Despite tons of negative criticism, angry tweets, and a change.org petition signed by 35,000 people and counting demanding the show be canceled, Netflix seems committed to moving forward with its Colton Underwood docuseries.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Underwood was in the middle of shooting a series about his coming out journey and that Gus Kenworthy would serve as a “guide,” introducing him to the wonderful world of all things gay.
Almost immediately, a backlash ensued.
Related: Netflix is being pressured to pull the plug on freshly out Colton Underwood’s new show
How about we take this to the next level?
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Many people were upset that the former Bachelor star was being rewarded for coming out with Netflix show given his not-so-distant-history of alleged abuse against his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph. (Read all about that here.) And many others were disappointed in Kenworthy, who usually exercises good judgement, for getting involved.
Rather than issue a comment on the controversy, Netflix, Underwood, and Kenworthy chose to remain silent, likely hoping that if they don’t say anything, by the time the show airs, people will have calmed down. But somehow we don’t think that’s gonna happen.
Scroll down for 10 more ill-begotten LGBTQ reality shows from over the years…
Boy Meets Boy
Bravo’s deeply problematic 2003 reality series centered around James, a gay man who was presented with 15 potential male suitors. What he didn’t know, however, was that half of them were only pretending to be gay. Psyche! The cruel show lasted six episodes before it was canceled.
Fire Island
Logo’s 2017 reality series successfully managed to reenforce every negative stereotype about gay men as it followed around six guys for an entire summer on Fire Island. The short-lived series was blasted by critics and viewers alike for somehow being offensively bad and achingly boring both at the same time.
There’s Something About Miriam
This 2003 reality series featured six men all trying to woe 21-year-old Mexican model Miriam Rivera. It wasn’t until the final episode that she shocked them by revealing she was trans. Afterwards, several of the men filed a lawsuit against the show’s producers citing psychological and emotional damage.
A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila
MTV’s 2007 reality series starred bisexual Myspace star Tila Tequila. 16 straight men and 16 lesbians all competed for her love. There was just one problem. Tequila wasn’t actually bisexual. Oh, and she already had a boyfriend. In 2018, she admitted that the whole thing had been a sham, describing her presence on the show as being “gay for pay.”
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys
This Sundance Channel reality series lasted for two seasons, one set in New York and one set in Nashville, and chronicled the lives of four gay men and their female BFFs. There was nothing blatantly offensive about it aside from the fact that the whole premise was passé even by 2010 standards and the people were very, very obnoxious.
Finding Prince Charming
Logo’s Bachelor-inspired reality series aired in 2017 and was doomed to fail when, one week before it premiered, it was reported that the show’s star, Robert Sepúlveda Jr., used to be an escort. This was followed by a pornographic tape leak. It wasn’t Sepúlveda’s past that was the issue, but rather that he tried hiding it from producers and then lied about it to audiences, which completely killed the show’s credibility.
Gay, Straight Or Taken?
Lifetime’s 2007 reality series involved a female contestant going on a poolside group date with three men. There was a catch, of course. One of the men was straight but in a relationship, another was gay and in a relationship, and the third was straight, single, and ready to mingle. The woman had to guess which was which. If she picked correctly, she won a trip.
What Happens At The Abbey
Who wants to see what happens at one of West Hollywood’s most popular gay bars? Turns out, no one. E’s awful 2017 reality series lasted just seven episodes before the network hit the abort button when it realized nobody wanted to watch a bunch of drunk narcissists and D-list celebrities like Brandi Glanville and Tori Spelling get wasted and treat people like assholes.
Playing It Straight
This truly awful 2004 reality series involved a heterosexual woman and a bunch of dudes all forced to live together on ranch. Her challenge: Guess which of the guys were gay and which were straight. Each week, she would watch them participate in group activities, observing their vocal inflections and mannerisms, then identify which ones were homosexual. If she picked correctly, she won $500,000.
The A-List: New York
This Real Housewives-inspired reality series followed six flamboyant white gays as they setback LGBTQ rights by roughly 40 years with their petty relationship dramas, toxic personalities, cat fights, subtle misogyny, excessive drinking, and all around terrible representation of gay people.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Cam
Ugh, The-List. I’d forgotten about that mess. Now you’ve forced me to remember.
One of the worst, when they did the show from Dallas, the Republican gay lied and claimed he had been attacked because of his political party, yet an investigation quickly determined his window had been broken from the inside and nothing had been thrown through it.
Typical Republican, lying to play victim.
Donston
Social media, reality TV and the porn industry are partly responsible for why I became against the way identity and sexual politics are currently used. Too much manipulation, exploitation, and using identities and sexuality for clout and money. While sexuality is too individual and the gender/romantic/sexual/emotion/commitment spectrum are too wide and varied to base a reality show around a bunch of people’s supposed queerness (or their supposed” straightness” for that matter). “Reality” TV has always been and will continue to be a bunch of phony and exploitative mess driven by people who will do and say whatever for some clout, money and/or social validation.
