If you haven’t seen or heard of it, Half-Share, a show about six gay men vacationing on Fire Island, is hilarious. But as Edge Media editor Steve Weinstein noted, it may be “the funniest sitcom you’ll never see on TV.”
Despite praise from audiences at festivals and screenings, Half-Share, like most pilots, remains unsold. At a panel Weinstein organized at New York’s LGBT Community Center, creator Sean Hanley, Here Media’s Josh Rosenzweig, Logo TV’s Christopher Willey and US Weekly’s Bradley Jacobs, got together to discuss why gay cable networks in particular are having a difficult time with scripted content, despite seeming demand.
“Don’t you think a gay network needs a signature show?” asked Hanley, referring to the rise of nondescript reality television on cable.
Hanley, a TV alum (The Nanny), produced the half-hour pilot independently to pitch to television networks. Having screened at the multiple festivals, the series boasts rare on-location shots of Fire Island and a talented cast of TV actors including Alec Mapa (Ugly Betty), Jack Plotnick (Lovespring International) and Sam Pancake (Lovespring, Pretty, Will & Grace). It’s funny, especially given the dearth of programming explicitly focused on non-domestic gay culture. Shows like Modern Family and Sean Hayes’ possible sitcom are more family-friendly.
Rosenberg, a filmmaker, theater producer and TV host on here!, said Half-Share was a “wonderful piece,” and Willey, Logo’s head of east coast development, called it “incredible.”
