''He's a Lady'' is an American

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

broadcast by TBS. The show premiered on October 19, 2004, while its sixth and final episode aired on November 16, 2004. Filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, the series depicted eleven men in competition for a $250,000 reward over who could most convincingly

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mounta ...

themselves off as female. The contestants were required to move into a femininely decorated dwelling titled The Doll House, in addition to competing in daily challenges where they "lived like ladies." The show was hosted by American television presenter Tony Frassrand.

Format

Set in

, the series depicted a group of eleven men in competition for a reward of $250,000. The men were initially under the guise that they were set to participate in a competition-based reality show titled ''All American Man'', in which they would compete in a variety of physical challenges. Upon arrival to Los Angeles, however, the men were informed that they would need to

cross-dress Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

and compete in challenges where they "live like ladies" in order to win the reward. These challenges included training to be a supermodel, wedding planning, serving as a

bridesmaid Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Tradi ...

, and passing as a female in front of their family and friends. During the competition, the men were required to live in the Doll House, a femininely decorated dwelling intended to "help them get in touch with their feminine sides." The culmination of the show featured the men competing in a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

, in which each man was asked the following question: "What, as a lady, have you learned about being a man?” The men's performances were judged by a celebrity panel, including

Morgan Fairchild Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since. Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera ''Search for T ...

John Salley John Thomas Salley (born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player, talk show host, and actor. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Gree ...

, and Debbie Matenopoulos. The series was hosted by American television presenter Tony Frassrand.

Production

TBS green-lit the series in early 2004, although its true premise was initially concealed by the network. According to executive producer Tommy Campbell, the purpose of the series was for the contestants to become more sensitive to the needs of women and therefore treat women with more respect. Following the cancellation of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

-themed Fox reality television series '' Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay'' before an episode even aired, the producers of ''He's a Lady'' wanted to be proactive in order to avoid a similar fate. Executive producers Douglas Ross and Campbell claimed that they approached the media monitoring organization

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayal ...

to get feedback on the series in an effort to avoid offending

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

people. However, GLAAD claimed that they were the ones to contact the producers after having seen a press release about the series. After meeting with the organization, Ross and Campbell stated that GLAAD helped them become "more aware of transgender issues and the double standards of beauty."

Episodes

Lawsuit

Originally, the show was sponsored by S.C. Johnson Wax but it was pulled out later at the last minute on claiming that an SCJ spokesperson said "We've assessed the show, and we will not sponsor it". Additionally, it was also sued by Freund & Brackney LLP by plaintiffs John Phillips and Derek Gerard claiming that the format was taken from the transgender-theme reality show called ''Sex Change'' with its plot, themes, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, characters and sequences of events.

References

External links