Must See Trans TV- Nicole Maines on Supergirl

I had the pleasure of meeting Nicole Maines and her amazing family during my 2012 trip to the Philly Trans Health Conference.   I was thrilled to see her on that guest episode of Royal Pains,

I now get to see her on Supergirl in a groundbreaking role as Nia Nal, television first trans superhero.

Nia Nal is a new reporter at CatCo World Media, and Kara Danvers (AKA Supergirl) takes her under her wing as a mentor because the younger Nia reminds her of herself when she first arrived at CatCo, and they also have being aliens in common.

Turns out Kara will be mentoring her on more than just reporting.   Nia is a descendant of Nura Nal, the 30th Century superhero Dream Girl.   She will become Dreamer, a superhero that can foresee the future. 

It is so cool that a real life community shero gets to play a superhero on television and become that for an entire generation of trans kids.

This fourth season of Supergirl will return back to National City as an anti-alien and anti-superhero campaign led by the charismatic leader Agent Liberty is ramping up.  With all the anti-immigrant sentiment being whipped up by Agent Orange and his minions, this season will spark some timely and vitally needed discussions about immigration and acceptance of people 

Looking forward to watching on the CW the first Season 4 episode of Supergirl this Sunday and watching as the Nia Nal character progresses.

Also looking forward to seeing what Nia's superhero costume looks like.

The Last 'Scandal' Episode

After seven seasons and over 100 episodes, the last episode of one of my fave shows is happening tonight. 

I've been a Scandal fan since the first episode in large part to my love of Kerry Washington .  I also love well written scripted shows, and Scandal definitely fit that bill as being one of Shonda Rhimes' hit shows.

The Blackness of this show also appealed to me. 

One of my favorite Scandal episodes is one in which her father Rowan has her repeat one of the lines that literally all Black children are told in this country as a way to deal with the anti-Blackness in this country.

'You have to be twice as good to get half of what they have." 



The various season ending cliffhangers that gave us a WTF reaction and scrambled what we thought we knew about the Scandal universe combined with the Washington DC setting and the storylines that seem at times ripped from the headlines.

But after seven years, Scandal is being broadcast for the last time tonight, and Thursday nights won't be the same for me when it ends.

Loving 'Riverdale'

As you long time TransGriot readers know I'm a huge fan of the Archie comics, and have written several posts about some interesting gender related developments in that iconic cartoon universe.

I was intrigued when the CW broadcast its first season of Riverdale, based on the iconic characters back in January.   But because I was busy with a lot of community events and fighting the GOP flavored transphobic evil emanating out of Austin I didn't get to watch the initial thirteen episode run.

Riverdale hit Netflix on May 18, but I finally got a chance to binge watch it this weekend, and I can see now why it got rave reviews from television critics.

This is definitely not your parents and grandparents Archie cartoon.  It basically shook up and blew up the classic love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica and in many cases everything you know from Archie canon about the characters.

The show starts with Archie getting busy with Geraldine Grundy, the school's music teacher during the summer vacation break.  Yeah, they went there.  Archie is also seen dating Valerie Brown and escorting Cheryl Blossom to one of her family events before he eventually starts the relationship with Veronica.

Girl next door Betty is not only shown to have a dark side and dates Jughead, Veronica in this show is moving to Riverdale from New York and is trying to be less mean girl than she was.

In addition to focusing the Season One storyline on who killed Riverdale queen bee Cheryl Blossom's twin brother Jason, the show is set in a contemporary time period.

Many of the beloved Archie characters you know are part of this show like Kevin Keller, Chuck Clayton, Moose Mason, and Ethel Muggs  The characters also all have deep secrets and backstories that get revealed as the show moves through those thirteen episodes that lead to a shocking whodunit.

They also flipped the casting script on many of those beloved characters.   Veronica Lodge and her family are Latinx.   Josie and the Pussycats are not only all African American, but Josie's mother Sierra McCoy is the mayor of Riverdale played by Robin Givens.

Pops Tate, the owner of the town's 24 hour diner Pop's Chok'lit Shoppe and RHS principal Mr. Weatherbee are also African American.  Reggie Mantle and Dilton Doiley are Asian.

Geraldine Grundy also became a younger woman instead of a senior citizen

Since I mentioned Robin Givens is in it, other recognizable actors you'll see in it are Luke Perry playing Archie's father Fred Andrews, Madchen Amick playing Alice Cooper, and Molly Ringwald playing Mary Andrews.

