Noah's Arc Has Sailed

Apparently, "synergy" is no longer the corporate strategy at Logo and MTV Networks. After announcing vague "plans" to develop a theatrical film from Noah's Arc—described as their "hit flagship series about four gay African-American friends"—another, much quieter announcement confirmed the show has been canceled.

The network announcement neglected to mention this important fact. Actor Christian Vincent, who portrays Ricky on the show, broke the unfortunate news on his MySpace page: "I have been asked for months about Noah's Arc returning. There will NOT be a third season. The show laid ground work for many other shows that may come after it. Noah's Arc opened a door which I realize from the fans was very liberating." The timing is especially suspect because only yesterrday, actor Jensen Atwood was on NPR and expressed high hopes for a third season, which apparently had been confirmed by the network.

It's a curious strategic decision to extend the Noah's Arc brand with a feature film but limit its shelf life by canceling the series, and, future DVD sales. Possibly, the producers and network suits calculated they could make money from a one-shot movie and some DVDs versus several more broadcast seasons. Most likely, the alleged "movie"—and we say alleged, because, with no script, confirmed cast or budget, how else to describe it?—is a diversionary consolation prize.

Or, perhaps the show had simply run its course ... from a creative point of view. "While the production values and acting improved measurably the second season," notes one longtime Noah's Arc fan. "The Logo sudser suffered from increasingly over-the-top story lines and the unrelateability of the characters."

More to follow ....

Thanks Bernie and Jerome P!

No Ahh... Arc (Christian Vincent)

Jensen Atwood on NPR (Keith Boykin)

Noah No More? (Johnny is a Man)

Some Background on "Noah's Arc" ...

"Honey, I'm Home!" (Rod 2.0)  DVD Review: "Noah's Arc" (Rod 2.0)  The Many Faces of Rodney Chester (Keith Boykin) Jensen Atwood Reveals All (Keith Boykin) Jensen Flaunts It (Rod 2.0) Patrik-Ian Polk in "Genre" (Rod 2.0)   Uno Dos TREY (Rod 2.0)  Who Wears Short Shorts (Rod 2.0) A Conversation with Darryl Stephens (Rod 2.0)  A Conversation with Keith Boykin (Rod 2.0) Jason Steed on Homophobia (Rod 2.0)  Doug Spearman in "The Advocate" (Rod 2.0) Jody Watley on Black Homophobia (Rod 2.0) Hamilton Cobb: "No Big Deal Playing Gay" (Rod 2.0) Girls Gone Wild (Rod 2.0) Let's Try Something Different (Rod 2.0) Surprise! (Rod 2.0) Noah, Noah, Noah (Rod 2.0) Meet the Cast (Rod 2.0)  All Aboard: "Noah's Arc" Season 2 (Rod 2.0) Raz B Will Play Gay (Rod 2.0)

Comments

[kenneth]

This sucks. I only recently discovered "Noah's Arc" (I've been shy about "gay" TV shows since the whole "Queer as Folk" debacle) and really enjoyed the episodes I saw.

[Douglas]

Eh no reason for me to watch Logo anymore

[j. brotherlove]

Your sentiments sound similar to mine, Rod. While I certainly don't want to dampen the excitement of a feature film, another season on Noah's Arc on television would've been a given us a greater chance to get to know the characters and (in my opinion) a larger audience.

[hood2big]

This truly sad news, I became excited by the news yesterday now I'm wearing a frown. The big screen is a different animal than cable tv, in the past there have been several attempts and few shows are capable of morphing into a feature film. While I'm a big fan of the show, the writing will most definately need some new blood. Also tha SGL community while sizable can't alone create box office success. I'm afraid our beloved characters will get lost in B film heaven.

[11]

The show really needed work.

[ff]

so the choice was Logo's to not continue the series? Polk seems to infer that by noting that lots of DVD buying of season 2 may bring the series back (much like Family Guy did with Fox).

sad, if true.

--

from Polk's site:

"Noah's Arc will join Sex and the City, Star Trek and The Simpsons as yet another fan-driven series finding a home at the multiplex".

all of those series were well established at the time. Star Trek and Simpsons even continued the series thru the movie. I didnt realize SATC was even doing a movie though.....

well, too bad. there should have been a season 3 of the series.

