In this week’s podcast: • Prosecutors in Uganda have dropped charges against 19 LGBTQ people held in jail for 49 days • A ‘once every two months’ injectable version of PrEP has shown very positive results in clinical trials • Albania bans so-called ‘conversion therapy’ • NYC Pride has announced a huge 50th anniversary Pride television special featuring Billy Porter, Dan Levy, Janelle Monae, and more. • The 2020 Daytime Emmy nominations are out with big love for LGBTQ actors and shows Here’s the link to my recent interview with the Emmy Award-winning creators of the Amazon series ‘After Forever’ • Out singer/songwriter Clinton John’s new single “Cry” taps into those frustrating times when you realize you’re really not over that lost love. Link to download “Cry.” All that in this episode of The Randy Report.
Mitchell Anderson & Kevin Spirtas in ‘After Forever;’ the cast of ‘Eastsiders’ (images via Instagram) The nominees for the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy® Awards were announced on Thursday with some big love to LGBTQ-themed work and artists. The Netflix dark comedy Eastsiders scored 8 nominations including Outstanding Digital Drama Series, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Willam Belli and Leith M. Burke each got a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actor Digital Series; Lin Shaye for Outstanding Guest Performer Digital Series; Outstanding Writing Team Digital Series; Outstanding Casting; Outstanding Costume Design; and Outstanding Makeup. While RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Willam isn’t the first drag queen to receive an Emmy nod, I believe this is the first time a drag performer has received a nomination in an acting category.
Y’all! @eastsiderstv has been nominated for 8 DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS, including Digital Drama, Writing, Supporting Actor for @willam and @beleith, Guest Performer for @mslinshaye, Casting, Costume Design and Makeup! Congrats to everyone on all your hard work!! pic.twitter.com/m9mTKfaXJi
Congratulations to @willam for being nominated for an EMMY for Best Supporting Actor in a Digital Drama Series for @EastSidersTV! Such a hilarious and heartfelt performance, in and out of drag. Is this the first time a drag queen has been nominated in an acting category?! 💙💙💙 pic.twitter.com/Rm8INTrIzR
The acclaimed Amazon Video digital series After Foreverwas honored with 6 nominations including Outstanding Digital Drama Series; Cady Huffman for Outstanding Lead Actress Digital Series; Lenny Wolpe for Outstanding Supporting Actor Digital Series; Mary Beth Peil for Outstanding Guest Performer Digital Series; Outstanding Writing Team Digital Series and Outstanding Art/Set Direction/Scenic Design. This was the second season of the acclaimed Amazon series. Two years ago, After Forever received 8 nominations and won 5 including Best Digital Drama Series. Additionally, series creator Kevin Spirtas scored for Best Actor Digital Series and Best Writing Team.
A post shared by After Forever (@afterforevertheseries) on
Afternoon talkfest The Ellen DeGeneres Show added to its long list of Emmy honors with 5 nominations including Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show, Outstanding Writing for a Special Class Series, Outstanding Directing for Talk/Entertainment/Morning Program, Outstanding Sound Mixing, Outstanding Art/Set/Scenic Design. And the innovative lip-sync documentary Stonewall Outloud, which utilized rare recordings of people who experienced the Stonewall uprising in 1969, received a nod for Outstanding Direction – Special Class.
The honors will be presented in a two-hour special on Friday, June 26 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Since 1974, the Daytime Emmy® Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in daytime television programming. The awards are presented to individuals and programs broadcast between 2:00 am and 6:00 pm, as well as certain categories of digital and syndicated programming of similar content. This year’s nominations were culled from more than 2,700 submissions and judged by a pool of 1,000 peer professionals from across the television industry. Awards will be presented in leading categories during the telecast, with recipients and other special guests appearing from home in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find the full list of nominees at TheEmmys.tv. In case you missed it, you can check out my exclusive interview with the Emmy Award-winning co-creators of After Forever, Michael Slade & Kevin Spirtas, below.
Kevin Spirtas and Mitchell Anderson in ‘After Forever’
UPDATE – Oh yes, After Forever won for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series at tonight’s 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, bringing the total number of Emmy Awards to five! Congratulations to the guy who had the idea from the beginning, newly-minted Outstanding Lead Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series, Kevin Spirtas!
