Remembering "Queer As Folk"

Yes

No

No

I always thought Hal Sparks was the hottest, but he did get a lot of nude scenes like Gale and the twink.

The guys on that show seemed really close to each other, maybe even TOO close……..I know Danny Thomas is one, but I still wonder if it’s okay for straight men to do so many prostrate exams using their mouths.

No, no, and no. I thought it was the corniest tv show I’d ever seen and just got worse every year. I hate watched it but I didn’t make it to the end.

I had seen the UK version so I was expecting something more along those lines. A pretty racy, but dramatic tv show. The US version was basically a bad comedy that was missing a laugh track.

I really felt bad for the actors that played the lesbian couple. It was like it was written by someone who hated lesbians and intentionally made them as unlikable as possible. I really don’t think that was the actor’s or director’s fault. That was all in the writing.

I’m a gay man, not a lesbian, but I still thought “damn. These are some really BADLY created lesbian characters!” and they (the actors playing them) had all my sympathy for getting such awful parts.

I liked Sharon Gless even if she was hammy and over the top most of the time, but I’d like Sharon Gless in anything. She was the only one that seemed to realize she was starring in a very terrible sitcom and trying to make the best of a bad situation.

I never saw the L Word. Was that better than QAF?

No. Much worse but in a different way.

Forgetting queer as folk

Preferred the British original. Didn't this version have a serial killer storyline at one point? And Justin as a vigilante? Very soapy

R4, the showrunners were a gay couple, and the best writers all left at the end of Season 1 "for unspecified reasons". It was all downhill from there.

The British version was one of my favorite shows ever, so I watched the first episode with some trepidation, and only made it halfway. And the poster above, who talked about the lesbians, I agree with you. The lesbians in the UK version were the adults in the room, and really funny.

I thought of it as a guilty pleasure. Representation meant a lot back then. Still does, really. Unlikely to hold up well tho. No real interest in rewatching it. I'd rather spend the weekend in Pittsburgh instead.

I subscribe to Showtime in December 2000 just for Queer As Folk. I liked it at first but by the second season it was unwatchable- Emmett becomes a houseboy for a gay couple and then later they have a threesome- that's the episode that broke this gay boys back- I cancelled my Showtime subscription at that point.

The most realistic storyline- of which there were very few over the course of the show- was when Ted goes out with an average looking guy his age then dumps him so he can go back to being rejected in the bars and clubs by the so called HOT guys.

I liked it enough. I always thought Ted was average nerdy boy hot. I hate that for all of the outrage and ink it got, that none of the cast has gone on to big stardom. Though Peter Paige has done well for himself behind the scenes. Perhaps the others have as well. Also, didn't Hal Sparks post QAF start behaving kind of hypermasculine to counteract against his role in the show? I remember seeing clips from a podcast maybe and it was very...IDK, Joe Rogan-ish. Unless I'm misremembering.

R12- Ted's UNattractiveness was so exaggerated on the show. He was good looking/cute. I actually would have preferred if they had an actor playing the role of Ted who was truly someone who would be completely ignored in the bars and clubs- and how he navigated his life in the gay scene that way.

I liked it up to the point where Brian meets Justin at his prom and they dance to "Save the Last Dance for Me." I did not need what Chris Hobbs brought to the next scene. I continued watching for a while, but I wished they hadn't gone that way with Justin and Brian's storyline.

Agreed, R13! It was so wild. If I could find me a Ted IRL, I would snap him up in a heartbeat. Of course I'm wading through the waters of life feeling worse about myself than Ted ever did. Alas.

It wasn't the greatest show, but it was what I needed to see while I was in college.

The reboot was a mess, though.

I discovered this show through my dear mother. I was I high-school when it aired. I remember one night my mother was watching this show, I couldn't believe. I hadn't come out yet to anyone, and here was my mother watching Queer as Folk in the family room. When I asked what is that you're watching after seeing ascene of two men make out in a club, she said its a good show, I've been watching it for a while. Closeted me walked away and later furiously searched anything I could about the show.

R15 aww I'd fuck you just for being sweet X

[quote]but I still wonder if it’s okay for straight men to do so many prostrate exams using their mouths.

Why would you care if they were lying down?

I remember the Streisand reference.

Emmett : - It’s like The Mirror has Two Faces. Because Barbra plays an unattractive professor who marries Jeff Bridges because neither one of them can handle sex. But of course Barbra gets horny, because, hello, Jeff's such a dreamboat, so she hops on a Stairmaster for like two minutes, eats a carrot stick, and then poof! She's gorgeous. Then she comes in dressed like the hooker in Nuts, and of course, Jeff's willing to fuck her, and, um... they dance in the street.

Ted : - And she still wasn’t nominated !

I watched every episode. Sunday nights had a great lineup back then with The Sopranos, SFU and QAF.

