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CNN Live Today

Interview With Kirk Marcolina

Aired July 29, 2003 - 11:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, boy. The Bravo Network is breaking ground tonight with a premier of a gay dating show, along the lines of "The Bachelor." It's called "Boy Meets Boy." It showcase handsome leading man, James, who must choose from 15 potential dates. One by one, James will eliminate contestants with help from his best gal pal, Andre.
And here's the twist. Some potential mates are straight and James doesn't know that. Like we said, oh, boy, in "Boy Meets Boy."

Well are viewers ready for a new gay reality television show? And what are advertisers saying about that? Are they buying it? Kirk Marcolina -- did I say your last name right, Kirk?

KIRK MARCOLINA, SUPERVISING PRODUCER, "BOY MEETS BOY": Marcolina. Hi, Daryn. How are you doing?

KAGAN: Marcolina. I'm doing OK. He's co-executive producer of "Boy meets boy." He's in Los Angeles. God morning, thanks for being with us.

MARCOLINA: Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: Well I think I already kind of gave a pretty explanation of how this going work, but you have your main, I guess, bachelor. This guy James.

MARCOLINA: We call him our leading man.

KAGAN: Oh, your leading man. I love it. OK, and he has 15 guys to choose from.

MARCOLINA: That's correct.

KAGAN: Now I thought the interesting twist is that among those 15, how many are actually straight men?

MARCOLINA: Well, we're not allowed to tell you how many. We can tell you...

KAGAN: Sure, you can. Just between you and me, Kirk.

MARCOLINA: Yes, right.

KAGAN: I'll be the gal pal here.

MARCOLINA: More than one, I can assure you of that. And the audience finds out who is straight and who is gay at the end of every episode after the elimination ceremonies. So after James chooses who to eliminate after the show, we reveal people's sexual orientation. So viewers need to tune in and find out who's gay and who straight.

KAGAN: And to do that, it's not just kind of mind-bending here. I think you are trying to break down some stereotypes?

MARCOLINA: Without a doubt. One of the main objectives for the show, other than being a very entertaining television show, is to really break down stereotypes about gay and lesbian people, and sort of break down the barriers between gay people and straight people and really bring gay people and straight people together.

KAGAN: Well let me ask you this, because we just run those numbers about what America thinks. Do you really think America is ready for a gay dating show?

MARCOLINA: I definitely think America is ready for a gay show. I feel like shows like "Will and Grace" and "Queer as Folk" and things like that have shown that there is an audience out there for gay and lesbian programming. And I think, really, television is just catching up to where society is today.

KAGAN: Well one that just kind of is done gang busters, also on Bravo, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Let's take a look at a clip of that show right now.

MARCOLINA: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move over, bacon, there's something leaner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice unibrow there big guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, thank you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My gosh, it's like a Toys 'r' Us crackdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my unibrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God, a body fell out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a biter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a biter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a kicker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, that's a monobrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a monobrow. It's never a good answer unless you are like Frida Kahlo or Groucho Marx.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very Frieda Kahlo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to flip this around. You're going to flip it...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Now, Kirk, this show did so well that NBC took it and ran it on a broadcast network. That shows to a certain point people are not only comfortable with this but interested in seeing it.

But to be frank, this show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," doesn't involve sex. And when you're talking about a dating show, there definitely is that idea that sex is right around the corner.

MARCOLINA: Well, our show's not it's about sex at all. It's about sexual politics, not sex. And actually there's a rule on the show that the guys can only kiss and do nothing more.

But really what I want our show to do is be an entertaining show that proves that love is love. Whether you are straight or gay, love is love. And it's same thing. There's nothing scary about our show at all. It's a lot of fun. And I think gay and straight audiences will really enjoy it.

KAGAN: Will we see men kissing on the show?

MARCOLINA: Yes, you'll see men kissing, but nothing, nothing crazy. Just a lot of good fun. And I really do believe that America's ready for a show like this, and will be entertained by "Boy Meets Boy."

KAGAN: And we will see it tonight. Tell us once again when it is on.

MARCOLINA: Tonight on Bravo at 9:00 Eastern. All right, well good luck with the show. We'll have to see who James picks.

