New Gay Drama Series - DTLA

OUT Exclusive: New Gay TV Drama, 'DTLA' 'L Word' alums tackle queer life in Downtown Los Angeles We’re not lacking for amazing TV shows to watch. But every so often something comes along that warrants deleting that subscription to Roseanne reruns we keep on our DVR. DTLA seems to be just such a program. The show, produced by L Word veteran Larry Kennar, will begin airing on Canada’s OUTtv (no relation) beginning late spring, and follows a group of friends in Downtown Los Angeles as they deal with the breakup of boyfriends Lenny (Darryl Stephens) and Bryan (Matthew Stephen Herrick). “OUTtv is committed to the development of new dramatic TV series that tell the stories of the LGBT community,” the network told us. The show, which is shot in what creators call a “European” style—meaning way more sexy scenes than you might be used to—features familiar faces including Stephens (Noah's Arc), Danny Roberts (The Real World), Erin Daniels (The L Word), Tiffany Pollard (I Love New York), Luenell (Borat),  Julie Goldman (Big Gay Sketch Show), Internet superstar B. Scott, William McNamara (Doing Time On Maple Drive) and Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace), and is mostly improvised, based on stories from the creators’ lives.

http%3A//www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2012/01/26/out-exclusive-new-gay-tv-drama-dtla



• There is no gay scene downtown. There was Moustache Mondays but is that even going any more? There are of course gay people who live downtown but there is no gay scene. This show is completely inauthentic. You might as well make a show about the gay scene in Santa Monica.

  BIg%20surprise%21

• Does it matter if there's no gay scene? Shit, can't we get some good shows with some cool stories. I thought the trailer was excellent and quite refreshing. I'm going to give some $ for a little support

• I cannot wait for gay drama, especially since it's so rare these days. Nothing in Santa Monica either? So, where do people in the Southland go for a scene? Is there a Mall or something (I hven't been to LA for a long time.)

• There's a ton of fags downtown. Just not weho queens. The trailer looked like it had a couple of weho queens so everyone should be happy. Tiffany pollard! LMAO!

• Yea, like I said, there's gay guys downtown, but there's no gay scene. Unlike Silver Lake, or (gasp!) West Hollywood. So this is a show about a bunch of gay guys who happen to live downtown, and are surrounded by white hipsters and Koreans? Or is it a show written by someone who has no idea what he is writing about and is pantomiming a scene he may not even know does not exist?

• Where the fuck was Danny Roberts? His name's in the cast credits but he's nowhere to be seen in the trailer. They might as well have taken the entire cast of QAF and moved them from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles with an eclectic minority cast. Nothing new here...move along.

• Danny is in the shower with that black dude.

• Why does there have to be a gay scene? Can't gays live outside the ghetto? Can't gays go to non-gay places with each other or not? Who cares? This looks like its trying to break down those boundaries. Who's Danny Roberts?

• I can't stand QAF. This looks way cooler.

• Oh my gods, I love Danny Roberts. I love his cock!

• Erin Daniels? Isn't she straight?

• Ok, Erin plays their shrink...

• Here's an old article about this show. It looks HOT. Danny Roberts and Darryl Stephens. Love them both!

  http://www.towleroad.com/2011/08/robertsstephens.html

• Darryl Stephens was interviewed today on the radio. He said the sex scenes are extreme and explicit, very realistic. OMG

• Does anyone have pics of Danny Roberts nude?

• Damn, that looks cheesy...

• Oh god, not another gay drama, showcasing a bunch of cliche queens.

• If it's the same quality as the L Word, fuggetaboutit!

• I don't understand. People live in downtown Los Angeles? Why?

• [quote]Why does there have to be a gay scene? Because it's a giveaway that this show isn't written by someone who knows what he's writing about. I know lots of gay guys who live downtown. This show is not going to be about them. No one is going to make a "male L Word" about these guys. So if you are watching this show, you are in for an ignorant writer fantasizing about what he may not even know doesn't exist. Proceed at your own risk.

