As the first reality dating competition series to feature an all-gay cast, Logo‘s Finding Prince Charming is actually pretty historic. But as we all learned from falling asleep during social studies, history isn’t always exciting.
Thursday’s premiere introduced America to 33-year-old interior designer Robert Sepulveda, Jr., accurately described by one of his suitors as “the prototype Disney prince.” And he really is, from his perfectly coiffed hair to his utter lack of enthusiasm. (The fact that he used to be an escort, easily the most interesting aspect of Prince Charming’s past, is never discussed on-screen.)
Unfortunately, this theme seems to be woven into the very fabric of Finding Prince Charming. Of the 15 men featured in Thursday’s premiere, including Robert and host Lance Bass, approximately four of them have personalities. They all do, however, have a portfolio of immaculately filtered gym/beach selfies, which were displayed while the suitors described themselves using a single hashtag — most of which came across like Real Housewives taglines. (Example: #WhyBeANineWhenYouCanBeATen?)
The two suitors who made the strongest impressions, for better or worse, were 31-year-old fitness guru Sam and 26-year-old beauty professional Robby — so, naturally, they went head-to-head in the show’s first official fight. It was basically Sam projecting his own insecurities about his masculinity, accusing Robby of being inauthentic before yelling, “Fix your dress!” at the poor guy, who simply can’t help that he was born a less-southern version of Will & Grace‘s Beverly Leslie.
A next-day pool party offered an opportunity for excitement, but aside from Robert’s big shirtless reveal — the guys’ anticipation was so high that Robert’s gradual disrobing got its own commercial break — the show’s first soiree was pretty uneventful.
Heck, Robert wouldn’t even tell Lance which guy he thought looked best in swimwear. (Because that’s what we want from reality TV — a gentleman.)
Then came the first eliminations, which — true to form — were also pretty chill. And I can’t say I was surprised to see Charlie, Nick and Brodney get the boot. (I was, however, surprised that Robert had to physically dress each of his picks in a tie. Whose idea was that?!)
Stray observations:
* I have a couple of questions about some of these suitors’ names, specifically Jasen and Brodney.
* Could Sam’s feelings for Robby be any more obvious?
* Did Dillon really tell Robert, “I didn’t come to make friends”? This guy was born to be on reality TV.
* How did Robert not giggle when, during a pre-elimination interview, Lance asked him, “Who might be on the bottom tonight?” (I swear, that man is made of wood.)
OK, now it’s your turn to start judging: Grade the episode below, then drop a comment with your thoughts (and predictions) about Finding Prince Charming.
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Jesus God, that was painful to watch. It wasn’t a good look for the gays, being painted as vapid and catty, worse than any of the contestants on the bachelor/ette franchise.
Horrible…I had such high hopes
Such a disappointment. I was really hoping that this would do well, if only so that they would give us it’s lesbian counterpart (Seeking Cinderella, anyone?)
The show could’ve been great and a celebration of gay men finding love but instead I just put a black eye on the LGBT community
I didn’t watch it but holy snozzballs, how nail-biting was Drag Race tonight?
I know right? I wish to this site would recap drag race.
I have read so much about the show, that I finally watched Drag Race for the very first time tonight. I can not wait to watch other seasons. The show is brilliant. Yes, the elimination was riveting.
Losers, the whole lot of ’em. How about a gay dating show with a LITTLE class.
I didn’t see any Asian men. C’mon, it’s 2016!
If you do a little googling for reviews of Prince Charming’s escorting services, you may discover why.
Really looked forward to this but Robert was so….flat, boring & completely lacked any charisma. Suitors should be charming! Aside from his looks WTH were they thinking?
Exactly! It was like:
“Robert how are you doing?”
Robert: “Eh.”
No charisma at all.
No surprise about the the first 3 since 2 of them did not fit into the “cookie cutter gay stereotype” that most of the other guys fall into. And the other guy knew they had no chemistry because they’ve seen each other before. The show itself was mostly a bore. And Lance was trying way too hard to make everything seem more interesting than it was.
