Gay Thursday: Beecher, Keller, Oliver, Kyle and All That Jazz





OZ creator, Tom Fontana, holds Meloni and his committed work ethic in high esteem: “As an actor, Chris is passionate, daring and courageous. In the five years we made OZ he never once flinched at doing anything I asked for in the scripts. That included kissing co-star Lee Tergesen [Tobias Beecher]. Having kissed Lee Tergesen myself, he should have got hazard pay. The man is such a dedicated artist. He didn’t care if his character was likable or sympathetic. He never worried that his fans would confuse the real Chris with the guy in prison. What can I say about this man? Well, he literally stuck out his dick for me. His fearlessness inspired me to explore the depths of Keller’s soul and take bigger risks with Keller’s libido. More importantly, Chris’ fearlessness pushed me to write the Keller-Beecher gay relationship storyline as honestly and fully as I was able. He wanted to tell the truth, fuck the consequences.”



Back in the early years of this so-called decade and the latter years of the previous, when Tom Fontana's OZ was all the rage, Chris Meloni said that Beecher and Keller were the Luke and Laura of the 21st Century, referring to Chris Keller's (his character's) relationship with fellow inmate Tobias Beecher played by Lee Tergesen. Without disparaging the groundwork provided by As The World Turns' Luke and Noah, it can now be said that the heirs to Beecher and Keller, are without a doubt One Life to Live's Oliver and Kyle. It has not gone unnoticed that both couples had a milestone New Year's Eve in the telling of their stories. The first had theirs during a lock down, the current pair, denizens of Roxanne's boarding house in Llanview, are having theirs in television land as we speak. Well, in unreal time. So, the Tony Geary award for heating up the Soap Opera airwaves goes to Brett Claywell and Scott Evans for their respective roles as star crossed gay lovers, Kyle and Oliver with honorable mention to Nick Rodriguez for being what every good love triangle needs--the odd man out. Fortunatelly his character did not meet the same end that Brian Bloom's did for a similar role on OZ. Perhaps Donovan Patton can come back as the violent homophobe with a change of heart and develop a relationship with Nick--something absolutely in the Luke, Laura, Beecher, Keller tradition.



From Brett Claywell's Facebook:

"Back to NYC...Gonna be in the air when the final episode of the year airs...maybe there's a few of you out there looking forward to it??? ;) Been a blast this year guys, hope you loved the story, because we put everything we could into it. Hope we make you even happier in 2010!! All love, b"





And to all, especially, star crossed lovers, Column sends out appreciation for your presence here. Have a happy and fulfilling 2010.

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