Disgusted by many reality television shows that attract viewers by embarrassing contestants, Hal Koltin, host of a bi-costal cable program, is developing a show that features ordinary college-aged homosexuals in the Boston area.
For the past 18 years, Koltin has hosted the talk-variety show “The Hal Koltin Show,” which according to a press release, airs in the Boston-metro and Los Angeles areas. Koltin has decided to abandon the show, which has featured such celebrities as James Earl Jones, Steven Tyler and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), to create a new series that focuses on ordinary homosexuals who lead interesting lives.
“The series will be like none other in its genre,” Koltin said in a press release. “There will be no scripts, no acting, no focus on the melodramatic, the humiliation, or the disgusting … The ideas will come from the subjects themselves. We’ll try to get an eclectic mix of on-air talent and let cameras roll and spontaneity rule.”
Koltin said he is looking for students from area colleges such as Boston University, Harvard University, Tufts University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and Berklee College of Music.
“I tried to meet people with all the gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gender and gay-straight alliance groups at colleges and universities in the area,” Koltin said.
President of the Gay and Lesbian Business Council at Boston University, Greg Ciaglo, said he was not aware of the launching of the gay reality show or familiar with Koltin.
“Truthfully, I wasn’t aware there were plans for a TV show,” Ciaglo said. “Who is Hal Koltin? Speaking about the reality TV genre as a whole, I haven’t come across a ‘reality’ show yet that reflects how real people live.”
Koltin said he came up with the series idea after watching reality shows from other networks that aim to gain ratings by embarrassing participants. He said he was disgusted by watching contestants placed in coffins with rats on NBC’s “Fear Factor,” and appalled by the Bravo Network’s “Boy Meets Boy,” a dating show in which a gay bachelor must eliminate contestants, some gay and some straight, vying for his love.
“I only saw one [episode] and I didn’t want to see any after,” Koltin said in an interview Tuesday. “There’s got to be a better way of doing a show. There’s enough drama in life … When they are scripted, there’s no way it can come out natural.”
He said his new 13-week series, which has yet to be named, will feature eight to 16 people, depending on how many people are required to make the show interesting.
“Anyone who wants to be part of the show, is part of the show,” he said. “The on-air talent call is open.”
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