TV section: Metro Weekly

The Melancholy Sadness

Renée Richards changed the world -- and paid a price

Published on October 6, 2011, 4:20am

Women's professional tennis has been a hotbed for social change, from the hear-us-roar launch of the women's pro tour in the 1970s to the emergence of openly lesbian tennis stars. Decades later, Martina Navratilova is a beloved figure and the U.S. Tennis Association renamed its flagship New York facility the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. But as Renée reminds us, not every story of change had such a fairy-tale ending. {Renee Richards (Photo by ESPN)} Dr. Renée Richards became ...[more]

Role Model

Sajdah Golde moved from D.C. to Hollywood and found herself in the middle of a reality series

Published on July 21, 2011, 1:30am

By day, Sajdah Golde is a field organizer with the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Vote for Equality initiative, canvassing neighborhoods that voted for California's anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8 in 2008. ''They call it homophobia, as if folks fear gay people,'' says Golde. ''When you think about any other fear, you're taught to face your fears. So if we meet someone who's homophobic, we stand right in front of them and tell them about what life is like to be an ...[more]

Housewife Commission

Local artist and former bartender Glenn Fry was tapped to be part of Bravo's The Real Housewives of D.C.

Published on August 5, 2010, 2:00am

Think Michaele Salahi is the only local you'll recognize on Bravo's new Real Housewives of D.C.? The infamous White House party crasher may have gotten all the headlines to date, but she's just one of the show's five housewives. And then there are all the local residents who'll make guest turns. People like Glenn Fry. ''It was a whole-day ordeal just getting the thing set up -- getting the cameras rolling, and microphones and lights,'' says the local artist. Fry ...[more]

Birch Society

Thoughtful GLBT people craving something deeper than 'Queer Eye' should be heartened by the arrival of 'Birch & Co' on 'here!'

Published on August 11, 2005, 12:00am

Move over Univision, BET, and Lifetime Television for Women -- we have arrived. While American entertainment has long had gay flavor, the dawn of here! and LOGO bring us two channels dedicated to all things GLBT. (Granted, here! management will point out that they've been around since 2002, but you're excused if you didn't notice.) These two cable and satellite-delivered networks serve up more than the sexy beefcake that drives gay advertising dollars. As a matter of fact, former Human ...[more]

All Soaped Up

''One Tree Hill'' on WB

Published on April 22, 2004, 12:00am

As television critics ponder their post-mortems for the 2003-04 season, much attention will be paid to this year's crop of guilty pleasures. Whether it's the O.C., Simple Life or Average Joe, we all secretly harbor shows we're embarrassed to admit we watch. So let me be the first to come out of the closet and rave about the WB's One Tree Hill. A melodramatic, deliciously awful teen soap, One Tree Hill follows in the tradition of Dawson's Creek, that other ...[more]

Fantastical Voyage

''Wonderfalls'' on Fox

Published on April 1, 2004, 12:00am

In the same whimsical, refreshing style that made Ally McBeal such a treat for millions of viewers, the Fox network has created its spiritual heir, a delightful new comedy called Wonderfalls. The hour-long series focuses on Jaye Tyler, a disaffected recent college grad, who's moved back home to Niagara Falls, New York, only to end up as a cashier in a cheesy souvenir shop. Bored and directionless, Jaye (played by Caroline Dhavernas) fritters away the hours, waiting desperately for some ...[more]

Unwittingly Hooked

''Playing it Straight'' on Fox

Published on March 25, 2004, 12:00am

A former English teacher of mine used to say John Grisham novels were like Doritos. Even though they make you fat and have no nutritional value, once you open the bag, you keep eating, one after the next. Certain reality shows are a lot like that. Fox's latest offering, Playing It Straight, is the latest specimen. The show follows a naïve Wisconsin girl, the beautiful Jackie, who's whisked away to a Nevada ranch, where she's marooned with 14 handsome suitors. ...[more]

Swan Dive

''Celeste in the City'' on ABC Family Network

Published on March 11, 2004, 12:00am

It's a universal truth, widely accepted, that inside every gay man is a blonde, neon-wearing, glitter-adorned, Justin Timberlake-loving teenaged girl. It's why movies like Jawbreaker and Legally Blonde are made and why Hello Kitty lip gloss still reigns supreme. It's also the driving force behind the derivative and predictable new movie, Celeste in the City, premiering this Sunday on the ABC Family cable network. A modern-day fairy tale about an ugly duckling moved to New York City, Celeste in the ...[more]

Flash in the Plan

Comedy Central's ''Straight Plan for the Gay Man''

Published on March 4, 2004, 12:00am

The brilliance of Saturday Night Live sketches is that they're short. The writers conceive of something funny, milk it for all it's worth and wrap the whole thing up in eight minutes. It's giggle, giggle and on to the next joke. That simple yet masterful framework is lost on cable television. Cable nets such as Bravo and Comedy Central take a great idea, milk it for all it's worth and then order another 27 episodes, not counting the repeats. As ...[more]

Iron Jawed Angels

Hilary Swank as Alice Paul on HBO

Published on February 12, 2004, 12:00am

The history geek in me beamed with nerdy delight when I learned HBO was making a movie about Alice Paul, feminist hero and resident bad-ass of the American suffragette movement. It's a gutsy gamble for HBO to tackle the little-known story of Paul, whose efforts brought about the 1920 constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. Americans are notorious for their apathy toward history. Few of us read scholarly tomes, and not many more tune into the staid documentaries ...[more]

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