  R1

• [quote]Damn, that looks cheesy... "Cheesy" is a polite word for it.

  The Voice of the Night

• Wow! R1 has some issues with zip codes. Weho is expensive, man!

• Whose that fuckin hot white guy in with the scruff? The guy playing Darryl Stephens bf. YUM!

• Is this a real series? Damn! Is it R rated?

• r23 thats Matthew Stephen Herrick and he is moisty!

• WTF? Downtown has a huge scene. Fuckin haters always ruin shit for the gays

• William McNamara!!

• So basically, yet another "gay" show that I won't be able to relate to in any way at all.

• When are they going to do a show about regular queers who live in a small town? We exist, and we're out.

• I'd love to see that show, r29. But everyone on here will throw a shot fit if there's no "gay scene"

• I def feel I can relate more to this than qaf

• Whoa, Danny got old!

• Ewww. Looks to be completely embarassing and cringe-worthy.

• Looks AWFUL. I do love me some B Scott though.

• What's so awful about it? Can someone please explain. It looks way more exciting g to me than anything logo does.

• Bad acting, looks amateurish. Doesn't appear to have an exciting storyline. And the guy doing the voiceover has a voice reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard.

• I don't think the production value is that great when they don't give sound and dialogue a post production treatment which was the case with shows like queer as folk. In my opinion the webseries In Between Men looks better and more polished than DTLA.

• [quote]I don't think the production value is that great when they don't give sound and dialogue a post production treatment which was the case with shows like queer as folk. So are you saying Queer as Folk has or doesn't have post production treatment???

• Sorry that it was unclear. Queer as folk had post production treatment. According to the trailer the DTLA series doesn't seem to get any post production treatment. But I'm looking forward to be pleasantly surprised by the show anyway.

  r37

• In between men is amateurish! Never even heard of it before. DTLA looks ok

• r40, DTLA should be more than ok for you considering you posted at least half of the posts in this thread.

• Will we get this in the US? Will Logo air it?

• today's gays are the least attractive men. I'm glad I lived when gays were good looking.

• I wonder if William McNamara gets with dudes in this

• Please post Danny's cock!

• R43, does that mean you aren't alive now?

• Isn't there a pic of Danny jacking off from several years ago?

• Looks utterly crap.

• how can you get OUTTV in the U.S.? Anyone know?

• What is OUTTV?

• That trailer makes Queer as Folk look like a masterpiece in comparison.

• "What is OUTTV?" OUT TV is Canada's version of LOGO tv with, get this, ACTUAL GAY CONTENT!!! It's mostly uncensored for the most part, so I don't see how this new "steamy" show will run uncut in the USA on that channel. LOGO nneds to get away from MTV and find another owner.

• Downtown is one word.

  Pedant

• Can they just beam it in to us somehow? I have a directv dish outside on my balcony.

• That's Jeffrey Self's bf, second from right.

• I spoke with Directv's customer service today and they are going to beam it straight into my living room the night DTLA hits the air. Special perks for a longtime customer and all. I am willing to throw weekly watching parties but someone will have to bring the cheetos and someone will have to bring the jiffy pop. I will provide a cheese ball and triscuits and beverages.

• R30 Ditto. This just looks like another cheesy gay show, and of course a gay show just HAS to be in LA or NY. So typical and lame. Contrary to popular belief, there are many gays in smaller sized towns. Plus the acting looks terrible. Did they film the episodes with a camera phone?

• Everything I have read on it, so far, suggests that this show about a city in the US won't be telecast anywhere in the US. Makes perfect sense ... not.

• [quote]...and of course a gay show just HAS to be in LA or NY. So typical and lame. Contrary to popular belief, there are many gays in smaller sized towns. Yeah, it would be far more compelling to do a show based on the gay scene in Altoona, Pennsylvania!

  Satan's Little Helper

• [quote]of course a gay show just HAS to be in LA or NY. Oh really?

  Liberty%20Avenue%2C%20Pittsburgh

• I'd like to see one set in Pensacola, FL.

