Hal Sparks - Worst actor ever cast in a long running series

He was cute and one of the few "names" they could get back then. And let's be honest, it wasn't like the rest of the cast was much better. It's not surprising they all fell back into obscurity after the show.

I agree with R1. The acting in the American series was horrible.

The British one was much better. The US version was just a soap opera with the occasional hard hitting storyline.

The only great actor on the show was Sharon Gless.

[quote]The acting in the American series was horrible.

[quote]The only great actor on the show was Sharon Gless.

Gale Harold did a pretty good job playing an object of gay male sexual obsession.

They all stunk. Only watched for the sex.

I liked Sparks. Hated Gale and Randy. Every character was just a stereotype played melodramatically. Gale was pretty no doubt but not believable as a lead gay man. I actually thought Sparks was gay in real life. His acting was that good. Gless was often annoying. The lesbian couple were annoying. Sparks boyfriend with aids was insanely hot. At least he was a sister IRL.

As noted, the biggest problem with QaF/US wasn't the acting, it was the incompetent scriptwriters who turned everyone & everything into a trite, 2-dimensional politically-correct stereotype.

I liked him too.

I liked his acting in QAF and thought he was a great commentator in all those VH-1 specials. From what I’ve seen of his stand-up, however, he is a terrible comedian.

R6 is true. Sparks actually seemed believable playing a gay man, albeit a more accurately a manboy. I would say that goes double for Scott Lowell, who couldn’t have been more charming and painfully-real as Ted despite being the epitome of straight normy in real life. It was Harold & Harrison dragging it down.

And yes, the British original drama series is superior by far. They aren’t even comparable, really.

I bought Sparks Charmageddon on DVD and I like pretty much all of his stand up routine. The women go crazy for him in it. He was still very sexy at that point. He is not much to look at these days. He aged poorly. But I find him very charming. At least he is original and not a hack like pig-face Schumer.

He played the dad in the rather annoying Disney show Lab Rats which ran for at least 4 seasons. The show was notable for rather sexy muscle teens (at least towards the end of the series) Spencer Boldman and Billy Unger. As neither could sing, both have fallen off the map these days. Disney kids either become pop stars or bust (generally speaking anyways..).

Oh, and he wasn't that hot anymore either (cute but nothing special). Back on QAF, he was really gorgeous, but his "stud" phase didn't last that long.

He was a putz. I always hated him.

I liked him and thought he was much better than Gale and Randy.

Lab Rats was terrible. Sad that is all he could get for acting gigs. Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers.

At the time, the representation of gay people on TV was so sparse that friends of mine praised it and had viewing parties to watch it. I thought it was a vapid, silly show full of the sound and fury, but signifying nothing.

Yeah, the show was bad. And he can't act. But he was cute.

The way he's slandered his role and the series in subtle ways since the show was on I can imagine that he took an attitude on set during his time there. He repeatedly said things that said in essence, "I'm nothing like the queer I play on TV, I'm only doing it for the money and hate every minute of it".

Good lord I hope this look is/was for a role and not a conscious personal choice.

Obscenely long tongue.

He was a detraction from that show, I felt. I squirmed at his scenes.

QAF was an awful show, but it was all we had... Pittsburgh itself was miscast. They should have just made it Toronto. The characters were not cool enough to be New Yorkers -- less sophisticated gays. That was unusual to me, at that time only knowing the very sophisticated gays of New York City. (I am partially kidding, but you know what I mean.)

I thought Sparks was glaringly awful.

He just came off as mentally challenged rather than naive.

I thought Gale Harold did a great job and was believable in his role as a "str8-acting" top who fucked his way through life. Not easy to play a stereotypical douchebag-with-a-heart-of-gold, but I thought he did a solid job and he looked great with his clothes off.

Ditto Scott Lowell, who, as poster above noted, was a very convincing gay shlub.

And yes, the scripts were cringeworthy soap opera garbage, and the fans were all fraus who still come on to DL to insist that Harold and Harrison were actually having sex.

And the sex scenes were hot but seemed bolted on rather than intrinsic to the story line, like "and now that you're enjoying this show about homosexuals, here's five minutes of them having sex."

Though that's with 15 years distance. At the time, I could not get enough of them.

Funny too, I once saw an interview with the creators, a gay couple, and they really thought they had created art.

That scene where Hal's bf on the show fucks him was hot.