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At the 2019 Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards last night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, acclaimed LGBTQ-themed Amazon series After Forever picked up 4 Emmy Awards. After Forever is the story of Brian and Jason, a 50-ish New York City gay couple, who have it all until they don’t. The 8-episode first season follows them and their friends through a journey of love, loss and moving on. The series (with 8 nominations) won last night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium for: • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series – Kevin Spirtas (Mitchell Anderson also nominated) • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series – Erin Cherry (Cady Huffman also nominated) • Outstanding Writing for a Digital Drama Series – Kevin Spirtas, Michael Slade • Outstanding Directing for a Digital Drama Series – Jennifer Pepperman Broadway veteran Anita Gillette was also nominated for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series And its not over yet… During the Sunday night broadcast of the 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards, After Forever is nominated for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series.
Last spring, I interviewed writer and lead actor Kevin Spirtas on the journey and evolution of After Forever. You can check out our chat below. Find more info about the acclaimed digital series at the official website here.
AFTER FOREVER is the story of Brian, played by Kevin Spirtas (Days of Our Lives) and Jason, played by Mitchell Anderson (Doogie Howser, Party of 5), a “50-ish” New York City gay couple, who have it all – until they don’t.
The 8-episode first season follows them and their friends through a journey of love, loss and moving on.
The series also features Tony Award winner Cady Huffman (Will Rogers Follies, The Producers), Tony Award nominee Anita Gillette (Chapter Two), and tons of TV & Broadway veterans like Jamison Stern, Jim Newman, Colleen Zenk and Michael Urie (Ugly Betty).
Jamison Stern & David Dean Bottrell
Speaking to The Advocate last year, Slade shared that the depiction of 35+ year-old gay men in series television has been missing in his estimation.
“We as gay men, after we’re no longer 35, we tend to disappear from popular culture until we’re Christopher Plummer — asexual down the hall with a cat,” Slade told The Advocate.
And co-creator Spirtas underscored the universality of the series’ love story.
“I think you can look at this story about love between two people and realize it’s two people anywhere,” said Spirtas. “It’s two men, it’s two women, it’s a male and a female, it’s older, it’s younger, it’s same age.”
The series’ 2019 Daytime Emmy nominations include:
• Nomination for Outstanding Digital Drama Series
• Nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Digital Drama Series: Michael Slade and Kevin Spirtas
• Two nominations for Outstanding Actor in a Digital Drama Series: Kevin Spirtas, Mitchell Anderson
• Two nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Digital Drama Series: Erin Cherry, Cady Huffman
• Nomination for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Digital Drama Series: Anita Gillette
• Nomination for Outstanding Director of a Digital Drama Series: Jennifer Pepperman
AFTER FOREVER was also honored with a writing nomination for Michael Slade & Kevin Spirtas last month at the 2019 Writers Guild Awards in the Original Short Form New Media category.
You can watch the first episode of the series here for free and check out my interview with co-creator and lead actor Kevin Spirtas below.
In related Daytime Emmy Awards news, veteran daytime drama actor Greg Rikaart picked up a 2019 Best Supporting Actor nomination as well for his work as “Leo Stark” on Days of Our Lives.
Already a Daytime Emmy Award winner for his longtime role as “Kevin Fisher” on The Young and the Restless, should the 42-year-old actor win, he would become the first to win Best Supporting Actor for a gay role, and the first openly gay actor to win for a gay role in any category.
The 46th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be held May 5 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Chandler Massey snatched his second consecutive Outstanding Young Actor Daytime Emmy for his role as gay teen Will Horton on Days of Our Lives on Sunday.
He beat out his on-air boyfriend Sonny Kiriakis, played by Freddie Smith, who Massey called a “phenomenal” actor and person. Massey’s win last year marked the first time an actor won for portraying a gay character, while this year he won for Will Horton’s coming-out storyline, seen above.
Visibility of gay characters helps improve the support the LGBT community receives from the rest of the world. An Ipsos poll for Reuters shows in countries and communities where people knew someone gay, support was higher and more broad. In countries where gays and lesbians hide due to shame or fear, acceptance dropped dramatically.
In this week’s podcast: • Prosecutors in Uganda have dropped charges against 19 LGBTQ people held in jail for 49 days • A ‘once every two months’ injectable version of PrEP has shown very positive results in clinical trials • Albania bans so-called ‘conversion therapy’ • NYC Pride has announced a huge 50th anniversary Pride television special featuring Billy Porter, Dan Levy, Janelle Monae, and more. • The 2020 Daytime Emmy nominations are out with big love for LGBTQ actors and shows Here’s the link to my recent interview with the Emmy Award-winning creators of the Amazon series ‘After Forever’ • Out singer/songwriter Clinton John’s new single “Cry” taps into those frustrating times when you realize you’re really not over that lost love. Link to download “Cry.” All that in this episode of The Randy Report. 