• I applaud the effort that has gone into depicting such cultural diversity amongst a group of gay/straight friends. Based on the trailer, I couldn't read much more into it except that it centers on pretty typical relationship drama. I would hope that, in the future, the writing might include such themes as sexism, racism/prejudice, suicide, rape, sexual assault, bullying, closet cases, domestic violence etc. If you're going to do a drama series then you have to make people pay attention. Right now I'm getting a 'been there, done that' feeling from the description of the show.

  Moroccan

• funny how all you bitter queens are bitching about a show you haven't even seen. way to be stereotypical. the writers and cast all live in LA, and around half DO live in downtown. why don't you watch an episode before jumping off a cliff. or actually, switch that order around.

• Is it too late to add gay vampires or gay werewolves?

• I bet Logo will try to get this show just to save face

• I did not bitch about the show, I shared the fact that there is no gay scene downtown. The show might as well be SMLA -- an edgy and relevant portrayal of a few gay people who happen to live in Santa Monica, another city with no gay scene. This is not an authentic slice of life, or even a reality show pantomime of a slice of life. If you live in LA, you know there is no gay scene downtown. There's a gay scene in West Hollywood, in Silver Lake, in Echo Park, in Long Beach even, but *not* downtown. Some gay people happen to live there but they do not love and learn together while soaking in all the vibrant neighborhood has to offer. If you don't live in LA, you will buy the bullshit this F-list show is serving you, perhaps. Seriously. I know the gay guys who live downtown and host rooftop parties. They do not look like the gaylings in this trailer! They look like over the hill hipsters who worked at Amoeba records once upon a time and enjoy armpits. And there aren't even many of them. It's hardly a scene and what exists looks nothing like this.

• This show looks awful. How can anyone take something with the girl from "I Love NY" in it seriously?

• Wow they are really breaking the mold with this one, a bunch of femmey multi-cultural gays getting wet over gay drama, they should have just called the show "Marys and other stereotypes" and be done with it.

• I would rather watch the queens in this show than see a show about any of you nasty sad bitches on here. Listen to all of you. U sound miserable

• There can be a gay scene everywhere when you throw belief overboard which you always do when you watch fiction. And that show is fiction. Obviously.

• What does there have to be a gay scene to tell gay stories?

• If the title and premise of your show surround a neighborhood, then yes.

  R66

• Oh joy, yet another tired show that shoves the stereotypical bitchy, tired queen into the limelight. Maybe one day a show that gives gays a boost by depicting some educated, attractive guys?! With the exception of Danny, perhaps, these are trolls who clearly never graduated college. And why did they have to beg for money to put this crap on the air? DOn't these failed actors have $25,000 between then? Probably not.

  Derek Spence in Dallas

• WEHT?

• Did anyone watch this evening? It was actually better than I expected. It was more natural, laid back, not completely stereotypical and showed a nice range for a first episode. I don't know that it is must-see, but higher quality than the web series-quality I was expecting.

• Maybe this will make LOGO gay again.

  Pantsy

• Nobody told me Hobie from Baywatch (and Dr. Drew Rehab) was in this. It was funny how they made a joke about his character kicking a steroid habit - just like his real life. That character is straight now, but I wonder if he'll end up hooking up with a dude at all at some point. Overall the first episode was decent and I'll keep on watching. I wasn't sure why the lesbian bouncer wouldn't let that female (I don't know these people's names yet) into the club at the end. Are there some gay bars that are strictly male only?

• But it's censored, isn't it? Is there an uncensored version like there is for Hunting Season?

• I purposely DVRd an episode shown after midnight because I figured Logo would do as they have with Misfits - show a censored episode in primetime and the uncensored after midnight. In the episode I recorded I didn't see any cock, but there was more than one naked ass and I heard 'fuck' at least once if not more. But I can't be positive that something else wasn't edited out. So that's my suggestion r78, catch the late night showing for uncensored, or mostly uncensored.

• So was Danny Roberts just a guest for the first episode? I just caught up on the 2nd and 3rd, and he's not in either of them.

