September 25, 2005 Don't forget to catch "Gale Harold in "Martha Behind Bars" tonight on CBS, from 9 to 11pm. The entertainment reporters at Metromix for the Chicago Tribune say it's worth watching: "Cybill Shepherd plays Martha Stewart as she battles for her freedom, loses and goes to jail. Good casting, but the timing is off now that Stewart's back and on TV herself again. Gale Harold, of 'Queer as Folk,' is a smart choice to play Stewart's co-defendant, Peter Bacanovic." Journalist Ray Richmond (Reuters) says the movie is "a squeezably soft bio that plays perfectly into Martha's image rehab, depicting her as a victim who used prison as a springboard to redemption." He also writes, "The title also winds up being a bit of an overstatement. 'Bars' doesn't even pick up Stewart's stay at Alderson Federal Prison (aka Camp Cupcake) until the movie's halfway point. The first hour chronicles the events leading up to her indictment for insider trading and ultimate conviction. Yeah, the script allows, she knew that the price of ImClone stock was going down when she instructed her broker, Peter Bacanovic (Gale Harold), to dump it. But we're assured here that she didn't so much as alter an e-mail to cover her tracks. She was bagged in a witch hunt, the movie makes clear." Actor B.D. Wong, director of the upcoming film "Social Grace" starring Gale Harold, will be honored by the Family Pride Coalition with their "Family Tree" Award for his work in advancing the rights and increasing the visibility of LGBT parents and their families. Wong will be honored at Family Pride's second annual national awards dinner on Saturday, October 8th in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.familypride.org. Scott Lowell will host the Runway 2005 event "Fashion Takes Flight" for Destination Foundation, an organization that grants dream trips to members of the San Francisco Bay Area community living with a life-threatening illness. The event will be held on Thursday, October 13th, from 6pm to 11pm at the Fort Mason Herbst Pavilion in San Fran. For more information on the event and the "RUNWAY" Fashion Show AfterParty, visit www.destinationfoundation.org. Ben Wyld, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, doesn't have too many positive things to say about the cast of QAF. In an article titled simply "Queer As Folk" he writes: The late-night examination of the urban gay lifestyle, now in its fifth series, returns to SBS in all its shocking glory. The sex is promiscuous, the drug-taking illicit and the relationships as fractured as ever. However, the clever storylines are absent, replaced by plots calculated to shock - which is fine if they make a point. To be fair, writers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman seem to be trying to convey the message that life, with all its ups and downs, must go on and change needs to be embraced. The cast, however, fails to breathe life into the script. Michelle Clunie and Thea Gill (as Melanie and Lindsay) are convincing as bitter ex-partners, but the other characters don't step up to the plate. Just like Michael (Hal Sparks) and Justin's (Randy Harrison) comic-book project - annoyingly interjected throughout the episode in a series of montages - the characters are two dimensional and the performances flat. Michael, who acts as the conscience of the group, is predictably whingy and whiny, while Emmett (Peter Paige) is nothing more than a caricature. September 14, 2005 According to director Lisa France, Gale's movie (in which he co-stars with Michelle Clunie) "The Unseen" will be screening at several upcoming film festivals:   The 41st Chicago International Film Festival, screenings on October 14th, 15th & 16th.   Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles, distribution screening on November 18th at 3PM (Note: this is not open to the public).   28th Annual Starz Denver International Film Festival, November 10th-20th.   Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, November 17th - 23rd. Hal Sparks and Bobby Gant are featured in the October issue of OUT magazine. Their pictures, taken July 14 in Los Angeles at the Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing event, can be seen online here. According to TV Guide online, another familiar face will be showing up in "Martha Behind Bars" (featuring Gale Harold) which airs later this month. Alec McClure, who played Chris Hobbs on QAF, is also in the cast. Wonder if the two will have any scenes together? September 9, 2005 Saturday, October 1, 2005 is Gay Day at Disneyland (California), part of a larger celebration which will culminate with KINGDOM, the weekend's signature dance party with music from renowned DJ Kimberly S. In addition, '80s pop diva Tiffany will perform at the event which will be hosted by Queer As Folk's Peter Paige and held at the House of Blues Anaheim in Downtown Disney from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 day of event. Complete details about Gay Days at Disneyland are available at www.GayDay2.com. The After Ellen website has posted a review of the Season 5 soundtrack. From emediawire.com: [Shawn] Postoff recently completed his third season on the writing staff of Showtime's hit television series, "Queer as Folk," for which he was the youngest writer on staff and twice nominated for a Writers Guild of Canada screenwriting award. His award-winning short films have traveled to festivals around the world. His second short, "Coming To Terms," was selected for the American Library Association's 2002 List of Recommended Videos for Young Adults, and has been screened at over 30 international film festivals. "Kingdoms of Daaskmere" is now available from major online booksellers, including Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and Borders.com. Says Postoff: "It's the neo-mythologized autobiography of a well-examined life only barely begun." Here's an article from New York Blade Online about gay-themed television shows, which mentions QAF. "Confessions of a Serial Blonde by Robby Morris: Cue the pulse to begin..." is an interesting opinion piece on how QAF changed the face of television, at least for one segment of the population. Here's an excerpt:    I know there are people who see Queer As Folk as a disservice to the gay community. "Oh, it’s about nothing more than fucking around and using drugs." What? For one, that’s not even remotely true, and two, even if it were, those things don’t exist in our community? Do we live in the same city?    "But why do we have to focus on those elements? Society has a hard enough time recognizing us as real people with real lives to begin with, without that being flaunted in their face." These are usually the same people who get in a snit when people dress in drag at a Pride rally, and I don’t really know how to deal with that. We’re on the same side, aren’t we? Haven’t we figured out that exposure and everything that entails is the biggest tool we have towards acceptance? I, for example, may not personally identify with the leather community. But I support them for who they are and what they stand for and welcome them along side me for who I am and what I stand for. We are celebrating and drawing focus to the same cause, acceptance.    That’s how I have always felt about QAF. Sure, sometimes it was hokey and superficial, and the characters could be a little extreme, but I was just grateful to see something on television that dealt with certain aspects of my life in a thought provoking and engaging way. Something a bit more tangible than being regulated to funny sidekick or some sort of deranged fashionista. QAF made me laugh. It made me cry. Sometimes it just plain pissed me off. But the one thing it always did consistently was stimulate conversation and thought. [read more] September 6, 2005 Gale's movie The Unseen will be screened at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, Alabama which takes place from September 23rd to 25th. Gale is playing the broker Peter Bacanovic to Cybill Sheppard's Martha Stewart in CBS's September 25th movie, Martha Behind Bars. CBS originally planned to air the unauthorized, made-for-television movie about Stewart's rise-and-fall during the Spring's crucial end-of-season ratings period. But the network pulled "Martha: Behind Bars" in April, a month after Stewart was released from a minimum-security prison for women in West Virginia. Stewart, 63, served five months at the Alderson prison camp following her conviction in March 2004 on criminal charges related to a personal stock sale. At the time that CBS yanked the Stewart film, industry observers speculated that executives at the Viacom (Research) unit decided against rushing out the Cybill Shepherd-starring movie and opted instead to wait until the fall, when Stewart is expected to become once again a center of media attention. "Martha," her syndicated weekday lifestyles show, premieres September 12th; "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," a weekly NBC prime-time series, premieres September 21st. In the Life is a national television series in a newsmagazine format that reports on LGBT issues and culture. This month, the focus is on AIDS, and the episode is titled, "524,000 and Counting" and will be hosted by two-time Emmy Award-winning actress Sharon Gless (Cagney & Lacey, Queer as Folk). Each one-hour episode is divided into five or six segments which include stories devoted to the following topics: Youth and Education, Health and AIDS, Arts and Culture, Workplace, Relationships and Family, and Global Issues. Visit the website for a preview clip and to find out when and where the show is airing. PlanetOut talks to Chad Allen about "Third Man Out", a gay P.I. movie that premiered on here! TV this month. In the film, the character Strachey is on the trail of the killer of outspoken gay activist John Rutka (played by Jack Wetherall, Uncle Vic from QAF), who made it his cause to out prominent citizens, thereby creating a long list of enemies. Strachey is helped by his longtime partner, Timmy Callahan (Sebastian Spence). [read more] The September Q&A is up at the Scott Lowell website. Queer as Fans 2006 will be held February 17, 18, 19, 2006. According to the website, appearances will be made by Dean Armstrong (Blake), Stephanie Moore (Cynthia), Patrick Antosh (Costume Designer) and Shawn Postoff (writer). Hal Sparks will perform at 9pm this Friday, September 9th, at the University of Rochester Campus. Peter Paige will attend screenings of his film Say Uncle at the Tampa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Tuesday October 11th); at the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Friday October 14th); and at the Washington DC Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Sunday October 16th). Harris Allan (Hunter, QAF) is going to appear in an episode of Masters of Horror. The series premieres on Showtime Friday, October 28 at 10pm. A Home At The End Of The World, which features Harris, has been listed among the films to be shown at the 18th Helsinki International Film Festival (Rakkautta & Anarkiaa) taking place September 15th to 25th. Keep an eye out for the second season of QAF on DVD at a reduced price on October 18th. Here's an interesting article from the San Francisco Chronicle, titled A kiss is just a kiss by Jane Ganahl, which examines reactions to same-sex kissing in the media, and mentions QAF.

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