American TV series or program
Transamerican Love Story
|
---|
|
Genre
| |
---|
Directed by
| Julio Kollerbohm
|
---|
Presented by
| Alec Mapa
|
---|
Starring
| |
---|
Theme music composer
| Kevin Haskins
|
---|
Country of origin
| United States
|
---|
Original language
| English
|
---|
No.
of seasons
| 1
|
---|
No.
of episodes
| 8
|
---|
|
Executive producers
| World of Wonder
Oh Really! Productions
Co-executive producer
|
---|
Producer
| Sara Jandrain
(senior producer)
|
---|
Cinematography
| Brian Stevens
|
---|
Editors
| - Jason Blum
- Ben Levine
- Tom Sitter
- Edwin Steinitz
|
---|
Camera setup
| Multi-camera
|
---|
Production companies
| |
---|
|
Network
| Logo TV
|
---|
Release
| February 11
(
2008-02-11
)
?
March 31, 2008
(
2008-03-31
)
|
---|
Transamerican Love Story
is an American
reality
dating show
in which suitors woo
transgender woman
Calpernia Addams
. Addams chooses a suitor by
process of elimination
. When the show first aired, viewers could vote their preferences online, but it was Addams who chose whom to eliminate. Calpernia is accompanied by her friend
Andrea James
; each episode is hosted by comedian
Alec Mapa
.
Transamerican Love Story
is the first reality dating show in the United States in which contestants compete for the attention and approval of a transgender woman.
[3]
Logo TV
, a
digital
cable channel
with
LGBT
content, announced the series in November 2007, and premiered the first episode the following February.
[2]
[4]
The series finale aired on March 31, 2008.
Zack Rosen of the
Washington Blade
praised the series, describing it as "refreshing for its lack of sensationalism".
Heather Havrilesky
of
Salon
agreed, and admired Calpernia's composure in the reality show environment. In 2009,
Transamerican Love Story
won a
GLAAD Media Award
in the "Outstanding Reality Program" category, tying with
I Want to Work for Diddy
.
MTV Networks
published the complete series on DVD in 2008. The series is also distributed on
Amazon Video
, and was previously distributed through
Netflix
,
iTunes
, and
LOGOonline
.
Overview
[
edit
]
The show employs the competition-dating format established by
The Bachelor
(2002),
[5]
a long-running series with numerous
spin-offs
and imitators. The bachelors in
Transamerican Love Story
are men who are "open to dating a trans woman".
[6]
They lodge together in a mansion while Calpernia stays in a separate cottage on the estate. The contestants compete in group challenges, and the winners are granted time with Calpernia.
Before deciding which contestant to eliminate in the evening's ceremony, Calpernia confers with her friends Andrea James and (show host) Alec Mapa. James and Mapa have occasion to chat with the bachelors, and they share some of their insights with Calpernia. Viewers also vote their preferences online, but it is Calpernia who chooses whom to eliminate.
[7]
In the elimination ceremony, Calpernia feeds a chocolate to those suitors whom she invites to stay. In the final episode, when only three suitors remain, they are given makeovers before Calpernia meets with them individually to tell each man whether it is him she has chosen.
Most of
Transamerican Love Story
was filmed in the
Greater Los Angeles Area
of
Los Angeles County
,
California
. Portions of episode six were filmed in the
Western US
cities of
Ventura, California
and
Las Vegas, Nevada
.
The suitors
[
edit
]
Eight men compete in the show. They range in age from 24 to 47.
[8]
Call-out order
[
edit
]
Contestants are arranged in the order in which Calpernia calls their names during the elimination ceremony. In episode five, no competition winner is declared. In episode six, each of the three remaining men gets a date with Calpernia. Episode seven is a
clip show
, and has no elimination ceremony. In episode eight, Calpernia turns down two of the three remaining suitors before declaring the remaining man the winner.
No. of
contestants
|
Episode
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
1
|
Rich
|
Shawn
|
Mike
|
Jim
|
Shawn
|
Shawn
|
?
|
Shawn
|
2
|
Jim
|
Jim
|
Shawn
|
Mike
|
Mike
|
Jim
|
?
|
Mike
|
3
|
Peter
|
Rich
|
Mark
|
Shawn
|
Jim
|
Mike
|
?
|
Jim
|
4
|
Mike
|
Mark
|
Jim
|
Mark
|
Mark
|
|
5
|
Barry
|
Peter
|
Peter
|
Peter
|
|
6
|
Shawn
|
Mike
|
Rich
|
|
7
|
Mark
|
Barry
|
|
8
|
Blaine
|
|
-
The contestant won the competition.
-
The contestant won a date with Calpernia.
-
The contestant won a date with Calpernia, but was eliminated.
-
The contestant was eliminated.
-
The contestant was to be eliminated, but Calpernia let him stay.
Episodes
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
Transamerican Love Story
was one of three new
reality television
shows that Logo premiered in 2008, accompanied by
Gimme Sugar
and
Shirts & Skins
.
[10]
It was produced by
World of Wonder Productions
with the assistance of Oh Really! Productions, a company that had recently begun producing
The Big Gay Sketch Show
for Logo.
[11]
[12]
After World of Wonder developed the concept for
Transamerican Love Story
, Logo called Calpernia Addams in the summer of 2007 to offer her the starring role, which she accepted. Addams is an actress, musician, writer, and activist from
Nashville, Tennessee
.
[13]
She was 36 years old when the show was filmed.
Her friend, transgender activist
Andrea James
, co-stars in the series, and was a consulting producer. In a 2013 interview, James explains that she saw an opportunity for
social progress
in a program that accurately represented men who are attracted to
trans women
. Typically, she says, in US media trans-attracted men are stigmatized and shamed, and that can make them hate themselves?and "lead to unhealthy and even dangerous situations for trans women."
[14]
"No one knows how hard it is for us to date!" Addams adds.
[6]
Both Addams and James hoped the show would also undermine the media
stereotype
of trans women as "tragic and serious".
[15]
Transamerican Love Story
was not World of Wonder's first
transgender
program. Their documentary series
TransGeneration
(2005)
[16]
won a
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary
in 2006, and
Sex Change Hospital
(2007) was a nominee for the same award in 2009.
[17]
[18]
Transamerican Love Story
contestant Jim Howley, who is himself transgender, appeared in the premiere episode of
Sex Change Hospital
.
Response and epilogue
[
edit
]
Zack Rosen of the
Washington Blade
called the show "refreshing for its lack of sensationalism".
[19]
Heather Havrilesky
, in her review for
Salon
, observed: "The show’s producers (thankfully) resist the urge to throw in big, manipulative
Fox
-style surprises. While some of the men get freaked out by each other, Calpernia is likable and accepting and takes the whole crazy assortment of characters in stride."
[20]
"A reality dating show is… a very difficult circumstance in which to get to know someone", wrote Calpernia Addams, a few weeks after the finale aired. "I look[ed] at it as… a fun romp… rather than a deadly serious path to matrimony."
[21]
The following July, Calpernia reported that she and competition-winner Shawn "had some dinners and get-togethers, but… have not continued to date".
[22]
A few days later, she told an interviewer: "The amazing thing that Logo did with this was they showed trans people dating as being so normal, like it really is. I think it’s going to open it up for trans women to feel worthy of love and for guys to not be afraid to date us."
[15]
About two months after the final episode aired, Addams, Howley, Andrea James, and Alec Mapa all appeared together in the 2008
Los Angeles Pride
parade.
[23]
Later that summer, Jim Howley did a photo shoot with portrait photographer Eric Schwabel for a feature in
The Advocate
on the human body.
[24]
Schwabel also photographed Addams the following February.
[25]
On June 18, 2009, a few weeks after
Transamerican Love Story
won a
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program
, Calpernia Addams and Andrea James debuted a short comedy film at the 33rd
Frameline Film Festival
in San Francisco.
[26]
[27]
They had begun developing the film?called
Transproofed
?more than a year prior.
[26]
[28]
Transproofed
is the story of a trans woman, Ava, who feels unready to tell the man she's been dating that she's transgender; but when Ava's friend Joyce pressures her into hiding any evidence in her apartment that she's trans (with a long career as a showgirl), Ava feels more and more uneasy.
[29]
Addams and James wrote, directed, produced, and scored the film. Addams takes the role of Ava, and James plays the role of Joyce.
