Search Party's Co-Creator Reckons Wh Its 'Whe Gay Narcissism'

Contents:

• ‘SEARCH PARTY’ STAR JOHN EARLY: TV’S FUNNIT GAY NARCISSIST SAYS GOODBYE
• SEARCH PARTY’S ELLTT IS THE LIM CASE OF THE ‘GAY BFF’
• SEARCH PARTY'S CO-CREATOR RECKONS WH ITS 'WHE GAY NARCISSISM'
• FIRST LOOK: SEARCH PARTY RETURNS JUNE 25 WH A BIG GAY WEDDG

‘SEARCH PARTY’ STAR JOHN EARLY: TV’S FUNNIT GAY NARCISSIST SAYS GOODBYE

He and his bt iend and equent edy llaborator, Kate Berlant, played hooky om all of life’s obligatns—Berlant even nceled a gig she had schled for that night— orr to partake the equivalent of a holy sacrament for a gay lennial and his loyal hag: bgeg the first few episos of the new Sex and the Cy sequel seri, And Jt Like That…“We had martis and latk, ” Early says, speakg to The Daily Beast over Zoom.

”After five seasons of playg tic gay narcissist Elltt Goss on the cult favore edy seri Search Party, Early knows to be nimble while skippg through the proverbial moetraps of lennial culture, which is to say, how and when to shut your mouth when your opn uld land you trouble or attract unwanted ’s not an easy lson, and one he adms he stggled wh over the years as his reer took off, thanks to rave cril notic for Search Party as well as his work Wet Hot Amerin Summer: First Day of Camp, Neighbors 2: Sorory Risg, and Late Night. Coupled wh his performanc on Wet Hot Amerin Summer and Neighbors 2, Early was among stars like Billy Eichner and The Other Two’s Drew Tarver, who were evolvg what meant to be young, gay characters on TV away om the stock “sassy gay BFF” type. He was changg the way we thought about–and perhaps more importantly, lghed at–gay characters on TV.

Still, when me to his sexualy, Early weathered and overme the same ternalized homophobia that still bis characters like Elltt.

SEARCH PARTY’S ELLTT IS THE LIM CASE OF THE ‘GAY BFF’

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not that kd of gay. “That’s somethg that every gay person has to work through.

It was that gay BFF stereotype.

Layg out the key characteristics of a “gay bt iend” on televisn n further strs jt how one-dimensnal such a character n feel on the page. Shows like Difficult People, Happy Endgs, and Sex Edutn have been eagerly rhapg what a “gay (male) bt iend” n look like on the small screen, givg characters like Billy Epste, T Andromedon, and Eric Effng plex ner liv that refe to be llapsed to the trope they neverthels ll forth.

SEARCH PARTY'S CO-CREATOR RECKONS WH ITS 'WHE GAY NARCISSISM'

But no show has e close to dissectg the gay BFF so expertly as Search Party. Elltt Goss (John Early), who’s scribed as “gay, energetic and a self-diagnosed narcissist” the show’s pilot script, is the lim se of the gay BFF, all vapid privilege wrapped up hilar absurdy, the kd who’d happily take sponsorships om rporatns eager to rebrand themselv as LGBTQ-iendly to fund his weddg (#1pot2lndollarweddg), whose theme is “attentn. And, jt like those prev gay BFF characters, his meanns is put forth as his greatt — and funnit — asset.

FIRST LOOK: SEARCH PARTY RETURNS JUNE 25 WH A BIG GAY WEDDG

Makg up stori about havg been diagnosed wh ncer high school, changg his name om Eldad to Elltt, lyg about gog to NYU, and even hirg non-equy actors to play his wealthy parents are all of a piece wh an ia gay men (and TV characters) have long champned: that arrivg New York Cy is a chance to revent and fd yourself. Siarly, when he fds himself hot water the aptly tled ble-news show Open Fire Wh Charlie Reeny, where the nservative anchor (played by SNL’s Chloe Feman) hop to rile him up by explog his failed book al, he reverts to his role as a gay clown, makg a fart joke that ends up unsettlg Charlie.

In this, the character merely follows the footsteps of those other famed gay BFFs who have graced the small screen before. One of the first teractns we see him have the pilot episo is wh a well-meang volunteer on the street who asks him if he has time for gay rights: “Gay rights?