#1
Posted: 3/2/04 at 11:23am
This is hysterical.. I don't know if I could have passed for gay...bake a souffle? sing a song by memory by Barry Manilow?
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"Playing It Straight," which will debut on March 12, challenges a college student named Jackie to successfully select a straight man from the group of 12. If she succeeds, she and the man will split one million dollars. On the other hand, should she pick a gay man, he would then get the entire million-dollar purse and she would walk away with nothing.
Finding gay men who could play it straight was a challenge in itself. However, Fox's main concern was making sure it wasn't duped by straight men pretending to be gay just so they could win the money. That's when network executives implemented the controversial test.
"In the audition process, we made all men who said they were gay demonstrate to us that they actually like to be intimate with men," said Laura Duckettworth, vice president of reality TV programming at Fox. "They were permitted to bring a man with them or we offered to provide one. At that point, we made them engage in several acts of sexual activity with one another for a period lasting no less than 20 minutes."
In addition to taking part in the physical test, Duckettworth said all alleged gay contestants must pass a fashion test, bake a souffle and sing a song by Barry Manilow, Barbra Striesand or Bette Midler by memory.
Although Duckettworth has fielded many complaints from gay activists, she said Fox stands by its decision.
"A million dollars is not pocket change, and we needed to ensure that this show is on the up and up," she said. "Our viewers must know that the gays are gay and the heteros are heteros. If we did indeed get duped by a straight man posing as gay, then we at least have the satisfaction of knowing he endured 20 minutes of hell with another man."
___________________
"Playing It Straight," which will debut on March 12, challenges a college student named Jackie to successfully select a straight man from the group of 12. If she succeeds, she and the man will split one million dollars. On the other hand, should she pick a gay man, he would then get the entire million-dollar purse and she would walk away with nothing.
Finding gay men who could play it straight was a challenge in itself. However, Fox's main concern was making sure it wasn't duped by straight men pretending to be gay just so they could win the money. That's when network executives implemented the controversial test.
"In the audition process, we made all men who said they were gay demonstrate to us that they actually like to be intimate with men," said Laura Duckettworth, vice president of reality TV programming at Fox. "They were permitted to bring a man with them or we offered to provide one. At that point, we made them engage in several acts of sexual activity with one another for a period lasting no less than 20 minutes."
In addition to taking part in the physical test, Duckettworth said all alleged gay contestants must pass a fashion test, bake a souffle and sing a song by Barry Manilow, Barbra Striesand or Bette Midler by memory.
Although Duckettworth has fielded many complaints from gay activists, she said Fox stands by its decision.
"A million dollars is not pocket change, and we needed to ensure that this show is on the up and up," she said. "Our viewers must know that the gays are gay and the heteros are heteros. If we did indeed get duped by a straight man posing as gay, then we at least have the satisfaction of knowing he endured 20 minutes of hell with another man."
Call it a regime change...
