It’s not Sex and the City for gay men. It’s not The L Word for dudes. It’s not Noah’s Arc for the web. It’s something … else. In Between Men, the original online-only series from creator Quincy Morris, centers around four gay fellas in the big city. It just debuted. And I’m loving it.
Is this anything we haven’t seen before? Nah. These things get pitched around town by combining the titles of known works: It’s Lipstick Jungle meets Dynasty, or some crap like that. And that’s generally because these skeins do end up pulling pieces from the past. The acting is a smidge flimsy, and the plotlines not entirely unique (gay pride weekend?! oh my). But there’s everything you need to make your A-gay skin tingle: sexy professionals, bisexuals, and nightlife living (including hooking up in the lav). And I swear that was the poorman’s Fabio walking through one scene.
In Between Men isn’t pretending to be anything more than a guilty pleasure, and that’s why I’m enjoying it. Yes, there are a lot of white guys, and of course it’s set in lower Manhattan, and there’s the requisite focus on drugs and quick sex. But there are little blips of high-mindedness here, like a discussion about the merits of gay pride parades. And these gents have their own bro code (“FIST FUCK!”). I’m staying tuned.
HERE’S THE SECOND EPISODE:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
AND THIS WAS THE TRAILER:
The series stars: Nick Mathews (who plays Dalton Fuller), Max Rhyser (Jacob Ross), Ben Pamies (Benjamin Reed), Chase Coleman (Dr. Dane Sullivan), Michael Sharon (Massimiliano Costa), Margot Bingham (Kendra Sharpe, the lone lady), Sidney E. Wright (Kyle Leary)
gregger
I liked the first episode a great deal more than most series. Ben Pamies is a sweetheart too.
Pip
Ugh I hate when theres a lot of white guys on my cheesy web-only gay soap operas!
Eric
It grew on me pretty fast and there is some good camerawork
Jim
@Pip:
Oddly enough, the show is created, written, and produced by a black man. So, it’s all about niche marketing to a white, gay market.
Otherwise, I did enjoy the web series. The production values are top notch, better than the crap fest that was “Queer as Folk.”
jd
Are any of the actors actually gay? Just asking…
Charlie Jackpot
Carrie Bradshaw has a lot to answer for
soakman
Queer as Folk was actually in incredible show. I haven’t seen this yet, but the description above makes it sounds far inferior and much much more shallow.
Yes. I went there.
John
I’m about 5 minutes into the first episode, and it’s so stereotypical, so cliched, so poorly acted and so boring that I’m going to bail out.
PatrickB
I leeve not too far from heere.
says count dracula
craig
looks like a bad 90’s show
MMDD
@John: I actually made it through about 10 minutes. My God, this is bad…I mean, REALLY bad. All the pretty boys in the world can’t make up for a thin, shallow script and extremely poor acting. Have the standards really sunk that low? Never mind. I think I already know the answer to that question.
Steve
Wow!! Who knew gays could be so nasty? Oh wait, I did. I’m not surprised at some of these nasty rude, plain ignorant comments left by I’m sure a bunch of bitter self haiting gays. I for one LOVE the series and can’t wait for more episodes!!! It’s well writter, directed, the profuciton value is extremely high. Hate on it if you want, but you cannot act like seeing something of this high qulaity is a norm on the web, not just for a gay web seriesm but for any web series. I say we make sure this show get ushered onto tv, quick fast and in a hurry. This clearly looks better than a web series!
Steve
Sorry for typos! But you get my point regardless!
MMDD
@Steve: I’m a far cry from a bitter queen, just one with standards who’s not willing to rave over something just because, oh, it’s “gay” and we should be grateful for it. I only watched a few episodes of the first season of QUEER AS FOLK, and it was significantly better than this, just based on the acting alone.
justiceontherocks
Except for providing some unintended humor, this is just ten minutes of my life I’ll never have back.
TJ Parker
Ugh. Did you include the wrong videos with this story? Because the videos that you’re showing here are horrible. The story is cliched and shallow. The acting is poor. Heck, there isn’t even much eye candy. Why do I even care about these characters? This does not even approach the quality of QAF or Sex and the City. Well, maybe it tickles the Sex and the City movies from below.
alan brickman
Very well done….one of the better internet shows I’ve seen….Bravo should pick this up….
RLS
It’s annoying when a show with an all-white cast uses a hip hop song on the soundtrack to make it seem “edgy” or whatever in the absence of any people of color onscreen.
That this was created by a black man makes it all the more disturbing.
Michael
It was alright. As mentioned not too much ground broken here in terms of characters or themes. Dialogue was a little clunky…I don’t know how much of it was the actors and how much was the script. The main guy was relatively good. Geek doctor guy was markedly less so. Moaning about boas and pride has been done.
