NEW YORK — On “Sordid Lives: The Series,” the colorful folk in a certain Texas town are back in action after having won an avid following with the 1996 play and 2000 movie of the same name.
For the 12-episode comedy, creator-writer-director Del Shores has reunited stars from his film including Bonnie Bedelia, Olivia Newton-John, Beth Grant and Leslie Jordan, who are joined by recruits Rue McClanahan and Caroline Rhea.
What results is a riotous saga, larger than life but not far from the truth as it depicts small-town life imbued with the Spirit, cigarette smoke and self-administered Valium; pecan pie, whiskey shots at the local bar and undying love of country music superstar Tammy Wynette. And various sides of the sexual equation.
For instance, Jordan plays Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram, a drag queen fixated on Wynette and locked in a mental ward, where he’s subjected to therapy to “de-homosexualize” him.
He’s not the only member of the family with issues. His handsome young nephew, Ty (Jason Dottley), has set off for West Hollywood, where he struggles as an actor while trying to accept his homosexuality after being raised, he says, “rigid Southern Baptist.”
“Sordid Lives” premieres at 10 p.m. Wednesday on cable’s Logo network, which serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers. But this comedy just might bring in the broader audience it deserves.
“It was the funniest script I’d read since ‘Golden Girls,’ ” said McClanahan, 73, who plays pious, slightly addled Peggy Ingram, Brother Boy’s elderly mother.
“The same way I knew in ‘Golden Girls’ I wanted to play Blanche, I knew I wanted to play Peggy. “
She’s discussing her show at Logo’s Manhattan headquarters alongside co-star Jordan (known for his pint-size stature and expansive demeanor in shows such as “Will &Grace” and “Boston Legal”), as well as Shores, with TV credits ranging from “Queer as Folk” to “Touched by an Angel.”
With “Sordid Lives,” Shores drew on his background in tiny Winters, Texas, where his father was a Southern Baptist preacher and his mother was a high school drama coach. But subbing for Winters in the series was Shreveport, La., where the budget was tight and the pace breakneck: 36 days for the dozen half-hours.
“Since I had already written all the episodes, we block-shot it, like a movie” — shooting scenes for all the episodes at each particular location in one setup, which saves time. “And the cast worked for less than their usual fees.”
“The production was really challenging for all the actors,” Shores said. “There was no downtime.”
“I only lost my temper once,” Jordan said. “I said, ‘I am not a government muuuule! You cannot work me like thee-yus!”’
Shores chuckled.
“The actors were willing to go the distance for the piece and for me,” Shore said. “And we had a good time.”
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