One of the new gay/lesbian/etc. cable networks, LOGO, is reviewed in Slate today. Their critic’s verdict is that LOGO is too bland and stuffed with g-rated stories.
“So far, the network’s slate seems to consist largely of earnest gay-themed movies like The Brandon Teena Story (a documentary about the real-life murder case on which Boys Don’t Cry was based), Heavenly Creatures, and The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, in which Glenn Close plays a lesbian colonel who sued the military after being discharged for her sexual orientation,” writes Dana Stevens.
“Earnest”? I use TV as mental Sani-flush. A steady diet of those movies would be more depressing than relaxing!
LOGO is available on SF’s DirecTV on channel 263 as part of their TOTAL CHOICE® PLUS and TOTAL CHOICE® PREMIER packages. We don’t upgrade our DirecTV service, and I don’t think the idea of a good-for-you gay-themed network is going to get us to switch. (LOGO is also available via RCN cable but isn’t yet on Comcast in our area or on DISH network.)
I guess my comfort TV needs will have to continue to be served by Murder, She Wrote‘s, The Daily Show, and Fraiser DVD’s.
More information is on the LOGO site. Note: The LOGO site uses Flash heavily and requires it for some information (a stupid requirement, in my professional webmaster opinion).
We went ahead and got the Total Choice Plus, it was only 4.00 more a month. Logo is alright, it is filling the summer re-run gap in programming.
Hmmmm! $4.00, eh? We’ll talk about it. Right now we’ve got Sex in the City and Upstairs, Downstairs on borrowed DVD’s. Who knows?!
Danny called Comcast (our monopoly cable provider) a few days ago to ask about LOGO TV. Whether or not the content was of the excellent quality we gays of discerning taste demand, we did want to support it. He at first got a very CURT answer from the person who spoke to him (a real human!) that it wasn’t going to be in Albuquerque. Ever. Naturally, he lodged a complaint, and got an semi-personalized response that it wouldn’t be coming to the Albuquerque metro Comcast universe in the near future, but thanks for asking.
LOGO did well in the advertising department. I think there’s another channel called “Here,” but it’s just barely on my radar…
Q Television Network
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050713/COLUMNS25/507130340/1085/NEWS01
http://www.qtelevision.com/site/
http://www.qtelevision.com/site/iwantqnetworkpop.asp
Mayor’s vision fully in focus
Cindy Uken
The Desert Sun
July 13, 2005
As a member of the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission in the 1990s, Ron Oden was instrumental in getting Black Entertainment Television included in the local programming lineup. Now Mayor, Oden is lobbying to get more programming included that focuses on yet another minority group – gays and lesbians.
But his vision for what it could bring is much broader than local programming; it’s an economic opportunity.
Oden, widely thought to be the country’s first openly gay black mayor, is lobbying strenuously to get Q Television Network, a Palm Springs-based network, included on the Time Warner Cable television lineup. Q Television Network is a nationally syndicated gay television network run by and programmed for an audience that identifies itself as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – and straight. It would be a natural fit for Palm Springs, which boasts a significant gay and lesbian population.
But for Oden, this is about so much more than just adding a network that is gay- and lesbian-based; it’s about doing what’s right for Palm Springs. And that’s what really gets his creative juices flowing.
This is the place where noted retailers like Nordstrom and J. Crew frequently come for print advertising and catalog shoots.
More than 800 shooting days – including movies, TV shows, commercials and still photography – netted the valley $28 million in revenues in 2004, according to the Inland Empire Film Commission.
With the right production studio, Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley just might be able to take things to the next level. Theoretically, it could become a Hollywood satellite that turns media production into a source for year-round, high-paying jobs?
“If they get on Time Warner, they are going to build a production studio in the city,” Oden said. “It gives us another opportunity to do things here. They’re going to syndicate some national shows and broadcast from here on a daily basis. We’re moving, baby.”
Oden said one of the complaints he often hears is that there is no place in Palm Springs to produce programs; if Q Television Network builds a studio here, that would void that complaint.
Time Warner corporate officers are trying to negotiate a nationwide agreement with the type of network product Q Television Network offers, said Kathi Jacobs, director of government and community relations for Time Warner. The company is considering three different products in the same network genre; Q Television Network is one of them. She said a decision in expected “sometime in the future.”
Carol Hinnant, vice president of acquisitions for Q Television Network, said Tuesday, “We are still talking with Time Warner and hope for a positive resolution in the next couple of months.”
As I’ve gotten to know Oden better during his tenure as mayor – and watch how he works – there are no accidents. Most everything he does is by design.
Earlier this year, he talked of his vision to reestablish Palm Springs as a playground for the stars. He enlisted the help of actors, singers, writers and others to brainstorm ways to attract more stars and visitors to the city – and bring the Hollywood allure back to the desert.
Once a bit static, the picture is starting to become much clearer. It’s becoming a don’t-miss drama.
It’s always about dancing with you people!
Nice job on starting the applause. That’s pretty funny.