Party of five: a team of savvy gay men use their talents to uplift clueless heteros in Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Boston's South End, two years ago: Woman berates her husband for his slovenly appearance. "Why can't you look like them?" she asks, pointing to four smartly dressed, groomed, and mannered gay men. Instead of belittling her husband, the gay guys come to his rescue by complimenting some of his fashion choices and malting suggestions for improving others.

"What she needed was a queer eye for her straight guy," observed David Collins, who witnessed the incident, as he relayed the story to his straight producing partner, David Metzler. And thus the next wave in unscripted lifestyle-makeover shows was born.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy premieres July 15 on Bravo (getting a two-week jump on the postponed premiere of Boy Meets Boy). The makeover show features the "Fab Five," a team of gay experts who perform emergency transformations on straight men in need of serious help, one in each 60-minute episode. (Most of the straight guys submit themselves for the show, although some are handed over by wives or girlfriends.)

Ted Allen, the show's food and wine connoisseur, notes, "We don't want to turn [the straight guy] into a gay guy, nor do we profess to the ability of trolling a sow's ear into a silk purse, but we do try to do a genuine assessment of who he is and what we can do to bring him one level up." Allen is a contributing editor to Esquire magazine, where he coauthors the Things a Man Should Know column.

Grooming duties go to Kyan Douglas, who says the most obvious emergency with straight guys is "nose hair. You could argue, 'Oh, I like his unibrow,' or 'His bushy eyebrows 'add character,' [but] nose hair is one of those things that's just never the right answer." Douglas has lent his expertise to TLC's What Not to Wear and While You Were Out, among others.

Noted as one of the top 100 American interior designers, design doctor Thom Filicia can transform any pitiful pad into a party palace. "Most straight guys think we're going to look at their place and leave right away, but we really dig through their things," he says. "You wouldn't believe the stuff we find!"

Next is fashion savant Carson Kressley, who specializes in men's sportswear for Ralph Lauren and other companies. "Clothes open up a world of opportunities, and you don't have to have a lot of money to do it," he says. Kressley is also the man with the quick one-liners. "It's always done in fun," he says. "I like to stir the pot."

Finally, the near-impossible task of improving the subject's savvy and etiquette goes to culture vulture Jai Rodriguez. "All the other roles are critiquing visual areas," says Rodriguez. "The culture guy has to be the one who listens and helps the straight guy bring it all together." (In case you were. wondering, everyone in this talented quintet except Allen is single and looking for love.)

With a slick animated opening, the Fab Five assemble like a postmodern queer superhero team. The first time they meet the straight man is when they--and the audience arrive at his house. The ensuing evaluations are funny but not bitchy, and informative tips posted throughout the program are as useful to the viewer as they are to the subject.

"Typically in a makeover show, what's important are the first and last 10 minutes," Collins says, "but for us the middle is the most important." Collins explains that the one, hour program is framed around a specific event in the straight man's life--such as a wife's birthday party or important business dinner--so that after the Fab Five educate him on style and substance, he can put those skills into practice. At that point, the team can only watch as the action unfolds.

These situations are as varied as the men being aided. The pilot features an East Village artist with a serial killer's appearance who needs to get ready for his first gallery showing, while other episodes' events include a wedding proposal and a job interview. Collins explains that the ultimate intent is to bring out aspects of the straight guy that are already present: "The concept is you, only better."

More than creating entertainment, Collins and Metzler are also setting out to break down misunderstandings between straight and gay men. "It's about the fact that we're guys who support each other and we all want to feel good about ourselves," Collins says. That rapport works so well that at the end of the "mission," the straight participants often don't want the Fab Five to leave. "They bond and have a broader awareness of who gay guys are and what it means to be straight and cool with themselves," Collins says. "Particularly for me as a gay male, it was important to have that relationship on the show."

Still, there's no denying the show's hilarious queer sensibility. One episode features a wife unwrapping pearl carrings and excitedly saying they'll match her pearl necklace. We immediately cut to Fab Five headquarters, where Kressley wisely observes, "Everyone loves a pearl necklace."

Andreoli also writes for Los Angeles Confidential, Instinct, and Playboy TV.