Thoroughly enjoyed season one but it went downhill FAST after that. It was like they'd done all the British scripts and then didn't know what to do. The only redeeming factor in the later episodes was Robert Gant as Ben, Michael's boyfriend

I had heard references to the show many times, but I only watched it for the first time a couple of years ago. It was a guilty pleasure. The actors were attractive and I thought the soap opera was entertaining. I think it had historic significance for being so explicit at the time it aired.

I see you, R18.

They couldn't compare to Charlie and Littlefinger .🔥

Another STUPID episode- Emmett is terrified he's got the AIDS virus so he's vowed never to have sex again- with guys. Oh wait - he makes that vow when he finds out his HIV negative. Right after that one good looking guy after another starts flirting with him including the hunk doctor who gives him the results of his HIV test. A very good looking guy at the gym start flirting and Emmett rejects all of them- AS IF those two good looking masculine guys would be flirting with a skinny effeminate guy like Emmett in real life.

The show NEVER showed hot guys like that flirting with Emmett before although in the last season he was that MACHO football player interested in him.

The first season was great, then yeah it went downhill. Waaaaay too soapy. It was an absolute soap opera.

Some of the storylines were just really humiliating for the characters. Just the worst. They really put Emmett through the wringer. By the end of the series he was essentially a plaything for random guys in the Pittsburgh area. Him jacking off on Ted's porn site. Then a couple seasons later they're trying to play house. The football player. It was all just too much.

The whole Hunter storyline. Please.

Redeeming qualities: Robert Gant 😍

Those classic soundtracks.

Since this show was filmed in Canada, they usually got the winter scenes done really well. Like you could tell in some outside scenes (outside the clubs at night) that it was cold & the actors were feeling it. Definitely relatable! Would not get the same effect if this show was filmed in LA.

I rewatched it earlier this year. Yes ,it's not all that great and is pretty cheezola but it was nice to revisit something from a different period of time.

I love when Justin approaches the edgy vigilante guy about helping with their guardian angel gang or whatever and he refers to Justin as Meg Ryan. That feathery blonde hairdo really was out of control around seasons 3 and 4.

One of the worst shows to air. But, like Showgirls, it’s fun viewing.

Emmet. The worst.

Brian Fucking Kinney. It worked.

Hal Sparks thing. Just awful. The acting.

Hunter and Dumpster Boy. Enough written.

But Debbie and that thing brother of hers. Just cringeworthy and overreacted.

Yet I was always excited to watch. Weird.

I was a fan. Naturally the show is dated now. It looks like the new Showtime series Fellow Travelers may be its contemporary successor. It has a touching love story (with steamy sex) in the context of the Lavender Scare in the McCarthy era. Stars Matt Bomer & Jonathan Bailey have amazing chemistry.

R28- Justin was not hot 🥵 or good looking.

He looked like a BLOND 👱 MONKEY 🙊

and was far TOO fem. In the British version of QAF the Justin character- I don’t remember his name - was far better looking, cooler and decidedly not fem.

I tried to watch the first season but gosh, most of the characters are so unlikeable on the US version.

And yes, I've never believed a shit that Hal Sparks and/or Gale Harold are straight in real life.

Were you a fan? of the brit series, yes.

Did Hal Sparks or Gale Harrold ever come out? what nobodies, who cares

Do you think it would hold up today? nope

R32- Every actor on Netflix that show is Queer in real life including Sharon Gless.

An interesting perspective by one gay fan

Still Queer As Folk is a podcast by two gay men who analyze each episode to see how it holds up.

It’s dated, but it was important to a lot of people at the time I think. As a closeted teenager, it was a revelation to me and clarified my sexuality. I remember randomly catching an episode on Showtime late one night while I was in high school. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as horny as I was while watching it for the first time. I remember after the episode having a moment of truth with myself where I thought, “well, fuck—this is what it is.” There was momentary panic too, of course, because at that point I REALLY knew I was gay.

It doesn't hold up well but it did address some serious subjects like gay bashing, AIDS, testicular cancer and featured an ElderGay who wasn't tragic. Plus there was plenty of male nudity and man on man sex so there's that.

The guy who played Justin was so ugly and terribly overacted all his scenes. He and Brian had great chemistry though. I enjoyed it at the time but don't need to see it again. It should have ended after 3 seasons.

I didn't live where there was an active gay scene, so this show allowed me a window, though dramatized, of a gay life.

R37 Many young men had the same experience you did. Cast members say people still tell them how significant the show was for them. QAF also attracted women viewers who were fascinated by the endearing characters and the love story between Brian & Justin. Contrary to the objections of some in the gay community who feared that the show portrayed negative aspects of gay life, it actually increased tolerance by the female fans. The creators of the show explicitly explained that the show only followed a specific group of gay friends and was not representative of every gay person or their life styles.

When did we all decide Hal Sparks and Gale Harold are gay?

