One of the programs RuPaul’s queens whored out during the Drag Race premiere last night was DTLA (“Downtown LA”). It’s an ensemble drama for LOGO about a group of friends living and loving in Los Angeles. Absolutely ground-breaking. The one semi-interesting thing about it is that the cast includes Danny Roberts. Remember him? He was the cute-bordering on-hot young gay on MTV’s Real World: New Orleans. This is just my view, but he was also one of the first gays that achieved leading man status on primetime television. By that I mean that Danny was photogenic, charming, and the love story between him and his closeted boyfriend in the military (remember they always had to pixellate his face?) took center stage in 2000.
Anyway, everyone loved Danny. And 12 years later, he’s back on TV. Apparently, he moved to Seattle with the soldier, tried to live a non-TV life, broke up with him, and is now back in show biz. Good on him. He plays an earthy masseur on DTLA. He’s all grown up now, and YES, we would. Hopefully while this song plays in the background.
The show also stars Sandra Bernhard and Melanie Griffith. Logo should have thought on this and just given Sandra and Melanie their own reality show and had Danny host while wearing gym shorts and nothing else. We really need a Manhunt television network so we can bring these excellent ideas to fruition.
– J. Harvey
Check out more pics Danny then and now, and the trailer for DTLA after the BREAK:
Hot then, even hotter now.
Hot then, even hotter now.
He’s hotter!
Aw, Danny’s back. Is he going to walk around naked like used to at the Real World Cast House. Also is it wrong that what excites me about DTLA is the fact that Julie Goldman and Darryl Stephens are in it?
Wolf! His voice is deeper. Danny’s the man!
Danny has always been a hottie. He’s also sweet as hell. I met him when he came to Boston to speak at Youth Pride, and he was so nice.
Oh man, Danny was my first real crush. The guy who made me realize I was definitely not bi.
Oh man, Danny was my first real crush. The guy who made me realize I was definitely not bi.
Someone needs to do a Where Are They Now? book on all the gay cast members of The Real World and Road Rules shows and the influence they had on gay culture, including the late Pedro Zamora.
This series is either going to be good or a complete train wreck — either way it will be fun to watch. 🙂
This series is either going to be good or a complete train wreck — either way it will be fun to watch. 🙂