The New Normal, megastar producer Ryan Murphy‘s new series about gay couple and the surrogate they hire to carry their baby, has been given the green light by NBC, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Queerty first reported on the sitcom back in February, when Justin Bartha (The Hangover) and Andrew Rannells, (Book of Mormon) were announced as the stars. (If you’ve been watching HBO’s Girls, then you saw Rannells cameo as Hannah’s gay ex-beau Elijah.)
Rounding out the cast are Georgia King as the surrogate, Goldie, and Ellen Barkin as her wisecracking racist grandma. (Is this going to be another Raising Hope?) Also rumored to have a recurring role is Real Housewives star NeNe Leakes, who’s already appeared on Glee.
The New Normal is expected to launch in August to capitalize on NBC’s Olympics coverage, making it a big season for Murphy, with Glee returning and American Horror Story relaunching with a new premise.
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QJ201
Stupid title.
“hired” surrogate is icky. Should be one of the guys sisters/cousins/friends.
Clockwork
@QJ201:
Yep, and pics of men with swollen bellies is icky too, demeans the miracle of reproduction.
RK
The picture of two pregnant men will be fuel to the rabbid anti-gay lobby as messing
with “nature.” They should just let the guys be guys and be men that are gay seeking to
start a family…
Chris
Yeah, that promo picture is kinda confusing, given what the synopsis actually says. The title is just so… anvilicious.
Ah the joys of two upper-class white men paying a women to get pregnant for them. The new normal for TV depictions of gay families.
Aric
Excellent title. If the comments here are any indication of the seething that will be going on just imagine how the conservatives will react.
Does NBC need to even Promo it? Fox News will probably give this show all the promo it needs to smash.
jason
The New Normal? Horrible title. Oh, Ryan Murphy’s behind it – figures.
takingliberties
Another show I won’t be watching. Next!
Aiden
Since there’s no open thread I might as well ask here. Why no stories on the gay relationships on Smash and LA Complex.
Glenn
Uhm, PUMPED! Justin Bartha is hot and I love Ryan Murphy’s cheesy TV… the ratings prove I’m not alone too.
iDavid
It’ll be a big hit. U ugly ball sacks still down in the dumps. What mental ward are you zombies typing from anyway? You obviously stole the password. Have a psychotic Margarita and enjoy life for 20 minutes.
Jason Sweeten
That photo is the worst thing ever. Let’s hope it’s not a refection on the show.
AaronT
Sadly, I have to agree with the negative comments. I’m all for gays represented in prime time, and I love to see gay characters shown as regular guys/gals, but this is absurd and so far from “normal” that seems designed to bitch-slap a bunch of Deep South Repuglicans more than appeal to a gay audience. Frankly, straight and barren couples have more surrogates than gay dads.
I’d rather they had adopted a brood, or been foster parents, or even, but I guess they had to one-up Modern Family. “Normal” gays can’t afford surrogacy and are still fighting for adoption and foster parent rights in many states. That would have been a much better “message” sitcom.
Nate
While the representation of these couples on television is nothing to be criticized, the show – if Glee is anything to go by – may focus only on one portion of the community. In Glee, there are many (6 or more) gay male characters, but they’re all fairly similar and/or conforming to the stereotypes. Should these personalities be recognized and depicted on tv? Yes, of course they should, but not to the exclusion of all other personalities. When shows only portray the stereotypes, we as a community aren’t fully shown, so it becomes detrimental to everyone.
Hopefully this program doesn’t have the flaws, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Olive
@AaronT: Worded beatifully and I couldn’t agree more.
UsualPlayers
Glee is a show about people into theater and broadway.
What would you expected the type of gay people attracted Broadway to be like? Beer guzzling, burping “straight acting” guy?
I mean- I want to know what reality some of you live in. So I can stay far away from it. For the same reason that I don’t expect the gay cop on Southland to act like Kurt is the same reason that I don’t expect Kurt to act like the gay cop. They fit where they are supposed to be existing.
UsualPlayers
I like the premise about a gay couple raising a kid. I don’t like the surrogate angle. First, that’s not how most gay couples end up having kids- its expensive so that reinforces the image that we are all high income earners, which is not reality.
Unlike glee there was no reason to choose this segment of the gay communities.
Oh, ok
White, check. Thin, check. Attractive, check. Less masculine than a straight male, check.
The crowd yawns.
In Hollywood all gays are white, thin, attractive, and slightly effeminate. The only time you see any other image of a gay male or female is for laughs as a punchline(21 Jump Street for example where the only gay in the village happened to be black and they beat us over the head with it repeatedly…aside from that we never learned anything about him).
And well lesbians apparently don’t even exist anymore.
Oh, ok
Oh by the way if anyone wants to check out the gay character in 21 Jump Street be on the look out for “A Gay Black Guy”, I’m 99% certain that was his name.
Bipolar Bear
Oh, ok – I think you’ll find there’s plenty of lesbians that exist. In bad porn.
Zeke
@Oh, ok: Lesbians don’t exist? Don’t be fooled. They are just in stealth mode…..plotting the takeover of the country. Beware!
velocifero
I remember when the first PR pictures came out to promote Modern Family, how people were up in arms, shocked I tell, you shocked, at the photos. And how they would set the LGBT community back years (oh and they lambasted Sofia Vergera as being stereotyped with her accent not even knowing that’s she is from Columbia.) So I wouldn’t so terribly upset at this. Hollywood publicists are always a bunch of douche bags (I know as I am one of them) who have no creativity. You would think Ryan would have better sense but, with the current state of Glee (boring!) sounds like he has been sucked into the Hollywood bland system like all the other Mutchnicks out there.
RLS
@Aiden: If I’m not mistaken, the gay relationships on Smash and LA Complex involve black people. So…yeah no coverage.
Oh, ok
@RLS: I love LA Complex, but I think it’s on it’s way to being cancelled. Stopped keeping up with Smash, might have to get back into it.
LA Complex has such a varied cast, it’s pretty refreshing. I was a little shocked that the CW picked up a show that didn’t feature an all white cast. Sadly since hardly anyone is watching it they’ll just assume that they were right in having shows like Gossip Girl(which sucks).
J.o.s.h
to all the haters: Shut up!
cam
NBC will change it to an interacial couple because they want to be “Edgy” without controversy.
RLS
@Oh, ok: Smash is a glorious mess. I know it’s not “good,” but something keeps me coming back. And they’ve made some interesting choices with the gay black character. I meant to watch LA Complex, but since it’s pretty much DOA, why bother I guess. Smash got picked up.
chuckles
Some days all I wish for is just a little bleach in the gene pool to kill off some of you morons. Surrogacy is not unheard of for gay men. Yes it can be expensive but sometimes it doesn’t have to be. Modern Family has one aspect of a gay couple with a kid via adoption. What’s so wrong about showing a different perspective after all it does happen. Plus there are lots of surrogates out there. What else can a woman call it when the man she married and bore a child for introduces you to his “friend” who the kid calls Uncle and is having copious amounts of gay sex with your “husband”? Thats surrogacy with a live in nanny for the gay couple. That might be the most expensive type of surrogacy but still a duck is a duck.
Justin Bartha is freaking hot too so STFU.