July 15, 2003(2003-07-15)– October 30, 2007(2007-10-30)
Queer Eye is an American reality television series that premiered on the Bravo network in July 2003, initially broadcast as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The series was created by executive producers David Collins and Michael Williams along with David Metzler through their company, Scout Productions.[1] Each episode features a team of gay professionals in the fields of fashion, personal grooming, interior design, entertaining, and culture collectively known as the "Fab Five" performing a makeover (in the parlance of the show, a "make-better"): revamping wardrobe, redecorating, and offering lifestyle advice.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy quickly became a surprise success, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004, with subsequent merchandising, international franchising of the concept, and a woman-oriented spin-off, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl. The series name was abbreviated to Queer Eye at the beginning of its third season to include making over individuals regardless of gender or sexual orientation.[2]
Queer Eye ended production in June 2006 and the final episode aired October 30, 2007.[3] During September 2008, the Fine Living Network briefly aired Queer Eye in syndication.[4] The series was also run again by the CBS-affiliated Twist network in 2023.
Producers Collins and Metzler were given approval by Bravo to develop Queer Eye after the ratings success the network experienced when it counterprogrammed a marathon of its 2002 series Gay Weddings at the same time as Super Bowl XXXVII during 2003 January.[6] The pilot episode was filmed in Boston, Massachusetts during June 2002. Of the eventual Fab Five, only Kressley and Allen appeared. The culture, design and grooming roles were filled by James Hannaham, Charles Daboub Jr., and Sam Spector, respectively.
The pilot was delivered to Bravo during September 2002, and was well received in audience testing. Soon thereafter, NBC purchased Bravo and ordered 12 episodes of the series. NBC promoted the show extensively, including billboard campaigns and print advertisements in national magazines.[1]
Kyan Douglas and Thom Filicia joined the show for these episodes, along with Blair Boone in the role of "culture guy". Boone filmed two episodes (which were broadcast as the second and third episodes and for which he was credited as a "guest culture expert") but was replaced by Rodriguez beginning with production of the third episode.[7] Each episode was shot over a span of four days and edited to create the perception that the events of the episode took place in a single day.[1]
Format
The majority of Queer Eye episodes use the same basic format. The episode begins with the Fab Five in an SUV (usually in New York City, where the series was based) discussing their heterosexual client. The Five review details of the subject's personal life and note problems in their various areas of expertise. The Five usually have a specific event for which they plan to prepare the client. These included everything from throwing a backyard barbecue for friends to preparing to ask for a salary increase to proposing marriage.
Upon arriving at the subject's home, the Fab Five go through his belongings, performing a running commentary of catty remarks about the state of his wardrobe, home decor, cleanliness and grooming. They also speak with the subject and family members to get an idea of the sort of style they like and their goals for the experience and to discuss the planned event.
Series logo for the first and second season
The remainder of the first half of the episode follows the Fab Five as they escort the subject to various locales to select new furniture and clothes. Often, Ted demonstrates how to select and prepare food for a particular dish that the subject will prepare for the special event, and Kyan takes him for spa treatments and a new haircut. Each such segment includes a style tip superimposed on the screen, summarizing the style issues addressed in the segment. Interspersed with this are interview segments in which friends and family members of the subject discuss his style issues.
In the next section, the subject returns to a completely redecorated home and models articles of his new wardrobe for the Fab Five. Each of the Five offer final words of advice and encouragement, accompanied by supplies of grooming products, food and kitchenware, and in some cases expensive electronics items such as entertainment centers and computers.
The final section follows the subject as he prepares for the special event, with the Fab Five watching edited footage of his preparations and critiquing how well or how poorly he followed their advice. Finally, the subject is followed through the event itself, with the Five again performing a running commentary and the subject often expressing his deep gratitude to the Fab Five for their counsel. A final tip from each of the Fab Five, usually relating to one of the topics covered in the episode, plays just before the credits.
Special episodes of Queer Eye that deviated from this formula included episodes in which the Fab Five journeyed outside the greater New York area, including shows filmed in England, Texas, and Las Vegas. In two episodes, the Fab Five made over homosexual men (both of which aired during June, Gay Pride Month, during 2004 and 2006) and in one episode made over a transgender man. The show also featured makeovers of members of the Boston Red Sox after their 2004 World Series victory, several holiday specials, and, in the final season, a "Mister Straight Guy" pageant featuring subjects from the series' history.
