Love, sex and relationships – the three most important parts of a successful romance. Add your favorite libation and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a hilarious, yet heartfelt comedy in season 4 of SPIN THE BOTTLE, now streaming all of its 3 episodes on its official Youtube page (see link below), along with all episodes from its prior 3 seasons.
Created, written by and starring Matthew Barnard, the series continues to explore the complex and dynamic relationships between a close group of gay and straight adults who try their best to figure out what it really means to be in love.
Barnard stars as Roy, a charming and handsome man who’s not just growing older, but is also constantly concerned about the fate of his relationship with his younger boyfriend Perry (Pavel Tabutov).
Equally good looking, intelligent, and with a kind personality to match, Perry remains committed to staying in a steady relationship with Roy, despite his concerns that he’ll leave him for a younger man.
Joining the cast in season 4 is Blaine Vedros as Charlie, who along with his wife Paulette (Alison Lani), try to get Roy and Perry to engage in a “threesome” with Mason (played by Ali Cesur). Mason seeks to understand just what it takes to maintain a true romance, but his real intentions have yet to be revealed.
Described by Barnard as a hybrid of popular ‘90s sitcoms SEX AND THE CITY, FRIENDS and WILL AND GRACE, SPIN THE BOTTLE takes a humorous and often heartwarming look at love and friendship in modern times. “It’s a combo of sexual situations examined, friendships and gay comedy,” Barnard says.
Although SPIN THE BOTTLE brings viewers great comedy in each episode, Barnard feels that there’s an important underlying message throughout the series; one that those who watch will easily identify with as they seek true love.
“My show, on the surface is silly, sexy fun, but really it’s all about the drive to get to the deeper things we all want,” he adds.
Along with the prolific works of director David Lynch, Barnard feels that the quest to achieve personal satisfaction in all aspects of life is also what provides him with creative inspiration.
“What inspires me as a filmmaker is anything that bridges the gap of human understanding – that everyone is going through the same quest for success, love, friendship, fulfillment, reaching for one’s dreams, family, understanding and all the things that drive us deep down.”
While the show’s overall production quality improved from season to season, the one constant that remained throughout was Barnard. With that being said, the task of getting SPIN THE BOTTLE uncorked throughout seasons 2 and 3 was still a challenge, albeit one that Barnard easily found a way to conquer.
“It’s tough to get actors back every year to be in an almost unpaid web series,” Barnard says. “So I write some of the same characters and if the actors can’t come back, I recast and just keep moving forward.”
Nonetheless, getting season 4 documented on camera provided plenty of its own obstacles. Among them was finding the right place to shoot one of the season’s trickiest scenes.
“The biggest challenge to season 4 was finding a location where we could film an outdoor semi-nude pool party without neighbors or people passing by,” Barnard recalls. “Fortunately, we found a house that had a very private backyard so the swim trunks hit the floor.”
Another problem presented itself as production ensued during the nighttime hours. “The tricky thing was almost (all) scenes were at night, so we had to shoot two nights in a row ’til like 4 AM, and that was exhausting for cast and crew.” Despite those difficulties, Barnard and his talented cast and crew had a fun, rewarding experience all throughout the shoot.
“The first episode is all about a party and all the actors were very fun and improvisational,” Barnard says. “Episode 2 features Blaine Vedros and Alison Lani who were both natural, comfortable actors and added so much energy, heart, sexiness and hilarity to their scene.”
Although Barnard hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a 5th season of SPIN THE BOTTLE, he feels that just how season 4 wraps up will truly leave viewers satisfied. Having successfully mixed hilarious comedy with in-depth, character driven storytelling, Barnard says that SPIN THE BOTTLE is truly about the greatest gift life can give, and how far we are willing, or able, to go, in order to get it.
“The show is all about love really – how to find it, keep it new or when to discard it and move on,” Barnard says. “Love is sweet and wonderful some of the time, but it can also be a minefield to navigate through – there’s bound to be some tricky spots, but in the end, we all want to find the one at the end of the day, no matter what race, sexual orientation, religion, gender or location! Love is love and hold on, it can be a wild, bumpy ride!”
(Note: All episodes of the series, including season 4, are closed-captioned.)
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/spinthebottletv
The first episode of season 4 of SPIN THE BOTTLE can be viewed below: