Back in 2008, network executives at Lifetime were planning to hand Carson Kressley, of Queer Eye fame, his own talk show. Because The Gays and people of color are so good at it! But it never materialized, and as we learned last year that we’d have to say goodbye to Tyra Banks, there was still no Carson talker. Might Oprah change all that?
Helming her new Oprah Winfrey Network, the exiting talk show queen is said to be developing shows on the new network for Kressley and lesbian chef Cat Cora. (And that’s in addition to the already announced Nate Berkus talker, ensuring the gays own OWN.)
Kressley’s show looks like it’ll be a makeover/living better program, while Cora will combine cooking and lifestyle changes into a program that has her dropping in on families.
So for Kressley, it sounds like his television future is less Graham Norton and more Ty Pennington.
How about we take this to the next level?
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And before you go writing off the former makeover queen’s show as a flash in the pan, remember it was Kressley and his team of lifestyle queers whose success turned a little network called Bravo into a ridiculously popular stop on the dial. When in doubt, bet on the gays.
alex
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ceeed48615/straight-talk-w-carson-kressley
I guess his MO has worked, looking forward to the show.
Kieran
She’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Just what we need…..further media reinforcement of the gay male stereotype. Guaranteed to influence thousands of men to stay IN the closet.
Joseph
@Kieran: I enjoy watching and being around a good gay male stereotype, stop placing your stupid fucking hetero-normative gender roles on us all Kieran! Why is it every queers’ job to make sure we live up to your idea of what a man should act like? It’s not our job to make sure we act like “manly men” so that the closeted assholes can feel more comfortable with themselves, they need to own their own sexuality. A fun gay male stereotype like Carson makes me all warm and happy! Live and let live. Just be yourself, whoever that happens to be!
scott ny'er
@Kieran: Well, you have Nate Berkus who I don’t think is flaming. And there’s Rachel Madlow, and Ellen Degeneres and Rosie and NPHarris, etc. I think that a nice sampling of Lesbian/Gay celebs are out there. Showing you can be butch, femme, flaming, macho, etc. And that’s a good thing.
troy
Oprah’s probably done more to make gays mainstream than anyone else in America. Back in the 1980s when her show was in trashy mode, she popularized trashy talk shows which were instrumental in making gays visible in the culture (read the book FREAKS TALK BACK). Then in the late 1990s she played the therapist on Ellen’s landmark coming out show & a decade later put Ellen on the cover of her magazine. She also popularized the openly gay Suzie Orman & her show produced an outpouring of sympathy for Nate Berkus when he lost his lover in the tsunami.