He commented at every opportunity on how much he hated doing the "intimate" scenes on QAF.. Yeah, we get it you little stud, you're 100% heterosexual man. Bitch please. I'll bet his tongue has permanent dick burn.

Hal was a fun host of E!'s "Talk Soup" -

My ranking of the US QaF cast, from lowest to highest:

- The lesbian couple (can't even remember their names). No disrespect to the actresses, it's just that the characters were so boring that I never really paid attention to them. I generally fast-forwarded their scenes

- Michael

- Ted

- Vic

- Justin

- Emmett

- Ben

- Brian

- Debbie (controversial, probably, but there you go)

Poor Hal. Google Alerts is a killer.

When I first found DL, threads about Gale Harold were pretty much a constant feature of DL.

Through them I learned that there is still an army of frauen who are obsessed with the US version of this show, stalking the seemingly shy and private Harold endlessly online and via various FB groups and fan boards. And of course the requisite fan fiction.

When he was on Talk Soup I was sure he was gay, and he had the cutest twink face. When he was cast on Queer as Folk I was not a bit surprised (since I thought he was gay, or at least bi). But then on QAF he did sex scenes, and I got to see him with no clothes on, and that made my dick go limp. He was not sexy, and his character was such a loser. I'm sure he still gets work, but he'll never do anything as high profile as QAF ever again.

No he has not gotten anything better than Lab Rats. He looks terrible so who cares.

A good few years back now I was watching LAB RATS with my 10y.o. niece, and until said niece informed me otherwise I thought Hal Sparks’ character and the one playing his brother were meant to be husbands.

He’s got a brilliant name for an actor, whatever else we can say about him. It’s snazzy, and original.

[Quote] The way he's slandered his role and the series in subtle ways since the show was on I can imagine that he took an attitude on set during his time there. He repeatedly said things that said in essence, "I'm nothing like the queer I play on TV, I'm only doing it for the money and hate every minute of it".

Yes, his nonstop qualifying of his reasons for doing the show ("THE MONEY!!!! ONLY THE MONEY!!! UGH, I HATE KISSING MEN! YUCK!!!") was made me hate Hal Sparks to this day.

The word "douchebag" personified.

OP. I stayed home from work this week sick as hell. Went down a QAF rabbit hole. The acting and story lines were soooooooo bad. But I had to keep hate watching it. How did it stay on so long?? The scenes are so laughable. Also Brian doing that pride bike ride?? Right. If he was such an iconoclast, he would never do anything like that. Ben was hot but that looow voice acting technique is crap.

Hate him

There was a recent thread about how wealthy are working actors and when have they “made it” or make ends meet something to that effect. A person like Hal Sparks is someone who I wouldn’t know how he pays the bills in an expensive city like LA. I wouldn’t think he’d have become rich off of Talk Soup 20 years ago or on an ensemble cable show like QAF. I don’t know what Lab Rats is but it must pay the bills.

The show sucked generally, esp. after they exhausted the plotlines from the British original which was much better done.

Lab Rats only lasted 4 seasons and it was a Disney kids show. I'm sure he made OK money, but he's not going to be purchasing a Malibu beach house any time soon...

I didn't know he also sang. Not my kind of music but I have heard way worse.

What’s the deal with Stephanie Miller? He was on her show constantly, and then abruptly cut ties. Since then she has referred obliquely to a close friend who scammed her. Assuming it is Sparks, can anyone confirm details?

I did not know that Hal Sparks was a great singer. Someone mentioned on YT that Randy did as well. Not a bad voice.

Actors who have worked on Disney projects have said repeatedly that no one gets rich working for Disney.

You guys are jelous. I've never seen such resentment written. It's clear you want him and are mad because you know you can never havve him.

If he hadn't stupidly made all the disparaging comments about working on a gay show everyone would love him. But he showed his true colors and now has to pay. That's life.

Some people are outspoken and give no fucks what others think. I am sure he is doing fine.

[quote]I did not know that Hal Sparks was a great singer.

Where in the world did you get that idea?

With just minor personal style changes he could be very cute again. It's always surprising to me when these really nice looking guys coming up through the movie/TV/music industries and look so wholesome and nice before they get to a certain level of fame. And then all of a sudden they decide to reinvent themselves and end up looking like trash. It's as if the fame drives them nuts and cutting their hair like idiots, growing all sorts of silly facial hair, getting covered in tats, and wearing comical clothing is the result. Some of them eventually grow out of the stupidity and go back to looking normal once they reach a certain age. But I think those in the music industry are the ones who are more apt to keep up with ridiculous styling well into old age. So many musicians seem to think dressing and styling themselves to look like a 25 year old when they're in their 60's and 70's hides their real age are the saddest of the sad IMNSHO.

