As the saying goes, family ain’t just a word, it’s a sentence. Who could feel that more than Ty Williamson, the central character of Del Shores’ hit underground series Sordid Lives.
Fans of the 2000 cult film of the same name will be thrilled to discover that this prequel series is now available, unedited and unrated, on DVD. Ty is trying to make it as an actor in Los Angeles, nervous about appearing nude in an upcoming theatre production but even more terrified of telling his family back home in Texas that he has recently stopped denying to himself that he is gay. Oh-so-hard to believe when you find out that your mother (Bonnie Bedelia) is a pill-popping basket case, your grandmother (Rue McLanahan) is having an affair with the legless husband of her sister’s best friend (Caroline Rhea), and your great-aunt (Beth Grant) is a chain-smoker who drops her cigarettes in the fried chicken. Oh, and definitely let’s not forget our drag queen uncle (Leslie Jordan), placed in an insane asylum to be cured of his desire to be Tammy Wynette. Thank God for aunt LaVonda (Anne Walker), the feisty redhead for whom anything goes. Strange and quirky, the series is hilarious even when it is uneven: Ty’s scenes in Los Angeles with his boyfriend and psychotic ex-girlfriend are badly acted and scripted, while Olivia Newton-Jones’ subplot as a saloon-singing ex-con isn’t always a smooth fit. Thank God for the Southern belles, whose sassy, warm and trashy adventures making for some plum hilarious viewing. Sordid Lives is available on a very fun DVD set from VEI/Vivendi, featuring deleted scenes, bloopers and extra performance by Newton-John, and plays on OUTtv on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm for a twelve-week run starting November 6
