Some of My Best Friends

In early 1991, aspiring filmmaker Tony Vitale pitched the idea for a television series starring John Travolta as a macho new yorker who answers an ad that reads "GWM Seeks Roommate," assuming "GWM" stands for "Guy with Money." When he arrives, he discovers the GWM is actually Gay White Male Harvey Fierstein. The story was loosely torn from his own life -- Vitale was a macho hetero New Yorker with some close gay friends -- but he was told that a lead gay character on TV would never fly, and was instead asked to write an episode of "Harry and the Hendersons." Unsurprisingly, he declined. Six weeks later, Vitale happened to be watching "Arsenio Hall" when Fierstein came out and began talking about his upcoming project -- the same show. This was news to Tony, who decided he needed to get a copyright on his idea before the Fierstein vehicle proceeded any further.

The first incarnation, "96 Greenwich Street," was performed as a one-act play at The Village Gate in New York later the same year. In 1993, Vitale wrote a second act, and a screenplay followed in 1994. It took a while to get financing, but it was eventually turned into a film called "Kiss Me, Guido," starring Nick Scotti ("Detroit Rock City") as the straight guy and Anthony Barrile ("Friday the 13th V: A New Beginning") as the GWM. The little indie film wound up being bought and distributed by Paramount, and it received glowing reviews and wide acclaim. So again, Vitale tried to get it turned into a sitcom but was told there was no place in prime time for a gay lead.

Flash forward to 1998. NBC found success with a little underdog show called "Will & Grace." In 1999, Vitale thought the time was right to pitch his idea again, and based on the success of that series, there was now an interest in turning "Kiss Me, Guido" into a show of its own. The pitch wound up with the Axelrod-Widdoes production company (responsible for the short-lived sitcoms "Can't Hurry Love" and "Brother's Keeper"), who were without a project at the time. Production company co-founder Jonathan Axelrod was married to actress Illeana Douglas, who was good friends with Craig Chester, who co-starred in the film. (Confused?) Douglas rented the movie and screened it for her husband, who saw the series potential. (Oddly, most of the press once the series finally came to fruition cited Douglas as the one responsible for the idea of bringing it to TV. ) Sitcom veteran Marc Cherry ("The Golden Girls," "The 5 Mrs. Buchanans" and later "Desperate Housewives") was brought in to develop/produce the series, and he and Vitale instantly hit it off and had a shared vision. Cast as gay guy Warren Fairbanks was Jason Bateman, whose career was floundering as he jumped from one short-lived sitcom to the next. Bateman went into the Axelrod-Widdoes office to pitch a spec script he'd written but wound up instead being asked to star in the series. He liked the pitch and decided he wanted the role -- but network president and longtime associate Les Moonves didn't want him in the part. After a long search for an actor that Moonves found suitable turned up no one, he finally relented. Bateman initially tried playing the character overtly gay, but that didn't fly. "There's no fire coming out out of Warren's ears." Bateman told the Associated Press. "I've been instructed to play him fairly straight, you know, or just as gay as I am, basically, was the line. I don't think Frankie has to be that stupid to not notice Warren is gay." Cast as straight guy Frankie Zito was Danny Nucci, who had mainly been setting his sights on films at the time. Nucci had worked with Illeana Douglas in the film "Alive," and she and Axelrod were able to get him interested in the material. "I've got a buddy from the Bronx, Joey," said Nucci. "Through the years I've watched him grow from looking at the world this way" —Nucci held his palms close together — "to this," he said, stretching his hands apart. "So he's a great template."

Although there was still a bit of a stigma at the time, neither Bateman nor Nucci had fear of being associated with a gay show. "I've been asked a couple of handful of times throughout my career if I'm gay," said Bateman. "It doesn't bother me. People used to think I was a girl right before I did 'Little House on the Prairie,"" he joked. Nucci commented, "It's old hat to me. I played a bisexual in 'The Unknown Cyclist' and gay in a film called 'Friends and Lovers.'" The pair seemed to genuinely like the material and each other -- which came across on screen. "I'm tired of telling all my friends how good it is," carped Bateman, "because I just sound like some idiot actor twattling on about his latest project." Nucci conceded, saying, "I did the show because it's funny. I love it because it's funny. I can't stop laughing!" As an aside, that was apparent; Nucci seemed to be right on the verge of breaking character and bursting into laughter numerous times over the course of the series. In the film, Warren's best friend Terry was played by the aforementioned Craig Chester ("Adam & Steve") as sort of a slobbish gay guy, and that's the role that the producers were looking to cast when flamboyant little Asian Alec Mapa ("Ugly Betty," "Half & Half") burst through the door to audition. Mapa's vibrant personality won over those in the casting room, but nobody thought he was right for the role -- except Vitale, who knew the moment he saw Mapa that this was the guy. Mapa was repeatedly called back to audition and finally landed the part in the zero hour -- but not that of Terry. The character was re-imagined, specifically tailored to Mapa and named Vern Limoso. ("Terry" then became the name of Warren's condescending ex-boyfriend. ) As the only gay actor on the show, Mapa was referred to by producers as "the authentic voice." As Frankie's dimwitted best friend Pino Polumbo, Michael DeLuise ("Sea Quest DSV," "Brooklyn South") was cast. Although not as drastic of a reinvention as Terry/Vern, this was another slight change as Pino had been Frankie's brother in the film. Vitale didn't want Pino to know that Warren was gay (figuring there'd be more room for comedy if Frankie tried to keep Pino in the dark), but this is a battle which was ultimately lost. Jessica Lundy ("Hope & Gloria") was originally cast as building manager Meryl, who was in lust with Frankie and lusted after by Pino, but after the pilot was filmed somebody got the idea to turn her into Warren's sister. And so it was done -- Meryl then became Warren's oft-divorced, slutty older sister. Also seen regularly were Frankie's parents (Camille Saviola, Frank Grifasi), who owned an Italian restaurant . Unfortunately, problems arose fairly quickly. Josette DiCarlo was originally cast as Frankie's mother but in reality she wasn't significantly older than Nucci. It was decided that someone older was needed in the role, so DiCarlo was quickly replaced by 50 year old brash character actress Camille Saviola -- unfortunately, no one bothered to clue DiCarlo in. "I honestly wasn't given any explanation," said DiCarlo, "but during studio audience filming an exec approached me prior to my first scene and said 'YOU'RE Danny's mom?'. I think I knew trouble could ensue... I did feel as if Connie was picture perfect for me, but one can never plan ahead in this business." With a new actress in tow, portions of the pilot episode then had to be reworked and reshot. The series went into production in September 2000 and wrapped its 7 episode commitment in November, with plans to debut sometime at midseason. But more complications ensued...

