Yet another gay online talk show is coming out. Sina.com has announced it will carry the program and “Sixth Generation” screenwriter/director Cheng Qingsong (Electric Shadows, Silent Mountains) will produce and present it. The show is scheduled to debut on his blog in mid-May and run weekly. Its tentative title is Tongzhi Reng Xu Nuli„ÄäÂêåÂøó‰ªçÈúÄÂä™Âäõ„Äã, or “Comrades Must Carry On!” , a reference to Sun Yat-sen’s reputed last words: “The Revolution has yet to succeed. Comrades, you must carry on!” (Èù©ÂëΩÂ∞öÊú™ÊàêÂäü,ÂêåÂøó‰ªçÈúÄÂä™Âäõ).
Cheng’s new show promises discussion of hot topics and touchy incidents with no “fuss over the sexual orientation” of the guests:
It could be a certain famous sexologist, or the organizer of a gay group, or the parent of a son who’s come out of the closet. Even more likely, it could be the life journey of an ordinary comrade…
The show follows close on the heels of two other new weekly Webcasts focused on gay issues with openly gay hosts.
Earlier this month, Phoenix TV launched Tongxing Xianglian(ÂêåÊÄßÁõ∏Ëøû), or “Connecting Homosexuals” (here). An indie crew of Chinese and Western chums also began airing Tongzhi Yi Fan Ren, or Queer As Folk, over Sina (here) and a handful of video-sharing sites.
Somewhat misleadingly, then, Sina’s press release calls its gay talk show “the first in Asia”. But Cheng, who already has appeared as a guest on the Phoenix show, acknowledges both of his antecedents in his latest blog entry. He also tries to dispel any notions that a pink ratings war might be brewing:
It’s not really important who comes before and who after, who’s first and who’s second. What’s important is that we’re communicating together with everyone over the platform of the Web. Again it all comes back to that statement: The revolution has yet to succeed. Comrades, you must carry on.
