THERE
HAS
always
been
something
inherently
gay
about
sketch
comedy:
Carol
Burnett
in
a
Bob
Mackie
dress
made
out
of
drapes,
Milton
Berle
in
drag,
Dwayne
Edwards
and
Antoine
Merryweather
as
hosts
of
“Gays
on
Film,”
the
Ambiguously
Gay
Duo,
or
even
Mango
—
even
though
he
won’t
answer
questions
about
his
private
life.
But
for
many
gay
audience
members,
sometimes
it
isn’t
clear
whether
or
not
it’s
OK
to
laugh.
There
is
a
fine
line
between
being
the
butt
of
a
cruel
joke
and
supporting
a
show
that
gets
the
queer
sense
of
humor.
Leave
it
to
Logo,
digital
cable’s
all-gay
channel,
to
find
a
show
that
knows
just
how
to
tell
a
good
gay
joke
in
a
way
that
will
make
its
targets
laugh
without
feeling
offended.
In
fact,
it’s
more
like
the
jokes
that
gay
men
and
lesbians
tell
about
each
other
rather
than
the
ones
concocted
for
mainstream
television’s
straight
audiences.
“For
the
first
time,
I
think
we’re
putting
the
gayness
of
the
medium
front
and
center,”
says
Lisa
Sherman,
vice
president
and
general
manager
of
Logo.
“The
format
is
familiar,
and
we’re
exposing
our
stories.”
This
show
is
the
appropriately
titled
“The
Big
Gay
Sketch
Show,”
a
half-hour
of
skits,
jokes
and
parodies
that
is
like
“MadTV”
or
“Saturday
Night
Live,”
but
with
a
gay
bent.
The
six-episode
series
kicks
off
on
Tuesday,
April
24,
at
10
p.m.,
but
some
of
the
scenes
are
already
available
online
at
www.LogoOnline.com.
Sherman
says
the
idea
for
the
show
was
pitched
by
Joe
Del
Hierro
and
Daniel
MacDonald,
two
veteran
producers
who
serve
as
executive
producers
on
“BGSS”
along
with
Rosie
O’Donnell.
MacDonald
was
also
a
producer
on
O’Donnell’s
doomed
2003
Broadway
musical
“Taboo”
and
—
just
to
keep
everything
in
the
family
—
MacDonald’s
partner,
Gregg
Kaminsky,
founded
gay
cruise
line
R
Family
Vacations
with
O’Donnell’s
partner,
Kelli
O’Donnell.
Jim
Biederman,
who
was
an
executive
producer
for
the
gay-inclusive
“The
Kids
In
The
Hall,”
and
“MadTV’s”
Scott
King
also
serve
as
executive
producers,
and
King
does
double
duty
as
head
writer.
“We
felt
like
at
this
stage
in
our
life
as
a
channel
that
this
would
be
a
new
genre
that
we
would
want
to
introduce,”
says
Sherman.
“The
show
continues
to
represent
everything
that
Logo
has
been
about.
It’s
about
telling
our
stories,
and
this
is
about
telling
our
jokes.”
Amanda
Bearse
says
that
she
was
on
the
lookout
for
the
perfect
collaboration
with
Logo
and
told
her
agent
to
find
her
a
way
to
work
with
the
channel.
Now
a
long-time
sitcom
and
sketch
comedy
director,
Bearse
was
one
of
the
first
openly
gay
actors
on
television
during
her
stint
as
Marcy
D’Arcy
from
1987–97
on
Fox’s
“Married…With
Children.”
“I
pretty
much
begged
to
do
it,”
says
Bearse,
who
signed
on
to
direct
the
show.
“I
wanted
to
be
a
part
of
something
historic,
especially
given
my
experience
as
a
gay
person.”
THE
RESULT
IS
a
mish-mash
of
impersonations,
regular
characters
and
big
gay
comedy
sketches.
The
audience
will
see
a
commercial
for
a
“Pocket
Gay,”
check
into
the
world
of
lesbian
speed
dating
and
lesbian
phone
sex,
find
out
what
it
would
be
like
if
Broadway
legend
Elaine
Stritch
worked
at
Wal-Mart,
watch
a
straight
man
turn
into
a
flaming
queen
once
a
month
during
the
full
moon
and
see
gay
rewrites
of
classic
sitcoms
like
“All
In
the
Family,”
“The
Facts
of
Life”
and
“The
Honeymooners.”
All
of
this
is
done
with
a
cast
of
eight
versatile
—
and
mostly
gay
—
actors:
Erika
Ash,
Dion
Flynn,
Julie
Goldman,
Steven
Guarino,
Jonny
McGovern,
Kate
McKinnon,
Nicole
Paone
and
Michael
Serrato.
“I
just
finished
a
stint
on
the
‘The
Ricki
Lake
Show,’”
says
cast
member
and
party
promoter
Jonny
McGovern,
who
previously
found
a
modicum
of
gay
success
with
his
single
“Soccer
Practice”
and
his
Gay
Pimp
persona.
“The
producers
had
heard
of
me
and
I
had
them
come
down
to
my
party
called
Boys
Gone
Wild.
I
had
my
first
meeting
with
them
in
the
back
room
of
[New
York
gay
bar]
Boy’s
Room
where
all
the
go-go
boys
were
changing.
There
were
all
these
boys
with
their
butts
and
wieners
hanging
out,
and
the
producers
talking
to
me
about
this.
A
few
months
later
I
had
my
first
audition.”
Nicole
Paone,
who
is
“straight-ish,”
has
been
doing
what
she
calls
“gay
sketch
comedy”
for
years
with
the
performance
group
“The
Deviants,”
which
cast
mate
Michael
Serrato
is
also
a
part
of.
“At
first
I
wondered
what
the
show
was
going
to
be,
and
how
it
was
going
to
be
structured
and
what
the
tone
would
be,
but
as
it
took
shape,
it
became
something
that
I
feel
like
I
fit
nicely
and
I’m
proud
of
what
it
became,”
Paone,
whose
“Lorna
Doone
Lady”
is
a
stand-out,
says.
“I
certainly
wondered
what
it
was
going
to
be,
but
I
wasn’t
worried
that
I
was
going
to
be
pigeon-holed
[into
only
gay
projects
in
the
future].”
For
seasoned
comedic
actor
Dion
Flynn,
the
show
and
its
title
has
changed
his
life
considerably.
He
says
the
show
was
originally
called
“Simply
Sketch”
and
...
