TV gets sordid, but it’s all in fun

On “Sordid Lives: The Series,” the colorful folk in a certain Texas town are back in action after having won an avid following with the 1996 play and 2000 movie of the same name.

For the 12-episode comedy, creator-writer-director Del Shores has reunited stars from his film including Bonnie Bedelia, Olivia Newton-John, Beth Grant and Leslie Jordan, who are joined by recruits Rue McClanahan and Caroline Rhea.

What results is a larger-than-life saga about small-town life, complete with cigarette smoke, Valium, pecan pie, whiskey shots at the local bar and undying love of country music superstar Tammy Wynette. And various sides of the sexual equation.

“Sordid Lives” premieres Wednesday on cable’s Logo network, which targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers. But this comedy just might bring in the broader audience it deserves.

“It was the funniest script I’d read since ‘Golden Girls,’ ” says McClanahan, 73, who won an Emmy during that show’s 1985-92 run. Here she plays pious, slightly addled Peggy Ingram, mother of the drag-queen character portrayed by Jordan (known for his pint-size stature and expansive demeanor in shows such as “Will & Grace” and “Boston Legal”).

“The same way I knew in ‘Golden Girls’ I wanted to play Blanche, I knew I wanted to play Peggy. They’re 180 degrees different, of course, except for one thing: They’re both looking for love.”

With “Sordid Lives,” Shores drew on his background in tiny Winters, Texas, where his father was a Southern Baptist preacher and his mother was a high school drama coach. But subbing for Winters in the series was Shreveport, La., where the budget was tight and the pace breakneck: 36 days for the dozen half-hours.

“Since I had already written all the episodes, we block-shot it, like a movie” -- shooting scenes for all the episodes at each particular location in one setup, which saves time. “And the cast worked for less than their usual fees,” Shores says.

“You know what I realized?” muses McClanahan. “I made more money on one episode of ‘Golden Girls’ than I made on 12 of ‘Sordid Lives.’ ”

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