[jared]

I don't get Logo, but, was thinking about changing cable companies for this one show, will skip it now, and, no need to get the season two DVD's either.

Just a shame, I guess they think this will float on the big screen? Where? Too limited of an audience IMO. Oh, well, so much for Logo being a trail blazer!

[Tyler]

The show hadn't run it's course. It only ran for 16 episodes. Barely half a season on a real network. The reality is that LOGO will make more money from a movie, black folks get screwed again, and the more interesting elements of Noah's Arc (Wade as a character, Ricky's love for Noah, and Noah's increasing self-involvement) will never be explored or resolved. Its' a shame, but completely expected given how black shows are treated: build a network, then cancellation.

But I'm sure white folks will enjoy the new lesbian shows which I'm sure will get longer seasons and bigger budgets.

[macfac]

Tyler I agree with you that for some reason Logo LOVES their lesbian shows. almost 8 times out of 10 everytime i turn to the channel there's some lesbian movie or documentary and it's a little disappointing.

but i do have to agree with Rod though, that i think Noah's Arc did run it's course simply because of the unrelatibility of the characters. the only real character and pretty much the savior of the show was Chance. he wasn't the fantasy muscle-body type that the rest of the ENTIRE cast and SPECIAL GUESTS were. Noah's over-the-topness was once described as a way for the more effemminate viewers to relate, but i know several effemminate men who can't stand his character. and really most of the muscle-body dudes i know don't even watch the show...

i think if the show would've catered to more real viewership and less on the mtv sexy factor (like polk's ski trip movie...which i loved) i think it would've had more longevity. think sex in the city...the only typically sexy one was miranda...and she was old...so she was sort of atypical....

[JBK]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Jim]

I just recently discovered Noah's Arc and found that it soon became one of my most favorite shows. Unfortunately, Logo isn't shown in my area and I was considering requesting the network simply for Noah's Arc. I don't have a reason to ask for Logo now.

The acting was a little bad and over-the-top, but so was the acting on Sex and the City. Carrie was the typical NY Shopping diva and Samantha's character became more and more about her sex-life rather than her actual character. That aspect of her life was exaggerated.

The network atleast owed it to the fans to end the season properly. Maybe it's possible they could move the series to another network? HBO maybe? It'd reach a bigger audience then. Polk should consider that.

I'm definitely going to miss Jensen Atwood though. *sigh*

[ChippyG]

Bad acting? Yup. Poor production values? Sure. But more importantly, Noah's Arc was the first time I saw men who looked like me freely and joyously loving other men who looked like me. And for that reason alone I never missed an episode. Sure the characters were over the top and didn't physically reflect the average Gay Black man. It was a cable television melodrama not a PBS documentary. Do most single White people resemble the characters on "Friends"? It was fantasy and an highly enjoyable one at that. And I have to disagree with you Rod that the series had run it's course. 16 episodes is hardly a thorough mining of possible topics, character relationships or plot trajectories. Run it's course? It wasn't given a chance. It will truly be missed.

[Ty]

Wow, I didn't see this coming, but, it isn't a surprise. I guess they didn't want the #1 show to be black and therefore represent their network. I don't have Logo, and sure as heck don't need it now. I have seen it at my folks house, who don't even know they have it, and no offense to the lesbians, but, too much of that network is geared to that segment. Its a shame that the black men get burned yet again when there is a positive depiction of us and our lives, even with bad writing. A movie? Who will go to see it at midnight during its one week run? Sounds like it will be a straight to DVD movie like Steven Segall's works, and I'll skip that,and season 2's DVD'S as well, no need to put any of my coins into Viacom's pocket.

[Frank]

I have started an online petition to bring back Noah's Arc.

http://www.petitiononline.com/noah/

Please sign and encourage others to sign.. Logo is a small network and a large online petition may swing things!

[C. Baptiste-Williams]

So sad to see especially since the acting and show was getting better... and then how they ended season 2.

But at least my pockets will be a little more fuller since my cable will continue to be downgraded to the level without LOGO.

[Vee]

LOGO has meesed up now. They can kiss their network goodbye.

