"Man Man Beaver"

After Showtime's Polyamory: Married and Dating, we wondered what Hollywood's next shot at a poly TV series would look like.

Here's the unexpected answer. It's pretty cringe-worthy, but funny:

Man Man Beaver is a cartoon series about a gay MMB group-married triad. It was created by Josh Sugarman and Brandon Yankowitz, the pair behind the movies Trophy Kids and the upcoming Dear Friends, With Love. They're introducing it only as a webcast, and with what I'd call beta-test production values for Episode 1, but they say they hope to sell it to a major cable network.

Official blurb:

Following California's legalization of gay marriage and, logically then, every conceivable sexual pairing and so-called perversion, a "couple" comprised of two gay men and a man-sized, talking beaver relocate into the state to finally live openly and take on idiocy and narrow-minded buffoonery each week...all while surviving the unique challenges of their married life. An animated satire series.

From the announcement press release:

Tom Arnold to join All Star Talent in 'Man Man Beaver;' Gay Marriage Was Never Like This Before

YaSu Media is proud to the announce that legendary comedian Tom Arnold headlines the all-star cast of "Man Man Beaver," as the voice of Beaver, an acerbic, politically active gay mammal fighting for the right to marry both of his biracial gay male companions.

“Man Man Beaver” is the World's first animated cartoon series following the adventures of a Polyamorous Beaver and his marriage to lovers Thomas and Julian, whose voices are portrayed by Sam Seder and Nathan Lee Graham respectively. The first episode is available for viewing at www.ManManBeaver.com.

Inspired by Rick Santorum's comment about gay marriage being one small step away from bestiality and polygamy, "Man Man Beaver" takes that step down the aisle as a political satire series about a Bi-racial Gay Couple and an angry and disorderly Beaver who seek to live in holy matrimony (yes, all three of them) and become entangled with the world of problems facing such a diverse union. In the pilot episode "I'm With The Black Guy", Beaver's lover Julian, who happens to be African American, runs against Mitt Romney in his next campaign: to be the mayor of the small town of Gay Street. Predictably, mayhem ensues.

Series preview (1:26):



And here's the 50-second intro that looks like it'll start each episode:

"Man Man Beaver" is the brainchild of Co-Creaters Josh Sugarman and Brandon Yankowitz of YaSu Media.... They are producing the series with an eye towards placement on a major cable network similar to the success of "Sanctuary" (SyFy), which started life as a groundbreaking web series.

"With a positive message, 'Man Man Beaver' tells us to stand up for our rights," said star Sam Seder. Seder is the producer and host of Majority Report and is a political comedian well-known from hosting four hit shows on Air America as well as being as a frequent guest host for Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Seder regularly appears as a pundit for CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC.

Nathan Lee Graham is an American cabaret artist, stage, television and film actor, singer, writer and director. His roles in feature films include Todd in "Zoolander", Frederick Montana in "Sweet Home Alabama" and Geoff in "Hitch".

A project with a purpose, "Man Man Beaver" is as much about supporting the struggle for equal rights across the nation as it is about being funny, fresh and subversive every single week.

Series Launch Date: November 6, 2012

Website: www.ManManBeaver.com.

Facebook fan page; check out behind the scenes.

Twitter: @ManManBeaver #ManManBeaver "Dam the Bigots with Man Man Beaver"

Justin Howard
Director of Publicity
Desert Grove Media

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Creator/Executive Producer Josh Sugarman began writing for the screen while working as a young progressive political staffer in Boston, working alongside LGBT candidates and organizations like Mass Equality....

Creator/Executive Producer Brandon Yankowitz was born and raised in New York. He is a graduate of Brandeis University (B.A. Politics) and of New York Law School (J.D.). Brandon is a former model, a licensed attorney and is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bars.... Brandon is the Co-Founder and Partner at the production company: YaSu Media, LLC, which develops and produces feature length and short format film content for traditional and new media distribution. His first series of films, made for the progressive organization http://www.TruthThroughAction.org which he co-founded and acts as the Director of Production, caused quite the controversy....

See the whole release (Nov. 8, 2012).

Episode 1 (13:38):



I give this maybe a 1-in-10 of getting on a "major cable network," but who knows. What do you think?

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