As derivative as the new dating show “Gay, Straight or Taken?” may be, heterosexual men of America should take note that each half hour says more about the modern state of male-female relations than an entire season of “The Bachelor” or the despicable “Wife Swap.” The latest in a mini-trend of “find the fag” reality fare such as “Boys Meets Boy” or Fox’s doomed “Playing it Straight,” Lifetime’s “GSOT” delivers considerably more charm than either of the aforementioned travesties. In each episode, a bachelorette gets a day to pick out the only single straight guy from a pool of three suitors and if she chooses correctly, she and the lucky lad get a dream vacation together.
True to the MTV-established rules of disposable dating shows, girlfriend gets some one-on-one time with each of the men to try and sniff out his secret, along with an always-zany group activity that further throws everybody’s gaydar into overdrive: Ballet lessons! Synchronized swimming!
As with all “reality” TV, each episode hinges on the revolving cast of characters, which may be the show’s greatest weakness: Give us more contestants like Tauvia, the Vegas cocktail waitress who talks about her booty in the third person.
Despite the tawdry premise, the show does have its strengths. We’re spared the chatter of an ingratiating host and instead given more face time with the four contestants. The producers’ underlying agenda to dispel gay stereotypes deserves some sort of accolade as well, though I suspect that this show will eventually be looked back upon as a quaint relic of a bygone era. After all, if the gay man always turns out to have a partner, shouldn’t he also be called “taken”?
“GSOT” provides some timely insight into the way women evaluate flirtatious men, also reinforcing at least one stereotype. Not the gay stuff, but the notion that today’s single girl goes into every date suspecting that her beau is a bold-faced liar. “GSOT” may make for entertaining television, but it’s also enough to make even the most die-hard single dude swear off dating altogether.