• Let's be happy something of decent content is on the air...surely it will lead to more shows with even better content. And, don't get it twisted the content of this show seems to be so far, in spite of the production quality. There's a ton of shows on air with A & B list actors and plenty of money poured into the project and the show still ended up sucking. Real life? This is not a documentary. It's a drama like Melrose Place or take your pick. It's not like most shows on TV don't represent 100% real life anyway, but this show is only in it's 3rd week...give it time. And, these guys are hot. I don't care if there's a scene in downtown or not. I'm enjoying the hell out of this show. R77 I live in Texas and some of the gay clubs/bars in Oaklawn (Dallas) have boy's night, no girls allowed and visa versa...once or twice a month. I don't know how common that is in other areas.

• YOU KNOW HE HAS A HUGE PENIS!

  http://www.myportiswaspsays.com/2011/04/matthew-stephen-herrick-actor-model.html

• Darryl Stephens is mine, bitches! You can fight over the rest.

  EJ

• What happened? It wasn't on tonight. I was just getting into the series.

• Does Luenell have many lines? She's hilarious.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DcQDtnA7Ms_s%26feature%3Drelmfu

• WAIT WTF!!! When did this premiere? I was gonna watch it but I see it already started.

• There is an uncensored version out there somewhere. Billy Masters posted a clip on his site. (It's a pay site, you must subscribe.) IIRC, you see the Baywatch kid's dick and pubes when he's fucking his g/f.

• This week is the 4th episode, r86, so I guess it premiered a month ago. Logo does randomly rerun the hell out of their shows though, so you should be able to catch up with it if you want.

• R84 I was looking forward to it tonight as well, thought I had the wrong day or something. It better not be cancelled already.

• My DVR is showing a new episode on Friday night this week. Not sure what that's about or if it's even accurate.

• Doesn't it air in Canadia and in the US on two different TV channels (LOGO in the US) ? I'd guess that the episodes from Canada are uncensored.

• The new episode was on tonight (Logo in the US). I don't know if that's a permanent schedule change. Two notable guest stars. Sandra Bernhard was good, although I couldn't get into the drama of her scenes because I'm not really invested in that main couples relationship, so her advice didn't move me like it should have. New York, the trashbox from Flavor of Love (and whatever other VH1 craptaculars she's been part of) was OK. I couldn't be sure if she was playing a drag queen or an actual woman. Didn't really matter though. And Real World Danny was on for about 30 seconds again. You could see how his belly has filled out, but he's still totally fuckable to me.

• This show started out pretty promising, then kinda went down hill. Way too many characters to keep track of. And, how the hell did that woman, "New York" get on the show? Did she pay to get a part? It happens.

• Agreed, R93. The storylines and dialogue are both absurd and reek of low budget. Thankfully they decided to take another route with last night's episodes and started showing the characters having sex with each other instead of, you know, creating interesting television in the 22 minutes they have on the air with the never-ending sea of characters. Last night's two episodes literally had 2-3 minutes each of characters either fucking or sucking dick (and lots of ass), which is more risque than the previous episodes. I was actually stunned that they were able to show everything that they were. The producers likely got word of the floundering ratings and decided to salvage what audience they had left with having hot men having sex.

  I%27m%20not%20complaining.

• Do they need a show runner? I happen to be free right now, and I realize there's no obnoxious narcissistic gay male character whom everyone has to obey who is based on ME.

  Max%20Mutchnick

• I find the stories a bit pedestrian. Do people really want to watch shows about real problems like selling an apartment, a couple on the verge of breaking up that lacks drama and energy, highschool sweethearts rekindle their relationship, etc.? At points it feels so lifeless, but I do like the scene with the hot naked stoner guys inviting their neighbor over for a nice stoner chat.