GLAAD Media Award
[
edit
]
At the
20th GLAAD Media Awards
in May 2009,
Transamerican Love Story
tied with
I Want to Work for Diddy
for the
GLAAD Media Award
in the "Outstanding Reality Program" category.
[30]
Calpernia Addams and
Laverne Cox
were at the awards ceremony in San Francisco to accept the honors for the respective shows.
[31]
Also in attendance was
Transamerican Love Story
finalist Jim Howley. He reports that when
Transamerican Love Story
won, he impulsively ran past the security personnel and onto the stage.
[32]
After Addams' acceptance speech, he approached the lectern, introduced himself, and said a few words about transgender progress. Howley was one of the subjects of
Sex Change Hospital
, which was a nominee that year in the "Outstanding Documentary" category.
[17]
He attended the awards ceremony with Clair Farley,
[33]
a trans woman who was the subject of the 2007 documentary
Red Without Blue
.
[34]
The couple married in 2011.
[35]
In 2016, two transgender-related series once again tied for GLAAD's "Outstanding Reality Program" award:
I Am Cait
(starring
Caitlyn Jenner
) and
I Am Jazz
(starring
Jazz Jennings
).
[36]
[37]
Chris McCarthy, general manager of Logo and
VH1
, told
Adweek
in 2015 that without
Transamerican Love Story
and other portrayals of diverse trans issues, "there would be no
I Am Cait
."
[38]
Said World of Wonder co-founder Randy Barbato, "We always thought our subjects were ready for
prime time
. Not that many people agreed with us."
[38]
Video releases
[
edit
]
MTV Networks
published the complete series in a four-disc DVD set in 2008.
[39]
It is distributed online through
Amazon Video
, and has also been distributed through
Netflix
,
[40]
iTunes
, and
LOGOonline
.
[41]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
James, Andrea (January 2, 2014).
"
Transamerican Love Story
"
.
AndreaJames.com
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Logo Green-lights Dating Series Featuring Transgender"
.
The Advocate
. Here Media. November 30, 2007. Archived from
the original
on December 5, 2008
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
Hilton, Perez (November 29, 2007).
"The Bachelorette (That Used to Be a Bachelor)"
.
PerezHilton.com
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
Schoenberger, Colin (November 30, 2007).
"Logo's New Reality Show:
Transamerican Love Story
"
.
NewNowNext
. Archived from
the original
on July 15, 2009
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
Marikar, Sheila (November 30, 2007).
"Guy Turned Girl Seeks Love on Reality TV"
.
ABC News
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Kearns, Michael
(2008).
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
.
Frontiers
.
26
(20). Archived from
the original
on July 5, 2008.
- ^
Melloy, Kilian (December 31, 2007).
"Logo Plans 3 Queer Reality Series in 2008"
.
EDGE Media Network
. EDGE Publications.
- ^
"
Transamerican Love Story
: Meet the Cast"
.
LogoOnline.com
. Archived from
the original
on April 30, 2008
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
"Calpernia on the Air"
.
The WOW Report
. World of Wonder. February 9, 2008
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
"Logo puts stamp on 3 new reality shows"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Nielsen Business Media. November 30, 2007. Archived from
the original
on May 14, 2010
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
Lambert, David (October 18, 2007).
"
The Big Gay Sketch Show
? Rosie O'Donnell-Produced Show from Logo's on DVD, but Online Only"
.
TVShowsOnDVD.com
.
CBS Interactive
. Retrieved
April 23,
2017
.
- ^
Goff, Leslie Jaye (February 16, 2007).
"Cable's Originals"
.
Multichannel News
.
NewBay Media
. Retrieved
April 23,
2017
.
- ^
Nichols, JamesMichael (February 28, 2016).
"The Incredible Story of Trans Showgirl, Musician and Legend Calpernia Addams"
.
The Huffington Post
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
Kowalska, Monika (December 28, 2013).
"Interview with Andrea James"
.
The Heroines of My Life
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Hernandez, Greg (July 29, 2008).
"A quick chat with Calpernia Addams and Andrea James of
Transamerica Love Story
"
.
Out in Hollywood
. Greg Hernandez.
