GAYLETTER

I shouldn’t really have to tell you to watch the second season of the incredible show Transparent, about newly out transwoman Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) and her ever evolving family, but in case you were locked in a basement, trapped as a sex slave to some Mormon preacher for the last few years, here’s the deets. Created by Jill Soloway, whose parent transitioned late in life much like the fictional character her show is based around, Transparent is easily one of the best shows available to watch at the moment. Season 2 has an extra treat in that it features the wonderful Hari Nef (pictured right) in flashbacks to 1930s Germany. Those flashbacks all come together in the last 2 episodes, and believe me when I say your patience will be paid off in spades. I was bawling like a baby in the final few scenes. And I’m still distraught, but only because I now realize how long I will have to wait for season 3. Oy vey!  —tom

I’m a fan of thoughtfully prepared food. The kind that has a concept behind it, that requires raw talent to conceive of and years of practice to perfect. As much as I love the experience of eating it, I also love learning about how it was created, and what inspired it. Which brings me to The Chef’s Table, a six part Netflix series produced by David Gelb (director of Jiro Dreams of Sushi). The series devotes an episode to six chefs: Ben Shewry, Niki Nakayama, Francis Mallmann, Dan Barber, Massimo Bottura, and Magnus Nilsson. They all approach cooking in different ways and philosophically have divergent ideas about what makes a great restaurant, yet they all arrive at the same destination by making some of the most inventive and awarded food on the planet. The Chef’s Table feels unique in two ways: firstly it delves deeply into the lives and motivations of these award-winning chefs, almost psychoanalyzing them to understand what drives them to create such special food, and secondly the cinematography (by Adam Bricker & Will Basanta) is superb. The cities they live in, their restaurants, and most importantly their food is filmed beautifully, in sumptuous clarity — it makes you want to visit their restaurants, or at the very least immediately gobble up the next episode.  —tom

This is not something we usually do, but we’ve decided to feature a show we haven’t seen yet. It’s an original Netflix series called Grace & Frankie by the creator of Friends (yeah I know) that we will absolutely watch (at least the first ep) because it stars two of the baddest bitches in Hollywood. I’m talking about Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, two brilliant women, who over the last 50 years, have created incredibly unique careers — frankly, they could star in a Tyler Perry movie and I’d line up to see it. In this case they star as “two women who form an unlikely bond after their husbands reveal they are gay and leave them for each other.” The reviews I’ve read have said the writing feels a bit dated (no surprise considering the creator’s biggest hit started in 1994) and that the main characters come across as unlikable. That may be all true, but as I said earlier, these bitches have built up enough goodwill with me that I’ll give Grace & Frankie a shot, I mean, I’ve taken risks with worse sounding crap on Netflix and lived to tell the tale.  —tom

If you’re Gay and live on planet earth, and you don’t know about Jem, then you should just give up now. Jem is “America’s best-loved and tryly outrageous animated pop star” from the 8o’s TV series JEM and The Holograms. When I was growing up in the Dominican Republic — I think I was about 8 years old — I remember watching this show after school. I didn’t even know enough English to understand the songs, but I was still mumbling along, pretending I was part of the group — or sometimes just making weird noises. And of course this was before I was queer. Jem can push the gay out of you faster than a quick glimpse at a men’s Olympic diving competition. After I discovered Jem, I was into playing with my cousin’s dolls, dressing them up and even making them outfits out of any piece of fabric I found around the house. Now I own the complete series of JEM: a full 11-DVD box set, and boy was I excited. If you find yourself bored this week, invite your friends over, and let the outrageous fashion 90’s extravaganza change your destiny. After a few episodes you’ll be singing along like you’re the star of the TV show.  —Abi

Francis Mcdormond is a national treasure. She is unable to turn in a bad performance, it’s just impossible. Take for instance her role in the Lisa Cholodenko's HBO mini-series 'Olive Kitteridge.' Olive is a very particular kind of women, as the saying goes “she doesn’t suffer fools lightly.” She’s efficient, practical and blunt. She’s kind of bitch. She reminded me of my grandma who was also very straight forward, not very warm, and took joy in complaining about service in restaurants. You have to love a woman who knows what she wants! Rounding out the cast of Olive Kitteridge is Henry (Richard Jenkins) Olive’s beaten down, but still hopelessly in love, husband. Then there’s the mousey, waif-like Denise (Zoe Kazan) who plays Henry’s assistant at the Pharmacy. Their son Christopher (John Gallagher Jr.) is the only one to fearlessly confront Olive, but she ain’t interested in listening to his shit! Set in Maine and Park Slope, over a 30 year period, the series deals with big themes like getting  old and wanting to end it all. It’s bleak in parts, but also very funny and thought provoking. It’s one of the best things to happen to TV in a while.  —tom

It was only a matter of time before premium cable TV, or in this case premium Internet TV (which in terms of taste is pretty much the same thing — the show is available on Amazon Prime) turned its attention to the trans community. Thankfully the creators of the new half hour drama/comedy, Transparent, have not made a mistake. Writer and director Jill Soloway has had some experience with the trans world — her father came out late in life like the show’s protagonist Mort/Maura (played by Jeffrey Tambor). The series is partly based on this experience, but there’s so much more going on. Transparent is really about Maura’s tight-knit family (3 grown up kids, all living in LA) and how they deal with their own insecurities and secrets. Mort’s revelation is of course a big part of it, but it’s 2014, and they live in LA, so all the unnecessary hand-wringing and melodrama is refreshingly absent. The show is at times hilarious, awkward and achingly touching — it’s easily the best TV show of the fall and I have a feeling Tambor will win a bunch of awards for his subtle performance. Borrow, barter and steal your friend’s Amazon Prime passwords — do whatever it takes to see this show. It’s that good.  —tom