By Romeo San Vicente
'The Women' return
It's been a long time coming and the definition of "development hell," but the remake of 1939's "The Women," the George Cukor-directed, Clare Boothe Luce-penned comedy of sharp-tongued, backstabbing, class-obsessed ladies who lunch in Manhattan, looks like it might finally get a green light. Diane English (of "Murphy Brown") has written the adaptation and is planning to direct Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, and Uma Thurman beginning in February. Mick Jagger will act as producer and soundtrack supervisor. And naturally, this is all contingent on that most fragile of processes – known as Hollywood Deal-Making – but the project's momentum does seem unstoppable this time around. If all goes as planned, expect a group of female characters less obsessed with holding on to husbands – and more concerned with their own lives – than in the man-trapping original.
In the Navy
Now that "don't ask, don't tell" has taken a back seat to the real-life problem of finding willing participants of any sexual orientation to fill military uniforms, film representations of queer soldiers simply doing their jobs can begin. And Here TV is getting a jump on the few-good-gay-men action genre with an upcoming TV movie called "Tides of War." The combat-action drama will star Adrian Paul (TV's "Highlander") as a gay naval commander leading a covert mission off the shores of North Korea. The rest of the cast will include "Six Feet Under"'s Mathew St. Patrick and "The Shield"'s Catherine Dent. And unless they're on some kind of invisible ship, the plot will probably involve the idea – one that straight homophobes love to freak out about – that, in fact, gay men and straight men can coexist on the same submarine and still defend democracy.
'The L Word' snags Sandra
Romeo's favorite diva, Sandra Bernhard, is about to enter that labyrinth of lesbian drama, "The L Word." In the hit Showtime series' upcoming second season, Bernhard will appear on a multiple-episode story arc, playing a heterosexual author who teaches a hard-to-get-into writing course. The storyline reportedly involves petite, literary, novice lesbian Jenny (Mia Kirshner) trying to gain entry to the class, finding herself rejected, not taking "no" for an answer, and then – once getting past the academic velvet rope – becoming involved in several classroom clashes with Dr. Bernhard. And in further "L" stunt-casting news, expect second-year appearances from former "Practice" regular Camryn Manheim and, in the season closer, none other than the former Mrs. Gest herself, Liza Minnelli.
Mr. Smith goes back to high school
He's the gayest straight male director in Hollywood. They're on the gayest teens-in-high-school show ever. And now the angsty adolescents of Canadian TV series "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (airing to a growing and devoted teen and adult audience on cable network The N) are about to meet up with Kevin Smith. A longtime fan of the show – which doesn't shrink from showing gay teenage boyfriends kissing – Smith, creator of "Clerks" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," will guest star as himself in the final three episodes of the drama's current season. Joining him will be Jason Mewes, who was Jay to Smith's Silent Bob, in a plot line involving the director scouting locations for a fictitious film called "Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?" Tune in to see who appears more starstruck, the kids or Smith.