Riverdale has already been renewed for a second season slated to start on the CW in October, and in the upcoming Season 2 we'll not only see Sabrina Spellman enter this show, but also Hiram Lodge, played by Mark Consuelos.

The show also ended with a cliffhanger that if you haven't seen it, I'll let you head to Netflix to watch and won't spoil it for you

Wednesday Is Becoming Must See Trans TV Day

With the highly anticipated and historic for trans kind debut of the CBS legal drama Doubt, and FOX's Star both having major trans characters on both shows,  Wednesday night is quickly becoming Must See Trans TV Day.

While Doubt is getting much deserved attention because of my lovely Emmy Award nominated sis Laverne Cox and her groundbreaking Cameron Wirth character,  I have to point out that with the debut of tonight's show at 9 PM CST Laverne is only the second trans person to play a trans major character on a network drama series.  

That television history of a major trans character in a drama being played by an out trans woman was already made by Amiyah Scott because of the earlier December 14, 2016 debut of the Empire spinoff show Star on FOX..  

Amiyah is playing the trans character Cotton, a receptionist in me mother's beauty shop in the ATL who is in a sometimes contentious relationship with her devoutly religious mother Carlotta (played by Queen Latifah).  Carlotta is a former singer who now does so in her church on Sundays, and who is struggling to accept her only child's transition.



Cotton is a driven person who while acting as a big sister figure to Star, Simone and Alexandra and helping them realize their dream of becoming a successful music group, is pursuing her dream of being accepted as her mother's daughter.

But it's going to be a bumpy contentious ride along the way for both of them to get to that point, and it has been interesting to watch that particular trans themed storyline develop on the show that comes on at 8 PM CST on FOX. .

She also representative of the segment of the trans community that is struggling with accomplishing a  gender transition while on a low income.

Meanwhile Cameron Wirth is different from Cotton.  The obvious difference is that she's an Ivy League educated attorney working at this New York boutique law firm.

Cameron is also in my lifetime the second Black trans character who not only is a major character on a show, but has a professional background (Maya Avant Forrester on CBS soap opera the Bold and the Beautiful being the first).   It is in stark contrast in a landscape of Black trans characters that have either been played for comic relief, shock value, and have been sex workers, entertainers, a prisoner, or the murder victim.

We'll learn more about Cameron's backstory as the show evolves.  I'm looking forward to seeing the show every Wednesday at 9 PM CST on CBS.

And I'm so happy they are fortuitously scheduled on Must See Trans TV Wednesday so that I don't have to choose one show over the other

Janet's Guest Hosting On MHP This Weekend!

It wasn't too long ago I was jumping up and down excited because Janet Mock was making an appearance on the Melissa Harris -Perry Show on MSNBC.   Now she gets to be the guest host of #Nerdland for this weekend!

Congrats Janet and so bursting at the seams proud of you!   I will definitely be tuned in to watch as you handle your broadcasting business.  I also hope that this weekend's guest stint leads to something bigger and better for you. 

If you wish to check her out or set your DVR's for watching it later, the shows will air this Saturday and Sunday starting at 9 AM CDT.

Angelica Ross Named An MHP Foot Soldier!

I missed the broadcast on Saturday because of cable issues, but was excited to learn that my Chicago homegirl Angelica Ross was named one of the first Melissa Harris-Perry show Foot Soldiers of the Week for 2015!

Angelica is founding CEO of Trans Tech Social Services, and in this segment talks about how tech turned her life around and she's now reaching out to help others.

Congrats Angelica!   Here's the video for those of you who missed the original Nerdland broadcast.

Laverne Cox Gets Historic Emmy Nomination

I'll have another reason to watch the August 25 Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast on NBC besides wondering if Kerry Washington and Joe Morton get the statues to go with their well deserved nominations for their respective Scandal acting roles

I'm still pissed off about Kerry getting screwed last year and y'all know how much I love her. 

But enough about Ms.Washington, this post is about another person I have mad love for in our fave possibility model Laverne Cox, who made more trailblazing history today.

When the nominations for the 2013-2014 Emmy's were announced today, Orange Is The New Black earned 12 Emmy nominations.  One of these nominations was for the Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series category, and Ms. Cox was nominated for her role as Sophia Burset on the smash hit series.

That nomination makes Laverne the first open transgender actress to be nominated for a primetime Emmy.

