Meet Bravo’s New Gay Househusbands

New York media had a field day on Friday after The New York Daily News broke the news that Bravo’s executive vice-president of production, Andy Cohen, was developing a gay version of his “Real Housewives” franchise to compete with Logo’s “The A-List.” However, with regards to the reportedly aptly-named “From The Bottom To The Top” – the main question at hand is, ‘How did Logo ever possibly beat Bravo to the punch in this genre?’

Following the news, everyone seemed to have an opinion about the new show – after all, what’s juicier than the idea of a gay male reality show rivalry?

Access Hollywood has multiple sources that confirm that the show is indeed in the initial stages of pre-production. According to our sources, here’s what true — and not-so-true — about the inevitable pinnacle of Bravo’s programming evolution:

FACT: Six cast members have been signed to participate in what, for now, we’ll refer to as “FTBTTT” – they are: book industry publicist Kenneth Gillett, who came to NYC via LA (via Wisconsin); Factory PR founder and fashion event publicist Mark Silver; designer Jordan Carlyle (who also used to live in LA, via Mississippi) whose art is sold through retailer CB2; model Christopher Fawcett (aka: Jordan’s boyfriend… not initially mentioned in Friday’s media cacophony); style showroom owner Joey Giuntoli and British designer Kristopher Haigh, who currently works for Penguin and is a gay party promoter along with Gillett. They’ve all signed contracts that prohibit them from talking about anything… which is standard in the lifestyle reality show genre.

FICTION: The show’s been green lit already. Nope, it hasn’t. In fact, it hasn’t even begun shooting footage for the pilot. Shooting “should” commence in early 2011, but even that’s not for sure yet.

FACT: A seventh cast member may still yet be added. John Paul Fleming — originally from Texas (apparently, he has the tattoo to prove it) — who has worked as an international wholesale director for a variety of high-profile designers — including, most recently, Jil Sander, was asked to be a part of the cast two months ago, but had hang ups with his employer at the time. His situation has changed and now it’s TBD if he’ll be rejoining the six as a seventh official cast member, but he’s close friends with Haigh and worked for Giuntoli for two years (2008 – 2010).

FICTION: The new Bravo cast will be at odds with the cast of “The A-List”… not necessarily. In fact, Ryan, Derek and T.J. from Logo’s show are actually friends with some of the Bravo show’s potential cast members. Fleming has become close friends with T.J. recently. Many of the Bravo boys also know celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz, and were at his birthday party last week for the opening of the new gay bar/lounge “Industry” in midtown Manhattan.

FACT: They’re a tightly knit group. Fawcette also works for Giuntoli (when he’s not on the runway) and was Fleming’s assistant for over a year. Silver runs PR for Giuntoli and Carlyle is Giuntoli’s interior designer – so, as can you see… It’s not as if these guys have been thrown together randomly. They also have quite the list of high-profile acquaintances – amongst them, they are connected to: Nicole Richie, Victoria Beckham, Blake Lively, Kylie Minogue, Kelly Rowland, Fergie, Lady Gaga, Lorenzo Martone, and designers Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Tom Ford, Laurel Berman (who shows her collection, Black Halo, out of Giuntoli’s Chelsea Showroom) and Lynne Hiriak (who recently named a sweater in her collection after Fleming)… the list goes on.

FICTION: The show is going to be called “FTBTTT.” Nope, in fact, this name has never been attached to the show… neither via the production company, nor Bravo… it started as a running joke and stuck amongst the NY gays. On Friday, Cohen Tweeted, “HEY EVERYBODY: Do you really think Bravo is doing a show called “From the Bottom to the Top”?!? We’re not.”

Well, they likely are… it’s just not going to be named that. Rumored alternative names for the show include: “A-Gays,” The Real A-List,” “VIP:GAY:NYC,” “The A-Team,” SocialistOs,” The Real Househusbands of NYC,” “The Gay Gangs of NY” and “The Plastics”… the latter of which leads us to the fact that …

FACT: … This group of friends has a nickname: “The Plastics.” Although having a team nickname is a source of pride in certain NY circles, these boys have embraced it. They’ve even joked that the new project’s theme song should be a DJ Hector Fonseca remix of Keri Hilson’s latest single, “Pretty Girl Rock.”

All of this being said, as with anything in reality television, it’s still much too early to tell if this show will ever even happen at all. It could fall apart… or it could be Bravo’s biggest home run to date. Only time, and the timing of the latest Prada sample sale, will tell. As we learn more, we’ll keep you in the loop.

Access reached out to Bravo and received “no comment” on the show’s existence.

Bravo is a sister company of Access Hollywood at NBC Universal.