A fan? Ni. Not at all. My view 8s similar to R4's in that the American QAF was a disaster fr the start, and then it got worse.

The original UK QAF was fresh and had a frenetic energy and best of all it never took time to explain or to apologize for it's gay or lesbian characters -- it just threw the actors on the screen doing whatever it is they were and they did. Catch up with the characters ir get left behind because the pace didn't allow for any explaining and hand-holding. It wasn't an apology and a teachable moment about rimming or tops and bottoms or monogamy or fucking every man at any opportunity. It wasn't meant "to educate" nor "to advocate." and the show was enormously improved by not going gently, not explaining every little detail to death.

[quote]Do you think it would hold up today?

The US version absolutely not. It didn't hold up from one week to another and became more leaden with it's own weight of trying to please - or rather not to offend anyone- so much that it pleased no one. It was shit from the start, embarrassing, and spiralled ever downward. For fucking ever (it completely lacked the quick pace of the UK original.

The UK original is more like it or leave it. The characters were interesting for who and what they were, for their faults, not for some uphill noble pursuit of virtues. They just were who they were and it's that aspect that made it and gave it pace and energy. The UK version holds up well even when the story may feel antiquated, and it will hold up well in the future. The US version was corny and embarrassing at the start and aged poorly; its nervous "do you like me? Please, please, please like me" neediness --annoying as fuck from the start-- will age even worse in the future. It started as a piece of shit and the bad Snell will always be with it

I watched it back in the day and probably will never watch again. The Uk version was better and had the benefit of brevity, whereas the US one dragged on even after they’d clearly run out of ideas. Brian was much hotter than the greasy, grimy looking lead from the UK QAF but the UK one had Charlie Hunnam who was ridiculously gorgeous.

It would never succeed, because the fascists on the right and the woke on the left would destroy it on social media.

The British version was only one season (plus short add on). The US show was popular for 5 years. Old DL queens never liked it, though., and apparently still don’t.

QAF is back on Showtime for Pride. I missed those boys!

The series was at least worth a couple of theatrical features and then a resurrection with one notable holdout among the cast.

Watching it now (Brian teaches Justin what rimming is) and wondering if it could be made today (Justin gasps as Brian slides it in) in anti-woke, anti-pride 'Murica.

it blew my mind.

"Fellow Travelers" was as close as it gets to "blatant" these days.

Both Hal Sparks and Gale Harold are in their 50s now. Sparks has a kid, and Harrold had to get a restraining order on his ex-girlfriend. Both are active in the LGBT Community.

Twink Twank Twunk.......

It's amazing it lasted five seasons. I miss the early aughts.

Emmett grossed me out but that Matt football guy was fucking sooo hot!

It was basically Melrose Place for gay people. I enjoyed it for what it was. It was entertaining enough.

Emmett was sweet. Good actor. He's done really well since then.

[quote]Were you a fan?Did Hal Sparks or Gale Harrold ever come out?Do you think it would hold up today?

YES! the British show

NO, they are straight losers

NO, times have changed that radically

R58-Wrong- They’re both homosexual.

R58 ya gotta source for that contention? Sparks hmmm. Not sure.

"[Harold's] sexual orientation was the subject of speculation from the public for many years, until Harold finally identified himself as a straight man."

R60- Richard Simmons orientation was the subject of speculation from the public for many years until Richard finally identified himself as a straight man

Hal Sparks is straight. He's always been straight, and given his current position, as a progressive commentator on radio and streaming, I'm sure if he were gay or bisexual he'd simply come out.

He's not some Republican Senator that needs to live a stupid lie until his dying day. He's actually straight.

R62- Richard Simmons is straight. He's always been straight. I'm sure if he were gay or bisexual he would simply come out.

Fine, Hal Sparks is totally like gay y'all and r63 can now check that off his list of things that have to be true for him to get on with his sad and stupid life. Done.

R64- Are you a FRAU?

No, I'm a gay man who believes that Hal Sparks is straight. Is that incomprehensible to you r65? Is that a thing that cannot exist in your worldview? Did it blow your mind in some weird way?

R66- I think ALL of the cast of QAF is queer/gay etc including that big old dyke Sharon Gless.

OT. Sharon and Tyne still hang out together…they both sat behind me at Carole Cook’s memorial.

^^^ And they’re both really nice.

Not sure about the lesbian thing, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Hal has morphed into Tommy Wiseau.

R20, was that episode written by Jonathon Tolins? He was one of the QAF writers who left after the first season, and he went on to write Buyer and Cellar, that very funny play about the guy who worked in Barbra's personal Mall.

Ted was in-fucking-tolerable

I did find Gale H hot

R70 Yes. It´s Episode 6 from season1 and Jonathon Tolins is credited as writer.

Now you own me a signed copy of Barbras bio for checking this info out for you.

