"Homophobia" stalls George Takei's Golden Girls remake

From Digital Spy

Star Trek legend George Takei is attached to a new TV show that's been described as a gay take on Golden Girls – but writer Stan Zimmerman says that homophobia is stalling production.

Earlier this year, Zimmerman shared a post on Instagram that confirmed Takei, along with Leslie Jordan, Bruce Vilanch and Todd Sherry, had taken part in a table read for a show called Silver Foxes, which is about four older gay men who live together in Palm Springs, California.

"Guess the cat is out of the bag about that secret reading I had last year," he wrote. "Fingers crossed that Hulu or a major network has the guts to portray the story of 4 older gay men."

Unfortunately, it looks like the project hasn't been developed any further in the six weeks since his post, with Zimmerman now saying that "ageism and homophobia" have meant the major networks are unwilling to read the script.

"In all my years in television, I've never seen a script reading get so much attention," Zimmerman told HuffPost.

"I think this proves that there's a great interest in seeing a sitcom like ours come to life. Ageism and homophobia are not only keeping the show from getting picked up, but from even being read by a major network."

Takei also expressed his disappointment with producers for not giving the show a chance.

"Homophobia and ageism are currently problems for a significant part of our population," he added. "Television producers still seem reluctant to explore these issues head on with humour and humanity."

Zimmerman has also said that Silver Foxes, which is inspired by Golden Girls rather than a direct remake, has "much to offer the world", and he's been using social media to call for Hollywood networks to pick up the series in recent weeks, saying the fan response to the series is something that shouldn't be ignored.

"Hollywood should give Silver Foxes a chance because it's important to hear the voices of older LGBTQ people, a segment of our community that is often overlooked," he continued.

"Like The Golden Girls, we think audiences of all ages will respond to their wit and wisdom. Through social media, we have power."

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