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FOX Casts a 'Seriously' Queer Eye on Two Straight Guys

Thursday, May 13, 2004

09:13 AM PT

The title of the show is "Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay." Three guesses which network is behind it.

Okay, so even if the headline didn't give it away, would it really be so hard to figure out? FOX has ordered this one-off unscripted special from the producers of "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" and will air it Monday, June 7.

In "Seriously, Dude," the network says the "current pop culture craze for all things gay is taken to an outrageously satirical extreme" by giving two straight "guy's guys" a crash course in gay culture and setting them off on a series of challenges.

(At least that's what the original press release said, along with the opening line "It's a heterosexual male's worst nightmare: Turning gay overnight." The network sent out an amended version of the announcement a couple hours later, apologizing for its "failed attempt at humor [that] was ill-chosen and inappropriate.")

Those include coming out to friends and family and going on a blind date with another man. The winner gets $50,000.

Each contestant will move into a separate loft in West Hollywood with three gay roommates, who will presumably teach the straight men how not to be straight. A panel of judges -- "made up of gay men from all walks of life," FOX notes -- will award the prize to the guy it believes did the most convincing job.

Amanda Byram ("The Swan," "Paradise Hotel") will serve as host for the two-hour special. Chris Cowan, Jean-Michel Michenaud and Ray Giuliani are the executive producers.