Four Gay Characters Gone From Prime Time

The networks have announced what TV shows are getting canned in advance of the 2010-2011 season, and two gay characters have emerged as victims of the cancellations.

NBC axed the medical drama Mercy, which featured out actor Guillermo Diaz as the gay nurse Angel. ABC has also sent the Lost-esque FlashForward to the dustbin — that show featured actress Christine Woods as lesbian FBI agent Janis Hawk. Hawk actually had a love life on the show with a storyline involving her meeting and dating another young woman.

Also canceled by ABC was Better Off Ted, a show starring out actress Portia de Rossi.

And, though the relationship between the two characters was awfully casual, the cancellation of NBC's Heroes also brought an end to Claire (Hayden Panettiere) and Gretchen (Madeline Zima), college roommates who looked to be getting closer than just friends at the end of the show's fourth season.

Gay Characters on the Rise in TV Land!

The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) characters on broadcast TV is again on the rise, according to a new report from The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). The group’s 14th annual TV study found that 18 LGBT characters will account for 3% of primetime scripted series regulars in the 2009-2010 broadcast TV season. That’s up from 1.3% in 2006, 1.1% in 2007 and 2.6% in 2008.

New LGBT characters include bisexual Ella on Melrose Place, Southland’s gay police officer John Cooper, Modern Family’s gay couple Mitchell and Cameron, and coming-out high schooler Kurt on Glee.

ABC continues to lead the networks with eight LGBT characters, or 5% of its 168 total series regulars. Fox, which had no regular LGBT characters two years ago, now has 4 characters (4%). NBC has 3 characters (3%), The CW has two (3%), but CBS had no LGBT characters out of its 132 regulars.

"The Gay Housewives of New York" in the Works!

The team behind the Real Housewives of Atlanta are working on an all-gay version of the franchise, reports Gawker.

The reality series is tentatively titled "Kept" and will air on Logo, a channel specifically aimed at gay people.

The show has not been cast yet but will follow an elite group of fabulous Manhattan party boys who love living the high-life.

“WeHo” Web Series Premieres!

Move over Melrose Place, 90210 and Desperate Housewives, the first webisode of the online soap spoof "WeHo" has arrived and it is a hoot!

With over-the-top writing and acting, the series written and directed by Nick Arnzen is a real treat.

It stars Matthew Montgomery, Steve Callahan, James Brandon, Elizabeth Cava, Mark Colbert, Joshua Wolf Coleman, Paul Denniston, Steve Hasley, Molly O’Leary, Scott Presley, Adrian Quinonez, Devin Sidell, and Selina Smith.

WeHo is filled with shirtless gym trainers, same-sex power couples, battling twins, murder and, of course, a bitch diva to end all bitch divas. All of the action is set against the backdrop of West Hollywood.

WeHo started out on stage ten years ago and was revived last year. The idea is to dramatize what it would look like if Aaron Spelling tried to do a gay soap.

Steve Callahan, so good in the gay indies "East Side Story" and "Nine Lives" and on stage in "Corpus Christi," is the only cast member that has been in every performance of every incarnation of every episode of "WeHo." He plays the part of Gunther and is first seen wearing nothing but a towel.

In all, seven webisodes of the show (6 – 9 minutes each) will be shown online eventually.

Here is a LINK to the show’s Facebook page and below is the first webisode itself. Enjoy!

Melrose Place Remake Gets Its Gay

It was only a matter of time before the producers of the Melrose Place remake -- scheduled to premiere September 8th on the CW -- announced who'd be playing the show's resident gay guy. Filling original gay resident Doug Savant's shoes? Former Playgirl centerfold and Sex and the City hottie, Victor Webster.

And for those who fear Webster's "Caleb" will suffer the same bland fate as Savant's "Matt", producers assure fans that they're intent on painting Caleb as a fully fleshed-out character.

Caleb will first appear in the show's second episode, according to After Elton. Caleb Brewer "smokes cigars, likes the Los Angeles Lakers, collects sports memorabilia, drinks scotch, likes guys, and is not afraid to admit it."

Sex and the City fans might remember Webster for his memorable appearance as Samantha Jones's afternoon insider trading/bed buddy.

Producers have confirmed that Webster will appear on the show frequently throughout the first season.

Share Your "Coming Out" Story With America

Showtime, the television network that's arguably gayer than Logo and here!, has begun casting for a new docu series about GLBT folks coming out.

Producers of Way Out "say they were alarmed by the recent San Francisco State University study about family response to a teen’s coming out and its conclusion that 'teens who experienced negative feedback were more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide.' The glimmer of hope the study offered however was that 'parents who take even baby steps to respond with equanimity instead of rejection can dramatically improve a gay youth's mental health outlook.' By raising awareness and visibility, they hope to help people take those 'baby steps' or better."