Hal was very appealing and warm and uninhibited on QAF. I thought he was queer as well. Certainly doesn't look like he is miserable doing the role. He seems pretty comfortable in the characters skin.

I have to wonder if people assuming he must be homo is what made him start whining about having to have pretend sex with guys. It's amazing how stupid straight men can get if they think others think they might be gay.

He was cute when he was young but not now as he approaches 50.

Did Sparks ever go naked on QAF? I only remember one scene where he was in black briefs, but nothing more.

About as close...

I seem to remember some Michael butt shots, but it's been years since I watched the show so I'm not totally sure.

I think they all did a lot of nudity: Gale the most, of course. I wonder if he got tired of being used as the Producer's personal sex puppet by the end.

I had sex with Hal in 2000, prior to QAF airing after meeting him on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. He was sexy, funny, passionate, uninhibited and it was some of the best sex I'd ever had up to that time. Very versatile, too. A really nice memory.

Yeah right.

(R58) Fortunately I have pictures of the day we spent together, including lunch at The Silver Spoon in West Hollywood.

I met Randy a couple of years ago here in Brooklyn and when I asked him if it was him he reluctantly said yes and was very standoffish. Like he hated the show.

R57/R59 is a woman.

She forgot to tell you that.

IIRC, there was tension between Harold/Harrison and Sparks during the show, mostly coming from the latter.

Harold and Harrison saw themselves as serious actors, had signed on for what they thought would be breakthrough career-making roles in a critically acclaimed breakthrough series (as the UK version of the show was for Aiden Gillum and Charlie Hunnam) and suddenly found themselves on a bad soap opera with seemingly mandatory sex scenes and a whole army of crazed frau stans stalking them and claiming they were sleeping together IRL.

Sparks was a standup comedian with no pretensions of being an actual actor, who couldn't believe his luck at landing this major Showtime series. He wanted the gravy train to go on as long as possible, and Harold/Harrison wanted a better show. When Sparks realized that meant the gravy train might end, he was not happy and started feuding with them.

Sparks acting is horrible compared to the rest of the cast, he comes off as special needs and to OP's point it really stands out.

Actors are not famous for getting along. Your theory is crap. Sometimes people just hate each other, so what. Doesn't have to be a reason for it.

Has he ever Ben married? Link with a love interest that had a vagina?

(R64) Sparks has never been married but has a child.

[quote] If he hadn't stupidly made all the disparaging comments about working on a gay show everyone would love him. But he showed his true colors and now has to pay. That's life.

I can't believe people don't remember how homophobic he was on Talk Soup. He's a bad comic, and bad comics always rely heavily on homophobic humor. The only reason he ended up on a gay show was because the loser was desperate for a steady paycheck.

(R61) I had better not be a woman. As far as I know, I have been a man for the 54 years of my life.

Having sex with a D list celeb is not a big deal but what is? Sizemeat. Was he well hung? Girthy? Cut or uncut? Spill, Mr sister.

Sparks has never been married but has a child.

Wonder which adoption agency he used.

(R68) Not having measured him, I would guess that he was about 7 inches. I based that on the fact that I am about 6.25 inches and he was longer. Very thick, mushroom head and great bush!!! Very verbal and exceptionally good with few boundaries.

I still remember him on The Tonight Show promoting one of the new seasons and him continuously mentioning how straight he is. It was obnoxious

Wasn't really a theory R63 as much as the gossip that was floating around at the time.

It also doesn't preclude what you said-- they probably did not like each other and when the leads started pushing back against the producers, it just created another point of conflict.

R70 Thanks for sharing. Mushroom heads are always nice.

I'd like to know why Sparks isn't on Stephanie Miller's show too, but mostly I'm just grateful he is since I live in a city now I can listen to Stephanie's show every morning. It's a lot of fun, she's intelligent and funny and has great bumper music.

He ISN'T I mean, always hate that irritating little shrimp.

(R74) His cock isn't irritating or little!! :)

Stephanie Miller does big comedy shows a few times most years. She's able to sell out decently large theaters. She used to bring along John Fugelsang and Hal Sparks. Both of them appeared on her show as well. Apparently Stephanie's comedy tour shows were bringing in good money so Hal demanded he should get more money or he was out. I'm guessing he lost so he stopped associating with Stephanie. this happened about 4 or 5 years ago I think.