QAF was ALL WHITE therefore it was racist, therefore it needs to be cancelled ( if it wasn't already off the air for 19 years)

This show was so hot as a teenager. There was a scene where Brian gets a call that his dad has died while he is in the middle of a threesome. The two guys he's with kind of freak out at the news and ask if they should leave, but he tells them not to stop. Fuck that was hot for a teen boy that hated his dad. So wrong in the eyes of America, but so right to me. Came basically on the spot.

There were a lot of little big moments like that in the first season R75.

I remember Brian showing up at his dad's poker game and you could tell he wasn't out to his dad or his dad's friends of course either.

I thought Gale Howard was a revelation. He represented the gay guy we were all hung up on but could never have. In fact, Debbie told Justin's mother (she was great) that everybody wants Brian, but the good news is that nobody can have him.

Brian outing Michael to his coworker at the Big Q to push him away was an act of friendship.

None of it was realistic but looking back neither were my 20s or 30s as a gayling or gayling-adjacent fool who longed after more than his share of Brian's.

It was all a fantasy.

Gale HAROLD

Sorry it's late.

I loved it at the time, very ground breaking to show that on cable when nothing else went that far. Especially male nude sex scenes.

I hated the British version, those people who keep trash talking the American version are just bitchy little snobs.

The original British version was much better and, as mentioned, Ted was the hottest guy in the American show.

r78, the UK version is probably technically better in terms of writing or whatever, but the US version was "hotter", slicker, and sluttier, which is all that mattered to gay teen me. I do know they made Justin a bit older in the US version so as to not shock the prudes too much, but he was still a minor when it started, so seemed relatable. .

R80 nailed it.

The episodes with Matt Battaglia were hot.

^^^^

Wait.

[quote]Ted was the hottest guy on the U.S. show

Ummmmm...no way.

Sorry second hottest; the boyfriend of whats his face the comic book nerd was the hottest.

I enjoyed QaF when I watched it as a young teenager. I think I mostly saw it as a show about hot men who went out to a massive nightclub seven nights a week and fucked other hot men. I was easily impressed, my other favorite show was Nip/Tuck. I didn't really notice how cheesy and heavy-handed QaF was. I've never revisited the show because I'm certain I would hate it.

The creators of QAF were surprised how popular it was, especially with women. It opened a lot of minds to be more sympathetic since the characters were so appealing. The actors were surprised too and the attention was a little overwhelming for Gale Harold & Randy Harrison.

R87- Now they must find it overwhelming that they're forgotten.

The father from Eight Is Enough once said- You're only as successful as the show you're on.

Peter Paige, Randy Harrison, and Robert Gant were the only out gays.

[quote]I do know they made Justin a bit older in the US version so as to not shock the prudes too much, but he was still a minor when it started

Not in Britain. 16 is the age of consent there.

Oh please.

This show was created to serve as an alternative to porn. Night time HBO shows in the 90s and 2000s were soft core porn disguised as TV shows.

I genuinely think most people watched it to jerk off before they go to bed and didn’t have access to VHS / DVD porn and dial up internet was too expensive to go porn surfing for an hour.

HBO had to keep up with and compete with the Skinemax and Showtime porn.

R91-= Too bad I didn't find ANY of the guys on QAF hot enough to masturbate to.

R92 - perpetually hard to please....

What was the deal with the final season? It was so grim and unfun.

Michael, Mel and Lindsay were all engulfed in a custody battle. Hunter reconnected with his hustler friends and ran away. Brian caught syphilis. Michael's comic book store was vandalized by bigots. Justin was a cunt to his mom, who had been nothing but supportive to him, for having a younger boyfriend. Mel and Lindsey moved to Canada to escape the homophobia in the U.S. And Babylon was bombed.

If memory serves, the only fun (albeit ridiculous) storyline was Brian's contest with the new hot guy in town to top the 10 hottest bottoms in Pittsburgh.

R94, I was watching out of nostalgia towards the end.

Frankly, the show lost me after Season 1.

I was a HUGE David and Michael fan. David was a sexy chiropractor who had his own home and doted on Michael. Chirs Potter was too fine and too sexy for Michael NOT to leave Brian in the dust.

I would have moved with him to Seattle and never looked back. Bring Debby to live nearby at some point. But that's it. Christmas cards and emails. Reconnect with the guys when Facebook rolled around.

David was everything that one could want, IMHO.

I liked Brian Kinney, he was a smart ass and made me laugh.

Gale Harold couldn't dance for shit.

I loved Chris Potter in the first season.

I thought the actress who played Melanie was the best actor in the cast. The rest were kind of one note but she was very appealing and made Melanie tough but surprisingly sweet.

I loved it when Mel would go off on Brian.

She blasted him once, calling him a faggot -- and it's not because you suck dick! It's because you're ...I forget the rest but she went after his character; not his liking dick.