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Straight Plan for the Gay Man

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Straight Plan for the Gay Man
GenreReality television
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes3
Production
Running time43–54 minutes
Original release
NetworkBravo[1]
ReleaseFebruary 23 (2004-02-23) –
October 30, 2004 (2004-10-30)

Straight Plan for the Gay Man is an American comedy television series that premiered on February 23, 2004, on Comedy Central. It is a parody of Bravo's hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.[2] Four straight comedians (the "Flab Four") – Curtis Gwinn (environment guy), Billy Merritt (appearance guy), Kyle Grooms (information guy), and Rob Riggle (culture guy) – make over three gay men to pass as straight. The show only ran for three episodes.[3]

The makeovers include lessons in poor manners, spartan home decorating, unfashionable wardrobes, and an overdeveloped ego to mask all personal failings.[4] Episodes involved making over a fashion salesman into a meat-packer, a yoga instructor into a jock, and an entertainer into a suave "babe-magnet".[5]

Reception

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The show received mostly negative reception from critics. Niamh Slevin of The Michigan Daily gave the series one star out of five, calling it "nothing short of pitiful" and saying that "Comedy Central should be ashamed to produce something as bland and trite as Straight Plan."[6] The Chicago Tribune's review stated that, while the show's direct references to Queer Eye are funny, "there’s no place for this to go, really, beyond paying homage to the far funnier [...] Queer Eye, while indulging in the most obvious Man Show stereotypes about straights."[7] In a more favorable review, Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times called the show "as engaging as the show it mercilessly mocks," and that each of the three episodes was "similar, yet just different enough to hold viewers' attention."[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Comedy Central spoofs Fab Five". Los Angeles Times. November 12, 2003.
  2. ^ "CNN.com - New show: 'Straight Plan for the Gay Man' - Nov. 11, 2003". edition.cnn.com.
  3. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (January 12, 2005). "They All Had the Best of Intentions. Why the Tears?". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ "Straight Plan for the Gay Man, PopMatters". March 2, 2004.
  5. ^ "'Straight Plan': Manly, Yes. Funny, No". Washington Post. 2004-02-23. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  6. ^ "'Straight Plan' can't outperform a gay one". The Michigan Daily. March 1, 2004.
  7. ^ "'Straight Plan' funny but it's no 'Queer Eye'". Chicago Tribune. 23 February 2004.
  8. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (February 23, 2004). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Acting Straight for a Day, or How I Learned to Belch". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
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