Sparks was visiting a neighbor in my complex once (a Lab Rats "star" lived in my building for a while). He still looked pretty good for his age, but obviously different than he did during his sex symbol years. This was about 5/6 years ago. His primary focus was on his band then - at leas that was what I was told. I had sort of forgotten all about him since QAF ended. Supposedly he doesn't drink, take drugs, etc. - a stark contrast to some of his younger co-stars on that show.

He looks more stereotypically gay in the image at R11 than he ever did on the show.

r78 his younger co-star is just Randy Harrison. Others are around the same age.

Was there ever any Hal Sparks nudity?

What was his cock like?

Did anyone actually the fey men of QAF were sex symbols? I never understood the DL frau obsession that fan amuck here years ago about Gale Harold either. Was his dated Matchbox Twenty look considered hot back then?

I don’t think any of the main actors ever showed their cocks.

I was smitten with the accountant.

I only remember seeing Emmett's cock in a locker room scene. I don't think we ever saw any of the other actors' dicks sadly.

Was Emmett uncircumcised? He struck me as a country guy

The show def was terrible but awesome all the same.

I thought Scott Lowell was actually one of the weakest actors in the show, but man, he was hot and also did full-frontal on the show, so he was forgiven. Peter Paige, who did even more full-frontal on the show, was probably the best of the male leads acting-wise. Haven't seen him in anything for years. I thought he was very talented.

Gale should have had a fantastic career after QAF.

Why r88? He was playing a gay man. Things then weren’t as acceptable

Holy shit, Hal Sparks has NOT aged well at all. He was so cute back then, but yikes.

That the show sucked, had terrible acting, ridiculous storylines, unlikeable characters (especially the shrill lesbian couple), and was vastly inferior to the British series (which, like the British Office, ran considerably less time and had tighter stories) goes without saying.

But what I've never understood was the Debbie love. Sharon Gless is a fine actress and I mean her no disrespect, but that "Rah rah rah PFLAG Mother-Hen-To-All-Gays" routine was cringey and way over the top to the point of being patronizing. I wouldn't be able to tolerate someone like that for five minutes in real life. She was as embarrassing as the rest of the lot.

I will say I liked the actress who played the blond teenager's (Justin?) mom. Unlike most of the characters on this show, her acting was pretty good and there was character arc. She came off as someone from a conservative background dealing with their son being gay in a credible way. One of the only things the show did right.

R89 He was such a stand out in the role. I think he’s a good actor but for some reason didn’t have the drive to take his career to the next level.

QAF US was a pretty terrible show looking back on it now all these years later, but to give it credit at the time it was on the air it was very ground breaking. R91 Sherry Miller is the actress who played Justin's mother and I agree she was a good actress and I actually really liked her character and was disappointed she was largely dropped from the show after season 2 only making the occasional appearance. In fact, I though the characters and actors who played the supporting roles were far better then most of the lead characters: Uncle Vic, Debbie and Justin's Mom. Although Hal Sparks was pretty terrible on the show, for some reason I thought Thea Gill was the worst actor of the entire cast!

It's common knowledge that there was tension between Gale/Randy/Hal for most of the show's run. Hal was fairly open, until recently, about his dislike for both Gale and Randy though I think he disliked Randy more. My understanding based on a few things that have been said by producers Daniel Lipman and Ron Cowen, it seems that Gale and Hal butted heads over who the star of the show was (despite the fact it was really an ensemble show). As for Randy, based on how much he has distanced himself from the show and the few comments he's given about it over the years, I think he was well aware that the show was crap and if I remember correctly, he tired to negotiate his way out of his contract after season 4 which was one of the reasons season 5 almost didn't happen.

Scott Lowell made an appearance at a NYC gay pride event when QAF was still on the air. No one paid him any mind as he took the stage, and I remember feeling bad for him as the attendees just continued to talk amongst themselves. He was the Ernie Hudson of QAF.

R95 Scott Lowell is one of those guys who is not unattractive but not attractive either. Actually honestly, none of the guys on QAF were really all that amazing looking. Robert Gant was the best looking one. Although Randy Harrison looks like he hasn't aged a day.

I am not into twinks so he did nothing for me at the time, but Charlie Hunnam (the "Justin" of the British series--forgot the character's name) grew up nice. Very hot daddy now.

And it was weird watching Little Finger in Game of Thrones (he was the Gale Harold character of the British series, and even less attractive than Harold).

