''Noah's Arc'' is an American
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
comedy-drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
series that aired for two seasons on the
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
network from October 19, 2005 to October 4, 2006. The show centered on the lives of four African-American gay friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
After its cancellation, a film was produced entitled ''
Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom'', which was released theatrically in 2008.
Series overview
Originally, the show focused around friends Noah Nicholson, Alex Kirby, Ricky Davis, and Chance Counter. Noah is a financially struggling screenwriter who eventually lands a job as a Hollywood film writer, a job that originally belonged to his boyfriend Wade Robinson. Alex is a
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
counselor and the sassy friend of the group. Ricky is the owner of clothing boutique and the closest friend of Noah. Chance is a college professor. Wade who eventually becomes Noah's boyfriend struggles with his sexual identity as well as acceptance by Noah's friends. The group endures many social issues throughout the series including
same sex dating,
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
,
same-sex parenthood,
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
and
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
awareness,
infidelity
Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...
,
promiscuity
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...
,
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
, and
gay bashing
Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+). It includes both violence against LGBTQ people and LGBTQ bullying. The te ...
.
By season two, Noah and Wade's intimate relationship ends with Noah having a new boyfriend and moving into new home. Alex opens his own HIV clinic with the help of his friends. Ricky enters into a brief relationship with a doctor who is HIV positive but Ricky has his reservations about being intimate. Chance is now a married man who is adapting to married life.
Cast and characters
*
Darryl Stephens
Darryl Stephens is an American actor and author. He is best known for playing Noah Nicholson on the television dramedy '' Noah's Arc''.
Early life
Stephens grew up in Altadena and Pasadena California and after college moved to the city of Lo ...
as Noah Nicholson, a screenwriter
*
Rodney Chester as Alex Kirby, an HIV/AIDS educator
*
Christian Vincent as Ricky Davis, a promiscuous boutique owner
*
Doug Spearman
Doug Spearman (born September 3, 1962, in Washington, D.C.) is an American actor. His career highlights include work on such television shows as ''Noah's Arc (TV series), Noah's Arc'', ''Star Trek: Voyager'', ''The Drew Carey Show'', ''The Hughley ...
as Chance Counter, an economics professor
*
Jensen Atwood
Jensen Atwood (born August 25, 1976) is an American actor from South Central, Los Angeles. Atwood is best known for roles in television productions such as '' Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God'', '' Noah's Arc'', and ''Dante ...
as Wade Robinson, a screenwriter who comes out after falling for Noah
Production
Development
The idea for ''Noah's Arc'' originated in 2003 when Patrik-Ian Polk attended a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Black gay pride
The black gay pride movement is a global campaign tailored for black people who are also members of the LGBTQ community. Starting in the 1990s, black gay pride movements began as a way to provide black LGBT people an alternative to the largely W ...
club event. The experience inspired Ian-Polk to write the series that was centered around the lives of Black gay men. The original one-hour
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
was produced independently and released as a
web series
A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
in 2004, and to assist in funding each episode, the show was originally envisioned as a
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
subscription series.
[Polk, Patrik-Ian;Stephens, Darryl; and Atwood, Jensen (2007). DVD audio commentary for ''Noah's Arc: The Complete First Season'' ("My One Temptation, Part 1" and "My One Temptation, Part 2"). Paramount Home Entertainment] After the web series was well received, the series was picked up by
Logo TV
Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...
as a half-hour series.
During production of the pilot episode,
Rodney Chester – who portrays Alex in the show – used his own truck as a makeshift hair, make-up and dressing room. After the pilot episode was well received at film festivals and independent screenings, the series was picked up by
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
-affiliated cable network Logo as a half-hour series. The pilot, "My One Temptation", was re-written and re-shot as a two-part premiere episode,
and ''Noah's Arc'' became LOGO's first scripted series.
Executive producer Dave Mace served as the series'
showrunner
A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
, with Patrik-Ian Polk and Carol Ann Shine as series' co-executive producers. Pamela Post, Noreen Halpern, Eileen Opatut, and John Morayniss also served as executive producers for the second season.
Casting
Casting for the lead characters of ''Noah's Arc'' occurred in early 2003. Pamela Azmi-Andrew was the casting director as Polk sat in on the auditions. For the title lead role, Noah Nicholson, actors
Darryl Stephens
Darryl Stephens is an American actor and author. He is best known for playing Noah Nicholson on the television dramedy '' Noah's Arc''.
Early life
Stephens grew up in Altadena and Pasadena California and after college moved to the city of Lo ...
and
Christian Vincent were being considered. Stephens, who originally auditioned for the role of Ricky Davis, was cast as Noah Nicholson. Vincent was later recast as Noah's best friend Ricky Davis.
Rodney Chester was cast as Alex Kirby. Chester maintained a friendship with Polk when he appeared in Polk's independent film ''
Punks
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
'', which adapts several elements into the television series.
Doug Spearman
Doug Spearman (born September 3, 1962, in Washington, D.C.) is an American actor. His career highlights include work on such television shows as ''Noah's Arc (TV series), Noah's Arc'', ''Star Trek: Voyager'', ''The Drew Carey Show'', ''The Hughley ...
and
Jensen Atwood
Jensen Atwood (born August 25, 1976) is an American actor from South Central, Los Angeles. Atwood is best known for roles in television productions such as '' Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God'', '' Noah's Arc'', and ''Dante ...
would later be cast for their respective roles. By mid-2003, a cast was put together for the filming of the pilot episode. Shortly after the release of the pilot episode, Polk wrote and directed another in-depth episode for the characters.