She's competing against two of her Orange Is The New Black castmates in Uzo Aduba (Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren) and Natasha Lyonne (Nicky Nichols) for this Emmy, but I'm hoping that it works out for her.  

Congratulations Laverne!  Well deserved nomination and I'll be tuned in at 7 PM CDT to see if you make more history and actually win it.    
  

Janet's Latest MHP Appearance

Y'all know how much I love my little sis Janet Mock and already have my copy of Redefining Realness.   The rest of y'all can preorder it or buy it when it comes out February 4.

While I was busy at Creating Change, she made another #nerdland appearance on the Melissa Harris-Perry show to chat about the new book and other subjects.

 

Aisha And Danielle on MHP

Merry Christmas People!

Just had to post the pics courtesy of my fave power couple from Sunday's appearance on the Melissa Harris-Perry show that was guest hosted by Joy Reid.   Birthday girl Aisha was looking good, and so was her lovely spouse Danielle.   I'm looking forward to seeing them the next time I'm inside I-495.

Oh yeah speaking of their joint #nerdland appearance, if you didn't get to see them in action on Sunday, here's the links to the show.

Part 1: http://on.msnbc.com/1fBxrQ7
Part 2: http://on.msnbc.com/1c2TMS6

Laverne's On MHP Tomorrow

Laverne Cox will be hanging out in #nerdland with Melissa Harris-Perry tomorrow morning to talk about her role in Orange Is The New Black

Happy for my sis, who deserves all the media attention and love she can get for her groundbreaking role on this series and hope it leads to more acting work for her.

This is her first appearance on the Melissa Harris-Perry show and I'll definitely will be watching.  I also hope this is just the first of many more appearances in #nerdland for her.. 

Dr KRZ-Commentary On The New Black Trans Narrative On OITNB

I just spent Sunday evening and early Monday morning watch the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black mainly to check out my homegirl Laverne Cox's performance as Sophia Burset and see what kind of job the writers did on this trans character.

I had some reservations about the role before the series started in whether it would be playing into stereotypes of Black transwomen, but because Laverne was playing this character, I was confident that whatever flaws were in the original script she'd be able to point out and correct.

I was blown away by not only by Laverne's performance throughout the first season, but how three dimensional a character Sophia has turned out to be.

Orange Is The New Black was renewed on June 27 for a second season.

.Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler in his latest post discussed OITNB and the Sophia character.

Sophia’s choice to rely on strategy and intellect instead of her body to get what she needs, is not the limit of her sexual agency. As a trans woman who is married to a cisgender woman, the portrayal of their relationship explodes overarching myths that have positioned trans women of color as sexually undesirable outside of pornographic imagery. At the same time, their union also calls attention to the nuances of marriage equality in relation to trans individuals who are victims of the prison industrial complex–an issue that has yet to gain traction in the marriage equality debate.

Please click this link to read the rest of Dr. Z's post entitled 'Orange Is The New Black and the New Black Trans Narrative'.

Janet Mock Appearing On Sunday's Melissa Harris Perry Show!

So when will trans persons of color be invited to participate in a Melissa Harris Perry show discussion?  Will that happen sometime before this decade is over? 

TransGriot February 13, 2013 'When Will POC Transpeople Be Invited To MHP?' 

As you TransGriot readers are aware of I've been quite vocal about the lack of trans POC people appearing on this GLAAD award nominated show (and countless others) to talk about trans issues (and other issues of the day including LGBT community ones) from our perspective.

So I was beyond happy to read that Janet Mock will be in the #nerdland studios tomorrow morning taking part in the discussion on what lies beyond the marriage equality fight.

Alright Janet!   So deliriously happy that you'll be our POC trans community's first representative on the Melissa Harris Perry show   I know you'll do a wonderful job.  

Now MHP show, was that so hard?    All us trans POC folks were asking for is the visibility and the opportunity to show that trans persons of color are more than just 'tragic transsexuals'.

Trans masculine and trans feminine POC peeps are more than capable of holding our own in a policy discussion.    We trans persons of color not only needed to see ourselves represented on the MHP set and television screens across America, so did our LGBT peers and the cis people inside and outside our communities who don't believe that thoughtful, intelligent talking head trans persons of color exist..