Popular and critical response
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy debuted on July 15, 2003 and the series quickly attained high ratings, peaking during September of that year with 3.34 million viewers per episode.[8] The popularity of the series established the Fab Five as media celebrities, with high-profile appearances at the Emmys and a "make-better" of Jay Leno and his The Tonight Show set in August of that year.[9] The members parlayed their statuses into endorsement deals, most notably when Thom Filicia became the spokesperson for Pier 1 Imports.[10][11]
American press reviews were largely positive. Out magazine listed the Fab Five in its "OUT 100", the "greatest gay success stories" of 2003.[12]Instinct magazine declared Kressley one of the "Leading Men" of 2004.[13]
The series attracted criticism for making generalizations about sexual identity, often objecting to ideas that homosexual men are inherently more fashionable and stylish than heterosexuals.[14] Among those making this critique were Tom Shales in The Washington Post ("stereotypes on parade"), Richard Goldstein in Village Voice ("Haven't fags always been consigned to the role of body servant?") and United States Congressman Barney Frank speaking to the New York Post. Author Gustavus Stadler presents similar critiques of Queer Eye emphasizing the expectation placed on homosexual men by society. Queer Eye, Stadler claims, is an example of an unrealistic world in which all queer men are fashionable, hip, witty, and very much enjoy helping a straight man to reach their straight potential. Similarly, Stadler claims this is why heterosexual men find enjoyment in watching Queer Eye, as they envy the "simple" imaginary gay lifestyle held by queer men; a life free from divorce rates, children, and demanding jobs.[15] Anthropologist Lionel Tiger criticized the show's portrayal of heterosexual men: "Heteromales are the last group it is acceptable to bash as a class. The homosexual fellows on Queer Eye seem to provide riveting hilarity to especially female viewers. What if there were 5 Swedes telling Kenyans how to live elegantly and fashionably? What if 5 Catholics told Jews how to dress, decorate, and court? The program is degraded and degrading".[16]
Before same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the United States, there was a study on the distribution of attitudes about gay marriage from residents in Louisiana, Arizona, and Minnesota. Reportedly in this study, 60.9% disagreed with gay marriage with the "intensity of disagreement also stronger for those who disagree compared to those who agree".[17] While Queer Eye for the Straight Guy did last from 2003 to 2007, the attitudes of the U.S audience during these years might have had an effect on the show's popularity during their airing.
With the success of the first season, original "culture guy" Blair Boone sued the show for breach of contract, claiming he should be paid not just for two episodes but for the season that he had been contracted to film.[18]
The popularity of the series inspired a number of parodies. Comedy Central hosted a satirical television series named Straight Plan for the Gay Man, which featured four heterosexual men teaching homosexual men how to be more stereotypically straight, redecorating their homes with neon beer signs and teaching them about sports. South Park spoofed the show and its hosts in the episode "South Park Is Gay!", in which the protagonists learn that the Fab Five are actually the disguises of evil Crab People aiming for world domination by converting heterosexual men into metrosexuals.
Queer Eye won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program during 2004 and was nominated for another Emmy in the same category during 2005. The series also received GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Reality Program during 2004 and 2005, and was nominated for a third during 2006.
In the second season, ratings decreased, averaging about 1.8 million viewers per episode with an average of 804,000 viewers in the important 18-40 demographic.[8][19] Despite this, new episodes continued to be broadcast for two more seasons. After Bravo confirmed in early 2007 that Queer Eye had been cancelled, the remaining fifth-season episodes were billed as Queer Eye: The Final Season[20] and aired twice weekly beginning October 2, 2007.[21]
The show attracted more criticism than other similar television series from the same time period.[22] James Keller asserts that the title itself seems to cross a boundary; gay men objectifying straight men.[22] Keller also criticizes the exemplification of stereotypes on both sides; gay men who are effeminate, only pursuing artistic careers, while straight men are rude, uncultured and uncivilized. The largest criticism from Keller to be that even if the stereotypes are correct, the show tended to take too simplistic of a view, relying on a sophisticated audience.[22]
Joshua Gamson praised the series and its portrayal of gay men on television saying that it has "produced a fascinating reversal of fortune" where gay men are admired, and straight men are praised for being more like gay men.[23]
Spin-off series
During January 2005, Scout Productions premiered the spin-off series Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, set in Los Angeles. It featured a cast of four lifestyle experts (three men and a woman, known as the "Gal Pals") who performed makeovers for women. The show was cancelled after one season.
International adaptations
Queer Eye's American success caused television networks in several countries to syndicate the American episodes, with a number of countries creating their own local versions of Queer Eye for broadcast in their countries. However, few of these homegrown versions have proven as successful as the original, and most did not last long before cancellation. Licensing of the format is managed by NBCUniversal.
