on earth the owners would allow Mark, who has had three hotel disasters himself, take control of anything, especially entertainment, except to possibly bring attention to their ailing hotel.

    The programme makers say expect comedy and mishaps, but after watching an episode I’ve decided to take a pass on the rest of the series and check out.

  • REVIEW | Transparent

    ★★★★★ | Transparent

    After Netflix’s phenomenal success creating original content for its streaming service with two Award winning television series, now Amazon has also stepped into the area which was once the sole territory of network and cable television with the launch of Transparent its very first own series. If you haven’t caught it yet (it’s free for AMAZON PRIME subscribers) then you’re missing out as it is one of the most innovative and enjoyable family dramas that has been seen on television for years.

    It’s the story of Mort Pfefferman who has indulged and spoilt his grown-up children for years and now that he has retired he wants to share with them something that is important to him. When he asks them to gather to hear his news, they all just assume that it’s going to be something very tragic, like having terminal cancer.

    What they are not prepared to learn is that Mort is going to become Maura. This is the female who has been trapped inside him since he was a kid, and now he wants to be true to him (or rather her) self.

    The news doesn’t go over too well as these three self-absorbed siblings are all wrapped in their own lives, none of which are going too well. Sarah the oldest one feels trapped in an unhappy marriage and when Tammy her old college roommate with who she had a serious fling with shows up again, she finds an escape route.

    Jay the middle one is a successful music producer and probably the most selfish of the three. He is used to dating girls young enough to be his daughters, although that goes a little sour when one of them double crosses him at the record company where he works. He finds salvation in religion. Well to be more precise, in dating the female Rabbi. His past will catch up with him in the end as is revealed in the final episode of this first series.

    Then there is Ali the directionless brainy one who is too bright to hold down a day job so still relies on her father for handouts that she euphemistically calls ‘loans’. Her love life is equally impossible to define and when she starts dating a trans man, her brother Josh jokes that there he is now no longer the only one in his family that still likes ‘pussy’. Except his mother, but the mere thought of even contemplating his aged mother’s sex life is rather stomach turning.

    She remarried soon after divorcing Mort years ago and her ancient new husband is now fading fast. A fact that Shelly is annoyed about as not only is looking after him as his sole career a great deal of hard work, but it interferes with her own life.

    Amazon has billed this as a ‘downbeat comedy’ but what it is, in fact, is a wonderfully warm and funny series about the extraordinary journey that Maura is taking with such spirit and determination and how her choices are playing out with her family. It’s an astonishing career-defining performance from veteran actor Jeffrey Tambor who imbues the character with empathy, dignity and resilience even through the transitioning process is not always easy or comfortable. Maura may not be the most natural or charming of women, but somehow Tambor compels us to be so completely drawn to her and so wanting her to succeed.

    Great supporting cast that includes Jay Duplass, Melora Hardin, Gaby Hoffman, Kathryn Hain and Amy Landecker. However, the only other scene-stealer in the piece (besides Tambor) is veteran actor Judith Light playing the classic Jewish mother/widow to the hilt.

    The series is created and directed by Jill Soloway (Producer ‘Six Feet Under’) whose father revealed his own transitioning to her just three years ago. Although she claims that this is not at all autobiographical, she does nevertheless handle this potentially controversial subject superbly showing both remarkable insight and understanding. They were a few mumblings when the idea was initially announced that they not going to cast a transgender actor in the lead but no-one could possibly have portrayed Maura as superbly as Tambor. (Soloway did, however, make this a trans-friendly production hiring 20 in the cast and crew, and more than 60 trans men and women were employed as extras.)

    Transparent is both bold and groundbreaking and is sophisticated quality programming that is usually the Hallmark of BBC or HBO, and I cannot wait for Series 2 to arrive.

  • TOP 10: Favourite Gay Web Series

    The rapid growth of high quality and extremely well produced WEB SERIES has made us sit up and take serious notice. Covering all aspects of our community, there is literally something for everyone. Here are another favourite Top 10 that we’re currently hooked on. So ditch that TV remote and turn your Laptop on to see the programmes that we really deserve and want.

    1) THE OUTS: We were quickly addicted to this series written/directed and starring ADAM GOLDMAN as one half of a Brooklyn couple who are both trying to discover if there is life and love for them after they break up. Funny and tender and extremely perceptive: you will be hooked after the 1st episode

    2) HUSBANDS: Two unlikely LA gay celebrities get married. One is an out and proud rather fey TV host and the other a hunk who may be the LA Dodgers first Out baseball star. This wonderfully rich and insightful comedy has already had over 3 million viewers on YOU TUBE, and you will soon discover why it is such a smash hit.

    3) THE 3 BITS: This is another Brooklyn based show but this time it’s about three siblings: one gay, one lesbian and one straight. Each have their own story to tell. It calls itself a queer show about sex, love, booze, drugs, friendship, family and amazing acts of stupidity. But mostly sex. Immensely enjoyable.

