Noah's Arc

I'm not a black gay male but a bi black woman and I love this show! I have a lot of gay friends and although this show does not represent the majority of black gay males I definitely see a resemblance between the characters in this show and some of my friends! Anyone who expects what they consider to be a "realistic" vision of themselves shown on TV or a movie screen is being ridiculous! Of course, you aren't going to see "you"; but don't condemn a show based on your idealistic views! If that was the case there would be NOTHING at all on TV or at the movies! How many other shows do you watch or movies do you go to that are absolutely a mirror image of you? NONE!!! It's all about identifying with the characters and the situations; and this show gives you this!!! It gets an A++++!!!!!

A black QAF is how it was described to me by a good friend of mine who picked up the season on DVD. Unfortunately I do not get logo on my cable system and I couldn't find the DVD in any stores in my conservative section of the Midwest. I found it available for download to my iPod and did so. I watched the entire 1st season in one sitting. Unlike some of the opinions expressed hear, I find this better than QAF and think that it portrays gays in a more positive light.. I don't think I remember many episodes of QAF when they didn't show anonymous hook-ups in dark back rooms. I really adore this show... the characters AND actors! The drag show sequence in "Don't Make Me Over" choreographed by Frank Gatson was very well performed. I LOVED IT.

I just love this series! All the characters are not only wonderful but sexy! Wade must be the sexiest man on TV apart from Rockmond Dunbar! What I like about this show is that it does tackle some serious issues but gives you some nice light hearted moments. It is fun to watch and is always over too soon! I am sure that if this show was released on one of the major networks it would be a success. I do think people would connect with the stories and I am sure they would love the sexiness of the show.

However, if it was picked up by a major network, it would probably get the Will and Grace treatment and that would spoil the whole thing!

Situational comedy involving gay African-American men in Southern California...and it's a hugely enjoyable, happy surprise. Having fun with stereotypes, and thankfully ignoring political issues, "Noah's Arc" just wants to tease and have fun, and the results are sweetly giddy. A subplot about a cheating lover (handled with surprising skill and taste) is about as serious as it gets. The show, running on the Logo Network, has enough heart to change perceptions and enough wit to make each new episode worth finding. The cast is uniformly excellent; it's probably always the case with a show like this to wonder if these talented men are, in fact, homosexual (and if not, how much training does it take for straight actors to fit so comfortably into this no-holds-barred gay atmosphere?). The scenario doesn't dwell much in their work-a-day lives (husky Trey, played by Gregory Kieth, is the only one who seems to work on a regular basis), so there's more than an element of fantasy here, with plush digs and lots of money going around. Yet, if "Noah's Arc" isn't exactly a gritty or realistic show about the gay black man's struggle in today's world, it is a pleasurable outing that treats its characters with heart, smarts, comic sensitivity, and courage.

It really bugs me that with all the hype surrounding BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and the performances of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, very little love is being shown the landmark series that is NOAH'S ARC. Not to take anything away from the performances of the cast, Ang Lee's note-perfect direction or the milestone that this movie represents, but hey, NOAH "ain't nuthin' to sneeze at", either!

So, "what's the 'T', gurl?" as one of the livelier characters says as his trademark catchphrase. The "T" is a funny, silly, sometimes slap-sticky and very soapy, yet remarkable series for presenting something that mainstream TV (and the media in general) has yet to realize: black gay men not only do exist, (=GASP!=), but the foibles, failings, flings and frenetic friendships that they have are universal - not just to other gay men, but to everyone in general!

Presenting the lives of BGM's in a positive light NEVER seen before on television, NOAH bids us watch as the story of four friends unfolds. Noah (Darryl Stephens), is a cute screenwriter living and working in Santa Monica, CA., crushing heavily on the straight-but-curious hunk Wade (Jensen Atwood), who is also a writer. This raises the eyebrows and the concern of his three closest friends: Chance (Doug Spearman), a buttoned-down English lit professor who is just entering into a monogamous relationship (or so he thinks); Alex (Rodney Chester), the sassy, brassy, divalicious group "mother hen" who works as an AIDS counselor at a local clinic and has been in a LTR with his impossibly gorgeous bodybuilder hubby, Trey (Gregory Keith) for seven years, and finally, hard-bodied and hard-partying Ricky, (Christian Vincent), who considers the concept of monogamy about as necessary in his life as a bad case of leprosy, and sleeps with different men about as fast as Anna Nicole Smith plows through a bag of Lay's potato chips. (Think a black counterpart of Brian on QAF, but with a better body and a bigger...LIBIDO, and you're there!)

Okay, so the 411 on Season One: it has a tendency to lean towards melodramatic exaggeration, but no more or less than any prime-time soap does. The remarkable thing, besides having an all-black cast playing gay black characters as (mostly) positive role models, is that even after all these episodes, I still LIKE them all immensely, for all their faults...even Ricky, who at the end of Season One is nursing a broken heart for maybe the first time in his life, (but you'll have to watch the reruns for the "how" and "why".)

And just getting back to the BROKEBACK accolades for a moment...where's the back-slapping and congrats for THIS cast? True, most of these actors have limited credits, though are definitely not limited in the talent department, and most of them are STRAIGHT! So why aren't they being lauded for their "bravery," for keeping it real in every scene they play, ESPECIALLY the love scenes? It could be said that because NOAH is the first major project for many of them, that they have nothing to lose in giving it their all for these characters. So, what was the excuse for the actors on QAF? For me, the thrill was gone when I reached the end of Season Two for that show. Not only could I not get enough of spending time with Noah and his friends, but I can't WAIT to see what will happen to them next! Being a GBM myself, I have to admit to some bias, but I still think that no one has achieved what writer/director/creator/producer Patrik-Ian Polk has here, and that's even with a non-black cast!

In other words, if you've been waiting for the "black" QUEER AS FOLK, it's here, it's most definitely queer, but you won't mind "getting used to it." Because in a lot of aspects where QAF failed, NOAH succeeds with flying colors. Now I hope that the cast, crew and creator can take the surplus of goodwill and the rep they've built, and run with it right into Season Two!