Sarah Jessica Parker collects art in the city

Sarah Jessica Parker

Visual artists spend long periods of time in solitary contemplation creating their work, seeking no outside opinions save for their muse. Until now.

In the spirit of commerce-meeting-art-meeting-reality competition shows — a TV fever that has turned every single aspect of human existence into marketable skills honed through a series of judged challenges, each striver sent packing one by one with a cute (or annoying) catchphrase — comes the Sarah Jessica Parker- created Bravo series “American Artist.” That's right — the next household name to spring from the tiny, esoteric world of contemporary art is going to be found on cable television after creating meaningful, lasting work from items found while blindfolded and let loose in PetSmart. OK, enough sarcasm.

It’s Sarah Jessica Parker’s world. The gays just live in it. You better bet, we’ll watch.


‘The L Word’ spins off ... But to where?
Bittersweet days are ahead for rabid fans of “The L Word.” The final season — and a cruelly truncated, eight-episode mini-season at that — approaches in January 2009. And then that’s it. A future of Dana and Dawn Denbo on DVD, at best, seems to await the faithful. But now there’s a new hope on the horizon.

Co-creator Ilene Chaiken is at work on a spin-off series that will follow one of the characters as she embarks on a new chapter in life. No other details are known at this time, especially not the identity of the new show’s star. But strong contenders would seem to be bold, mouthy Alice (Leisha Hailey) or womanizing heartthrob Shane (Katherine Moennig), but don’t discount sophisticated Type-A Bette (Jennifer Beals) or superdiva Jenny (Mia Kirshner).

No matter who it is, the flock will surely follow.


Gore Vidal sees a ‘Shrink’
He’s outlived his peers and even some people from younger generations. He’s written iconic novels like “Myra Breckinridge” and films such as “Suddenly Last Summer.” He’s openly gay, often irascibly so, and at 82 he hasn’t seen fit to retire from life yet, so it’s fitting that Gore Vidal has taken on a small role in the latest film from producer Kevin Spacey, “Shrink.”

Also starring Spacey and gay actor Dallas Roberts (“The L Word”), it’s the story of a Los Angeles psychiatrist who becomes a pothead in order to cope with personal tragedy. No word, really, on who Vidal’s character is, but it would be kind of cool if he played the thugged-out dope dealer, wouldn’t it? Unless it's not a comedy. Then it would be somewhat inappropriate. Watch for this one to get small on the big screen in 2009.


TV's Final Frontier: The Gay Car
If you were a kid in the 1980s, you probably watched “Knight Rider,” the show about David Hasselhoff and the talking Trans Am with superpowers named KITT. And now that you’re all grown up, the concept’s been rebooted for this fall’s TV season. The new series comes complete with a hot young cast, a more tech-advanced car that can go into transforming attack mode, and ... a sexual orientation?

Well, probably not. But in recent interviews, the series’ creators have joked about KITT being gay, thanks to their own childhood ideas about the original KITT’s snooty, know-it-all, diva-like behavior.

And Val Kilmer, who played a gay guy in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” is the new KITT’s voice, so here's hoping he throws a little gay accent our way.



These articles appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 1, 2008.