Nick grills his daughter's new crush on 'Are We There Yet?'

I’ll cut to the answer: No. We are not there yet. But it appears we are trying. With rare exception, the depiction of black life onscreen brings debate. Portraying black characters who are not heterosexual turns the discussion turns into a festival of finger-pointing and giggles. What’s worse is the black community contributes most to the bigotry with our own productions.

Black comedy in particular has a rocky history with gay stereotypes; erring on abysmal (think everything from Eddie Murphy’s Raw, Soul Plane, Def Comedy Jam, or mostly anything the Wayan brothers or Tyler Perry touch). Some of these depictions are funny. But when lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people of color (LGBTPOC) only end up as jokes onscreen, it’s little wonder we have issues with coming out and accepting our sexuality.

The sitcom Are We There Yet? (from executive producer Ice Cube) offers a welcome alternative. In “The Boy Has Style Episode”, wife Suzanne suspects her daughter’s new, school crush is gay because well, the boy has style. We’ve seen this premise on television countless times. It’s the perfect setup to run through “is he/isn’t he” stereotypes and “gay tests”. Are We There Yet? offers a refreshing take on the storyline (at least, for a black sitcom).

I won’t spoil the episode by giving a scene-by-scene breakdown (at least, not yet). You can watch the entire episode online at tbs.com.

Wayne Sutton examines how he and the fine folks at TriOut used social media tools to launch and manage location based services startup. #lbs

Steve Bruner showcases new aspects of customization available in the upcoming WordPress 3.0 release, including custom post types and the new menu management feature, using the new default Twenty Ten theme as an example. #blogging #video

The latest episode of the video podcast “Beer Diplomacy TV” attempts to solves the world’s problems (and decipher the season finale of Lost). Answers provided by Stuart Tracte, Baratunde, and Brian Brushwood, moderated by Owen JJ Stone, who I met at SXS10 via Twanna Hines and Adria Richards). #politics #video

Food Network’s new, 24-hour Cooking Channel, launches. But why isn’t it in HD? #food #tv

Thumbs Up

I have to give props to rapper Wale for turning around a PR fiasco. After news got out that the rapper was canceling his appearance at D.C’s. Black Gay Pride, the web was on fire with “homophobic” linked to his name.

Wale maintains he was unaware of the obligation (like most popular artists, he doesn’t book his own shows). After the dust settled, Wale made a special guest appearance at D.C. Black Pride Legacy Festival. For free. Now that’s gangsta. #black #hiphop #lgbt #video

Thumbs Down

Despite BP’s various cleanup attempts, the company and U.S. government warn that the oil could be leaking until August. Ugh. Houston Business Journal has continuous coverage. #news #environment #bitchlips

A blog post, because I started commenting on Latoya’s blog post on Racialicious and got long-winded.

I’m a devout fan of The Wire and admit it’s the main reason I’m tuning into Treme. Like many, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the premiere. Watching the first episode felt like a first visit to the new restaurant everyone’s been buzzing about. It was a good meal; a big meal. Although, the seasoning felt heavy-handed and unfocused last night.

Admittedly, with a cast as large and diverse as Treme, creating an experience in which each ingredient shines while complementing the overall dish is tricky. More intriguing is how Treme will tackle the historic and social relevance of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans’ strong culture and music history in an hour-long drama.

And about the music.

Music plays a intrinsic role on Treme (it’s New Orleans, after all). As another character (or characters), music will have its own storyline(s). The question is whether music will be the scene-stealer each episode. It felt that way last night. But I’m hoping future episodes will feel more balanced.

Undoubtedly, David Simon and friends will shower us with a variety of twists and subplots by mid-season. And each episode will beg for repeated viewings to extract its subtleties. Also, there’s sure to be a plethora of analysis (Dave Walker’s blog is a great resource).

Thankfully, the colorful characters seem compelling enough to carry the weight. I don’t want to make too many assumptions about them this early (although, Khandi Alexander can do no wrong in my book). I’m just getting to know them. But for now, I’m keeping my Sunday night reservation.

Dynamic duo Wendy and Lisa handle the score. And for additional eye candy, Lebanese hottie Haaz Sleiman plays gay nurse Mo-Mo. The series should be another win for Showtime once it begins airing in June 8. You can watch the first episode of Nurse Jackie online now.