Bionic Woman

Previously, I posted about the decision of NBC to cast serial bigot Isaiah Washington on BW. I am not happy with the decision personally as I found the slurs hurtful. Also, it will likely alienate a gay and lesbian audience from a show naturally designed to appeal to this demographic. Washington’s casting showed NBC’s lack of understanding to just how offensive his gay slurs are. Margie responded to my post, taking a different stance.

Jonathan Padget of the Washington Post has written his take on the matter and pretty much agrees with me.

NBC has played heartbreaker to many gay fans by bringing Isaiah Washington into the "Bionic Woman" fold. Then again, the network hasn’t exactly treated the show as sacrosanct.

Jaime (British actress Michelle Ryan) has been re-imagined as a bartender who’s involved in a terrible car accident, then saved by a top-secret government agency that outfits her with bionic body parts.

Car accident? Bionic bartender? British?

…

Add to NBC’s tinkering with the show’s formula the fact that the network has hired Washington to portray some kind of mysterious government handler for the new Jaime. Washington, you’ll recall, was fired in the spring from ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy after using a homophobic slur on the set in reference to a gay cast mate, then repeating the slur at the Golden Globes in the process of denying he’d said it in the first place. He filmed a public service announcement about hate speech, in a last-ditch effort to save his job, and when that didn’t work, he lashed out in such a way that suggested, well, maybe he wasn’t so sorry after all.

"He’s sorry he got so much flak for it," says Queerty’s Belonsky.

NBC initially played dumb about the controversy (network honcho Ben Silverman said during a press event in July that he "didn’t quite understand what had gone on there." Right. . . ).

…

Still, gay viewers have been drawn to the new "Bionic Woman," out of fondness for the original broadcasts in the ’70s, or out of love for all things camp, or out of mere curiosity — "to see how they update it, the new technology," observes Belonsky.

But is curiosity enough to override negative feelings about Washington?

"Most people don’t want to see his career end," says Michael Jensen, editor of gay Web site AfterElton.com. Yet, "there aren’t very many gay people who are eager to watch Isaiah Washington on another program."

Again, I think Washington was a poor choice.

Bionic Woman, BW, Isaiah Washington, NBC, Ben Silverman, Michael Jensen, AfterElton