Akademik

(MAN.skay.ping)

pp.

The artful shaving and trimming of a man's body hair. (Man + landscaping.)

— manscape v.

Speaking of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," the wildly successful makeover show returns with new episodes beginning Tuesday at 9 p.m. That means the network doesn't have to repeat the seven or so initial episodes ad nauseum.

This hilarious show, one of my favorites, has five gay men — specializing in fashion, cooking, interior decorating, culture and grooming — making over a straight man.

The best part of an episode is the last 20 minutes, when the five gather to watch their student in a social situation (like a dinner party) to see if he learned any valuable lessons.

The idea has proven to be great fun, fast moving, and — believe it not — full of helpful tips. For example, I didn't know "manscaping" was a word.

— Vince Horiuchi, "Bravo bows to reality, hopes for another 'Queer Eye'-like success," Salt Lake Tribune, November 17, 2003

The Fabs took the U.S. by storm this summer, making like style superheroes to rescue straight men from lives of self-made squalor and introducing the rest of us to fun new terms like "manscaping" and "zhuzh" — a sound somewhere between Zsa-Zsa and luge.

— Pat St. Germain, "Divine interventions," Winnipeg Sun, October 4, 2003

Frankly, it might be far more amusing — far cheaper, too — if California could forgo the recall and simply hire the Fab Five to remake the state. At the very least, they could corral the leading replacement candidates in a booth for a spray-on tan, then wax their eyebrows and manscape them senseless.

— Anita Creamer, "Sign us all up for our makeovers," Sacramento Bee, August 29, 2003