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Discussion: LOGO Rejects Viral Black Reality TV Show Twice.
Member Since: 6/20/2011
Posts: 6,575
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LOGO Rejects Viral Black Reality TV Show Twice.
But racism in the LGBT community is only on Grindr...
TOO BLACK FOR TV?
Gay Media Game Changers Find a Home on the Internet
Rejected by major networks, these shows bring the lives of Black gay men to the web...will TV ever take notice?
EXCERPT OF ARTICLE (click link for full article)
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Tha Life Atlanta, a docu-series that follows a social circle of openly gay Black men, is generating quite the buzz. Exploring topics from open relationships to bisexuality, it displays varied facets of same-gender loving men of color in the city often characterized as "the Black gay Mecca."
Despite the similarities, this isn't exactly the male answer to Bravo's Real Housewives franchise. The cast members aren’t trophy husbands or boyfriends, none are particularly wealthy and they’re not exactly local celebrities or power players. But that hasn’t stopped the thousands of fascinated viewers from checking out what could be the industry’s first gay, Black reality show.
That is, of course, if it had a cable network as its home.
George Smith, series creator and executive producer, says he’s been in talks with LOGO, television’s premier network for LGBT viewers, about getting Tha Life Atlanta a place in its programming line-up. But after two pitches, LOGO hasn’t taken the bait despite the show going viral on the Internet—including being picked up by Media Take Out—garnering hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
To be sure, this isn’t your homemade amatuer reality show. Smith, an attorney by trade, says he invested big bucks into the production and editing of the show. He also sought the advice and expertise of Love & Hip-Hop creator Mona-Scott Young and former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Sheree Whitfield.
“I wanted the trailer to look like it was already on TV,” Smith tells EBONY.com. “I didn’t have the knowledge at the time so I hired people who had the knowledge to help.”
After presenting his first reel back in 2009, Smith says LOGO passed on the show because the cast was “too old,” and after recasting and presenting for a second time the network deemed the new cast as “too young” and “too edgy.”
It’s not surprising that Logo would reject a show like Tha Life Atlanta, considering mainstream television’s skewed representation of Black gay men. Take one scroll through your TV guide and you’ll find very few shows with African-American gay men, with the rare exceptions being TV gender-benders like Miss Lawrence and Derek J, stars of Bravo’s Fashion Queens. But not every gay Black man dons pumps and tunics. The fact remains that when it comes to displaying more holistic and diverse images of gay Black men, there’s an obvious elephant in the room— network boardrooms that is. Whether it be a harmless oversight or deliberate impediment, gay men of color currently have no place in TV programming, which is why visionaries like Smith are turning to the Internet to expose their work to the masses, in hopes of getting the attention of the powers that be.
“We need to have a platform that says this is who we are. Just like Black people come in different shades, so do we in the gay community,” Smith says. “We are multi-dimensional.”[
To date, there’s only been one predominantly gay Black cast in television history, which was Noah’s Arc, Logo’s first and only original scripted drama that premiered in 2005.
[....]
But after only one year, Noah’s Arc, Logo’s highest rated show, was canceled by the network. The cancellation ignited audience backlash through the form of petitions, but attempts to bring the show back on air ultimately went unnoticed.
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Rather than waiting for networks to make a move, however, underground filmmakers, writers and producers, who are independently funding their own projects, are taking matters into their own hands and relying more on an online presence to tap into what they believe is a strong, loyal audience longing for mediums that best reflect who they are.
Roger Omeus, Jr., an independent filmmaker in New York City, says Polk’s Noah’s Arc and 2001 film Punks inspired him to create an online series called Finding Me. Originally a film Omeus distributed on dvd, Finding Me explores similar themes found in Noah’s Arc. There are no over-the-top images of effeminate men wearing makeup, but rather everyday men struggling with conventional issues in the gay black community like hyper-masculinity and coming out of the closet. Like Tha Life Atlanta and another Internet series called Freefall, Omeus’ project has acquired thousands of hits online.
Omeus says he, too, tried to pitch his series to LOGO, as well as BET, but his attempts were met with no reply. Instead, he continues to feed his avid fanbase with mini online episodes. But while web series do quite well by the numbers, there’s one fatal flaw: it’s extraordinarily expensive. Though viewers love the finished product and often demand more, Omeus says, they fail to fully comprehend the amount of time and money that goes into keeping such a creative machine alive.
For one, he says, a series like Finding Me can cost as much as $100,000 per season - and that’s on the low end of the spectrum. And when you’re self-funding your own project with a cast of actors, you’re often cramming in 12-hour days on the weekend in order to complete filming. Omeus says he’s even tried online fundraising, but was unsuccessful at securing any significant capital.
“A lot of us are doing it for nothing,” he says.
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Member Since: 3/12/2011
Posts: 12,030
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Who legit uses Logo anymore?
