Televisions Most Recognized Gay Characters

Aside from what I've been hearing about there aren't a lot of gay characters on television, I am watching television series, movies, and online shows, and I am so happy seeing all these amazing characters. The only thing that needs to change is the storyline around the characters. We are not all about drama. We all don't wear female clothing. We all don't raise our voices. We all don't demand an attention. For those that still picture all gay people like that, I think you might some new contact lenses.

I love television series more than movies. I love writing screenplays. But I have a habit of not letting the characters go away. I'm sure a lot of us agree that we love watching gay characters on a television series than a movie. If we watch a movie, we will always wonder what happens next.

Throughout my teenage years, there have been so many gay characters/couples that I immediately had a crush on. Even though the shows are canceled, I will buy the shows on DVD, and watch it nonstop. My favorite characters turn out to be couples too. Noah Nicholson and Wade Robinson from Noah's Arc, Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor from Queer as Folk, and Justin and Andrew Van de Kamp from Desperate Housewives.

Even though these shows are gone (except Desperate Housewives), we buy them on DVD, and watch it non-stop. However, there are still some gay characters that I watch on a daily basis. Some I am addicted to, and some I am just getting interested in.

The one gay couple I am watching constantly is Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer in the soap opera As The World Turns. This is the first gay male soap opera supercouple. Despite the storyline, it feels great seeing them on television on a daily basis. I'm not that much of a fan of soap operas, but this couple is starting to make me change my mind.


And of course, there are the two characters in the iconic sitcom that doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. Even though the show is canceled, you can see the reruns every night on Lifetime. Our funny men: Will Truman and Jack Farland from Will and Grace.

I just love the fact that we have these amazing characters on television. Every time I see them, it feels great to have characters that we can relate too. These characters opened the door to a lot of us. We must show these television studios that the characters we created are some that can inspire a large number of viewers. You gotta love television!

Feel free to comment. I love your opinions.

A Future Gay Soap Opera?

This is something that has been in my head for a very long time.

Two days ago, I watched a full one hour episode of The Young and the Restless. I wanted to watch this phenomenon that most women, lesbians, and gay men are into. In the beginning, I really wasn't a fan of soap operas. I began asking people "How can you keep up with over a thousand episodes?"

Soap operas are daily shows. It's not like waiting next week to watch the new episode of Law and Order. If you want to watch a new episode, wake up the next day and it's on. I remember running into a woman who is a fan of this show. This woman knew what happened in episode seven thousand to the present episode. I'm sure it will reach episode ten thousand before the next decade.

After watching this show, I immediately became addicted to it. I just became part of that group of gay men who love soap operas. This show will give me an excuse to wake up every day at 9:00 AM. It's suspenseful, romantic, comedic, the perfect ingredients for a good show. I might add another soap opera to my list, but I just want to get used to this show first.

While watching this show, I began to think about our community back on television. Right now, the only couple I see on a soap opera is Luke and Noah from As The World Turns.

Their stories are amazing, but it's time to branch out. It's been more than a year now with these two, and As The World Turns is about to be canceled in just a few months. After watching these soap operas along with characters like them, it got me thinking. There should be a future soap opera just surrounding gay characters.

Out of all the shows people are dieing to watch, the gay community contains a large percentage of it. Whenever I walk past a group of people who just watched an old episode of Noah's Arc, Queer As Folk, and The L Word, they continue to talk about it, and even express their own ideas for new episodes. It's like a clock froze in their head and they can never forget. That's how much of a fan they are.

Which is why I suggest they should create a gay soap opera on television or online. We'll need to call Dwight Allen O' Neal (Christopher's Street), Maurice Jamal (The Ski Trip), Patrick Ian Polk (Noah's Arc), Ron Cowen (Queer As Folk), Ilene Chaiken (The L Word), or some newcomer and make this happen. We have to show a body of work that Showtime, Logo, SoapNet, NBC, and many more to make this happen.

All these ideas just gets me thinking.

Should there be a gay soap opera?

Zolra's Corner: Dominating Our Resources Will Lead To Other Opportunities

This is strictly my opinion. I don't know if anyone agrees with me or not. What I've noticed throughout my years is alot of things surrounding the LGBT community. I love the fact that we are doing everything we can to put ourselves on the screen, and getting rid of this images that the media has of us. If you've seen films like The Salon and Nora's Hair Salon, you know what gay characters I'm talking about.

Growing up, I've seen some changes. On networks like Logo and definitely Showtime, we've seen a lot of shows that brought some interesting characters. The shows that made a great impact on television is Queer As Folk, The L Word, and Noah's Arc.



