The Lair
Encyclopedia
The Lair is an American gay
-themed vampire
television series produced by here! in 2007. The first season, consisting of six episodes, wrapped production in January of that year. The first two episodes premiered on June 1, 2007. Season 2, consisting of 9 episodes debuted on September 5, 2008. A third season of 13 episodes was announced in September 2008 and Colton Ford
confirmed that filming took place in October and November 2008. Season 3 premiered September 4, 2009. All three seasons also currently air online at Gay.com
. A fourth season has yet to be announced.
.
for the series. Hosted by DJ and here! personality Ben Harvey
, the podcast features roundtable discussions of the series and interviews with cast members. No new podcasts associated with season two have been released; the last podcast was released in October 2007.
as another here! original production, Dante's Cove
. Sheriff Trout refers to Saint as "the new drug all the kids are doing". Colin speaks of being banished by an "Avatar." A book on legends of the town refers to covens of witches centered around a spring. Saint, covens led by Avatars and mystical springs are all components of the magickal religion of Tresum from Dante's Cove. As of the end of season 2, however, Tresum has not been mentioned specifically.
Dylan Vox
plays a character named Colin in each series;
however, dialogue in The Lair indicates that his character from that series has been a vampire for a long time, perhaps centuries.
Dante's Cove director Sam Irvin
and star Charlie David
refer to the Dante's Cove sex club as "The Lair" and call the series The Lair "sort of like a spin-off." According to Peter Stickles, The Lair was originally intended to be a direct spin-off of Dante's Cove and was originally entitled "Dante's Lair." Early in production the name was changed but the show was intended to be set in the town of Dante's Cove, but eventually the connection was dropped.
David Moretti
reported on The Lair podcast that he would appear as his Lair character Thom in season three of Dante's Cove, running the island's sex club, but did not elaborate on how that will come about. Moretti appeared in the third episode, "Sexual Healing," and the fourth episode, "Like a Virgin," and the Cove's sex club was finally identified by name as "The Lair." Whether this finally establishes that the two series are indeed set on the same island remains unclear.
described the show. While the Post-Gazette singles out Moretti's performance for praise, other reviews describe various of the cast as "wooden" and the acting "so amateurishly done as to be comical at times."
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
-themed vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
television series produced by here! in 2007. The first season, consisting of six episodes, wrapped production in January of that year. The first two episodes premiered on June 1, 2007. Season 2, consisting of 9 episodes debuted on September 5, 2008. A third season of 13 episodes was announced in September 2008 and Colton Ford
Colton Ford
Colton Ford is the stage name of Glenn Soukesian, a former same-sex adult film star, singer and actor. As of May 2007, he resides in New York City.-Film career:...
confirmed that filming took place in October and November 2008. Season 3 premiered September 4, 2009. All three seasons also currently air online at Gay.com
Gay.com
gay.com is a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site is a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site features LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News ranked gay.com as the most...
. A fourth season has yet to be announced.
Cast
- Peter SticklesPeter SticklesPeter Stickles is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the voyeuristic Caleb in the John Cameron Mitchell film Shortbus and as Damian, leader of a gay vampire cult, in the here! original series The Lair.-Career:...
as Damian Courtenay (season 1 - ) - David MorettiDavid MorettiDavid Moretti is an American actor, born in Cranston, Rhode Island. He stars in the here! original series The Lair as Thom, a reporter who uncovers a vampire cult....
as Thom Etherton (season 1 - ) - Dylan VoxDylan VoxDylan Vox is an American actor who has appeared in television film and theatre.-Early life:Vox was a competitive ice skater and received bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Journalism before attending and graduating from law school.-Acting career:Vox starred in the Los Angeles premiere of...
as Colin (season 1-) - Frankie ValentiJohnny HazzardJohnny Hazzard is an American pornographic actor, model, and recording artist who performs in gay and bisexual pornographic films for a number of studios, mainly Rascal Video. Most of these videos are directed by Chi Chi LaRue...
as Tim (season 2 - ) - Brian NolanBrian NolanBrian Nolan is an American actor from Orlando, Florida. He is best known for starring as Frankie on all current seasons of Here! TV’s The LairHe has appeared on the Disney Channel's Hannah Montana...
as Frankie (season 1 - ) - Steven Hirschi as Athan (season 3 - )
- Colton FordColton FordColton Ford is the stage name of Glenn Soukesian, a former same-sex adult film star, singer and actor. As of May 2007, he resides in New York City.-Film career:...
as Sheriff Trout (season 1 - ) - Sybil DanningSybil DanningSybil Danning is an Austrian actress known for her many roles in B movies, science fiction films, and action films.-Early life:Danning was born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria as Sybille Johanna Danninger...
as Frau von Hess (season 3 Special Guest Star) - Beverly LynneBeverly LynneBeverly Lynne Hubscher , better known plainly as Beverly Lynne is a Hollywood actress who is mainly showcased in erotic film. She is married to fellow actor Glen Meadows. She currently resides in Las Vegas.Lynne was a cheerleader in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1998 to 2000...
as Laura Rivers (season 1 -2) - Jesse Cutlip as Jonathan (season 1)
- Evan StoneEvan StoneEvan Stone is an American pornographic actor. In 2002 he married Jessica Drake whom he has since divorced.Stone's occasional work outside the pornography industry includes his role as "Jimmy" in the 2007 original series The Lair...
as Jimmy (season 1) - Michael Von Steel as Eric (season 1)
- Arthur Roberts as Dr. Belmont (season 1)
- Ted NewsomTed NewsomTed Newsom is an American writer, director, producer and actor.- Early life and education :Son of Vernon and Patricia Newsom; grew up in Portland, OR, Spokane, WA and the San Fernando Valley; served in the US Army 1972-75 as a surgical assistant in Heidelberg, Germany...