Another fun fact about those who didn't watch the British series. The Ted character OD'd and died in the very first episode. I think it was the same setup they used in the American verson (him doing GHB or meth or something with a trick), only--boom--the character was dead and that was it.

The Brits don't mess around. They tell a story and things end. They don't run shit into the ground like US shows do. It gives things a certain gravitas knowing even someone who seems like they will be a regular can just die and be gone, and that even a highly rated popular show can be on just 1 or 2 seasons and that's it.

The one notable and embarrassing exception to my rule in R97 is the way Jennifer Saunders drags out the dead carcass of AbFab every few years and shits all over its memory.

Those original 3 years are comedy gold. Every revival has been crap. She needs to leave it alone.

[quote]. It gives things a certain gravitas knowing even someone who seems like they will be a regular can just die and be gone

That pretty much describes every series on HBO/Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/Showtime over the past 5 years, Game of Thrones being the easiest example

Jesus, r90, what did he do to his lips?!

I hated his character. And it sounded like he was jealous of Gale & Randy’s popularity at the time.

He was always making sure to let the world know he was such a good man cause he is straight playing gay. He made sure in every interview to announce his heterosexuality.

I liked Hal and Gale, but still can't stand Randy. His character is so over confident, and pushy. It gets old after a while.

I would have loved a Black or Latin hypermasculine character to put Brian in his place.

r103 i said the same thing... Brian needed a man of color that is hyper masculine to get him in check, cause none of those prissy boys were gonna do it.

Did Hal had some work done?

Look who showed up on Criminal Minds a few days ago.

Binge-watched this a few years back on YouTube as I was too young at the time it aired.

Agree with OP that Sparks was a horrible actor., far, far worse than anyone else in what quickly became a soap opera. Wasn't really his fault as he was a standup comic who would probably have been fine on a Fully House style sitcom, but every time he came on it seemed like a character from a different series wandered onto the set and he came off as special needs and you wondered why any of them were friends with him other than pity or fear of the overbearing mother.

I thought the rest of the cast was fine, Harold actually had his moments, all the "acting with his looks" stuff and Gless was way too over the top too and annoying AF.

It was interesting for me to see that they portrayed a range of levels of masculinity/heteronormativity, as most TV shows (Modern Family, Will and Grace) still portray gay men as minstrelly mincers (or the joke is "Ha! He's gay! But you'd never know it! (Brooklyn 99). So props to QAF for managing to get that right.

After bingeing, I looked into it a bit and found out that:

* Battle between Sparks and Harold/Harrison was because (a) Sparks was supposed to be the star but Harold had an army of mad fraus who were in love with him and made him the focus of their attention.

* Harold/Harrison also pushed back on producers to stop making the show suck so much with corny soap opera plots and then decided to end the show after 5 seasons, but Sparks just wanted to keep the gravy train going and was pissed. (Harold/Harrison were actors and thought the show would be as good as UK series and thus good for their careers. Sparks was a stand-up, he just wanted paychecks and residuals.)

* There is still a small army of fraus who are obsessed with the show and with Harold and Harrison. Some of these fraus believe that Harold (hetero) and Harrison (homo) were a couple during the show and after and have all sorts of Pizzagate-level theories on that, many of which were once shared on a gay message board called Datalounge ;)

* Harold (was was hot AF 20 years ago when he was in the show, IMO) had a post-QAF career and a good role on Desperate Housewives, but was in a bad motorcycle accident which seems to have derailed his career. (Most of you probably knew that already.)

I'm surprised Showtime doesn't try and do a reboot given all the other crap from that era that's being rebooted.

Harrison does not like this show. I met him. He was less than enthused when I asked him about it.

r98, the AbFab movie did well and got good reviews and Jennifer says that was the end of AbFab. Luckily they got it done before any of the main cast died. I agree the other revivals weren't that good, but they were sporadically funny and I liked seeing the characters again.

Can you blame him R107?

You're a DLer --he gets big time stalked by crazy fan-fraus who insist he's been banging Harold for 20 years. I'd hate the show too

R109 yeah he was buying ink in the store I manage and I was standing by when he asked for help to get the ink (which is locked). I recognized him and smiled and said, sorry to bother you but are you Randy Harrison from QAF?

He made a face and said yes. I said I just want you to know I watched the show recently on Netflix and liked it a lot. It was fun and ahead of its time. He said cool in a snappy tone. I then asked if he still speaks to the guy who played Brian Kinney and he rolled his eyes and said no then asked to be rung up. I sent him to the cashier and never saw him again lmao.

