Now that we’ve hit the one year anniversary of the release of the epic trailer for the Atlanta, GA based Gay reality show “Tha Life: Atlanta,” I wanted to look back and examine it and all its glory.

For those who do not know what I’m referring to, here’s a recap. In February of last year a sizzle trailer for a reality show was dropped on YouTube and caused quite a ruckus online. The trailer features 6 black Gay men supposedly living the “down Low” lifestyle in Atlanta.

Here’s the trailer:

 

 

Here it is, a year later, and the full show has never been released. I doubt that an entire episode was actually ever filmed. But the reasons for that are obvious to me. It all seemed false.

First off, none of these guys are what I’d consider masculine or capable of living life on the “down low” even if they tried. These guys are very  “clockable” by all accounts. If any of them walked into a barbershop or sports bar, I’d instantly label them as being Gay.

Secondly, the presentation of masculine discreet Atlanta Gay life revolving around the obsession with money, strippers, drag queens, tight jeans, arched eyebrows, shiny shirts, lisps, loose wrists and catty messiness seems completely fabricated.

Thirdly, the entire trailer looks like it was filmed over one weekend in Atlanta. The “locations” look like rented hotel and extended stay suites. I could be wrong but its likely that these men are based out in another city yet they visit Atlanta enough to know it would make a better location for a potential Gay black reality show. It would be easy enough to film what we see in this trailer over the course of a day or two.

However, I understand that the Executive Producers of the project (and the producers of most other reality shows) may not be going for “reality” in the first place. Spectacle seems to get the bigger ratings nowadays.

Speaking of other realty shows, producer Correah Miller is listed as another Executive Producer on the project. His credits include The Real Housewives of Atlanta and What Chilli Wants. Here it is a year later and despite the potential contacts Miller has, an actual episode of this Gay show has never materialized.

 

So why was the show never produced, even on an independent level? My research didn’t yield many results except that the producer George Smith (featured as one of the 6 men in the show as “The New Face of Atlanta”) is a Houston, TX based party promoter that hosts Gay events for 25+ year olds called, “A Touch Of Pink.”

He also says that he making a spinoff to “Tha Life: Atlanta” creatively entitled, “Tha Life: Houston.” How you can make a spinoff of a show that was never actually produced is beyond me.

All jokes aside, this post was not meant to bash Smith or his attempts at finding (*ahem*) love. We all gotta do what we gotta do. My beef is what was presented online this time a year ago.

If anything, the release of that trailer for “Tha Life: Atlanta” was a prime example in how there are not only many incarnations of being a Gay black man. But also that there are also many interpretations for what is considered to be Masculine, Discreet, Down Low and Gay.

– Nick D