Noah's Arc

Noah's Arc is a show about four black gay men dealing with all sorts of human issues dealt not just within the gay community, but within every community. Noah, played by Darryl Stephens, is a wallflower, screenwriter type who is looking for the perfect love in Wade. Wade, played by Jensen Atwood, is also a screenwriter who has never been in a relationship with a man, until he met Noah. Noah has three friends. Alex, played by Rodney Chester, who runs an HIV clinic and is going through the ups and downs of being in a long term relationship. Ricky, played by Christian Vincent, is the promiscuous store owner on Melrose, who is protective over his friends and afraid of monogamy. Chance, played by Doug Spearman, is a college professor, who is adjusting to the idea of having a husband and raising a child. Each one of these actors are tailor made for their parts on this show. I know the show is not for everyone, and it's not claiming to be for everyone. But if your into watching a show dealing with human beings with human issues that remind you of yourself or someone you know, I guarantee you'll love this show. Patrik Ian Polk has done an amazing job creating a show that incorporates comedy, drama and lust in a time frame of 22 minutes. I just wish the show was longer. I really hope that this show continues to grow and stays on the air for a very long time. In 2006, its about time someone like Patrik Ian Polk had the guts to say screw the masses and create a show as groundbreaking as Noah's Arc. This is a great wake up call for all people.

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!

...and for some odd reason, i think thats all the show is meant to do....entertain. I mean it does display some realities in the gay community but breaks away from reality and at the same time....and the writer should be allowed to do that with no penalty, charge, or scrutiny ...why...because its a TV SHOW!!!....not a documentary, not reality TV, but a fictional TV show which touches on realistic issues...(i.e. aids in the black gay community, gay marriage, raising a child in a gay relationship...etc.)

Yeah, I'm a straight black woman and like the straight white woman said, what am I doing watching a gay male show...LOL...like her, I ran into it by accident and it too reeled me in...I absolutely love the show, bought season 1 on DVD, and must say I've learned a lot about the gay community just by listening to the commentaries.

I've Never watched QAF or the L Word and don't intend to, not because I have issues with it, just not interested....so i can't do a comparison on the two. But, what I have noticed is some ppl look for TV shows to tell the story of THEIR reality and thats not what Noah's Arc was meant to do. It tells the story of Noah, Alex, Ricky, and Chance...4 black gay men in LA, not the story of Black gay men in America. Again, I'm a straight black woman and I thoroughly enjoy Girlfriends, Living Single, & Moesha and not one of those straight black female characters relate to me and because they don't, does that mean discredit and discount the show? Thats stupid. Its just television, and if people would stop looking for their life stories to be told via Noah's ARC, QAF, L Word, Girlfriends, Desperate Houswives, etc. and just take it for what it is, then it would be received much better.

If I want my life story to be told...I'll pick up a pen and begin to write, not wait on someone else to tell my story for me.

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!

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++++!!!!!