I didn’t think I would like it but I actually loved it. Sure it doesn’t shine the greatest light on the stereotypes of gays but you know what? Stereotypes are real and they are honest. These guys were being themselves and that’s amazing.
This does not represent any gay guy I know. This is disgusting and trash.
ITA. I’m a straight woman with a slew of gay friends. The gay men I know are fun, creative, witty, very bright and a pleasure to be around. This was just blah.
Yes this!
I agree..this show is nothing but “TRASH”. I mean really everyone knows that you can just throw a bunch of people in a room, go on TV and find the love of your life. How stupid! What is even more stupid and pathetic is people fall for this bullcrap. Let’s be realistic here, this just a giant hook up fest for a bunch of snooty overly processed gay men.
They kept saying this was the first gay dating show as it a) it were true which it isnt and b) as if this is something the community has desperately needed all this time….which it doesn’t. If I want vapid and shallow I can always look pretty much every show on the air 24/7 on Bravo.
First gay dating show with an all gay cast. The Boy Meets Boy show Bravo did years ago had straight guys pretending to be gay. A lot more offensive to me than this show.
Boy meets Boy DID NOT have an all gay cast. It was a supposed gay dating show on Bravo BUT 1/2 the guys were HETEROSEXUAL!!! A horrible premise for a show. It was disgusting to watch straight guys act gsy to try and trick the Suitor.
what will be interesting is if sam/robby fall for each other instead of robert,,, that scenario really seems like the only opportunity for a ‘good tv’ moment
I’m just waiting for any of these shows you change up the same routine. Most reality shows like this have all of the same beats: the tinkly music between scenes, set up scenes of the garishly lit house, suitors lining up to receive something…do something different.
This premiere had no teeth, and Robert was stiff and boring. I know they don’t want to spoil anything by having him say that he didn’t like someone at first sight, but that would’ve been different at least.
Most of the guys are pretty lame too. Robby is over the top and slightly annoying but everyone else was so boring he really stood out.
Charlie tells him there are ppl there for wrong reasons trying to help out Robert and he gets sent home! there is no justice! bring Charlie back as next Prince Charming
You just know the producers are having a heavy hand in the choices. Robert specifically said he was into masculine men and yet he kept Robbie. Total producer move hoping for drama.
Why the heck is LOGO still not in HD??
Luckily it also aired in HD on VH1
I liked the first episode but I didn’t have high expectations. I expected it to be a trashy train wreck and it pretty much lived up to that. Lance Bass channeling The Bachelor’s Chris Harrison was a little creepy but that’s because he did such a good job at it. I couldn’t for the life of me figure what was going on with the Brodney/Robert dynamic. My guess is that Brodney had been giving The Prince the eye at the gym but Robert ignored him thus he already knew it was a waste of time being on this show.
This is NOT the first gay dating show on television. That would be Boy Meets Boy (2003). Facts matter. Especially if you’re going to claim to be a journalist. Even an entertainment one.
Reading matters, too. “[T]he first reality dating competition series to feature an all-gay cast.” —Mgmt.
Vapid, flat, cardboard performance, the most interesting part was who knew skin tight suits and no socks was the in thing this season??? Not a single representation of the vast majority of gay men , let’s play to stereotypical images of straight television executives. Insert character A here , flame on character B , and the “Prince” is a ex hooker ???? Please LOGO you can do better
Is it any wonder there are no Gay shows on TV? Queens are so vicious! It wasn’t any worse than the Bachelor. That’s why there are no new scripted shows, NO support. Have fun watching The facts of life and the nanny!
If even one of the suitors – let alone the “prince” – had even a quarter of the personality of any of the gay men from logo’s main attraction (RuPauls drag race) we would have had something to watch. I actually enjoyed watching this because it was SO terrible and they all were so serious. But wtf were the casting directors smoking?
Finding Prince charming, should be renamed Finding Princess Charming. Could the casting be anymore gay stereotypes. The entire cast couldn’t be anymore gay if they were at the happiest place on earth. You would have to be headless not to notice. Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder can see that. This could have been a ground breaking show for us. Instead it is an embarrassment.