These were amazing shows, and I am proud of their success on television. Through the years, I have seen films and tv series progress rapidly. The day I saw Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom became a box office success, the doors have opened because we wouldn't stop knocking. Better yet, we didn't have to knock. We ripped that door down and tackled the media down in the street. We are still doing our best to bring great films, television shows, and even talk shows.

But here is my theory on the whole thing. I believe that we have a few resources that we can use in order to do it. It's something that I thought about when I saw my role model Tyler Perry do it.

When he started making movies, Hollywood wasn't calling him. In the beginning, they were against Tyler's messages. They said either he makes the types of movies they recommended, or he can walk away and be unsuccessful in cinema. Tyler walked away and built us own empire using the resources he had. He formed a long lasting deal with Lionsgate, and his films have been grossing close to $400 million dollars. Because of this success, Hollywood now calls him.

This makes me believe that we need to do our best with the resources that we have. If we can accomplish that, then they will be calling us. Because they now realize that this is an opportunity that they can't walk away from. One of the best resources we have is the internet. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Skype, and many more have made it very useful for us

If we want a television show, let's create it and put it on Youtube. Of course, making money online is a necessity. But if we can promote the heck out of it, we will be very proud. Take my friend Nathan "Seven" Scott. The first time we met each other was when we were doing our own talk shows. I was doing "Zolra's Corner" and he was doing "The & Show". Since then, I have watched him move on and become a better person. He went from"The & Show" to other tv shows he created, to the current show "We Are The Media". I check the show everyday. It is getting so many high views.

One more thing I want to view on television series and movies. I see we are doing our best. We are premiering these new movies to film festivals every year. We have tv shows that have gay characters as the main parts of the show. But there are still some of us that have amazing ideas that would be great to have up there too. My thing is to use what we have, which is the internet. The one show I was happy to watch on a daily basis online was Drama Queenz.

For shows like this, we need to promote the heck out of it to make sure it continues. Once we have this successful show online, we can premiere it in festivals and larger theatres.  When sponsors see how successful we are online (if the first episode gets like 1,000,000 views), then we can show that we have a success on our hands. Before you know it, someone like Patrick Ian Polk or Maurice Jamal would like to be a part of it.

As for movies, do the same thing. Keep on promoting the heck out of it. You will see great results in the end. That's what happened to Noah's Arc. After watching it at a festival, Logo knew they had a hit on their hands. Then it became a tv show. For movies, I think we should try the DVD business. It's a theory I thought of after watching Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen grow their business when they were kids.

When they were kids, business executives predicted the business after watching how one of their first films was more successful when it was released on DVD. So they started working on straight to DVD films, and it grossed over $100 million worldwide. It's all about predicting the business. Finding Me did that.

I consider this one of the best promotions I've ever seen. The team used Youtube to release trailers and sneak peaks of the movie. The cast and crew went to events to promote the film. This led to blogs talking about it so much, more people wanted to find out more about it.

Once the film came out, it was an instant success. And the reason why it became a success is because they predicted the business and used the resources they had.

We keep on wondering how we are going to do things like this. My only answer for that is "The resources you need are right in front of you."
And it's because of these resources that make us a force that can't be stopped. Comment if you agree with me on this.

Zolra's Corner: Gay's Anatomy

What I discovered online really shocked me. I only watched the first episode of this web series, and I am already addicted to it. It's amazing on what you can find with just a little typing and one click on the search button on Google.

Aside from watching comedies and dramedies, I am a fan of medical dramas. I am not a fan of pure drama series. I know drama makes great ratings, but I like having a little bit of comedy every now and then. However, I can't say that I am against drama series since I used to watch a pure drama series and I am watching a teen drama right now. Queer as Folk and Gossip Girl are the only series on my list of all time favorite shows in the drama category. So I can't deny watching one episode every now and then.

Many people are starting to create online web series. I see alot of shows surrounding the gay community online. Drama Queenz and In The Moment were the first ones I noticed. Now I add a new one to my list. The moment I saw the first episode of this online series, two things popped up in my head

• This is a good comedy series
• I hope they are not making a comedy version of one of my favorite medical dramas.

There is this online series that is all over the web: Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Vimeo, and Blip. It's a comedy-drama called Gay's Anatomy.

Set in New York City, this probing series begins as three recently graduated med students compete for a spot in the city's top urology program. But what happens when your whole life revolves around the prostate? Get ready, because Mark, Marc, and Jim - plus their friends, colleagues, and an ever-expanding collection of bed mates - will bring you deep into the world of urology.

They work hard. They play harder. They touch your privates for a living. It began on June 18, and these doctors are... out. Below is the first episode. If you want more info, go to their website gays-anatomy.com

If you are fans of Grey's Anatomy, don't count on this show to be the same. The ABC show is a medical drama. Gay's Anatomy is a dramedy. Be sure to watch the other episodes.