NBCU licensed UK television production house vialondon.tv[24] to produce local versions for Europe, with Flextech's Living channel doing the same to produce the United Kingdom's version after a first attempt at a UK production by Making Time was abandoned.[25]
The first episode of the Finnish version, Sillä silmällä, created controversy for the blatant product placement considered to be a transgression of a Finnish law against surreptitious advertising.
The soundtrack for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was released February 10, 2004, in the USA. It reached number one on the electronic music chart, number two on the soundtrack charts and the top 40 in the Billboard 200 album chart.[31] In Australia, the soundtrack was released for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and the popularity of the series in Australia resulted in the soundtrack scoring in the top 10 of the Australian album chart on March 8, 2004. It was certified gold in Australia in March 2004. The song "Superstar" by Jamelia from the soundtrack also went to number one on the Australian singles charts in the same week, and the theme song of the show, "All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" by Widelife, went to the top 20 that month. "All Things" scored a 2005 Juno Award for "Dance Recording of the Year" for Widelife (Rachid Wehbi & Ian Nieman). Rob Eric was the executive producer for the album.
The book tie-in Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab 5's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better and Living Better was published in 2004 by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Random House.[33]
DVD releases
Several DVDs were released in conjunction with the series. Kressley, Filicia and Allen each had individual releases emphasizing their topics of expertise. Douglas and Rodriguez were featured together in a single DVD focused on grooming. Additional DVD releases include Queer Eye for the Red Sox (featuring the team makeover episode) and a multi-disc box set.[34]
Netflix ordered eight new episodes of Queer Eye in January 2017, to feature a new Fab Five.[35] Scout Productions has contributed involvement with the revival, which trades the original New York setting for Georgia in the first two seasons, and Missouri in the third and fourth.[36][37]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 7.35/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Queer Eye adapts for a different era without losing its style, charm, or sense of fun, proving that the show's formula remains just as sweetly addictive even after a change in location and a new group of hosts."[39] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[40] Following its success, Netflix has subsequently renewed it for seven seasons.[41]
1 2 3 Giltz, Michael (September 2, 2003). "Queer Eye Confidential". The Advocate. pp.40–4, issue 897. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
↑ Brumbaugh, Stacey (2008). "Attitudes toward Gay Marriage in States Undergoing Marriage Law Transformation". Journal of Marriage and Family. 70 (2): 345–359. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00486.x. JSTOR40056279.
A fag hag is, in gay slang, a woman who associates either mostly or exclusively with gay and bisexual men. The phrase originated in gay male culture in the United States and was historically an insult. Some women who associate with gay men object to being called fag hags while others embrace the term. The male counterpart, for heterosexual men who have similar interpersonal relationships with gay and bisexual men, is fag stag.
Bravo is an American basic cable television network, launched on December 8, 1980. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel originally focused on programming related to fine arts and film. Since the 2000s, its brand has focused heavily on reality series targeted at 25-to-54-year-old women and the LGBTQIA+ community at large.
Boy Meets Boy is an American reality television series broadcast by Bravo. The series premiered on July 29, 2003, and it concluded with its sixth episode on September 2, 2003. Filmed in Palm Springs, the series depicted leading man James Getzlaff selecting a partner among a group of fifteen men, referred to as mates. Getzlaff and the mates participated in one-on-one dates and group activities, with Getzlaff eliminating three mates from the competition in each episode. However, in the fourth episode, it was revealed to Getzlaff that the mates actually consisted of both gay and straight men. If the final mate in the competition was a gay man, he would win a $25,000 reward and a vacation to New Zealand with Getzlaff. Conversely, if the final mate was a straight man, then he alone would win the $25,000 reward. The series was hosted by English television presenter Dani Behr.
Edward Reese Allen is an American author and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the Bravo network's television program Queer Eye, and has been the host of the TV cooking competition series Chopped since its launch in 2009, as well as Chopped Junior, which began in mid-2015. On April 13, 2014, he became the host of another Food Network show, originally called America's Best Cook; a retooled version of that show, retitled All-Star Academy, debuted on March 1, 2015. In early 2015, he also hosted a four-part special, Best. Ever. which scoured America for its best burgers, pizza, breakfast, and barbecue. He is a longtime contributing writer to Esquire magazine and is the author of two cookbooks, and regularly appears on the Food Network show Beat Bobby Flay and other television cooking shows.
Thom Filicia is an American interior designer, known for his role as an interior design expert on the American television program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He is also a co-author of a book based on the show.