Shaun T. Fitness, who was originally cast as Trey Iverson in the pilot episode, was replaced by Gregory Keith in the series. Carlos Tineco, who was originally cast as a random guy whom Ricky has sex with, was cast for the recurring role Junito. The character of Junito was originally a
go-go dancer
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo, located in the town of Juan-les-Pins. The bar's ...
before being rewritten as a doctor and later recast with
Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría; December 27, 1973) is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on ''My So-Called Life'', Dr. Hugh Culber on '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and the recurring character Junito on '' Noah's Arc''. As a g ...
assuming the role in the series. Jurnee Crapps, who played the role of Kenya McEntire, was replaced by Sahara Davis in season two.
Reunion
On July 5, 2020, nearly fourteen years after the show ended, the cast reunited for ''Noah's Arc: The 'Rona Chronicles,'' an hour-long special aired on YouTube and Facebook. Produced during and based around the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, ''The 'Rona Chronicles'' was produced as a virtual reunion, with the actors (and therefore their characters) interacting virtually via
Skype
Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...
. The reunion, which benefited charity, was followed by a live Q&A moderated by ''
Queer Eye
''Queer Eye'' is a television franchise based upon a team of gay professionals (the "Fab 5") giving lifestyle and fashion makeovers to guests.
''Queer Eye'' may refer to:
* ''Queer Eye'' (2003 TV series), an American reality television series on ...
''s
Karamo Brown
Karamo Karega Brown (born November 2, 1980) is an American television host, reality television personality, author, actor, and activist. Brown began his career in 2004 on the MTV reality show '' The Real World: Philadelphia''. He currently stars ...
.
Legacy
''Noah's Arc'' was the first scripted television series to center a group of black gay men.
Episodes
Season one consists of nine episodes, while season two has eight episodes. The unaired pilot is available on the season one DVD box set.
Release
Broadcast
''Noah's Arc'' aired on
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
in the United States. The show became Logo's highest-rated show during its run. Despite the positive feedback from viewership, the show was not renewed for a third season and was later canceled. In the summer of 2008,
BET
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...
's spin-off cable television channel
BET J
BET Her is an American basic cable television network currently owned by the BET Networks, BET Media Group subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group.
The channel originally launched in 1996 as BET on Jazz, a spin-off from BET wit ...
briefly broadcast the entire series in rotation. In October 2008, the movie ''
Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom'' was released which picks up after series'
cliffhanger finale.
Streaming
In March 2019,
Logo TV
Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...
began streaming the entire series on their YouTube channel. The episodes were removed from their YouTube channel in September 2019. The series streams on
Apple TV
Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...
(with a subscription). Outside of Logo platform, the series can be found on
electronic sell-through Electronic sell-through (EST) is a method of media distribution whereby consumers pay a one-time fee to download a media file for storage on a hard drive. Although EST is often described as a transaction that grants content "ownership" to the consum ...
platforms such as
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
and
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
.
Noah's Arc on Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime. Retrieved on July 21, 2020
Soundtracks
Soundtrack albums for each of the first two seasons were released by Tommy Boy Records
Tommy Boy Records is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Amber, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digita ...
. The season one soundtrack was released on March 24, 2006, and features music by such artists as Joshua Radin
Joshua Radin (born June 14, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter. He has recorded ten studio albums, and his songs have been used in a number of films and TV series. His most successful album, ''Simple Times'', was released in 2008.
Beginning ...
, Gordon Chambers
Gordon Anthony Chambers (c. 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer who has written songs for more than 75 recording artists including Angie Stone, Yolanda Adams, The Isley Brothers, Brandy, Trey Songz, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBell ...
, Me'shell Ndegéocello
Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...
, Patrik-Ian Polk
Patrik-Ian Polk (born July 29, 1973 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Polk, who is gay, is noted for his films and theatre work that explore the experiences and stories of African Americans, Africa ...
, Mary Ann Tatum, and Adriana Evans
Adriana Evans (also known as Adriana Madera; born 1974) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. She was born in San Francisco, the daughter of jazz singer Mary Stallings. Her debut album, entitled '' Adriana Evans'', was released in 199 ...
.
The soundtrack for season two was released on December 15, 2007, featuring the likes of Anthony David, Bedroom Walls, Raz-B
De'Mario Monte Thornton (born June 13, 1985), known as Raz-B, is an American singer, rapper and actor, He is a founding member of R&B boy band B2K.
Career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Raz B was a creator and member of the group B2K as a teen. Duri ...
, Patrik-Ian Polk
Patrik-Ian Polk (born July 29, 1973 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Polk, who is gay, is noted for his films and theatre work that explore the experiences and stories of African Americans, Africa ...
, Mike Anthony, and Solange Knowles
Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She expressed an interest in music from an early age and had temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, which featured her older sister ...
.
See also
* '' Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom''
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Patrik-Ian Polk
2000s American comedy-drama television series
2000s American LGBTQ-related drama television series
2000s American black sitcoms
2005 American television series debuts
2006 American television series endings
American English-language television shows
Gay-related television shows
HIV/AIDS in television
LGBTQ African-American culture
Logo TV original programming
Television shows about same-sex marriage
Television shows filmed in Vancouver