MARCOLINA: Yes, tune in. Thanks, Daryn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 29, 2003 - 11:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, boy. The Bravo Network is breaking ground tonight with a premier of a gay dating show, along the lines of "The Bachelor." It's called "Boy Meets Boy." It showcase handsome leading man, James, who must choose from 15 potential dates. One by one, James will eliminate contestants with help from his best gal pal, Andre.
And here's the twist. Some potential mates are straight and James doesn't know that. Like we said, oh, boy, in "Boy Meets Boy."

Well are viewers ready for a new gay reality television show? And what are advertisers saying about that? Are they buying it? Kirk Marcolina -- did I say your last name right, Kirk?

KIRK MARCOLINA, SUPERVISING PRODUCER, "BOY MEETS BOY": Marcolina. Hi, Daryn. How are you doing?

KAGAN: Marcolina. I'm doing OK. He's co-executive producer of "Boy meets boy." He's in Los Angeles. God morning, thanks for being with us.

MARCOLINA: Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: Well I think I already kind of gave a pretty explanation of how this going work, but you have your main, I guess, bachelor. This guy James.

MARCOLINA: We call him our leading man.

KAGAN: Oh, your leading man. I love it. OK, and he has 15 guys to choose from.

MARCOLINA: That's correct.

KAGAN: Now I thought the interesting twist is that among those 15, how many are actually straight men?

MARCOLINA: Well, we're not allowed to tell you how many. We can tell you...

KAGAN: Sure, you can. Just between you and me, Kirk.

MARCOLINA: Yes, right.

KAGAN: I'll be the gal pal here.

MARCOLINA: More than one, I can assure you of that. And the audience finds out who is straight and who is gay at the end of every episode after the elimination ceremonies. So after James chooses who to eliminate after the show, we reveal people's sexual orientation. So viewers need to tune in and find out who's gay and who straight.

KAGAN: And to do that, it's not just kind of mind-bending here. I think you are trying to break down some stereotypes?

MARCOLINA: Without a doubt. One of the main objectives for the show, other than being a very entertaining television show, is to really break down stereotypes about gay and lesbian people, and sort of break down the barriers between gay people and straight people and really bring gay people and straight people together.

KAGAN: Well let me ask you this, because we just run those numbers about what America thinks. Do you really think America is ready for a gay dating show?

MARCOLINA: I definitely think America is ready for a gay show. I feel like shows like "Will and Grace" and "Queer as Folk" and things like that have shown that there is an audience out there for gay and lesbian programming. And I think, really, television is just catching up to where society is today.

KAGAN: Well one that just kind of is done gang busters, also on Bravo, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Let's take a look at a clip of that show right now.

MARCOLINA: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move over, bacon, there's something leaner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice unibrow there big guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, thank you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My gosh, it's like a Toys 'r' Us crackdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my unibrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God, a body fell out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a biter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a biter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a kicker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, that's a monobrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a monobrow. It's never a good answer unless you are like Frida Kahlo or Groucho Marx.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very Frieda Kahlo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to flip this around. You're going to flip it...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Now, Kirk, this show did so well that NBC took it and ran it on a broadcast network. That shows to a certain point people are not only comfortable with this but interested in seeing it.

But to be frank, this show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," doesn't involve sex. And when you're talking about a dating show, there definitely is that idea that sex is right around the corner.

MARCOLINA: Well, our show's not it's about sex at all. It's about sexual politics, not sex. And actually there's a rule on the show that the guys can only kiss and do nothing more.

But really what I want our show to do is be an entertaining show that proves that love is love. Whether you are straight or gay, love is love. And it's same thing. There's nothing scary about our show at all. It's a lot of fun. And I think gay and straight audiences will really enjoy it.

KAGAN: Will we see men kissing on the show?

MARCOLINA: Yes, you'll see men kissing, but nothing, nothing crazy. Just a lot of good fun. And I really do believe that America's ready for a show like this, and will be entertained by "Boy Meets Boy."

KAGAN: And we will see it tonight. Tell us once again when it is on.

MARCOLINA: Tonight on Bravo at 9:00 Eastern. All right, well good luck with the show. We'll have to see who James picks.

MARCOLINA: Yes, tune in. Thanks, Daryn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com