We thought we had seen it all when it came to those dating competition reality TV shows until Logo unveiled TransAmerican Love Story last night.  It's got the same "The Bachelor" format you see on most of these shows-- 8 eager bachelors eager to be chosen by a single woman looking for love. Guys, this is Logo so the twist here is BIG. The lovely long-legged bachelorette is writer Calpernia Addams--a transgendered woman! This was definitely a groundbreaker. Good show? That remains to be seen, depending on how the series progresses. 

 Our main attraction to TransAmerican Love Story was host Alec Mapa. If you've never seen his one-man shows/stand-up routine then you are missing a real treat. He's a truly hilarious revelation as a storyteller and entertainer.  We saw only a glimmer of that here since his job as host is to ask questions and tell the eager bachelors what they will be doing for the duration of the show. Alec also acts a confidant to Calpernia although she does have her best friend on hand, Andrea (also transgendered).

                      
                                           Calpernia                                    Andrea                                  Alec Mapa

 As we mentioned, the format of the show is pretty standard as dating shows go. Eight men are introduced, move into a mansion and meet the woman whose affections they'll be vying for. Then there's a meet and greet, a gathering where all are brought together again, some secret spying on the guys, and ultimately a ceremony where one bachelor is eliminated by the fair princess. That's where the similarities end.

 
First off, we have to be quite honest. Calpernia Addams takes some getting used to. She's exotic looking and has a great bod. But whatever plastic surgery or injections she's had done to give her fuller lips is a distraction. One of the guys couldn't keep his eyes off her boobs--we couldn't take our eyes off her Cher lips. But we're not the ones vying for her---that's the job of the 8 guys we were introduced to.

  As for those guys, obviously they had to be open-minded individuals to want to take part in this show. To say there was a lot of variety here would be an understatement. 

         

 Barry, 45, is an actor who had this 1970s swinger vibe about him. Gregarious yes but a little too much the used car salesman type. And boy this guy loves to talk and whoop it up like a good 'ol Southern boy.

 Blaine, 47, actually IS a car dealer. And he acts the part. But there's also a creepy, slimy thing going on about him. 
His "I'm trisexual--I'll try anything" line was blecch! One point in his favor is he exclusively dates transgendered (although he prefers pre-op). On the flip side he used to own a transgender porn site that flopped. Alec Mapa's reaction to this was a priceless.

 Jim, 32, is also a writer who has never dated a transgendered person. Jim doesn't quite fit in with the other guys 
for a very important reason.  If you want to know scroll down to the bottom of this blog entry*. But Jim does score points with Calpernia with his soft-spoken demeanor and attitude.

 Mark,  34 is a pro wrestler who may have struck us at first as having a hot bod, but his macho shithead attitude made him look worse and worse as the show progressed. He was the one whose eyes were locked on Calpernia's breasts  (or as he so crassly called them, her "chesticles").

        

 Mike, 25, was perhaps the most intriguing to Calpernia. He's a writer and personal trainer, cleancut moralistic dude who seemed to exhibit the most chemistry with the lovely lady.  He and one other dude looked great shirtless.

 Peter, 25 was the most vivacious and perhaps the most flmboyant. No surprise here---he's bisexual. He certainly seemed to have the most fun here. What his agenda or possibly attraction is remains to be seen.

 Rich, 27 is a hot bodied yoga instructor originally from NY who claims to be open about the whole thing. You could tell Calpernia liked his hot look.

 Shawn, 33 is a concert promoter who has his own computer biz. He's admittedly sleazy but is looking to settle down. And he definitely seemed the least interested in the carnal-tinged doings on in the harem segment.

  Yes, there was a harem segment. The guys were given skimpy outfits to wear and meet Calpernia in an outdoor tent where they would act like harem boys----fanning her, dancing for her, feeding her, etc. She constantly had to give them instructions and then left so she and friend Andrea could spy on the guys via hidden camera. There's where they learned several guys were interested in the female belly dancers that were part of the whole scene.
Coupled with info that Andrea picked up from her chats with the guys, Calpernia had enough info to make an elimination. 

 The ceremony didn't involve roses. Instead they were chocolate bon-bons which Calpernia offered to each other guys one by one until there was one dude left standing. Her choice?  Well, if you want to watch and find out, we won't give it away. It's NOT a surprise though it was close. Again, see below**.

 So, we know this is a pretty short series and it might get sexier and funnier if they let Alec Mapa wing it a little more. But we do like that Logo is taking a chance on something different. Maybe they'll start to show more original programming that's as daring as the stuff we see on their sister channel MTV.