Answering My Mail

October 15, 2007

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I went upstate this weekend and wound up at a pumpkin patch with Amy Sedaris yesterday. While there's a hilarious story in there somewhere, I am too stressed today to put it down... I thought it would be a great day to answer some Viewer Mail!

JMF WROTE: Hey Andy, unbelievable. Top Chef awarded top honors to the most unlikeable person -- but hey now Bravo can really sell his sob story about being an immigrant. Gee I guess some moron at Bravo thought it would be good for the network to give it to an immigrant. Yeah, the world loves an asshole, but then again isn't that what works at Bravo? What does Top Chef have against women chefs? Bravo = SEXIST TV. Maybe if we got a woman heavy drinker, at least Padma would vote for her. And to any "person" at Bravo who will say it was awarded to the best chef and it is not a popularity contest - please act like a lemming and do the world a favor.

WELL, JMF, YOU ARE EVEN MORE SNARKY THAN I. I WISH THE TITLE HAD GONE TO A WOMAN TOO, BUT IF THE JUDGES GAVE IT TO CASEY AFTER SHE BOMBED HER MEAL, WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN FAIR? ARE YOU AGAINST IMMIGRANTS?

G WROTE: Andy, I’m a 44 year old married gay man, out to my wife and am now strongly considering coming out to my children and close friends. My wife is not very supportive of this idea but it is something I feel I must do. I have read your story and have been waiting along time to feel that sense of relief; to be who I truly am – a gay man. Do you have any advice on how to tell my daughters aged 20 and 17, and how to convince my wife it’s the right thing to do for all?

I WROTE G BACK AND TOLD HIM THAT I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT HIS SITUATION TO GIVE HIM ANY CONCRETE ADVICE, BUT THAT PERHAPS COUPLE'S THERAPY WITH HIS WIFE WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO BEGIN. THAT SEEMS LIKE A NEUTRAL ENVIRONMENT WHERE BOTH SIDES COULD AIR THEIR FEELINGS. ALSO I TOLD HIM THAT PERHAPS SOMEONE HAS WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT COMING OUT TO KIDS. I WISH G LUCK AND HAPPINESS.

DAVE SAID: Andy, I realize that BRAVO is out for ratings, but I was so disappointed in the final Flipping Out special hosted by you. I was actually in a hotel room the week of the final, so I was able to see many of the episodes back-to-back, as well as your show. As a gay man I was mortified. Jeff Lewis exemplifies every negative stereotype of gay men and yet Bravo took great pains to only emphasize those aspects. Bitchy self-absorbed men are NOT the norm for the gay world, but anyone watching your show would not come away with that impression. While you did ask Jeff about plastic surgery, you sure let him off the hook about his intolerable behavior -- that's poor journalism. Surely BRAVO can come up with something better to represent 10% of the US population. Try harder.

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