As far as Colton, I’m already over it. Everyone can move on now. However, his “fans” need to stop trying to shame folks who don’t support him and claim everyone is jealous of him or whatever BS. Not everyone is gonna support an admitted stalker who knowingly led a bunch of women on for money and attention and to display how “not ‘gay” he is, who probably has Conservative politics, and who only wanted to “come out” after he nabbed a televised interview, book deal and TV show centered around his coming out.
Chrisk
Thanks cancel culture idiots with no lives. You just gave the show lots of press. I would’ve never known about it and now I too want to see it.
Their heads would’ve exploded though with “Theres Something About Miriam”
I remember tuning into watch boy meets boy. It really was kind of ground breaking. Hard to believe it’s been almost 18 years ago. They should do a follow up. Has James finally met the man of his dreams or has the realism that’s he’s not getting any younger made him settle on something realistic.
Donston
Oh please, Chris. You can be such a passive aggressive phony. You were gonna watch the show any damn ways. While if it wasn’t for the Colton backlash, sites like these would’ve unabashedly promoted it. So, you would’ve known about it either way. And these sites still will likely continue using Colton for clicks.
The show itself is seems fairly basic: Gus taking Colton to a gay club for the “first” time, Colton’s “first” gay date, etc. I can enjoy some trashy reality TV, but unlike some I’m actually aware of what it is, what most of the people there are about, and I don’t take any of it seriously or at face value. But not only am I not interested in Colton and his dull and awkward personality, the concept doesn’t intrigue. And this site is the last place that needs to be calling out problematic, shallow, exploitative, passé entertainment.
AxelDC
Yawn. You lost me at “cancel culture”.
barryaksarben
lol good one. I started laughing at “cancel culture” and then when you changed gears and lauded Boy meets boy I knew you had a wicked sense of humor. I am so glad we are past the time when we had to accept any representaion of gays on tv and can now demand that it not be some horrible person trying to make a buck off of us
Fahd
What a reference list! (Great) (Helpful) (Important) (Useful) (Funny) (Interesting) (Reckless) (Unkind) (Alarming) [None of the above] to have all of these listed in one place. Embarrassed to say, I gave most at least a try; although I always hated the A-list.
Res1
I remember binging Playing It Straight s2 on YouTube almost 10 years ago and I really liked it. The boys were hot in s2 and it was fun watching her sniff out the gays. Spoiler Alert: She ended up picking the gay.
Cam
No she didn’t.
LordOggsbury
In the American version, she ended up picking the straight guy (the one who broke his arm while armwrestling Luciano who later appeared on “Gay, Straight or Taken”)
In the British version the women went 1 for 2 with one season having a gay guy win and another where she (a different woman) picked the straight guy.
SPEEDOSWIMMER
*yawn*
Mundo
Yawn, exactly. So happy I missed this mierda.
Catholicslutbox
lol at Miriam.
What a troll series.
Apparently they each got 150-250k from the lawsuit.
mz.sam
Love seeing the forgettable flashback failure features. Not only will I be looking forward to Colton Underwood’s docu-series but will be voting for him as Grand Marshal of this year’s Pride parade.
ShiningSex
Colton is boring. Hot? No. Boring. Who f*cking cares? He came out because of the series. Plus Gus is a bore too.
Most of the “gay” themed shows listed were bombs and for a reason. To quote Olympia Dukakis, “They all look like they were carved out of cream cheese”.
Creamsicle
I would totally watch a cream cheese sculpture contest before watching “middling attractive tall white boy discovers gay culture with a pro-athlete”
dhmonarch89
I remember watching ‘Boy Meets Boy’ there weren’t many gay shows on at the time- and I felt it was important to watch/help the ratings (I really don’t bother anymore- only watch if truly interested and reviews seem OK- so, 1 show in the last 10 years…). It wasn’t a horrible show and some of the guys were really cute- there was 1 hot blond guy who took a shower and pressed his butt cheeks up against the glass fully displaying his ass- it was beautiful! The best thing about the show was the Mad TV parody of it- complete with Mike McDonald playing the str8 best girlfriend/protector… screaming and running around hysterically.
Zambos271
Yes!! The blonde guy’s beautiful butt was one of the highlights of the show!
James also had a beautiful butt which he showed in Not Another Gay Movie.
Kangol2
That Michael McDonald Mad TV parody of “Boy Meets Boy” is hilarious. I also think the spoof name was “Boy Meets Goy.” The entire skit might not get an airing these days, though.
Ellipse Kirk
Maybe, just mayyybe, reality dating shows have had their day and something more interesting could be tried.
