
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2023 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
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.
4. There's a gender variant kid. For all the reasons other shows fail around transgender and gender variant issues, this one succeeds. Marty's kid Roscoe (played by the exuberant and adorable Donis Leonard Jr.) likes to wear girls clothing and wants to play Sandy in the school's production of Grease. While Marty is confused -- not wanting to push his son away, but not really knowing what to do with a crossdressing pre-teen --he goes to bat for the kid. After Roscoe gets the lead of Sandy in Grease, a teacher calls to say another student's mom has complained about a boy getting the role. Marty shoots back at her, "He wants to sing 'Summer Nights' and wear a poodle skirt. Now Britney Kaufman's mother can't stand it that her little baby isn't getting every goddamn thing she wants so she's off on some kind of gender witch hunt." He later tells Roscoe's less than involved mom (played by Vampire Diaries' Dawn Oliveria) that the kid is "experimenting with different modes of gender identification." What makes it all compelling is that we see Marty (generally) trying to do the right thing by Roscoe, and failing sometimes -- something that doesn't happen to him with his work life -- but like Kurt Hummel's father on Glee, he's trying to understand the kid. So is Roscoe gay? Transgender? Or just playing around the way kids should be allowed to do? We know as much as Marty does but, based on episode one, it'll be a fascinating journey watching Roscoe find out.
5. Glynn Turman elevates every TV show he's on. Playing Marty's dad, Turman is a psychologist grandfather who helps Marty accept Roscoe's gender play. Turman, who got his start on stage in Raison in the Sun, has had a long and storied career -- especially for an African American man working in Hollywood in the '70s and beyond. As a director he worked on The Parenthood, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, The Wayans Bros, and A Different World, the Lisa Bonet/Cosby spin-off in which he played the role of Colonel Taylor for five seasons. He's one of the most underrated actors on TV, used to be married to Aretha Franklin, and, for trivia lovers, he was originally cast as Han Solo in Star Wars before Lucas recast with Harrison Ford. "That was in George Lucas' book," Turman toldCreative Loafing Atlanta. "Apparently George Lucas had me in mind for the role, and then thought that there might be too much controversy between a white Princess Leia and a black Han Solo - because those were the times - and he didn't want to get into that. At the time, I had no idea. I just went to the audition, did it and got out of there. Years later, I read his book and said, 'What?' I'm waiting to run into Harrison Ford and get my cut of his career."
deliciousdiane
DON'T MISS THE OUT100 SPECIAL 3 DAY MARATHON STARTING NOVEMBER 24TH!
Journey through the year’s influential Out100 – the most iconic and long-standing celebration of LGBTQ+ icons and allies – in a 1-hour television special spotlighting the LGBTQ+ people shaping the world today.
WATCH & LIVESTREAM ON ADVOCATECHANNEL.COM
AND ON THE ADVOCATE CHANNEL APP
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Lauren Boebert Caught Fondling Date’s Genitals During Family-Friendly Musical: Video
September 15 2023 11:20 PM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Prosecutors Say Nonbinary Mexican Magistrate Died in Horrific Murder-Suicide
November 25 2023 1:45 PM
Most Americans Don’t Want States Able to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Kids
November 24 2023 11:55 AM
Log Cabin Republicans President on Giving Antigay Mike Johnson 'The Benefit of the Doubt'
November 24 2023 8:53 AM
Stephen Miller's Legal Firm Sues Arizona School District Over Trans-Supportive Policies
November 23 2023 12:17 PM
Mike Johnson Says His High School Friends Would Have Claimed to Be Trans to Spy on Girls
November 22 2023 5:00 PM
Trending stories
Most Recent
Recommended Stories for You
Diane Anderson-Minshall
Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.
Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.