- ^
"Logo Finds Love Transamerican Style with Upcoming Reality Slate"
.
Out & About Newspaper
. December 7, 2007. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2009
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"And Speaking of the GLAAD Media Awards…"
.
The WOW Report
. World of Wonder. January 27, 2009
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
"Update on 'Female or She-male' sketch and
RuPaul's Drag Race
"
.
GLAAD.org
.
GLAAD
. April 14, 2014
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
Rosen, Zack (March 7, 2008).
"Springtime Blossoms: TV Returns to Its Regularly Scheduled Programming After Strike"
.
Washington Blade
. Archived from
the original
on March 20, 2008
. Retrieved
March 16,
2008
.
- ^
Havrilesky, Heather (February 10, 2008).
"I Like to Watch §
Transamerican Love Story
"
.
Salon
. Retrieved
May 14,
2017
.
- ^
Addams, Calpernia (April 30, 2008).
"The Reality of Love"
.
The Advocate
. Archived from
the original
on June 8, 2008
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
Alt URL
- ^
Addams, Calpernia (July 14, 2008).
"
Transamerican Love Story
? What Happened After?"
.
Calpernia.com
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
Addams, Calpernia (June 9, 2008).
"Los Angeles Pride with Calpernia, Andrea, Alec Mapa & Jim Howley"
.
Calpernia.com
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
"The Naked Truth: Jim Howley"
.
The Advocate
. August 28, 2008
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
Addams, Calpernia (February 15, 2009).
"Calpernia by Eric Schwabel"
.
Calpernia.com
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Addams, Calpernia (May 15, 2009).
"
Transproofed
Poster Completed, San Francisco Screening Dates Set"
.
Calpernia.com
. Retrieved
May 14,
2017
.
- ^
"
Transproofed
"
.
Frameline Festival Archive
. Frameline
. Retrieved
May 14,
2017
.
- ^
Santoscoy, Carlos (June 5, 2008).
"Calpernia Addams on Love & Transgender Rights"
.
On Top Magazine
. Retrieved
May 14,
2017
.
- ^
Addams, Calpernia; James, Andrea (April 20, 2010) [2009].
Transproofed
(video). Deep Stealth Productions.
Archived
from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^
"GLAAD Tidings"
.
The WOW Report
. World of Wonder. May 11, 2009
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
Addams, Calpernia (May 31, 2009).
"Video from the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards ? Calpernia's Acceptance Speech"
.
Calpernia.com
. Retrieved
January 31,
2017
.
- ^
Jim Howley (May 18, 2009).
GLAAD Awards and Clair
(video). Los Angeles: YouTube. Event occurs at 5:13
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
Jim Howley (May 18, 2009).
GLAAD Awards and Clair
(video). Los Angeles: YouTube. Event occurs at 4:27
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
Winn, Steven (June 16, 2007).
"Identical Twins Walked Divergent Paths"
.
SFGate
. San Francisco: Hearst Corporation
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
"A Story of a Transgender Couple: A Video"
.
Lesbian News
. LN Publishing. January 17, 2016
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
Deerwater, Raina (April 2, 2016).
"Video:
I Am Jazz
,
I Am Cait
Tie for the #glaadawards in Outstanding Reality Program"
.
GLAAD.org
. GLAAD
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
Duncan, Gabi (April 3, 2016).
"Congrats, Caitlyn Jenner!
I Am Cait
Wins Outstanding Reality Show at GLAAD Media Awards 2016, Ties with TLC's
I Am Jazz
"
.
E! Online
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Stanley, Terry L. (November 15, 2015).
"How the Producers Behind
RuPaul's Drag Race
Went From Extreme to Mainstream"
.
Adweek
. Retrieved
February 1,
2017
.
- ^
Transamerican Love Story
. Season 1
.
OCLC
.
OCLC
731580432
.
- ^
James, Andrea (June 1, 2008).
"
Transamerican Love Story
now on Netflix"
.
AndreaJames.com
. Retrieved
March 1,
2017
.
- ^
Addams, Calpernia.
"
Transamerican Love Story
"
.
Calpernia.com
. Retrieved
March 1,
2017
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Reality Program
(2004?present)
| |
---|
Reality Competition Program
(2023?present)
| |
---|