"We're not here to change you; we're here to make you better!"
-Carson Kressley
One of the joys of early 2000s television was the abundance of interesting shows that offered helpful demonstrations on how to improve one's life through household tasks, fashion choices, and DIY projects. For a time, I was a fan of the show Trading Spaces, hosted by Paige Davis —a show where two neighbors redo a single room in each other's homes. Some of my best DIY decorations and home improvements were inspired by concepts presented in this show. Not to mention, everyone on the show (most of the time) appeared to be having lots of fun making something special together.
Many shows followed this engaging formula, but none were as relevant, entertaining, memorable, insightful, or as helpful as that fabulious gem, Queer Eye (originally titled Queer Eye for the Stright Guy).
Created by David Collins and first appearing on the channel formerly known as Bravo from 2003 to 2007, the show followed the exploits of a team of specialists in various fields known as The Fab 5: a team of homosexuals tasked with helping people improve themselves one person at a time. The team consisted of five specialists: Ted Allen, the food expert; Kyan Douglass, the grooming guy; Thom Filicia, the design guru; Jai Rodriguez, the culture counselor; and Carson Kresley, the fashion master. Each episode featured The Fab 5 taking on a client nominated by their family and friends who needed an update to better reflect the good person their loved ones saw in them. Through exciting demonstrations in cooking, decor, fashion, grooming, and culture, The Fab 5 showed how everyone can be fabulous in their own way.
As an impressionable teenager, I loved this show, and I still enjoy revisiting it occasionally to this day. Many of my understandings of food, fashion, and explorations into the unknown were directly inspired by this show. Heck, they're the reason I started using hair products! My mother and I were fortunate enough to meet Ted and Carson in person for a book signing event, and they were just as energetic and delightful in person as they were on the show.
Carson loved Mom's boa.
After the show's initial run, there were some attempts at spin-offs and spiritual successors to the original concept (including one based in the U.K.), but none of them had the same feel as the original cast. And while the original Fab 5 went on to enjoy respectable careers outside of the show (as they should), it was a little heartbreaking to see them go.
As I mentioned earlier, the show was initially called Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, because their clientele primarily consisted of heterosexual men. This was likely more of a marketing decision since heterosexual men were (and still are, sadly) the only audience television networks (and movie studios by extension) mostly care about. To play Devil's advocate, it was likely the best way to get the much-deserved attention for the show and the concept, especially at the time, having survived the not-as-progressive-as-we-remember-it 1990s. As the show progressed, it eventually changed its title to simply Queer Eye and expanded its clientele to include a broader range of people and identities, although perhaps not as extensively as it could have.
Fast forward a decade, and David Collins gets the opportunity to reboot Queer Eye on Netflix, complete with a brand new Fab 5.
Like the original series, this new crew consisted of five specialists: Antoni Porowski, the food master; Bobby Berk, the interior design guru (later replaced by Jeremiah Brent); Tan France, the fashon whisperer; Karamo Brown, the culture counselor; and Jonathan Van Ness, the fabulious grooming queen.
What made this reboot stand out, aside from everyone's energetic and engaging personalities, was that this new show took advantage of the opportunity to offer its guidance to many different people from all walks of life. They also targeted their efforts in places that, more often than not, are perceived as "unfriendly" to put it mildly. This was an incredible enhancement because, like the original show, it pushed boundaries in a calm and friendly way while encouraging audiences to occasionally reevaluate their perceptions of people and places. A valid message of unity, if ever there was one.
At the time of this writing, this fantastic reboot is still going strong on Netflix, despite the next season not having been officially announced yet. The original series can still be found and enjoyed on YouTube, albeit not in an ideal high-quality format; however, at least it's available.
If you're looking for a show that offers a fun time with lots of insightful and helpful tips on this strange roller coaster we call life, you can't go wrong with The Fab 5.
Check it out!
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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