    4) THE BOYS WHO BRUNCH: This smart sexy urban series has been hailed as ‘Sex In The City’ meets ‘Queer As Folk’. In an attempt to shake up the monotony of his life in New York City, Mason introduces his 3 best friends to each other and creates a social-circle of his own. He then proposes a weekly brunch dare, something they’ll have the 6 days of the week to do before the next brunch.

    5) THE BATTERY’S DOWN: Shortly after Jake Wilson graduated from the University of Michigan the budding director, choreographer and actor then tried to follow his dream and make it big on Broadway. This web series is based on his life as a struggling New York actor. Great musical numbers and camp drama plus each week he seems to snare a big star for a cameo role including Miss Alison Janney, Cheyenne Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg to name but a few.

    6) TWO JASPERJOHNS: The most bizarre of all the series on our list, this oddball comedy is the tale of nine semi-sane brothers from Ohio living in New York whose last names are Jasperjohns and two of them live together. We cannot get enough of it.

    7) TOUGH LOVE: A fresh edgy unpolished series about what it means to be young, broke, queer and trying to make it in New York City.

    8) LITTLE HORRIBLES: Is a darkly comedic web series following the poor decisions of a self-indulgent lesbian trying to navigate her thirties being single in L.A. Created by Amy York Rubin who wants us to laughs in the face of those painfully uncomfortable moments that no one wants to remember, but everyone does.

    9) WHERE THE BEARS ARE: Follows the exploits of 3 bear roommates sharing a house in the hills of Silverlake. It is a hilariously fun comic crime caper that is best described as “The Golden Girls” meets “Murder She Wrote” with big, hairy, gay men.

    10) BULK: An excellent series featuring bears this time in NY, with it’s gritty, raw and sexy drama.

    It seems like we discover a new series almost every week, so we will keep reviewing the ones that we think you should know about. If we have missed your favourite, please let us know.

  • Gay Webseries Review | Eastsiders

    ★★★★ | Eastsiders

    Cal and Thom are both in their late 20s and been together for 4 years as a couple in Silverlake California, when their relationship is severely tested after Cal discovers that Thom has been cheating on him with Jeremy.

    As they explore the consequences of how this infidelity will effect them there is a great deal of anger and pain as they try to work through the angst, for what is best for both of them.

    Thom is an aspiring writer and Jeremy is one of the handful of people who turned up his poetry reading and stayed on for a private session afterwards. This handsome young man not only gives Thom the admiration for both his work and his personality that he craves, but he also demands little in return which Thom finds a refreshing change from a hyper analytical Cal who dissects every nuance of their life together to the point of distraction.

    Cal is a budding photographer who works as a receptionist in a Gallery to pay his share of the rent. He also is quite partial to a drink or two and seems to constantly knock back a whole bottle of whiskey before he feels able to tackle anything and everything that upsets him. On one such occasion he goes to confront his ‘rival’ Jeremy. The one Thom cheated with, and the two men get drunk together and end up in bed which, come next morning, is another thing that Cal will bitterly regret.

    Cal constantly turns to his best friend Kathy every time he is having another meltdown but she has her own problems, including an unplanned pregnancy by her boyfriend, Ian, with whom she is petrified at making a commitment with.

    Amid all the drunken outbursts that seem to permeate throughout this intriguing dark comedy about the sad and funny mess that this tight wee group of LA folk seem to make of their lives, we are never sure if any of their slightly precarious relationships will survive. With Cal and Thom it is essentially a case of whether the lies tear them apart or if they are just stubborn enough to stay together for ever.

    Written, directed and produced by Kit Williamson, who also played the neurotic Cal, this whole story started out as a Web Series in December 2012. Appropriately the first episode was about an ‘End of The World Party’ ostensibly as it takes place on the day of the supposed Mayan apocalypse, but it ends up taking on a totally different meaning for Cal after Thom drops his bombshell. The first few episodes soon attracted a great deal of attention and a Kickstarter campaign to fund the filming for the rest of the series before it was picked up by LogoTV to run on their website.

    The impressive and somewhat surprising thing about all the episodes being joined together now is that there is a such a remarkable fluidity with all the individual scenes that the plot flows seamlessly into one very absorbing whole movie. What’s even more compelling is that Williamson has very successfully created an edgy and intense dramatic comedy that shows a slice of contemporary gay life in L.A., which refreshingly does not just focus on his characters sexual orientations as his major plot point.

    He shares credit for the success with the talented cast that he assembled which included Van Hansis (‘One Life to Live’) playing Thom, Constance Wu (‘Stephanie Daley’) as Kathy, John Halbach (‘Wallflower’ TV Series) as Kathy’s boyfriend Ian, and Matthew McKelligon (‘Interior Leather Bar’) as Jeremy ‘the other man’. Mr Williamson himself has an impressive resume which includes playing Ed on TV’s Mad Men.

    Watching this won’t make you want to move to Silverlake or crack open a bottle of whisky, but it will intrigue you enough to want to see how the story continues if and when there is another series/movie.