For a show thatâs very much in the style of a classic sitcom, Fran Drescherâs Happily Divorced is surprisingly contemporary: A married couple split after the husband comes out of the closet, but keep living together because the house wonât sell. Throw in the fact that Happily Divorced is based on Drescherâs real-life relationship with her now-out ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, and youâve got some groundbreaking TV.
But until now Franâs TV husband, also named Peter (John Michael Higgins), has had a rather lackluster love life. On Wednesday night, Peter gets his first official boyfriendâin the form of Colin Ferguson, until recently the gorgeous star of SyFyâs Eureka.
Ferguson is no stranger to sitcoms but, having worked on Eureka for the past six years, he says it was definitely an adjustment. âI was scaredâgenuinely frightened,â the charming Canadian admits. âIâve been doing a single-camera dramedy for years, and you get comfortable. Doing the run-throughs was terrifying. I kept praying that one of the showâs heavy hitters would make a flub first.â
Fortunately, Ferguson says Drescher and the cast made him feel right at home: âFran really sets the tone on the show, and sheâs a dream to work with. So welcoming and complimentary. She even sent me a lovely letter after we finished shooting. Who does that?â
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Though heâs new to TV Land, Ferguson is no stranger to gay-themed projects. He appeared in the queer black comedy The Opposite of Sex and Armistead Maupin fans will remember him from Showtimeâs 1998 adaptation of More Tales of the City. âItâs been a major shift since Tales,â says Ferguson. âIn a sense I was there at the beginningâwhen network TV would never touch a show with a gay main character. Itâs really great that its not that big a deal anymore. There isnât a show out there that doesnât have a gay character.â
The fate of Fergusonâs character, Chris, is left open at the end of Wednesdayâs episodeâbut the actor tells us heâll definitely be back on Happily Divorced. âI signed for another episodeâI think itâs the season finale,â he reveals. âBut we all had such a good time and it all clicked so well, I think Chris could pop up again after that.â
If Fran Drescher knows her gaysâand we think she doesâsheâll sign Colin on as a series regular.
David Gervais
His character in Tales of the City was “Burke Christopher Andrew”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Ferguson_(actor)
The Real Mike in Asheville
@David Gervais: I think the reference to “Chris” is the character’s name in this new show, Happily Divorced.
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For anyone who hasn’t watched (or read) the Tales of the City series, all three series (Tales, More Tales and Further Tales) are truly entertaining. And, in More Tales, though Ferguson’s character is straight, man-o-man, the regular features of him in a bathing suit are fun fun fun. Character Burke is one of the best there is — straight as an arrow yet so comfortable in his own masculinity, the gay guys and, of course, the M-to-F Mrs. Madrigal, become his close friends too.
In the first Tales series, you also get lots of the young and very attractive Thomas Gibson (later Greg of Dharma & Greg and now Criminal Minds) and the amazingly talented Laura Linney in her first role.
DickGreenleaf
In More Tales you get a great peak of his tail as he is drying off his hair and singing “I remember you”. The joke was his character was an amnesiac.
CaptainFabulous
Well it’s about time. While I generally like the humor of Happily Divorced the lack of any male-attention for Peter has really been grinding on my nerves. He’s gay, not celibate, mmmkay? For awhile there Fran had a different guy every week and poor Petey hasn’t had even one. That’s not right, and considering the pedigree of those behind the show, it’s a bit surprising.
Of course it wouldn’t surprise me one bit they probably won’t show any affection or kissing. Nope, can’t have that. Seriously, this my last straw for this show. I want to enjoy it, the cast is marvelous, but the hypocrisy is killing it for me.
Oh, and is Colin gay? He registers quite strongly on my gaydar, but I can’t seem to find anything out there that confirms it.
Aaron
My god I love Colin. So hot, so funny, so nice. I don’t think he is actually gay, CaptainFabulous, he’s had a few public girlfriends. I think the Canadians are just more open to playing gay or being on gay-themed shows without worrying about “career suicide”. See also, Stephen Amell, Lucas Bryant, two other gorgeous Canadian actors who have done a lot of “gay” roles or been on “gay” shows.
sfbeast
@Aaron: didn’t Kris Holden-Ried play a gay character in a show as well? love him in Lost Girl
Aaron
@sfbeast: Oh my yes. đ He was the not-so-closeted Lord Compton on the Tudors. Sadly he died of sweating sickness immediately after having a gay sex scene. And yes, he is sex on four legs on Lost Girl!