Interesting idea for scriptwriters, focus on a group of B-gays. Freaks & Geeks: Homo edition. The closest are some of the coming out/coming of age stories, but usually those kids are on the bottom because of their perceived sexuality not in spite of it.
I’ll probably follow along because I like supporting web series(es?) and it is on par with most output today.
Max
Yeah, I do question why there are no men of color in the cast. No non-white Latinos, Asians, South Asians, Native Americans, or Blacks. Why?
toddinsf
I just can’t bring myself to watch the second one. The first was painful. The dialogue seemed contrived, the guy who’s supposed to ‘ooze Southern charm’ has NO Southern accent (oh wait, he tossed in a gratuitous ‘y’all’ – once!), everything was overplayed… yuck.
pete
It’s like a high school production of Sex and the City. Painful to watch! Just because something is “gay”, doesn’t mean it’s worthwhile.
alan brickman
Lots of Jealous, Jealous, Jealous on here…..Bring back Morning Goods!!!!
Jackson
The production value is EXCELLENT. That said, I think the makers of the show should decide what genre they want it to be: drama or comedy. The reason the episodes are coming across as flat and pointless is because the show’s genre has not been established. And please, remove the hip hop. If you’ve decided it’s going to be a white show, then do that all the way. I was really expecting to see a bunch of black men after the opening credits.
Teluride
It is a bit contrived and listless, but i still liked it. I’ll give it some time to grow and see how it does. I am more attracted to QAF because of it’s normal everyday kind of people factor. There is plenty of eye candy so that is always a draw. Best to them and their potential staying power.
Teluride
PS I thought Dracula was going to add nia, to his Roma location. Now a gay vampire angle, hmm, could that be interesting? We gay boys are always suk’n sumth’n.
Josh
AWFUL dialogue, which is leading to shallow and awkward acting. I’m out.
boynotes
I think the series is poorly done. Check out boynotes for a review of the series so far!
moreskin
Only two reasons to watch gay shit like this: #1) it’s good, #2)skin. This has neither. Gay Fabio will give me nightmares now for the next several nights. On a serious note, if the producers are reading this, I second the post above to nix the hip hop. Be white or be diverse, don’t try to front.
Ryan
They need to tone down the characters’ ego’s and focus more on the story, like in the 2nd episode, and the show will do fine.
Oh, and scratch the “FIST FUCK!”. What are they, twelve?
L.
@Charlie Jackpot: I see what you did there. You win, too.
Peter Mark Bockman
I watched In Between Men and I thought it was great. The photography was wonderful, the acting was honest….it was fun!!!
Eric Flatoe
I’m in pain…
hephaestion
HORRIBLE. The first 4 minutes of the 1st clip were OK, but at the 4:00 mark, when all 4 gay guys were together, the acting became horrible beyond belief. Embarrassingly bad acting by the gay characters from then on.
Jeff
Haters. Its stil better than any of that CRAP on Logo and has better production values.
c
i like the show, its not particulary diverse but whatever, and im pretty sure the hot best friend Benjamin Reed is black, or at least bi racial, so there’s that.
Tallskin
It’s good. Well done. Professional. Albeit about gay men who are so straight acting that they could be fucking straight!!
But, but, but …..
I hated it for its superficiality. All the characters are utterly vapid and loathsome and I wouldn’t want anything to do with any of them should I have the misfortune to meet any of them.
And, being british, I HATED the fact that they were all so fucking rich and perfect, and the awful plastic, perfection of the Hollywood production values – the same problem I had comparing the british version of Queer as folk with the yank version – the british version was gritty and real, whereas the yank version was plastic and false.
I know young gay doctors in London and they work so hard that they don’t have the time to go to the gym and have a body like the doctor in this! And the same problem for all the other gym perfect bodied actors playing these bitchy superficial queens! Do you yanks in the gay clubs in NY all look like that?
I’m not trying to be offensive towards you yanks but I cannot believe this plastic production.
Rrrr
I really like it. Finally, straight acting homos in video.
Edward
i love it! 🙂
L.
@Jeff: To conquer without peril is to triumph without glory.
mago
I’m in, want to see more. I like the guys they are sexy and remind me of my crew. Keep the hip hop!
SKOC211
I got up until Fabio walked in and then I had to stop. Terrible writing and even worse acting. And the eye candy? Meh. I’ll take Brian Kinney and Queer as Folk any day of the week, now THAT was a brilliant show!
Jai
Wow that was terrible.
Bad script, lousy acting. The opening sequence starts the whole thing on a shit slide of bad music and pointlessly cheap graphics.
