Anyone But Me: Difference between revisions

{{short description|American web series}}{{Infobox television

|writer =director [[Susan Miller (playwright)|Susan Miller]]<br /> = Tina Cesa Ward

'''''Anyone But Me''''' is an American [[web series]] created by Tina Cesa Ward. The series first aired on [[Strike.TV]] in 2008,<ref name="observer">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20091127053845/http://www.observer.com/2009/media/cubicle-queue-8 The Cubicle Queue: Escape on Hulu, Learn to Cook a Turkey, and More]", ''[[The New York Observer]]'', November 25, 2009.</ref> and has since been offered on its own website and on other [[Streaming media|online streaming platforms]] such as [[YouTube]], [[Binge Networks]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anyone But Me |url=https://www.bingenetworks.tv/channel/anyone-but-me-15777 |access-date=2022-09-05 |website=BINGE Networks |language=en |archive-date=2022-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905204023/https://www.bingenetworks.tv/channel/anyone-but-me-15777 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Articles |first=KHTS |date=2022-09-09 |title=It's Time To Binge On Binge Networks! |url=https://www.hometownstation.com/news-articles/its-time-to-binge-on-binge-networks-432691 |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=Hometown Station {{!}} KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Hulu]]. The series focuses on [[LGBT]] themes and is presented in serial short-format [[webisodes]], each lasting between six and fifteen minutes, following the lives of a group of teenagers in [[New York City]] and [[Westchester County, New York]].

The series centers around the experiences of Vivian McMillan ([[Rachael Hip-Flores]]), a sixteen-year-old [[lesbian]] whose father's illness prompts the two of them to move from [[Manhattan]] to the home of Vivian's maternal aunt in Westchester, about 30 minutes away. Vivian attempts to maintain her relationship with her girlfriend Aster Gaston ([[Nicole Pacent]]) while enrolling in a new school, negotiating old childhood connections, and establishing a new social circle in what she perceives to be a substantially different environment from her previous home in the city.

* [[Nicole Pacent]] as Aster Gaston

* Mitchell S. Adams as Jonathan Kerwin

As the series begins, Vivian has been living as an openly gay high-school student whose romance with Aster appears well- known to those around her. When she arrives at her new suburban home and school, she declines to reveal her sexuality or relationship to her aunt, to a local schoolmate she has known since childhood, or to most of her peers. In public, she also frequently minimizes Aster's role in her life to avoid exposure of the sexual nature of their relationship. This sets up a number of conflicts as well as a dialogue in episode 8 of season 1 on whether or not [[gay pride]] is an essential element of an intimate gay relationship.

Vivian's anxiety about publicizing her sexuality in Westchester is driven by her belief that her family and friends living there would not be as tolerant or accepting as she found them to be in Manhattan. The one person who quickly discovers Vivian's secret is Archibald (Joshua Holland), an African-American student at her school. In episode 3 of season 1, Vivian and Archibald discuss their common feeling that a largely white, traditional community would never fully embrace them because of their minority status. This perception is challenged by other characters, including Vivian's childhood friend Sophie ([[Jessy Hodges]]), who upon learning the truth is less upset that Vivian is gay and more offended that Vivian assumed she would be intolerant.

Interest in the series has been heaviest amongst [[Gay media|LGBT media]], with generally positive reviews from outlets such as ''[[Curve (magazine)|Curve]]''<ref>"[http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazine/Web-Articles-2008/Lesbian-Web-Series-We-Can-039t-Get-Enough-Of/ Lesbian Web Series We Can't Get Enough Of] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055627/http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazine/Web-Articles-2008/Lesbian-Web-Series-We-Can-039t-Get-Enough-Of/ |date=2013-09-21 }}", ''[[Curve (magazine)|Curve]]'', 2009.</ref> and ''[[GO (American magazine)|GO]]''<ref>"[http://www.gomag.com/article/100_women_we_love_class_o1/54 100 Women We Love: Class of 2009]", ''[[GO (American magazine)|GO]]'', June 12, 2009.</ref> magazines. The mainstream audience ''[[New York Observer]]'s'' Gillian Reagan described ''Anyone But Me'' as a show that "succeeds in showing us the potential of the [web-original] medium."<ref name="observer" />

In 2014 Anyone But Me was listed on ''[[New Media Rockstars]]'' Top 100 YouTube Channels, ranked at #33.<ref>{{cite web|title=The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 50-26!|url= http://newmediarockstars.com/2014/12/the-nmr-top-100-youtube-channels-50-26/|website=New Media Rockstars|accessdateaccess-date=6 January 2015}}</ref>

[[Category:2000s American LGBTLGBTQ-related drama television series]]

[[Category:American LGBTLGBTQ-related web series]]