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Thu 17 Sep, 2009 07:31 am
NEW YORK " Even as states and jurisdictions made gay and lesbian marriages legal, "The Newlywed Game" has played it straight " until now.
The long-running game show, now on the GSN cable network, said Wednesday it will feature its first gay couple this season on a celebrity edition. George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," will appear with his partner, Brad Altman.
They just celebrated their first anniversary after being married in Los Angeles last September, but they're nothing like the giggly young couples the game is known for. Takei and Altman have been together for 22 years.
"What we want is to display the normality and the joy of having a happy union," Takei said.
"The Newlywed Game" has been on TV off and on since it premiered in prime-time on ABC in 1967, mostly with Bob Eubanks as host. Singer Carnie Wilson is now host of the show, which is in its second season on GSN and done well in the ratings for the network.
The show always teased and tested couples about how well they know each other, with the slightly lascivious Eubanks delighting in questions about "making whoopee."
It has since featured older couples, interracial couples and some who have lived together many years before marriage. Even long-ago contestants were retested as part of "Oldyweds Game" segments.
@dyslexia,
Awesome. They should do a talent search here. Hell, I'd nominate the woman who sits next to me at work (but she'd be far too shy).
@jespah,
that would violate the rights of hetero talented people.
I vaguely remember the show from regular tv. But, if diversity will liven the show, then that is great.
A gay couple sounds sort of boring. Perhaps a couple where one person is Episcopalian and the other person is Presbyterian would liven things up. Perhaps, a staged argument over free will and predestination?
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