Glee isn’t the only new feel-good series with queer inklings set among the Clearasil set. Cable network Logo is also getting into the act with Beautiful People (premiering May 26 at 10:30 PM), a six-episode BBC series based on the childhood memoirs of Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York.
Doonan’s book Beautiful People: My Family and Other Glamorous Varmints looks back at his formative years in decidedly unfabulous Reading, England from his current life in tres-chic Manhattan. The TV version has Simon, played by Luke Ward-Wilkinson, skipping down memory lane to his 13th year, a kid who knows how to belt out a tune and sashay his way to school. Then there’s his gin-soaked mother, culture-savvy father, pop idol wannabe sister and best mate Kyle (he prefers "Kylie"), who proves Simon’s not the only theater-queen-in-training in the village.
Not as music-heavy as Glee, Beautiful People still packs a lyrical punch, particularly the second episode, with its show tune medley dance-off that incorporates The Wiz, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and an homage to Barbra. And as always with British telly, Beautiful People has a wicked streak. Let’s just say there’s a fantastic reference to the horror movie Carrie that will have some viewers clutching their pearls.
Beautiful People premieres May 26 at 10:30 ET/PT on Logo.