Looking forward to tuning in tomorrow with the rest of America to check out the latest edition of #nerdland and see a beautiful and talented girl like me as part of the panel.  I also hope that we see more trans POC's on future #nerdland shows as well

'Scandal' New Episode Tonight

All my friends and family are quite aware of how much I love the ABC show Scandal.   I love it to the point they don't even bother trying to call me between 9-10 PM CT on Thursdays because I'm busy watching Kerry Washington, Columbus Short and 'errbody' else on the show.

But like the rest of Scandal watching America, I wanna know 'What the Huck' is going on in terms of who really shot President Grant?  I want to know if Olivia's second go around with Edison is going to last, if Cyrus has discovered that James has figured out that the election was stolen, and the other drama surrounding the White House and Pope and Associates.


It's rumored that Scandal has already been given a third season, but haven't seen any official announcement yet concerning that or the number of episodes ordered. 

But while myself and other Scandal fans are waiting for that, I'll enjoy tonight's episode.

'Soul Train' Creator Don Cornelius Dead

Feeling my age after hearing the news this morning that Soul Train creator Don Cornelius was found dead at his Sherman Oaks, CA home at 4 AM PST from what police and TMZ are reporting as a self inflicted gunshot wound.

The 75 year old Cornelius was a journalist who realized that there was no show like American Bandstand that featured the music of African-American artists and created the long running syndicated show in 1971.

Soul Train quickly became must see TV for African-Americans and an iconic part of my childhood and any other kid who grew up in the 70's, 80's, 90's and early 2K's and ran until 2006.

Soul Train was instrumental in getting wider television exposure to Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, and James Brown amongst many other acts in the R&B, and hip hop music world.

Soul Train was so popular that even Elton John and David Bowie made appearances on its stage and Spike Lee described the show as 'an urban music time capsule'.

That it is.  The TransGriot and more than a few other peeps learned the latest dances by parking ourselves in front of the TV and watching the multicultural and gracefully acrobatic Soul Train dancers execute their moves every Saturday.

And yeah, I'll admit was more than jealous of the sistahs that strutted their stuff on the show in the fashionable clothing and hairstyles of the day.

Soul Train is also responsible for something that is an iconic part of African-American culture, the Soul Train line that you see at every wedding, social gathering and party in ours and other communities..

I'm sure the story of what happened to Mr. Cornelius will continue to evolve and come out, but in the interim the only way to close this post about an iconic broadcasting pioneer is use his classic Soul Train show sign off line.

Wishing you love, peace and soul Mr. Cornelius.

'Dallas' Is Coming Back On The Air in 2012!

Back in the day, one of my fave shows was Dallas, which ran on CBS from 1978-1991.   On Friday nights you couldn't pull me away from the TV to do anything else for that hour the show  was on because like everyone else in the country, I was watching the hijinks, sexcapades and shenanigans of the Ewing clan and one John Ross Ewing, Jr

At one point Dallas was so popular, especially when the Season 3 'Who Shot JR?' episodes were on in the fall of 1980, there was one night I had to take my brother to one of his high school football games at Barnett Stadium since he was in the band and I carried my portable TV with me.  

I wasn't alone because there were twenty other people that night at Barnett Stadium on both sides of it doing the exact same thing, and I had a cluster of people watching Dallas with me instead of the first and second quarter gridiron exploits of the Ross S. Sterling Raiders.

Anyway, thanks to TNT, Dallas is coming back on the air with ten episodes in the summer of 2012, and it will have original starts Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy in it with new school stars including Brenda Strong, Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe  from Desperate Housewives and Jordana Brewster.

Dallas 2.0 will be picking up where it left off concerning the happenings at the Southfork Ranch and Ewing Oil Company.   It will be following the exploits of J.R.and Sue Ellen's son John Ross Ewing III and Pam and Bobby's adopted son Christopher Ewing.

I'm hoping they bring Victoria Principal in to reprise her role as Pamela Ewing and clear up once and for all what happened to her, and from what I'm hearing right now Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs) and Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing) will be back to reprise their roles as well.   They're adding two new characters to this mix in Elena (Jordana Brewster) and Carmen Ramos..    

And wonder how they're going to tweak that class Dallas theme song?    TNT is definitely going to have to change some of the shots in it considering the Dallas skyline has radically changed since the show went off the air and Texas Stadium is a parking lot now.

Speak peeks of the new version of Dallas will occur tonight during the season premiere of The Closer, which airs at 9 PM EDT/8 PM CDT, and during Rizzoli & Isles which hits the small screen at 10 PM EDT/9 PM CDT.


But looking forward to seeing the pilot and the rebooted Dallas when it finally hits the air.