When I was working at Trio, I was pitched 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' and I knew, whoever gets this, this is a game changer. When I started at Bravo in 2005, it was a hit, and Season 1 of 'Project Runway' was in postproduction.
I'm a planner, and most networks don't plan. Bravo doesn't plan. Bravo is lucky in a lot of ways - they've got a lot of great talent, but at the same time, they don't nurture it. They lost 'Project Runway.'
You can get caught up in the game, just like everybody else in the park. But I can't play favorites and hope this guy gets a hit or that guy gets an out. I have to make decisions based on data and common sense. I have to manage every game to win.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a form of service journalism. To be successful, I think it has to be a combination of a good story, it has to be funny, and it also needs to be packed with useful information.
I started working at Bravo in 2005, when I was offered a job by Lauren Zalaznick, the network's chairman. She encouraged me to start a blog. I wrote behind-the-scenes gossip about 'Battle of the Network Reality Stars,' the first show I took on as head of current programming.
The guy who started on third base and gets home and acts like he hit a homer - that guy doesn't impress me.
Everybody who I've spoken to who was conscious when 'Queer as Folk' went out says it was a complete game-changer. It completely changed people's perception of young, gay men especially.
I feel I'm a player who entertains and gets people on the edge of their seats, as well as trying to be a game-changer who can win a game for the team.
I had a Commodore, and then I remember getting a Nintendo for Christmas and it being a total game-changer. And the hours that I would spend playing the video game and trying to convince my mother that it was improving my hand-eye coordination. It was a worthy use of time. It made my hand-eye coordination better!
Queer Eye is a makeover show, meant to help our straight brethren.
Some things that started in pre-season and then, you know what, the season gets started, you kind of forget about it and then move on to football, and it's strictly football until the season finishes.
You know, 'Project Runway' was a really special show, and we had a great five seasons with it. We loved that show, and we loved the stories that it brought to Bravo and the creativity. And it was a magic five seasons.
I've had a couple of times where things were so extraordinary wonderful that it changed my world. One of them was when I met Ira Gershwin and started working with him. That was a game-changer for me. It changed the entire course and direction of my life.
But the guy who got hit and still tried to get in line, then gets hit again, that's the guy I will take with me on the field every day.
I was on MTV's 'Real World' at the time when 'Queer Eye' came out. I remember, the first time I won an award, I got the award, and they were like, 'It's a tie! With 'Queer Eye!'' I never thought that I would one day follow in their footsteps.
It's not called 'Queer Eye For the Straight Guy' now for a reason. We want to be able to help more and more people, and why wouldn't we help women, and why wouldn't we help a trans man? I want to help as many different groups as physically possible with this show.
I think, in general, straight actors should be able to play queer roles just as much as queer actors should be able to play straight roles. I think the reason why the debate is there is because we haven't had enough queer actors being cast in anything. People are in need of that representation in general.