Lucas
Just so long as you’re not expecting to learn anything, it’s not a bad way to spend ten minutes of your time.
justnow
@John: thx for the heads up, i got bored reading the description, same shit with a twist “that hasnt been done before! ;)” …..
justnow
@Michael: and you know what michael… that is a good idea for a show. but why are those kids are on the bottom, IDGI….
justnow
@Max: why dont they make a show about different types of men of color being in a semi-homophobic area?
justnow
@Jeff: many would disagree
justnow
@c: white enough yet has an ethnic background… that is not diverse, however if most white males- watch this it is their demographic
justnow
@Tallskin: good tallskin- another idea for a show…. “GRADS OF GAY”…. a show gay doctors in med school they can add other professions like lawyer and something else that requires tons of school. but they try to balance their busy schooling with their personal lives…
Eli
the camera work is incredible and it’s a good looking cast, but why not spend time developing a script worthy of all these talents, right now the dialogue sounds like it’s gonna veer into a porn film. And i lost interest half way through the first episode, though i thought the cast was okay. It’s cliche, but why does it also have to be so boring.
Hugo Quezel Poirier
I’m sorry but this was pretty bad.
It was porn-level acting.
..without the porn…
The photography is good but nothing could save this from the acting and pointless storyline.
jj
Idiotic. But, the production values are excellent. Keep the crew, fire the rest.
jj
Okay, watched the second episode…worst Italian accent ever…
DR
Watched both eps, and quickly came to realize that if you want to do a web-based series you better keep it moving at a good pace with some decent scripting. Ten minute episodes leave very little time for plot and character development, and the writers/producers are trying to do everything in this series.
I thought it was kinda fun to watch, although the “fist fuck” was pretty juvenile. I’d like to see more episodes to see if it gets any better.
ericblue64
it is a bit Sex in the City, but for gay rom-com it isn’t too bad. maybe MTV Logo will pick up if it gets enough buzz via you-tube. i’ll be checking back for more webisodes.
Matt
Acting was unbearable from the get go. I tried to give it a chance, but I gave up all hope when they introduced…
“Benjamin Reed…a full time creative ad executive…full time man whore, the type who can have any guy he wants and usually does.”
Hmm…I wonder where I’ve seen a character like that before…
Miles
This was the WORST piece of crap!! The guys are handsome but if you’re going to produce a show this bad at least throw in some nudity! Horrible!!!!
KeNYC
I enjoyed it and looking forward to the next episode. I must admit it has a cheesy factor to it. I hate the A-List and feel that this is at least a little more representative of NYC gay life. I know one of the guys work at GYM Bar on 8th Ave. I wish there was better writing. If the writing was better, the acting will be as well.
KeNYC
@Jeff: I AGREE!!
Liam
Late to the party, such as it is.
I’m gobsmacked at the makers pitching this as a bunch of guys who don’t relate to “the cliches of the gay world”. They ARE the cliches of the gay world. And, a few fist bumps and a pickup basketball game don’t change the fact that, once they got together, they were about as “straight-acting” as my nelliest friends. Did they really yell “fist f*ck” when they fist-bumped? Please tell me I misheard.
Production values are good, but the acting is minor league and the writing is occasionally cringe-inducing. And, between the purported Southerner and the pseudo-Italian Count Dracula, they really need a dialog coach.
Still, the party planner, the b-ball player and the doc are all cute, and I may hang around for more flesh and the trainwreck potential of it all. Guilty pleasure, indeed.
Adam
Are there more episodes? Looks like the first two came out in early December and I can’t find anymore.
Steven
Episode 3 is premiering tonight!!! It has Michelle Clunie guest startting. Remember her as Melanie on Queer As Folk?! I def wanna check it out!
Mikey M
@RLS:
I couldn’t agree more about the music. I don’t know any White Gay guys that listen to rap.
Worst part of the show for me.
Steven L
check out the new redesigned website. Inbetweenmen.com
Afro Boricua
I just heard about ‘In Between Men’ reading an article about mixed race Haitian Ben Primes. As a black men, I watched all 6 episodes and I enjoyed them. The character Ben in the series is mixed raced with a black mother. They showed his very dark skin black mother and his very white looking brother. All the white males in this series are hot an masculine. However, I have a problem with Ben’s character. It seems, he’s passing for white or his word is totally white. The black female publicist is a female whore who likes black and white males. In real life, Ben Primes is married to a white female. Most mixed race males with a black parent that look white tend to pass or marry white. I ain’t mad at him, because if I looked white, I too would pass. LOL
George
I completely agree with the commentor who said that these guys ARE the cliche…too true! Show me a series with some better writing, better acting and better characters.
hahara
are any of these actors gay?-i am so sick of seeing straight guys acting in gay roles-or, at least, thsy claim to be straight-which is worse -that is if they are gay and are just claiming 2 be straight to get roles-i understand that they have bills 2 pay-but it is so frustrating 2 like someone in a gay video,film and then 2 find out that he is gay.i am just so angry.
hahara
are any of these actors gay?-i am so sick of seeing straight guys acting in gay roles-or, at least, they claim to be straight-which is worse -that is if they are gay and are just claiming 2 be straight to get roles-i understand that they have bills 2 pay-but it is so frustrating 2 like someone in a gay video,film and then 2 find out that he is gay.i am just so angry.
