# The Newlywed Game goes gay...how fabulous is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366 "2009-09-16T21:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/1 "2009-09-16T21:40:04Z")
Me? I think it’s fan-fucking-tastic; but then I’ve never had any sort of problem with the light-in-the-loafers crowd having the same right to matrimonial misery that everyone else has. I’ve always been a friend to the queer community; Mom used to manage a girls gay bar in Fort Worth, Texas, and a close male relative (can’t say how close as he’s still semi-closeted due to employment…but he’s very, very, very close…as is his fella’), and I think that a broadcast of a TV staple such as The Newlywed Game might go a long way towards mainstream America viewing the gay community as “…well, they’re just like us!” [http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=7404&eeid=6817313&\_sitecat=1479&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=1&ck=&ch=en&rg=blsadstrgt&\_lid=332&\_lnm=tg+en+topnews&ck=&l=hm](http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=7404&eeid=6817313&_sitecat=1479&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=1&ck=&ch=en&rg=blsadstrgt&_lid=332&_lnm=tg+en+topnews&ck=&l=hm) Others may differ. Is this a good idea? Why? Why not? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/2 "2009-09-17T01:26:43Z")
And it’s George Takei and his young gentleman. What fun! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/3 "2009-09-17T04:08:21Z")
It won’t make an avalanche of difference by itself, but every pebble counts. This, and things like it, are what’s going to eventually turn the tide of public opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/4 "2009-09-17T05:12:29Z")
“That’d be in the butt, Bob.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/5 "2009-09-17T06:05:46Z")
I think its great, an advancement for freedom and equality, which I applaud, without reservation. Anybody who tries to make me watch it must be heavily armed and willing to die. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/6 "2009-09-17T06:34:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I think its great, an advancement for freedom and equality, which I applaud, without reservation. > > Anybody who tries to make me watch it must be heavily armed and willing to die. Watch the game show, not their mating habits. The game show would be hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/7 "2009-09-17T07:49:24Z")
So much for the theory that gay people, in general, have better taste than straight people, in general. Actually I guess no one ever accused lesbians of having better taste. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/8 "2009-09-17T12:20:31Z")
Didn’t know the show was still around. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap\_on\_en\_tv/us\_tv\_newlywed\_gay\_couple](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_newlywed_gay_couple) I think they picked a famous gay couple to get more publicity. [moderator note: I merged this into a pre-existing thread that had started in Great Debates and then moved here. {signed} twickster] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/9 "2009-09-17T12:47:43Z")
This seems more of a discussion of a show than a debate on any issue. Off to Cafe Society with ya. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/10 "2009-09-17T13:52:29Z")
From the link: > [@](#): > > Dan Gainor, a vice president at the conservative Culture and Media Institute, said the move was a publicity stunt for a show most Americans didn’t realize was still on the air. Despite Wilson’s views, Gainor said he believed it was a political statement for the California-based show and network, coming in a state where voters banned same-sex nuptials months after Takei and Altman married. > > “They’re trying to use TV and the movies to set the gay agenda and make it mainstream,” Gainor said. Good for them. And good for George and Brad for doing it: > [@](#): > > Even though they’ve been a committed couple for 22 years, Takei said he and Altman are quietly preparing for their appearance. He’s taking careful note of what his partner orders in restaurants and wears. > > “To be included in something we never felt we’d be included in is very satisfying,” he said. Awww! ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/11 "2009-09-17T17:20:49Z")
I wonder what a **“Grand Prize selected especially just for them”** would be for a gay couple? ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/12 "2009-09-17T17:29:48Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > I wonder what a **“Grand Prize selected especially just for them”** would be for a gay couple? Lazy boy’s new portable sling and the boxed Liza set! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/13 "2009-09-17T17:43:09Z")
Of course, now they’ll be forced to decide publicly which one is the husband and which one is the wife. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/14 "2009-09-17T18:05:56Z")
That’s true! “We’ve sent the wives offstage – oh, you too, Brad --” ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/15 "2009-09-17T18:07:46Z")
Set phasers on stunning! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/16 "2009-09-17T18:16:04Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > That’s true! “We’ve sent the wives offstage – oh, you too, Brad --” Nah…George strikes me as the wifely type. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/17 "2009-09-17T20:01:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, now they’ll be forced to decide publicly which one is the husband and which one is the wife. Star Trek has an answer for that, too, though from Next Gen. On meeting a member of an androgynous race that shuns the notion of gender, Riker asks “When you dance, how do you decide who leads?” “Whoever’s taller.”. From the pictures, it looks like George is shorter, so he’ll be the “wife”. > [@](#): > > “They’re trying to use TV and the movies to set the gay agenda and make it mainstream,” Gainor said. Gays are what, about five percent of the population? And they’ve had how many contestants over the years? If they were really trying to push the “gay agenda”, I’d expect that at least one couple in 20 on the show would be gay. Nobody even acknowledges that there _is_ a “straight agenda”, much less claims that the show is trying to promote it, despite the fact that straights are vastly overrepresented on it. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/18 "2009-09-17T20:49:46Z")
I always find it heartening to see reality shows that acknowledge that a gay couple is just, you know, a couple. For example, an episode of “Till Debt Do Us Part” featured a pair of gentlemen who were overspending on electronics and gym memberships… We have seen how the other half lives, and it’s much like this half, only better decorated. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newlywed-game-goes-gay-how-fabulous-is-it/510366/19 "2009-09-17T21:04:22Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > I always find it heartening to see reality shows that acknowledge that a gay couple is just, you know, a couple. For example, an episode of “Till Debt Do Us Part” featured a pair of gentlemen who were overspending on electronics and gym memberships… We have seen how the other half lives, and it’s much like this half, only better decorated. Then you’d love Home and Garden Network. If your only exposure to the US was just that cable channel, you would swear there were nothing but gay and interracial couples living here.