• Apparently there are only 8 episodes because those 2 from tonight were the season finale. It's hard to get into any of the stories, but overall these are all a bunch of miserable people. I thought at least the Daryl Stephens guy was going to be happy with Real World Danny, but it looks like he wanted to try again with his ex...who he finds sucking off some other dude in the very last scene. Too many characters with too little time to establish enough story to get viewers invested in their stories. The actors were decent overall though. I'm surprised a show that looks like it cost nearly nothing to put together could get Sandra Bernhard and Melanie Griffith. It doesn't look like Logo reruns the episodes ever - which goes along with the previous posters that say they have been trying to kill it. So I guess it's safe to assume we won't be seeing another season.

• The hottest scene of the whole season is when the blond intern or assistant seduces Darryl Stephens' character. Plus the long haired stoner is the hottest eye candy of the whole show. The plot with Real World Danny went nowhere.

• R81...decent content?? You must watch a lot of Lifetime movies!

• R97 LOGO is so obvious in their attempts to kill the show. I mean, Bewitch (which I lurve) is on constant rerun...guess it's the new Buffy.

• R99 No, I don't, but you must. Here...have a seat and let the grown folks finish talking. Now, where was I...

• I agree r98, that was a hot scene. The actor that played the assistant or whatever (like you, I'm not sure about his job...or any of the characters jobs for that matter) was cute so I looked him up. His name is Christian Gehring and even though he has a very limited resume, IMDB doesn't list DTLA as one of his jobs. He must be really proud of that work.

• Are any of the gay/bi characters on this show masculine?

• No r103. There are no bull dykes.

• R101...grown ups? Oh dear, Mary, unclutch! It's a bad LOGO soap, hon, not an adaptation of gay Citizen Kane. Drop the bag of cheetos and relax.

• R105 I'm more of a chips & salsa boy.

• When does DTLA come on? I found it online. Why did they pair Melanie Griffith with a young black woman? That's crazy. It's the same woman rumored to be with Raven Symone.

• Is there a gay scene in downtown LA?

  Just%20asking

• I live in DTLA. There are plenty of us down here but I don't know about a scene.

• Melanie Griffith's face looks weird. Is that her real voice?

• r109? You're making a scene!

• I watched it a second time on iTunes. Don't waste your time watching it on Logo. They cut out 10 min per episode for commercials. They iTunes version is uncut and makes for a way better experience.

• I doubt this show gets another season.

• Did you guys enjoy and/or watch the show?

• I enjoyed it, but I don't think there will be a second season.

• It was boring. What was the point? The storylines never really went anywhere.

• New York is fabulous! The only thing that could be better is if they included her mother, Sister Patterson.

• Sister Patterson would've been a good addition. Stephan was horrible. Actually, I didn't care for any of the characters.

• What was the budget for this show? Also, what's wrong with Melanie Griffith's skin?

• I watched the whole thing and while I like the core idea I think the execution suffered greatly from the low budget. A lot of the guest stars and actors did their best (with not very much to work with in the first place). Hated the blurring of the frontal nudity of the hot long haired hipster dude. The stories just fizzled out. There was no punch. So, all of Bryan's so called straight friends had sex with guys (one on a porn site and one with Bryan)? Big whoop. What happened to Waylon (Danny Roberts)? What happened to the hot blond intern Lenny hooked up with? The show tried to spice it up with sex scenes at the end, but that didn't help matters much. Though I do like the scene of guys watching their friend's play (including the friend's lover and the friend's parents).

• Did Lenny and Bryan break up? I couldn't follow this show.

• I'm on the second episode...when do the wild sex scenes starts???

• The wild sex scenes start in the pilot. Of course they cut it out of the logo broadcast. ITunes has it and its very much worth the $1.99 (standard def version). There is dick AND pussy lol

• DTLA (like Misfits) is mostly uncensored when LOGO shows it "after hours"(after midnight).

  Pantsy

• I think the TROMA film, "Yeti: A (Gay) Love Story" has better acting and production values than DTLA.

  He%20said%20%22fabulous%22%20in%20the%20first%20three%20seconds.

• Lol 125. I thought the acting in DTLA get way better as the show continued. I actually cried at the breakup scene at the end of the 4th or 5th episode.

• Is there a second season?