‘Work It’ complaints bewilder ABC boss

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Ben Koldyke (left) and Amaury Nolasco play guys who pose as women to land sales jobs on ABC’s “Work It.”

Updated: February 12, 2012 8:14AM

PASADENA, Calif. — ABC’s entertainment chief says he doesn’t understand complaints made by transgender people about the network’s new sitcom.

The series “Work It,” which debuted last week, portrays two men who dress as women to land jobs in a tough economy.

Two groups, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Human Rights Campaign, bought an ad in Variety last month declaring, “By encouraging the audience to laugh at the characters’ attempts at womanhood, the show gives license to similar treatment of transgender women.”

ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee told reporters Tuesday that he loved the 1982 cross-dressing movie “Tootsie,” and “I still love ‘Tootsie.’ I don’t find it to be offensive. So in that particular case I didn’t get it.”

Noting the well-received gay characters on ABC’s “Modern Family” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” he added, “We thought there was room for a very, very, very, very silly show.”

Another ABC sitcom, “Cougar Town,” has been off the air since May, and Lee said he expects it to be back in March but set no specific return date.

“Cougar Town” creator Bill Lawrence said he’s upset about the long delay. Asked how mad he was at ABC, on a scale of one to 10, he answered: “Four. But if they cancel the show, it will be an 11.”

AP