The title went through seemingly endless changes. "'Kiss Me, Guido' made no sense, because Warren's not trying to get Frankie to kiss him," explained Axelrod. "And 'guido,' it turns out, was offensive to Italians." Other titles announced included "Macho Man" and "Me and Frankie Z" before they ultimately settled on "Some of My Best Friends" at the last minute.

Neither of the leads were happy with the title. Nucci and Bateman individually each referred to it as "the worst title" in history. Said Nucci, "It's like you're looking in the dustbin: Let's find the worst title for a sitcom that's a mouthful and nobody will get." Bateman's response was the same. "Even if you happen to think of the phrase 'some of my best friends are gay, and I don't think most people will, that still is not that clever.... I can't believe that's the one they settled on after looking for one for six months." Worth noting that the final title is virtually identical to that of a completely unrelated film, the seldom-seen 1971 gay dramedy "Some of My Best Friends Are..." So much for any name-recognition-value. Around the time the series debuted, there were rumblings online that Moonves hated the show -- which certainly makes sense, given the minuscule episode order and the way it was treated. But this involves a short parallel story... The same season, Bette Midler had a self-titled sitcom in which she played an exaggerated version of herself that was touted as the next big hit. It wasn't. Ratings began to steadily plummet, then Midler made the mistake of denouncing the show on Letterman. The network suits were furious and began looking for a way to get the show canceled, so "Some of My Best Friends" became the scapegoat. When "Some of My Best Friends" finally made its debut in February 2001 (with virtually no promotion), they put it in Bette's slot and pushed her sitcom back a half hour. For those unfamiliar with the logistics of television, it's never a good sign when they start out an hour of sitcom programming with a brand new show. And if the second half hour does substantially worse in the ratings, the second show's as good as canceled too (though that's just a general rule of thumb). This seemed to be a way to kill two birds with one stone, and it worked like gangbusters. The show debuted near the bottom of the weekly Nielsen ratings in 77th place, and it ranked 102 out of 150 shows for the season. Now in 2001, the only series to feature a gay character in the lead was "Will & Grace" (not that there have been many since) so comparisons were inevitable despite the fact the series was actually more of an update of "The Odd Couple." Some critics and viewers just couldn't seem to look past that popular NBC show; Warren was Will, Meryl was Grace, Vern was Jack. A few reviews of the series were genuinely good but most were less than glowing and the comparisons were rampant.

Aft er a few low-rated weeks on Wednesday nights, they aired an episode after "Everybody Loves Raymond" in a high-profile time slot on Monday night. Instead of airing "Fight Night" (a great episode which might have kept some of Ray's viewers), they aired "Blah, Blah, Blah" -- an episode which was so weak that the writers allegedly apologized to the cast for the quality of the writing as filming was underway. (Though the writing quality still beats the hell out of most crap on the air today!) From the network's perspective, they could say they tested the show on a high rated night and it tanked when that was clearly the intention all along. Soon after, the show was canceled and the final two episodes wouldn't see the light of day until they aired on Logo several years later. The show was nominated for a GLAAD Award in 2002 for Outstanding Comedy Series, but guess what it lost to? "Will & Grace." Might also be worth noting that Illeana Douglas and Jonathan Axelrod divorced just as the show was getting royally screwed over by the network . Coincidence? In 2007, The Advocate asked Jason Bateman what went wrong. Always the nice guy, he replied, "It wasn’t the show’s fault, and it certainly wasn’t my fault.... I kept thinking that perhaps it was on the wrong network and the wrong night. Those are legitimate excuses -- I don’t think they’re just things that help you get to sleep at night. There are certain networks that are better for liberal fare, and CBS, at least at the time, was not leading in that race as far as their audience and demographic. "

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EPISODES

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Original Pilot: Kiss Me, Guido

Virtually identical to what ultimately aired, with a little bit of additional/alternate dialogue/scenes and Josette DiCarlo as Frankie's mother.

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