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 26,488
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It doesn't sound like a good show tbh 
But RPDR owns Logo, and they probably don't want anything that could remotely compete with it.
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Member Since: 3/12/2011
Posts: 12,030
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Also we already had a show like this it's called Noah's Arc
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Member Since: 6/20/2011
Posts: 6,575
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Originally posted by jpow
It doesn't sound like a good show tbh
But RPDR owns Logo, and they probably don't want anything that could remotely compete with it. |
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But after only one year, Noah’s Arc, Logo’s highest rated show, was canceled by the network. The cancellation ignited audience backlash through the form of petitions, but attempts to bring the show back on air ultimately went unnoticed.
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So even when the 1 black, gay show they had was the highest-rated, they still axed it.
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 16,870
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LOGO is losing sponsors left and right. They really can only support shows their advertisers will back. 
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 15,135
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Even if it was about white gays.... who would watch that show anyway? 
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 26,488
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Originally posted by JonathanLGardner
So even when the 1 black, gay show they had was the highest-rated, they still axed it.
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The also axed Drag U when it was like their third highest rated show
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Member Since: 5/28/2010
Posts: 29,225
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LOGO is pretty stupid imo. I guess they don't realize African Americans watch TV at higher rates than any other demographic. That's their loss. And as someone else said, who legit watches LOGO for anything other than movie reruns and RDR? 
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Member Since: 6/20/2011
Posts: 6,575
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Originally posted by that G.U.Y.
LOGO is losing sponsors left and right. They really can only support shows their advertisers will back. |
So basically what you're saying is:
LOGO: We are the LGBT channel...our #1 show is Noah's Arc, with all black/hispanic lead characters, but we cancelled it because white trumps black always, despite what the ratings say. Sponsors first 
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 15,135
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Oh wait nvm. Eh if the show is viral or whatever, I guess it's LOGO's loss
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Member Since: 4/7/2009
Posts: 34,961
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There's nothing good about LOGO or educational anymore to the gay community in general. They don't show anything but flop movies we've seen a hundred times and I've seen the YT version of this show, doesn't seem that good either. Now if it was something as good as "No Shade" I'd fume.
Mona Scott-Young from VH1 is supposedly working on a Ballroom reality tv show. Hopefully that comes to life.
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 16,870
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Quote:
Originally posted by JonathanLGardner
So basically what you're saying is:
LOGO: We are the LGBT channel...our #1 show is Noah's Arc, with all black/hispanic lead characters, but we cancelled it because white trumps black always, despite what the ratings say. Sponsors first |
I'm saying if you want to see this show on air you betta start a gofundme/kickstarter.
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Member Since: 5/28/2010
Posts: 29,225
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Quote:
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To be sure, this isn’t your homemade amatuer reality show. Smith, an attorney by trade, says he invested big bucks into the production and editing of the show. He also sought the advice and expertise of Love & Hip-Hop creator Mona-Scott Young and former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Sheree Whitfield.
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Wait I didn't see this, I thought this was going to be a sitcom. A gay RHWATL or LHHATL? Nah, they can keep that. The A-list already proved gays with their own reality show is utter trash. 
Edit: Wait it's in the title too. Wow, the word reality just went over my head.
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Member Since: 8/4/2012
Posts: 37,267
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Do they still show Roseanne?
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 58,053
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Logo isn't doing too well to just try to run with a show...
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 4,721
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Is it really a racial thing though? Maybe it's just not a good show-- or maybe it just doesn't appeal to a wide enough range of people? I can see it having an oddly specific demographic.
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Member Since: 6/20/2011
Posts: 6,575
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Quote:
Originally posted by Deuces
Wait I didn't see this, I thought this was going to be a sitcom. A gay RHWATL or LHHATL? Nah, they can keep that. The A-list already proved gays with their own reality show is utter trash. |
Girl don't trip, it would have been LIFE.
RHOA is so drenched in gay culture and phrases now anyway
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 58,053
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Originally posted by beautiful player
Is it really a racial thing though? Maybe it's just not a good show-- or maybe it just doesn't appeal to a wide enough range of people? I can see it having an oddly specific demographic.
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Right? Who really wants to see the gay version of RHOA?
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Member Since: 6/20/2011
Posts: 6,575
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Quote:
Originally posted by beautiful player
Is it really a racial thing though? Maybe it's just not a good show-- or maybe it just doesn't appeal to a wide enough range of people? I can see it having an oddly specific demographic.
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This
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To date, there’s only been one predominantly gay Black cast in television history, which was Noah’s Arc, Logo’s first and only original scripted drama that premiered in 2005.
[....]
But after only one year, Noah’s Arc, Logo’s highest rated show, was canceled by the network. The cancellation ignited audience backlash through the form of petitions, but attempts to bring the show back on air ultimately went unnoticed.
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