Showtime reality hit about male escorts in Las Vegas is no-talk topic for creator

"Everybody that I talked to in L.A. said, 'That's the worst idea I've ever heard,' " Marklen Kennedy recalls. "And so from there I just kind of went, 'Well, OK, that means it's good.' "

That idea eventually became Showtime's "Gigolos," which returns for its third season at 11 p.m. today.

The reality hit follows five Las Vegas-based male escorts - in and out of the bedroom. And it's put Kennedy in a position more awkward than some of the ones carefully filmed for the boundary-testing series.

He created "Gigolos." He's just not really allowed to talk about it.

Networks and cable channels traditionally spend weeks beating the publicity drums in advance of new series or season premieres. But Showtime has tried to keep the press at bay from the beginning, refusing to cooperate with stories or to make anyone associated with "Gigolos" available to the media.

"The moment anything comes out at all that has my name in it, I get a phone call: 'What the hell? What is this about?' " says Kennedy, who was contacted without the pay channel's help or knowledge.

Kennedy's no wallflower. And he's no stranger to the media, having spent nearly a decade as a nightclub executive on the Strip. But he's become wary of interviews since news outlets, convinced Showtime was up to something, started going all Woodward and Bernstein on his creation.

"I think the whole country," he says, "is trying to figure out, 'Are they trying to get one over on us?' "

Salon quoted Garren James, who employs the escorts, as saying women were compensated for being on the show. The Daily Beast interviewed a woman who called her "Gigolos" episode fiction and said the sex was simulated.

Then there's the problematic disclaimer - "No one depicted in this program was remunerated in exchange for engaging in sexual activity" - that airs at the end of each episode.

Kennedy can't comment on any of that. He's unable to speak about most aspects of the series. Just talking to him about "Gigolos" is like trying to dance while your foot's asleep and your partner's playing chess.

"I'm not a cameraman, I'm not an editor, I'm not a lawyer," he says. "I'm just a guy that lives in Vegas that came up with an idea about, 'Hey, we should do a show about guys sleeping with women for money.' "

The "Gigolos" genesis was a little more complicated than that. After noticing several reality shows about sex workers, Kennedy says, "I looked around and said, 'Man, everybody that comes into Vegas, you always hear about this kind of stuff with girls. There's as many guys doing this stuff out here as there is girls. You can just look around.' "

He spent a year and a half assembling the series, but once he sold it, his input ended. "I create, I develop, I put the pieces together, get them involved," he explains. "Then I go off and I do another one."

Despite his current distance from the series, though, Kennedy stands by his cast members. "These guys, what they do is completely real. ... These guys are absolutely legit."

And if you thought what they do was over the top before, just wait.

"It's gonna get weird this year, because the novelty's worn off a bit, and so it's gonna be a lot more fun," Kennedy says. "It's gonna push the edge, it's gonna get out there and give the people what they want."

Relative newcomer Vin has a very public encounter using a very private device. Brace, the cast's elder statesman, trades sex for a spray tan. And single dad Steven meets up with Robin, a 56-year-old children's party planner, who's into something called "clown play" that involves her painting Steven's face white and dressing him in floppy shoes, a top hat and a big red nose before, well, you know.

And that's just in tonight's premiere.

But tell Kennedy that "Gigolos" is one of the wildest things you've ever seen on TV, and he's quick to defer to a certain TLC family of rotund rednecks.

"Have you seen 'Honey Boo Boo Child?' That's the craziest show in the history of television," he says.

Along those lines, the Texas native is putting the finishing touches on his upcoming Las Vegas-based "Trailer Park Housewives." He's also working on "Vegas Moms" and a series about bail bondsmen.

"I've got, hell, like 12 different things" in development, he says.

There's no telling whether any of those projects will generate either the interest or the scrutiny his first series has. Or whether he'll be allowed to talk freely about them.

But Kennedy is certain about one thing: He's going to catch some flak for pulling back the curtain, even ever so slightly, on "Gigolos."

"I guarantee," he says, "I'm going to get a call from people on this."

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.