RickL
Graham Gremore, how can you know what this docuseries is going to be like unless you’ve seen it? Unless you have some credible inside information about the content and quality of this Netflix program the rest of us don’t have, maybe you should wait and watch it to see what this series is all about?
Also, why do you at Queerty use the term “doomed” in regards to this docuseries in your headline? Again, do you have some inside info that informs you to make such a statement or is it just your personal wishes?
Ronbo
Ask Graham why he killed Alex Morse’s political career with false stories.
BoomerMyles
All those protesting Colton’s Netflix show will ALL be watching it streaming or snippets on YouTube.
TV execs know deep down we ALL want to watch sexy masculine white boys.
cuteguy
The gays need to get behind one of our own and support Colton. He is helping breaking barriers. The gays need to stop being petty and jealous and support him
Cam
If Netflix is sending in trolls to back this show a couple of hints
Stop referring to them as “The Gays” if you want to pretend you belong on the site. And accusing anybody who has legitimate gripes as “Petty and jealous” exposes that you seem to have a personal stake in this and it’s p*ssing you off rather than your coming in here to discuss.
James26
I actually saw Something About Miriam. I found it online. All of the guys sued. They were filmed holding hands, caressing and even kissing a biological male. Not one of the contestants was OK with this. When they did the big reveal on the finale episode, it was pure cringe. The “winner” was visibly uncomfortable and the runners up looked relieved to not be the winner.
Arguably, Miriam was in the top 1% of passable transgenders. But it did not matter because, in the end, biological male is still biological male. The show exposed as a lie the idea that people are coming around to the notion that “transwomen are women.” When it comes down to dating and being intimate, men definitely know the difference b/t a transwoman and a woman.
Cam
What a shock, the same old right wing troll comes in to turn this into a complaint against trans people.
Manrico Jimenez
The best thing to come out of “Fire Island” was the SNL parody featuring middle-aged lesbians.
winemaker
Yaay Colton! That being said I can’t find any nudes of this hot guy anywhere. . You’d think that there would have been a shower cam in the shower / locker room post game, too soon to tell
BLAKENOW
Graham (writer of this junk) you are seriously part of the problem and NOT the solution. You are trying to start this cancel BS movement that no-one cares about. Your writing sounds like an annoying high school hall monitor back in the 1950’s. Doomed what is doomed? The show hans’t even started it yet. There are plenty of junk reality shows and you think that Netflix needs to have Morals when it comes to “gay” culture? I said this before and I will say it again KNOCK IT OFF WITH YOUR CANCEL BS, be careful the tables can easily turn and have to switch careers yourself , and what is your worst moment? you want to write about it? hmmm let’s judge you too, so what is it?
Cam
The only people who use “Cancel Culture” are FOX News fans or people in Hollywood angry they can’t put out the same old crap.
Donston
Complaining about “cancel culture” is just as corny and ineffective as cancel culture itself. If you don’t have any issue with anything Colton has said and done then just say that. I’m tired of people using whatever methods to deflect from uncomfortable conversations or to keep from admitting that they don’t think people should face any real consequences. If you don’t want to have a real conversation or if you simply don’t give a shit about the complaints then just say you don’t care.
Twitter is a toxic ass mess. Really, no one should be on there. And the petition to get Netflix to cancel the show is just dumb. But at this point, whenever I see “cancel culture” I know what I’m about to read will more than likely be a bunch of excuse making and deflection and pointing fingers at others instead of any real conversation about the topic at hand. It’s the new “SJW”, trying to make every bit of criticism that comes someone’s way seem over the top or nit-picky. It’s calculated as hell. And it’s tired.
I do feel like everyone needs to move on from this Colton shit. And if this site really is trying to “cancel” him then stop using him for clickbait. Because they’re certainly not adding anything insightful to the narrative.
Ronbo
100% true.
IvanPH
I will definitely watch Colton Underwood’s new show and I hope that many streams it so that it can infuriate more the writer of this article.
Donston
You’re giving Graham too much credit. He’s just saying and doing whatever for clicks and comments and so he can appear of the “right side” of something. I highly doubt he cares or even has a real opinion about any of this.
Ronbo
Yes. Graham seems to have a vendetta against gays. He tried to attack Glenn Greenwald with false accusations and deception.
Cam
So let’s see, you are going to watch this show as an attack on the person who write this article?
I think you have greatly overestimated your importance in the author’s life.
MissTerri
So many silly dizzy queens all in a tizzy and losing their minds over Colton’s Netflix show. Don’t like it, don’t watch it!
Ronbo
Author Graham Greemore has made a career of attacking gays. Graham killed the political career of Alex Morse with multiple false stories.
bfloyd9061
I wish they would redo the A-List with a fresh cast, and especially a new title. Instead of pretentious snotty bitches, have it be a group of lgbtq folks, who are successful and established.
Cam
I had heard that the original title for the A List was going to be “Kept” but don’t have any memory of where I heard that.