What Do You Mean There's Nothing On?!!!?

Beautiful People Musical Number

I bet you didn't know you needed to watch a television show that fictionalizes the life of Barney's window designer and raconteur Simon Doonan's life, did you? Well you do. This show is filled with heart, laughs, and as you can see from above, musical numbers.

"Beautiful People" (LOGO, check local listings) is the fictionalization of Simon Doonan's life growing up in Redding, England. The show is framed by an object that Simon is either wearing or placing in one of his window displays. Each title begins with "How I got my…" and then tells the viewer how Simon gets something that becomes an important piece of his life.

Like many brit-coms, the show has many wacky characters, pratfalls, and an ease with race/class/gender issues that American TV does not normally have. Simon and his best friend Kyle (aka Kylie) and round pegs in a square world. They want desperately to move to London and be with the "beautiful people" but throughout the show, Simon begins to learn that maybe there are beautiful people everywhere and fabulousness is a state of mind, not just a place far away.

The openness that the show looks at life through the eyes of a teenage gay boy gives the show some heart. Even people who have not been outsiders will understand much of Simon's longing. For those of us who have in our lives felt like we were meant to be somewhere else or someone else, this show can strike a nerve. Feeling like an outsider can last for many their whole lives. Simon's story can be inspiring to most, if not all, of us.

This is not to say the show is perfect. The bookended sections are ok, but many times played way more broadly than the actual show. The setting is 1997 but may times appears to be 1987. But, these are just minor quibbles. The show is actually very funny and a nice change of pace from so much reality dreck and talking heads that are on the wir right now.

So, if you have a little bit of daring and want to find something with some sass and smarts, you will find a nice change of pace in "Beautiful People".