He’s always on the watch for gay TV

Every weekday, comedian Gay Boy Ric sends out his free e-mail, the Daily GTV Alert, to 2,000 faithful followers, including 250 TV editors, reporters and reviewers. The highly entertaining bulletin includes Ric’s critical comments and reviews of some of gay TV’s most sacred cows, including “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” “I no longer find myself tuning into ‘Queer Eye,’ ” says Ric. “It’s a show that after four episodes, because of the format ... it’s lost its must-see quality.” The listings also include programs like “The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” with the occasional gay story line. “The main purpose is to alert people, in addition to gay TV shows, to the ones that are not known for having gay stories or characters,” says Ric. The 37-year-old lives in Los Angeles but spends three months a year in London. He has appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” and regularly performs stand-up and one-man shows.

An example of his style? Take “Jackie Collins’ Hollywood Wives: The New Generation.” “CBS is just calling it a TV movie, but to call the TV version of a Jackie Collins novel just a TV movie is like calling Bette Midler a singer rather than a performing legend. The shocking thing about CBS’ promotion of ‘Hollywood Wives’ (well, not shocking really, but simply totally to be expected) is that Hollywood gay ‘wife’ James is completely absent from all advertising for the miniseries ... .”

-- Michael T. Jarvis