Butch Pal for the Straight Gal had a humble but oh-so-relateable beginning.
"[It] wasn't a pandemic project, but it was definitely a project that came out of having way too much time on my hands," series writer, creator, and star Ally Johnson recalled to The Advocate. "I had just been fired from my job at a radio station, and I started watching the new Queer Eye reboot while crying over my Fruit Loops. Then I thought to myself, 'why has a female version of this show never existed? What would it be like? Would it just be a bunch of lesbians telling straight women to adopt a pit bull and go hiking?' Then I thought, 'that's exactly what it would be, and that's awesome.'"
Inspired, Johnson set about writing and securing funding for the series through Kickstarter. Three years and a successful campaign later, the pilot has finally premiered on Roku. "What I didn't anticipate was how many people were dying for a show like this to exist. Queer women are vastly underrepresented in the industry, especially in the comedy genre, and we were able to raise $30,000 just by crowdfunding the IDEA of Butch Pal. Then, of course, we actually had to make it," says Johnson.
From an idea born over a bowl of tears and Fruit Loops, Johnson created a joyful and unapologetically queer pilot, which, as the series logline says, follows "Five lesbians attempt to make the first all-female makeover show where they teach straight women to defy female stereotypes while simultaneously perpetuating their own." The Fierce Five are Leslie (Mav Viola) who focuses on cooking, Rei (Johnson) the fashion maven, Moana (Teresa Lee) who brings her perspective on culture, Teagan (Lauren Flans) the grooming guru, and Sam (Mandahla Rose) who has the eye for design. Together have a mission and that's to empower straight women to embrace their power and take control of their lives, by way of a makeover -- well, actually it's more of a makeunder. The series also stars the beloved Dot-Marie Jones as Aunt Paula.
It's a fun, engaging send up of the makeover style series, but with 100 percent more lesbians -- just in time for Pride month. "We're thrilled to make the pilot more widely available to viewers in the LGBT space, and after all, who doesn't want to celebrate Pride with a good old-fashioned lesbian comedy?" asks Johnson, adding that she has high hopes that this pilot won't be the last we see of the Fierce Five. "If the pilot performs well on The Roku Channel there is a strong possibility that more episodes come your way in the future. We want that, our fans want that, and I'm pretty sure if I talked to God she'd want that too. So, go watch it & go tell your friends! (even the straight ones). Put it this way, there are worse things you can do with 34 minutes of your life."
Butch Pal for the Straight Gal is available to watch now on Roku. Check out the trailer below.
