As marriage equality takes center stage this weekend in the news, it’s probably very fitting that the issue is also about to get even more Hollywood attention, as well—on the internet, at least.
This week, Jane Espenson took to the San Diego Comic-Con to promote Husbands, an 11-part web series based on the classic premise of a newlywed comedy, set in a marriage-equalized world. Espenson will act as executive producer, and the show stars Cheeks, Sean Hemeon, and Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone in Caprica) as their friend Haley. The series is directed by Jeff Greenstein.
Husbands, set to premier online through its website in September, tells the story of a high-profile, newlywed gay couple. Cheeks stars as an out actor who has married a freshly-out professional football player, played by Hemeon.
Espenson was previously a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and an executive producer and writer on Caprica, the short-lived prequel series to Battlestar Galactica. She has also written for Angel, Firefly, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones, co-wrote and executive-produced the Emmy-nominated webisodes for Battlestar and co-created Syfy’s original series Warehouse 13. Husbands is Espenson’s first independent web series.
While Husbands tackles gay marriage head-on, this is not Espenson’s first foray into gay-friendly media. Under Espenson’s watch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured network television’s first lesbian sex scene between Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Kennedy (Iyari Limon), and Caprica featured gangster Sam Adama (Sasha Roiz) and husband Larry, an openly gay married couple.
In response to the Caprica pairing, according to interview with After Elton last year, Espenson said it was time to make sexuality incidental. Husbands seems like it will take this idea one step further by actually focusing on a gay marriage without making the “gay†aspect the focal point. Hopefully, the show will succeed, because, as its website states, “For too long, newlywed comedy has been defined as comedy between one man and one woman.â€
As for the actors, aside from Husbands, Cheeks can also be seen in the upcoming series Torchwood: Miracle Day, and Hemeon’s bio also boats a recent appearance as a vampire on Tru Blood. Espenson recently also joined the writing team on season four of Torchwood.
This article was originally published on AllMediaNY.com
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