RuPaul To Sashay Across The Country In New Netflix Sitcom "AJ And The Queen"

RuPaul (image via Instagram)

As if perpetually-in-motion RuPaul didn't have enough on his plate, now we get word that the two-time Emmy Award winner will soon star in a new series for Netflix titled, AJ and the Queen.

Ru will team-up with Michael Patrick King (2 Broke Girls, Sex and the City) for the new original comedy series.

According to Deadline, King and RuPaul will pen the new sitcom which will feature RuPaul as "Ruby Red, a bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen who travels across America from club to club in a rundown 1990’s R/V with her unlikely sidekick AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy 11-year-old stowaway."

So two misfits - one tall, one small - sashaying across the country, spreading a message of acceptance and love.

Kind of like BJ and the Bear meets Touched by an Angel just with a lot more sass.

Oh, and apparently Mama Ru will perform a killer musical number in all the drag clubs visited.

You better work.

Could WILL & GRACE Even Afford Their Fab NYC Apartment Today?

Everyone I know is thrilled at the news that NBC has ordered 10 new episodes of the hit sitcom, Will & Grace, for later this year. The show has long been credited, in great part, in helping advance LGBT rights just through the sheer visibility it brought our community.

Watching the ten minute "reunion" scene produced for the presidential election, it was nice to find out the apartment set for the show had been stored behind glass at Emerson University these past years. Even though they were fictional, anyone who's lived in NYC could appreciate what fab digs Will and Grace had during the 8 year run of the show.

But it's been 11 years since the show closed up shop, and things are a little more expensive than they used to be.

In fact, real estate super-site Trulia took a look at some iconic NYC-based 90s sitcoms to assess what it would cost to live like our favorite TV characters.

Although Grace could work her design magic in any space, her Upper West Side apartment was a good start. The building, located at 155 Riverside Drive in New York City, comes with a steep price tag in today’s market. According to Trulia data, the median rent today for a two bedroom, two bath unit like Will and Grace’s on the Upper West Side is $5,940.

Talk about a nice apartment, the purple abode that belonged to Monica and Rachel from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is tough to beat. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a giant living room, kitchen, balcony, a (messy) storage closet, it was always tough to believe that a waitress and a chef could afford this pricey pad. The exterior is located at 90 Bedford Street in New York, NY. Even with rent control, the average rent price for Greenwich village will cost you $4,229 per month for this size of an apartment.

And, of course, Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment seemed like a reasonable place to live. The show always cited 129 W. 81st in New York, NY, however this is not the actual external shot of his apartment from the show. Regardless, Jerry’s place was a nice pad on the Upper West Side, that seemed reasonable for the professional comedian. His one bedroom, one bath place in today’s market would run about $3,856 per month.

Check out the Trulia article to see exactly what Will & Grace or your favorite Friends might be able to afford today.

Matt Baume On 70s/80s Sitcoms And The Homos

In a very worthwhile 7 minute history of the portrayal of gays on sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s, Matt Baume tracks how gays slowly gained visibility (and a voice) on TV.

When did TV first permit joking while gay? I've been combing through sitcoms to figure out when queers stopped being a scary threat, and were allowed to be real people with love lives and funny punch lines. Here are just a few of my favorite early gay characters on sitcoms.

As Baume states at the end, a 7 minute video can't provide enough time to cover all the good and bad of the gay 70s and 80s. I am a bit surprised he skipped over Showtime's Brothers which featured an openly gay lead character that was memorably positive.

But, again, how much can you fit into a web video?

Very good watch here.

Official Trailer For Upcoming Dan Savage Sitcom - "The Real O'Neals"

The first official trailer for the new ABC sitcom The Real O'Neals, exec produced by Dan Savage dropped today.

Deadline describes as "A contemporary take on a seemingly perfect Catholic family, whose lives take an unexpected turn when surprising truths are revealed. Instead of ruining their family, the honesty triggers a new, messier chapter where everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real."

“The Real O’Neals” stars Martha Plimpton as Eileen, Jay R. Ferguson as Pat, Noah Galvin as Kenny, Mathew Shively as Jimmy, Bebe Wood as Shannon and Mary Hollis Inboden as Jodi.

Religious and conservative organizations and their leaders, including Tony Perkins and Brent Bozell, of The Media Research Center and Family Research Council respectively, vigorously campaigned against the series.

They lost.

If "Friends" Was On TV Today - "Friends Reboot"

Nerdist imagines what a 2015 version of the 90s sitcom Friends would be like. And it's completely accurate.

Hilarious I laughed.

ABC Greenlights Sitcom Based On The Early Life Of Dan Savage

ABC has green-lit a new sitcom based on the early life of Dan Savage (It Gets Better Project, Savage Love):

The untitled Savage comedy is a single-camera semi-autobiographical entry based on the LGBT activist/boundary-pushing columnist's life. It centers on a picture-perfect family that is turned upside down when the youngest son comes out of the closet. What seems like the end of their idyllic life turns out to be the beginning of a bright new chapter when everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real.

Savage is listed as one of the producers on the project.

(via Hollywood Reporter)