Common themes from the LGBT community are explored, putting the queer “family” in the roles of pitcher (comedian) and catcher (punch line).
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Like many television programs, it took "The Big Gay Sketch Show" a couple episodes in its first season to find its footing. Unlike other series, there were only six episodes in the premiere year, causing some of the inevitable changes which would have been integrated during a longer season to be pushed back to the second year. The show, the first gay centric sketch comedy program on one of the first American networks catering to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, develops a more refined focus in Year Two´s eight installments. Production values are noticeably bumped up, cast members depart and come on board, the material takes more risks, successful characters return alongside a host of new ones and the presence of LGBT luminaries adds legitimacy to the endeavor.
The most apparent change occurs with the cast. Dion Flynn and Michael Serrato are swapped out for Colman Domingo and Paolo Andino. It´s a fair change out, more or less. Domingo and Flynn play the same type of parts in the show: tall, lanky, African American, slightly effeminate. His take on Maya Angelou (reading CraigsList postings, to boot) is a welcome new piece to the season, carrying a regal demeanor though never in parody. He is also thrust into female roles through the season, playing a Tranny Hooker, Blake Carrington´s (of "Dynasty" fame) black half-sister, Angelou and a Pocket Diva.
Andino for Serrato, however, is less fair. Not because of their comedic abilities, but because of their body types. In the first season, Serrato played with his bear qualities (a bigger, hairy man) in at least one piece and performed a spot on Mrs. Garrett (from "The Facts of Life") in another. Instead of retaining him and the added diversity he brought to the cast, Andino was brought in, complete with his Rodrigo Santoro looks, further affirming the only positive gay male body type is muscular and/or a twink (hairless and skinny). As a comedian, Andino looks like the novice of the group, trying just a bit too hard as Naldo, a foreign man who wears skimpy clothing while performing strenuous activities. Almost as if he wants to prove himself against his colleagues as opposed to simply going with the flow, he proves to be one of the most versatile actors, too. He is the only male capable of successfully passing as straight, though Stephen Guarino valiantly tries in "The Big Straight Sketch Show" and Johnny McGovern as Fitzwilliam´s father. (No mention is made, outside of passing references, as to Flynn and Serrato leaving the show.)
I guess I should mention the rest of the cast, all of whom return from the freshman outing. While I lamented the late season reliance on McGovern, that problem has been rectified here, allowing more cast members to become involved in the action. With his somewhat reduced role, the Gay Pimp doesn´t grate on the nerves as much as he did in the previous outing, resulting in a better appreciate for what he brings to the program. (His Perez Hilton impersonation, though, in episode five, is thankfully not heard from again. Talk about an idea taken to the breaking point for no good reason.) Erica Ash continues to be the standout in everything she does, from her Gayle King to saucy Grandma Bell. As she inhabits Tootie in "The Facts of Life," Ash hits just the right combination of immaturity, humor and parody. (I should mention Ash and Nicol Paone are the two straight females in the cast, a point mentioned in the extra features.)
In season one, the set was relatively sparse, consisting of a wooden platform, a couple props and a screen on which backgrounds were projected. Most of the sketches took place on the platform, within the controlled environment of the studio. Starting with the opening piece of the second season (Super Liza, referring to Liza Minelli), the show opens up, taking the action outside and on the road. A piece in episode four revolving around an Oprah (Flynn) and Gayle King (Ash) being lesbians on a road trip is entirely location-based. Even when staying indoors, the available space is opened up with more props intricate sets for the actors to play with. While the production values have been increased from season to season, it still doesn´t compare to "Saturday Night Live." When the camera hits certain angles, we see right past a hint of the rafters or even the audience members, as the cast walks off the stage as part of a sketch. There´s nothing at all wrong with breaking the fourth wall since, as a live studio audience based program, there really isn´t a fourth wall to break. Director Amanda Bearse, also returning from the first season, doesn´t stand on ceremony or perceive the show to be something it´s not. It´s all about the comedy, nothing else.
Even though season two has grown from the first year, one place there could have been a bigger jump is the risks each sketch is willing to take. It takes relatively little risk to talk about May-December romances (a relationship where one partner is significantly older than the other) and have Catherine Zeta-Jones throw up thinking about Michael Douglas. It would take a lot more cajones to take shots at politics or other real world issues. Since the season just completed airing, there is no mention of the presidential race, the current administration, the lack of true gay rights or any other hot button topic. The best we get is an unfunny bit where three congressmen grill a gay rights activist on where to hook up with another man. The punch line being the unmentioned Larry Craig, Mark Foley and others. There just isn´t a zing to the writing, no interest in digging the needle or going for the laugh.
Ultimately, as good as "The Big Gay Sketch Show" gets in the second season-the best sketch is the Hungs, which should have everyone holding their sides from laughing so hard-it epitomizes the gay community at large. Instead of making the audience or writers sit up and think about the world around them, they reach for the easy joke, the broad joke, the one demanding nothing more than a stereotype. How many times can Food Network personality Paula Deen be parodied? How about financial guru Suze Orman? Oprah has been done to death by every comedy program on the air. The entire program doesn´t need to be about political issues; maybe just a sketch or two, showing a maturity in the creative process. "Saturday Night Live" has used the Weekend Update part of the show to stick it to newsmakers for years. Dig a little deeper into what makes the gay community tick, be a little less superficial, make a difference.
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