5 Reasons You’ll Love  

After a slew of brilliant TV— Dexter, Homeland,
Californication, Weeds — Showtime knows a
good formula for a sexy, messy, must-see series, and this week’s newest, House
of Lies, is no different. Premiering
Sunday, sandwiched between season openers of Shameless and Californication, House of Lies offers a subversive and scathing look at Don Cheadle’s Marty Kahn, a management
consultant from a top-tier firm who manages to be both narcissistic and
self-loathing at the same time but always cutthroat, willing to do anything to
get his clients what they want. Here’s why LGBT viewers should tune in:

1. Don Cheadle has never been hotter. Yes, there’s lies,
greed, a lot of talk about grabbing life by the balls, and a stark reminder of
why Occupy Wall Street is so damn successful, and Cheadle’s main bang is his
pill-popping competition (who used to be his ex-wife). But Cheadle as Marty
Kahn is sexy and naked in nearly the very first scene, which means gay viewers
will have something to think about every time Marty talks about the shaft and
the balls to a roomful of stodgy old white guys.

2. Kristen Bell is finally legal. After starring as a super
hot teen in Veronica Mars and Heroes, it’s nice to see Bell playing an adult and thus
eligible for all our lesbian ogling. As Cheadle’s lovely colleague Jeannie,
Bell is smart, acerbic, and holding her own in the boys club. She remains a
sort of moral barometer at times when the show is best, when it’s focusing
squarely on the intense greed and amorality of the 1%. In one scene, Marty asks
why the corporate moguls shouldn’t justify their bonuses, Jeannie shoots back,
“Because they robbed the American public of billions of dollars by selling them
bad mortgages.” So true, so hot. Oh, and she doesn’t sleep with a guy in
episode one but she does get lap dances from lady strippers. That’s enough to
sustain lesbians for an episode, but it doesn’t have to. Because…

3. There’s unadulterated lesbian sex. Two hot chicks (one of
them a conservative mogul’s wife), bathroom nooky, and a coming out. Worth
every second of your TiVo’s space.