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By JIM FARME
When Michael Alvear left for a 10-week stay in England this April, it wasn’t
just a pleasure trip — or at least a trip for his pleasure.
The Atlanta-based gay advice columnist (he is the Woody Miller of “Need
Wood” fame) went to audition as co-host of a new reality series scheduled
to air on British TV’s Channel 4 later this summer.
Called “Sex Inspectors,” the show hits today’s hot-button
premise: a makeover with a catch. Here, married heterosexual couples get their
sex lives “made-over” by two co-hosts, Alvear and Tracey Cox, from
the BBC’s “Would Like to Meet.” Sexual problems might include
mismatched libidos, inhibitions about suggesting new ideas or fantasies, difficulties
achieving orgasm or poor body image, Alvear says.
“I think that the producers are very concerned that ‘Sex Inspectors’ is
not pornographic,” he explains. “They don’t want this to
be some sort of freak show.”
Makeover candidates on the show must be married couples — with a marriage
certificate required as proof. But Alvear, known for raising ire with his columns
in publications, including the Washington Blade, admits that the new show is
still causing a flap.
“It’s definitely controversial. The right wing is up in arms over
the show in Great Britain,” Alvear says.
Mediawatch-UK, a British media-monitoring group dedicated to promoting “standards
of taste and decency,” already has the program in its sites.
“Channel 4 has been at the forefront of smutty, obscene and pornographic
[programs] and it comes as no surprise they want to venture into this kind
of material,” says John Beyer, Mediawatch director. “I think it
is a mistake.”
Alvear says he was approached by “Sex Inspectors” producers after
the success of his book, “Men are Pigs, But We Love Bacon,” a collection
of his advice on sex, geared toward gay men, that was taken from his “Need
Wood” columns.
Alvear isn’t sure why the British producers wanted a gay man as co-host
for a straight sex show.
“I guess they wanted to give the show some edginess,” he says. “I
know that they didn’t want it to be like a ‘Queer Eye for the Straight
Couple.’”
Stephanie Harris, the series editor of “Sex Inspectors,” says
Alvear was chosen because of his background and personality — and because
they theorized a gay man would develop a rapport with a straight woman.
“We feel he is very qualified to talk about what men like, and how to
please men — alongside all the issues they face emotionally and physically
when it comes to sex,” Harris says.
After agreeing to audition, Alvear flew in for a screen test with Cox, a best-selling
author of several sex and relationship books, and the two clicked.
The show’s first episode features a husband who suffers from premature
ejaculation and a wife who is a nymphomaniac. “How’s that for a
pilot” Alvear quips.
The six-show run of “Sex Inspectors” debuts on Thursday, Aug.
12. But Alvear says that by the time audiences see the third one, producers
will decide whether to continue the show. Obviously, Alvear and the crew hope
the series goes the route of other British shows — like “Queer
as Folk,” which began on Channel 4 — that have then become Americanized
hits.
Gareth McLean, television editor for the left-leaning British newspaper the
Guardian, describes “Sex Inspectors” as “a variation” on
makeover shows like “What Not to Wear” and “Changing Rooms,” which
airs as “Trading Spaces” on TLC in the United States.
But while McLean says there “seems to be no limit to the public’s
appetite for programs that invade the darkest recesses of people’s lives
and expose them to the light,” he worries that “Sex Inspectors” may “be
limited in what it can discuss — depending on the time it goes out.”
He says this might be a problem.
“If it pussyfoots around the issues, I can’t see it succeeding,” McLean
says.
Alvear says he’s just glad to have the chance to reach a new audience,
an opportunity he credits to fellow gay sex writer Dan Savage.
“They actually asked Dan to do a screen test, and he said no,” he
says. “My guess is that he’s got such a great life, he doesn’t
need it. I mean, he’s got a great job, a partner and a kid. Look at me.
I’m single — I’m leaving my dog.”
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