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Robert Greenblatt ©L-Word.com

Robert Greenblatt stopped by and I used the opportunity to ask him a few question about his work with Showtime. As I mentioned before, he used to work as a President of Entertainment for Showtime Network but a few months ago he became an NBC’s Chairman of Entertainment.

B&TF: Congratulation on such a wonderful array of shows that Showtime is presenting right now. What was the main criterion for the network in choosing their shows?

RG: At Showtime we just tried to do shows that were really edgy and fresh, that weren’t out there anywhere else. We looked at what everybody else was doing and there was a real deficiency in the shows both of color or any LGBT character. So Showtime jumped in and kind of filled that void in a pretty big way. It wasn’t the only thing we did but it’s one of the things that got a great deal of attention.

B&TF: “The L Word” was one of those shows and it still has a huge fan base, even as the show ended a few years ago.

RG: And there’s now “The Real L Word”.

B&TF: Yes, I’m watching. There was also a talk about the L Word movie being made. Ilene Chaiken seems to be busy with other projects but do you know if the movie is a possibility and if Showtime might be involved with that?

RG: You know, since I no longer work for Showtime I’m not sure what they might or might not do with the L Word movie. I think it’s hard to take a TV show and turn into a film. It had only happened a few times in the last ten years but I think whatever Ilene put her mind to she will probably make it happen. So I wouldn’t rule it out. Ilene is still involved with “The Real L Word” and she’s really passionate about it. And it did really well. So I think it will be good whatever they decided to do with a new season.

B&TF: Sounds great. And thank you for “The L Word”. It changed lives of so many people, so thank you.

RG: You are welcome. It was a great show and it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t last forever but I think it leading to “The Real L Word” and it’s a very interesting way to go. Again, it was idea of Ilene who is very resourceful, very passionate about not only about the show but this community.

B&TF: Do you still keep in contact with any of “The L Word” cast members?

RG: I haven’t seen any of them in the last several months but I wouldn’t be surprised if I ran into some of them here tonight.

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Marlee Matlin ©L-Word.com

Just as on cue, one of the former “The L Word” cast members, Marlee Matlin, approached us with Meat Loaf and her assistant Jack Jason. Recently, Marlee had appeared in “The Celebrity Apprentice” and I had time for just a few questions.

B&TF: How did you get involved with “The Celebrity Apprentice?”

MM: They just called me.

B&TF: I just watched the latest episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice” and I noticed that there’s so much tension in the room, even between your own teammates. How’s the atmosphere on the show, especially when the cameras are not rolling?

MM: The atmosphere is always fine. You know, we are all there to play a game. We are all there to raise money for our charity. I had a reason for being there and the reason was to raise money as much as I could. I can’t speak for other people or whatever the relationships were but I just basically looked at everybody and said, “You know what? Everybody’s different. Everybody’s has their own style of working. You have to understand that the hours are brutal. Sometimes you can lose your temper because you are in the room together but we are not the only ones to lose our temper. Anyone put in that situation would. There’re a lot of personalities in that room and they are very big but I think that’s good because that show is never boring.

B&TF: That’s for sure. One more question and it’s about “The L Word.” People still watch the show in different countries and it still has a huge fan base. What do you think is the legacy of “The L Word”?

MM: “The L Word” brings such wonderful memories. I had a great time for three years. I miss it. I wish it hadn’t ended. I don’t think it deserve to end. Hopefully, there will be another “The L Word” in some other form, like movie, who knows.

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Mike O’Malley ©L-Word.com

My last guest was Mike O’Malley who plays Kurt’s father on “Glee”, another one of my favorite shows to watch.

BTF: What’s the most challenging in your role of a parent who needs to accept his gay son?

MO: Most challenging thing to play a role is learning your lines. I don’t mean that facetiously. If you learn your lines on a schedule that we have at “Glee”, which is very fast schedule, then you are able to give them the heart in a way and authenticity that they deserve. Often times in television the schedule is so hairy that you don’t’ have time to do that so you can’t really give a nuance performance that you would be given or you would be doing in real life. You’d really be weighing and thinking about every word that you said as a parent. So that’s the most challenging part in playing a role.

B&TF: What is more exciting for you: to play serious scenes with your son or funny scenes?

MO: The best part is been playing the serious scenes. It’s what appeals to me the most. I’ve done enough comedy in my life to really now be able to want to embrace the richness that comes from playing a dramatic part.

***

And that was it for the Red (Blue) Carpet because the award show was about to start. Since I love both “Glee” and “Modern Family”, I was really interested to find out which show would get an award. It turned out, that in the Outstanding Comedy Series category there was a tie (or as it known at the GLAAD Awards – “a silk cravat”) between both of my favorite shows. The “Glee” award was accepted by Chris Colfer and Mike O’Malley and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julie Bowen, and Ariel Winter from “Modern Family” were present to accept their award.