This week:
- Parsing the White Lotus backlash.
- Making sure you watch Dying for Sex.
- The TV episode that will make you cry.
- Kelly Clarkson is forever perfect.
- My favorite talk-show moment of the week.
Dying for You to Watch This Show
I don’t know if it was when the man dressed as a dog asked to be peed on or when a penis puppet started to fly through the air that I realized I had never seen a show quite like Dying for Sex before.
Wild as those things may be, however, it was almost instantly in the first episode, when the series established its devastatingly emotional, still hilarious tone, that I was struck by how lovely this series is. Now streaming on FX on Hulu, Dying for Sex stars Michelle Williams as a woman with terminal cancer, whose biggest bucket-list item is for a man to give her an orgasm before she dies.
A medical death sentence turns out to do wonders for freeing a person of their inhibitions or concern over what others might think of embarking on a raunchy sexual odyssey. The desperate horniness intertwined with the epic pain of cancer treatments is its own trippy viewing experience. But the real magic of the show is the beautiful friendship it draws between Williams’ character and her best friend, played by Jenny Slate, who becomes her caretaker.
It’s one of those soulmate friendships that transcend any other connection, revealing over the season that Dying for Sex is neither a death story nor a sex story. It’s a love story between these friends, who have to grapple with the extreme experience of that connection amidst the extreme experience of knowing that death is looming just around the corner.
I can’t recommend it enough, though I also encourage stocking up on Kleenex and maybe making sure you watch alone—there will be ugly crying.
A Beautiful Send-Off
While you have your Kleenex handy and are already ugly crying anyway, I’d suggest keeping your Hulu app open and checking out a very special episode of Mid-Century Modern.
The series, which is now streaming, is referred to in shorthand as “The Gay Golden Girls” because, well, that’s essentially what the series is: three gay men become roommates in Palm Springs, with the fourth roommate being one of their mothers.
Sitcom legend Linda Lavin plays the mother character, essentially the series’ stand-in for Golden Girls’ Sophia Petrillo. Lavin died of lung cancer during the production of the season, and Mid-Century Modern writes the death into the show in the episode “Here’s to You, Mrs. Schneiderman.”
It’s a lovely, incredibly emotional tribute to Lavin and what very clearly is the profound relationship she established with her co-stars during that first season. Sometimes you want to turn on a sitcom and have a good cry—and this episode of Mid-Century Modern more than earns it.
The One and Only American Idol
Monday was the Trans Day of Visibility, which you might not have realized because of how invisible that kind of support or celebration is under the current administration. I was heartened, however, to see Kelly Clarkson devote an entire segment to it.
Celebrity-driven daytime talk shows like The Kelly Clarkson Show typically retreat from anything that could be considered political and, in 2025, spotlighting the trans community is, sadly, very political. To do this on daytime TV at this moment is incredibly audacious and important—and just plain cool of Clarkson. It’s further proof that she may be the best famous person we have.
A Perfect Response
Andy Cohen had a brief, lovely conversation with Michelle Williams about Brokeback Mountain when she was a guest on Watch What Happens Live this week. He asked her about the film famously losing Best Picture at the Oscars to Crash, to which Williams had the perfect response: “I mean, what was Crash?” It is sure to be a niche quote among gay cinephiles who you would be surprised how often find a way to bring up Crash in conversation.
What to watch this week:
Dying for Sex: Chemotherapy should never get in the way of an orgasm. (Now on FX and Hulu)
Gazer: This small noir thriller is definitely worth checking out. (Now in theaters)
The Bondsman: Kevin Bacon is now a slave to Satan. (Now on Prime Video)
What to skip this week:
A Minecraft Movie: The kids deserve better than this! (Now in theaters)
Holland: Even Nicole Kidman makes mistakes (Now on Prime Video)