as Dr. Cooper (season 1) - Ethan Reynolds as Jonathan (season 2)
- Matty Ferraro as Ian (season 2)
- Matthew King as Dr. Jake Waldman (season 2)
- Jared Grey as Harris (season 3)
- Grant Landry as Gary (season 2 - )
- Bobby Quinn Rice as Richie (Season 2 - )
Season one
The Lair is set in a small island community, the exact location of which is unknown. Thom, a reporter for the local paper, is investigating a string of deaths of young men, known as the "John Doe murders". His investigation leads him to a sex club called The Lair, which he discovers is run by a coven of vampires led by Damian. Damian is drawn to Thom because Thom is the double of the man who turned Damian into a vampire two centuries earlier. Colin, Damian's lieutenant, schemes to brick Damian behind a wall and take over The Lair. Local lawman Sheriff Trout, also investigating the murders, finds his way to The Lair. A shootout ensues in which Damian's human henchman Frankie is killed.Season two
As Sheriff Trout recovers from his gunshot wounds, he takes in Ian, a new arrival to the island who is pursued by a mysterious mainlander. Damian contacts Thom and convinces him to recover Damian's body and restore him. Frankie haunts Colin, warning of his imminent demise. Intrigue blooms in the form of the Lumina Orchis, a flower that blossoms only in moonlight and which casts a strange fascination over local botanist Jake to the dismay of his assistant Tim. By season's end Jake, Laura, Jonathan and the mysterious mainlander are all dead, Colin is destroyed and Thom is living at The Lair.Season three
Thom struggles to adjust to life as the only human at The Lair. Colin enthralls Richie from beyond the grave to restore Colin, who schemes to establish a club to rival The Lair. Damian is contacted by the reclusive Frau von Hess, who has plans for him and the island. Sheriff Trout, missing the now-fugitive Ian, recalls another young man from his past. A new arrival to the island is Athan, an antiquities expert who harbors within him the spirit of a male gorgonGorgon
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...
.
Podcast
On June 21, 2007, here! launched a podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
for the series. Hosted by DJ and here! personality Ben Harvey
Ben Harvey
Ben Caleb Harvey is an American radio and television personality, best known for his evening radio show on the now-defunct 92.3 K-Rock in New York City....
, the podcast features roundtable discussions of the series and interviews with cast members. No new podcasts associated with season two have been released; the last podcast was released in October 2007.
Connections to Dante's Cove
The Lair takes place in the same fictional universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
as another here! original production, Dante's Cove
Dante's Cove
Dante's Cove is an American LGBT-oriented supernatural soap opera. The series airs on here!, an American gay-oriented network, and on Gay.com....
. Sheriff Trout refers to Saint as "the new drug all the kids are doing". Colin speaks of being banished by an "Avatar." A book on legends of the town refers to covens of witches centered around a spring. Saint, covens led by Avatars and mystical springs are all components of the magickal religion of Tresum from Dante's Cove. As of the end of season 2, however, Tresum has not been mentioned specifically.
Dylan Vox
Dylan Vox
Dylan Vox is an American actor who has appeared in television film and theatre.-Early life:Vox was a competitive ice skater and received bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Journalism before attending and graduating from law school.-Acting career:Vox starred in the Los Angeles premiere of...
plays a character named Colin in each series;
however, dialogue in The Lair indicates that his character from that series has been a vampire for a long time, perhaps centuries.
Dante's Cove director Sam Irvin
Sam Irvin
Sam Irvin is a film and television director, producer, screen writer, and author.-Career:Sam Irvin was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1964, when he was eight years old, Irvin went on a family trip to California where he was able to tour various movie studios...
and star Charlie David
Charlie David
Charles David Lubiniecki better known as Charlie David is a Canadian actor, who stars in the LGBT horror series Dante's Cove. He has also worked as a producer, writer, and TV host on a number of shows like F.Y.E!, SpyTV, Bump! and Crash Test Mommy...
refer to the Dante's Cove sex club as "The Lair" and call the series The Lair "sort of like a spin-off." According to Peter Stickles, The Lair was originally intended to be a direct spin-off of Dante's Cove and was originally entitled "Dante's Lair." Early in production the name was changed but the show was intended to be set in the town of Dante's Cove, but eventually the connection was dropped.
David Moretti
David Moretti
David Moretti is an American actor, born in Cranston, Rhode Island. He stars in the here! original series The Lair as Thom, a reporter who uncovers a vampire cult....
reported on The Lair podcast that he would appear as his Lair character Thom in season three of Dante's Cove, running the island's sex club, but did not elaborate on how that will come about. Moretti appeared in the third episode, "Sexual Healing," and the fourth episode, "Like a Virgin," and the Cove's sex club was finally identified by name as "The Lair." Whether this finally establishes that the two series are indeed set on the same island remains unclear.
Critical response
Critical reaction to The Lair has been largely negative. "Awful...in a general sense [but with] true camp value" is how the Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
described the show. While the Post-Gazette singles out Moretti's performance for praise, other reviews describe various of the cast as "wooden" and the acting "so amateurishly done as to be comical at times."
DVD releases
| Cover Art | DVD Name | Episodes | Release Date | Special features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
The Complete First Season | 6 | October 9, 2007 (Region 1) February 2, 2009 (Region 2) |
|
 |
The Lair: Season 2 | 9 | February 24, 2009 (Region 1) August 3, 2009 (Region 2) |
|
| The Lair: The Complete Third Season | 13 | March 10, 2010 (Region 1) |
External links
- Official site
- The Lair at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- The Lair at epguides.com