WS
To be fair, the article is called “In Between Men Just Might Be The Best Gay Show Not On Television”… First, let’s put an emphasis on the MIGHT and second, it’s jockeying for position among ALL the other gay shows that AREN’T on television. *Cricket* Is this a booming market that I’m not aware of??? Really, it’s not too tough to be first place in a one or two man race.
Anyway, the concept (according to the show’s website) is “four friends in NYC who live ‘in between’ a gay world, whose clichés they don’t relate to, and a straight world they don’t belong to.” If you think that sounds a little too ambitious… then you’re right. To echo the reactions of other users, the production values are very good, the acting is mostly laughable, and the writing usually misses the mark (heavy-handed exposition much?). Of course, does anyone really expect Shakespeare (or even HBO, for that matter) from each 11-ish minute episode?
You only have to set aside an hour–as I did–to watch the entire first web-based ‘season.’ Episode 5 of 6–entitled “muscles and manbags”–is the only one that tenuously tackles the supposed premise of the show… and unfortunately does so in a such a homophobic way that creator Quincy Morris might as well have called it “muscles and fagbags.” The characters spout conventional ‘wisdom’ such as “what’s the point of all that physical masculinity if you’re just going to carry yourself around like a woman?” My point is that, overall, the show consists of fucking, drinking, and partying that does not seem at all as counter to mainstream (stereotypical) gay culture as the concept would assert. Simultaneously, our protagonists seem absurdly preoccupied with the bromantic language and ‘fist fucking’ of the dude universe. Still, I do not believe even for a moment that ANY of them would ever WANT to belong to a so-called straight world.
In all of this, one shining moment was Benjamin Reed’s (Ben Pamies) mother who stole the entire SERIES with her singular scene. Mother Reed emerges with the line, “why isn’t your ass in school?” and promptly signs her love letter to me with “wouldn’t be the first time my cookies got me what I wanted, if you know what I mean.” She embodies the sassy black mother that we all wished we had (or would love to be?).
I suspect (and hope) that Morris has not yet accomplished what het set out to do with this series. He’s dangled enough hot bodies in front of us–which is of course a pre-requisite to most gay series–so maybe season 2 will deliver a bit more than just flesh. After all, given that this is a web-based series, one would imagine that there is far less obligation to satisfy the networks and sponsors. So, if he really does want to offer some alternative masculinity that is neither the gay cliché nor the straight standard, then I hope he spends a little more time getting to know his characters and a little less time pandering.
MW
@WS:
I mostly agree. I mean, bless the creator for doing this – the more LGBT representation in media like this, the better. But there’s a lot that’s troubling about it, and the homophobic dialogue at the beginning of episode 5 is the most egregious example. The “bro” stuff is annoying; I know lots of “masculine” gay men, and none of them act like that. I dunno – I don’t consider myself especially effeminate, but I cringe when I hear terms like “straight-acting.” I might not always (or even mostly) relate to every gay cliche or stereotype, but I’m keenly aware that there’s nothing about me or my experience that could be called “straight.” At the end of the day, I’m as much of a homo as the nelliest queen I know.
The writing and acting are not terrific, although they do seem to improve a bit after the first episode. I hope the creator of the series takes these critiques seriously. There are certainly gay men out there who feel the way the two characters at the beginning of episode 5 do, and it’s certainly worth exploring. I just hope that exchange wasn’t simply a rant against effeminacy on the part of the writers.
DanC
I’m coming at this a bit late and perhaps no one will ever see this comment. This is a web-series we are talking about, right? I think some of the criticism has been pretty hard considering this. These are not a-list actors and this is evident and shouldn’t be expected in a fairly low budget production. The writer I’m sure is not that experienced and yes it shows at times. For me episode 6 (the finale) was the worst acted as is illustrated in the doctor meet boxer scene, terrible acting. In contrast to what some has said above I thought the acting digressed as the episodes went on. Yet, I am easy to please and can say I did enjoy the series as a whole and would watch more episodes. The most disappointing thing that struck me was the gay bashing tone of some of the dialogue thrown towards the more “obviously” gay members of our community. That was flirting with being not excusable.
I’m gay, I like watching gay themed media (which there is so little), I like living in predominately gay areas and being around gay people no matter how they act (uber masculine to downright nelly is OK with me). I will give the show time to improve which I hope it will, that is if there is ever a second season. And who cares what type of music is played, such a dumb critique point and sort of racist. There actually was a variety of music throughout the different episodes and why some claim white gays would not listen to hip hop is a surprise to me. There are those that don’t and those that do, who cares.