CIARA BYRNE ONCE LIVED in D.C.’s Dupont Circle and learned the hard way how embarrassing it can be for a straight woman to hit on a hot gay man.

“How do you figure out when you’re eyeing this guy and he’s not interested in you at all?” she asks. “I have had a few dating experiences in the past where the guy has been absolutely gorgeous and nice and funny, and later on I discover that he’s gay. I found I wasn’t the only person that happened to.”

Byrne, one of the co-executive producers on Fox’s new reality show “Playing It Straight,” is using her lack of gaydar to her advantage. Beginning next Friday, March 12, at 8 p.m., the show puts Jackie, a Wisconsin college student, on a ranch in Nevada where she must pick a potential mate from 14 suitors.

But some of Jackie’s suitors are gay. If she picks a straight man, the happy couple splits $1 million. If, however, she picks a gay man, he gets the money, and she goes home empty-handed.

The eight-episode series reeks a bit of “Boy Meets Boy,” Bravo’s hit where a gay man had to pick a boyfriend from a pool of bachelors that were gay and straight. What made the show slightly offensive was that James, the bachelor doing the choosing, and the other gay men on the show had no idea they were infiltrated by straight men.

That’s not true on “Straight.”

“Personally, I like ‘Boy Meets Boy,’ but I didn’t like the fact they didn’t tell them [there were straight men on the show]. That’s not fair,” Byrne says.

She also says that on “Straight,” all contestants were told there would be a twist before being cast on the show — and all were told what the twist was before filming started. Jackie was told after her initial meeting with the men.

After the announcement, everyone, including Jackie, had the chance not to appear on the show if they were uncomfortable. With full disclosure and the chance not to participate, no one is being duped.

Byrne says doing the show this way makes for a more interesting analysis of gaydar and of stereotypes about gay and straight men.

“It was harder for the straight guys because a lot of them are metrosexuals, and they’re trying to prove they’re straight,” she says. “They have some of those stereotypical qualities of gay men, and it was harder for them to prove it.”

ON MARCH 12, Fox also rolls out another new show, the quirky comedic drama “Wonderfalls,” by gay creator Todd Holland (“Malcolm in the Middle”).

The show follows the adventures of Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a disaffected Brown University graduate who lives in a trailer park and works at a Niagara Falls souvenir shop. For reasons never quite explained, the tchotchkes at the store start giving Jaye instructions to help others.

Of course, Jaye has a dysfunctional family of over-achievers, including brother Aaron (Lee Pace, who played transsexual Calpernia Addams in Showtime’s “Soldier’s Girl”) and sister Sharon (Katie Finneran).

In the first episode, due to her “friends’” instructions, Jaye learns that her straight-laced lawyer sister is a closeted lesbian. Even though the disclosure brings the two closer, the closeted sister still wants to keep this matter private.

Quirky in conventional ways, “Wonderfalls” is like “Touched by an Angel” for atheists. While the gimmick might get old quickly, the excellent cast and funkiness of the scripts will, hopefully, keep the show on the air long enough for Sharon to come out.

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