[houfootball]

Needless to say, I have no reason to tune into LOGO anymore. Noah's Arc is the only show I liked on the Network. In my opinion most of the other programming is boring.

[Chapeau]

This was one my main draws to LOGO. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and found it to be an honest portrayal of gay life. I hope they will reconsider! In fact I'm writing a note to LOGO next to project my disgust with this decision.

[Chapeau]

Here is the LOGO email Contact Link:

http://www.logoonline.com/about/contact.jhtml

Send them a note and tell them to reconsider!

[Giovanni]

Surprising choice for Logo considering it was their flagship/destination show and the only reason to ever watch the channel (if tivo counts as watching channel). Perhaps it was a money issue?

[RICCO77]

i've send a note to logo to tell them them that i'm disgusted that there will be no season 3 or a resoultion to the season 2 cliffhanger. there will be be no big screen version of this series, this is just a smoke screen for the cancellation of the series. all you need to do is check on why "punks" .. the inspiration for "noah" was never released to a wide audience or ever released to dvd. sorry .. there is no value to gay black life on the small or big screen.

[Greasyguide.com]

I don't think the show had ran it's course at all. I think it was just getting started. The lives of gay blk men are diverse and complex and there where many more stories for Polk to tell.

I think it's sad that Logo has let the show go. And this "movie" deal is just smoke and mirrors to let the show go like they have wanted to since day one. If the show was so successful and so flagship there would be no reason or question not to have a 3rd and 4th season of the show. Logo is BS'ing us.

We need to pull our money and our talents together and start our own network even if it is online. We need to have our voices, experiences, and stories represented correctly.

[TheRevKev]

I loved Patrik-Ian Polk's PUNKS. I thought it was a wonderful journey into four friends lives and loves. I always felt that NOAH'S ARC was a cheap version of that masterpiece of a film and I think that this film adaptation, if it comes to fruition, will be a bad version of PUNKS (which I still don't understand having not made it to DVD yet or even to LOGO!).

I think that Polk is much better at film and maybe he didn't have a full series in him when he got blessed with NOAH'S ARC. I think that he will be able to wrap this series up and then do what he wanted to do all along with a film and that is...DO FILMS!!!! Maybe with him and LOGO/MTV having this level of relationship, he will get to MORE DIVERSIFIED STORIES and we will begin to see MORE US.

REST IN PEACE NOAH, ALEX, CHANCE, RICKY (GOOD RIDDANCE), TREY (YOU BEAUTIFUL MAN), WADE (YOU WERE JUST FINDING YOUR OWN BEAUTY AND YOUR REAL HUSBAND IS COMING WHEN NOAH'S REALIZES HE WILL NEVER BE READY FOR THE MAN HE THINKS HE CREATED!)...IT WAS FUN TIME FOR SOME, BUT WHATEVER WE HAD, WE HAD!

[soulbrotha]

This show was a poorly written, horribly acted, stereotypical mess. It reminded me of those "chitlin' plays" in the Tyler Perry vein, where the characters are over-exaggerated and TALK REAL LOUD FOR NO REASON and think it's funny. Blech!
This is 2007! Why must Black people accept caricatures of themselves simply because there is a dearth of representation on television. We've paid our dues in Hollywood already, from Gone With The Wind to Good Times. Enough already!! I would rather starve.
Good riddance.

[David]

Anyone celebrating the demise of this show need a reality check. Whether you like NOAH or not, is not the point. Logo cancelling this show will make it much less likely there will be any other gay black series. Even if this particular show wasn't your cup of tea, you should have been praying for its success, because when others consider doing a blk gay show, they will look at this and the fact that it was canned after just 2 short seasons as reason to NOT do any other blk gay shows. Networks like HBO or SHOWTIME are not trying to do more gay shows. Showtime has cancelled Queer As Folk. The L Word is done after this season, and Showtime has said they are moving away from niche programming. Translation: no more gay shows! So exactly what network do you think will be doing gay black shows now? Here TV has picked up a small number of DL Chronicle episodes, but Here is even less available than Logo. So anyone viewing Noah's death as a good thing is delusional. This means no more blk gay shows ever.