OUTtv orders UK comedy panel show

LGBTQ+ streaming service OUTtv has ordered a comedy panel show from UK producer Milli Productions.

Commissioned from British producers David Ian and Milli, with Ian also serving as host, six-part is Gay vs Straight sees captains and their teams go head-to-head in a battle of wits and stereotypes.

A gay team and a straight team compete across various rounds which include quizzes, physical challenges and opinion-led segments that playfully explore cultural differences and offer up debate in front of a live audience.

Alongside the panel show leading the slate is feature-length documentary The Hockey Player.

Following the wild success of Canadian queer drama Heated Rivalry, OUTtv has ordered a 90-minute single from Upper Canada Films on Luke Prokop, the first openly gay player under NHL contract.

Directed by Jacqueline Doorey and produced by Taylor Prestidge, the film captures both the physical demands of the game and the quieter personal battles beneath the surface, offering a timely reflection on identity, resilience and the power of authenticity to shift conversations far beyond the ice.

OUTtv has also commissioned a trio of dramas. PJ Studio Productions’ six-part series Pass the Salt follows a sheltered Muslim Iranian grad student who navigates her queer identity and family expectations.

Meanwhile Sweet as Sugar, produced by Monkeys & Parrots Productions, is a short-form (6 x 15-minute) series following an eccentric university student Olivia whose financial insecurity and curiosity lead her to try her hand at sugar babying.

The series was developed and produced with the support of the Independent Production Fund, Ontario Creates and the Canada Media Fund.

Fellow 6 x 15-minute short-form series One Baby, Please (Kate Green Productions Inc) centres on an Arab immigrant and his husband as they fight the system, friends and family to have a gayby. This series is supported by the Bell Fund, the Independent Production Fund and Creative BC, and was developed through the National Screen Institute’s series incubator in 2021.

Rounding out the new drama orders is mockumentary workplace comedy from Afro Viking Productions Sexy Touch. Set in the small conservative town of Brookside Nova Scotia, the series follows a queer, bisexual couple who open a sex-positive shop. It’s written and directed by Taylor Olson.

Elsewhere, OUTtv has also returned to its reality series Willam’s Dark Room for a second series, produced by Daddy TV, and a third series of scripted drama Two Brothers. Both series are 8 x15 minutes.