Carson Kressley is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He was also the motivational host of the TV show How to Look Good Naked and OWN's Carson Nation and a contestant on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars.
Jai Rodriguez is an American actor and musician best known as the culture guide on the Bravo network's Emmy-winning American reality television program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He also co-wrote a book with the other Queer Eye hosts. Rodriguez starred as Geoffrey in the sitcom Malibu Country from 2012 to 2013.
Straight Plan for the Gay Man is an American comedy television series that premiered on February 23, 2004, on Comedy Central. It is a parody of Bravo's hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Four straight comedians – Curtis Gwinn, Billy Merritt, Kyle Grooms, and Rob Riggle – make over three gay men to pass as straight. The show only ran for three episodes. Music composed by Bob Golden.
Fag stag and fruit fly are slang terms for a heterosexual man who either enjoys or prefers the company of, or simply has numerous friends who are, gay or bisexual people.
"South Park Is Gay!" is the eighth episode of the seventh season and the 104th overall episode of the American animated sitcom South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 22, 2003. In the episode, Kyle struggles to understand a new metrosexual fad that has sprung around the men and boys of South Park and is the only one who does not want to conform to it. The episode features a parody of the TV show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
Tickled Pink was an hour-long television special which aired multiple times during July, 2006, chronicled television shows that homosexuals have identified with over the years. The show featured such entertainers as Richard Andreoli, Kelsey Grammer, Sandra Bernhard, Diahann Carroll, Susan Saint James, Bruce Vilanch, Marc Cherry, Lynda Carter, Bob Mackie, Jean Smart, Jason Stuart, Frank DeCaro, Barbara Eden, Mike Gray, Carson Kressley, Rue McClanahan, Judy Gold, Thom Filicia, and Mario Cantone. Tickled Pink was produced for TV Land by Linda Ellerbee’s Lucky Duck Productions.
Aussie Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is an Australian reality television series that was based on the original and hugely popular American series, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
Queer heterosexuality is heterosexual practice or identity that is also controversially called queer. "Queer heterosexuality" is argued to consist of heterosexual, cisgender, and allosexual persons who show nontraditional gender expressions, or who adopt gender roles that differ from the hegemonic masculinity and femininity of their particular culture.
Scout Productions is a film and television production company owned by Michael Williams and David Collins. David Collins created the groundbreaking television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which revolutionized reality television and the Bravo Network. Queer Eye aired in 120 countries and included 19 international formats. It made its mark critically and on the cultural landscape, winning an Emmy, a PGA Award, and two GLAAD Media Awards. In January 2017, it was announced Netflix and Scout were producing a reimagining of the series with an all new Fab Five. The new show premiered in February 2018 to positive reviews and launched the Netflix foray into original unscripted series.
Karamo Karega Brown is an American television host, reality television personality, author, actor, and activist. Brown began his career in 2004 on the MTV reality show The Real World: Philadelphia. He currently stars as the culture expert in the Netflix series Queer Eye.
Queer Eye is an American reality television series, initially released February 7, 2018 on Netflix. A reboot of the original 2003 series produced by Bravo, each episode has five advisors spend a week applying their expertise to help improve someone's life situation.
Jonathan McDonald Van Ness, also commonly referred to by his initials J.V.N, is an American hairstylist, podcast host and television personality. He is best known as the grooming expert on the Netflix series Queer Eye, for his work on the web series parody Gay of Thrones, and for hosting the Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast. He is also known for comedy tours, the 2023 tour entitled Fun & Slutty with Jonathan Van Ness.
Bobby Berk is an American interior designer, television personality, and writer. The recipient of four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, he starred in the Netflix series Queer Eye as the interior design expert for its first eight seasons.
"All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" is a song composed by Canadian electronic music production team Widelife with Simone Denny of Love Inc. on vocals. It was the theme song for the television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and was an official song of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Queer Eye is a television franchise based upon a team of gay professionals giving lifestyle and fashion makeovers to guests.
References
Engstrom, Erika. "The 'Reality' of Reality Television Wedding Programs". Based on "Engstrom's "Hegemony in Reality-Based TV Programming: The World According to A Wedding Story (Media Report to Women (2003) 31(1) 10–14) and "Hegemony and Counterhegemony in Bravo's Gay Weddings (Popular Culture Review (2004) 15(2) 34–35). Collected as chapter 13 in Galician, Mary-Lou and Debra L. Merskin (2007). Critical Thinking about Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Media Literacy Applications. Routledge. ISBN0-8058-5615-3. pp.335–53.
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