Matt Battaglia was the hottest guy on the show.

Can you blame him though R110? Those fraus probably harass any boyfriends he's ever had because they think he and Harold are supposed to be together to make the slash fic true and so he wasn't going to talk to some random stranger about the show.

What's sad is the our own board is where a lot of that harassment seems to start --the QAF actors are just two of many.

People like R110 are precisely the reason actors get snippy with fans.

He was there to buy ink, not get quizzed by TMZ.

It would annoy the fuck out of me too.

Took a trip to the wilds of Bucks County Pa and saw Randy as Frank-N-Furter to Nick Adams' Rocky. He did well, a fine time was had by all.

I neither loved nor hated Hal Sparks or anyone else in the show. The storylines were very soapy, but that's what I expected from the men who brought us Sisters. I was mad about either Brian Kinney or Gale Harold, and am surprised Gale didn't go on to a bigger TV career, if only on one of the procedurals.

No superlatives in either direction for me.

R113 he’s a public figure. It comes with the job.

One of my friends used to point out that no one over 25 who was a gay man watched the show, because it was so bizarrely inaccurate; its audience was either teen gaybies who wondered what life would be like when they were were adults and needed SOMETHING to imagine, or women who were obsessed with gay men.

I didn't realize until today that Hal was born in my city (Cincinnati) and Randy attended college here. Anyway, even during the show's initial run, I watched pretty regularly, but thought it wasn't very good, and always had trouble putting my finger on what was wrong with it. I just wanted to see some gay representation on TV, so there wasn't much else for me.

R117-- this is R106.

When I was doing my "research" online after watching QAF, I was surprised that the majority of the fan base seemed to be female, that the sex scenes were aimed at the female viewers and that the current fan base is like 99% female, all those women keeping blogs and LiveJournals and Tumblrs and crushing on a 20 year old photo of Harold and Harrison. A lot of them are from outside the US too, where the show is only available on DVD.

I'm curious what you found inaccurate about the series? One criticism I'd seen was that the world it portrayed no longer existed in the early 00s, that it seemed to be set in the 70s or 80s when gay men's lives revolved around going to discos, rather than in the early 00s. And that Pittsburgh never had any kind of gay scene or gay ghetto.

I have a friend who was a writer on the show for one of the early seasons. He said the showrunners were Baby Boomers who came of age in the early 70s and thought gay men still talked and behaved like they did then; he himself came of age in the late 80s, and when he tried to make the dialogue more up to date, the showrunners would get angry with him. They were so unpleasant he finally quit after one season.

He also said the showrunners and the network made several disastrous choices, such as setting it in Pittsburgh (which they thought would best approximate the UK show's setting in Manchester--the important thing about Manchester, however, was that it is one of the largest cities and is more blue-collar than London, NOT that it is a manufacturing city--they would have been much better choosing Chicago over Pittsburgh), and casting Gale Harold as Brian (they thought he would appeal to women and thought that casting what the part really called for--a hunkier, colder handsome guy--would not attract women).

Your friend was wrong. Gale Harold was the best member of the cast.

Thanks R120. Not sure the location mattered to anyone other than Pittsburghers who knew the real deal.

Gale Harold did seem to have strong appeal with women though, didn't he? There are sure a lot of them still obsessed with him. Or was your friend's point that they should have had a guy who appealed more to gay men than to women? I agree with R121 about Harold and thought he did a great job of portraying the Tormented Bastard Who Is Really A Good Guy Deep Down If Only He'd Let Our Hero In that the role seemed to evolve into.

Another plus for Harold was that he looked about 23 when the series started, so the age gap between him and Harrison wasn't as pronounced and creepy as it might have been. Robert Gant is the same age as Harold IIRC and if you think of the visual of him with Harrison, it reads pretty pedo. Harold just looked like a college senior who seduces a freshman.

The show is incredibly dated and basically unwatchable anymore. Harold had the best chance at a post QAF career because he was so charismatic and hot but that went down the toilet. Any attempt at reality on the show was on the surface. When the character of Brian gets cancer, he still looks the same and doesn’t lose his hair or anything! One of many ridiculous things the audience had to endure.

R122 Harold did not look 23.

25 max R124.

He didn't look 30.

Though I would still say 23

He's also an absolute asshole in person. He's been very lucky that his homophobia hasn't gone public.

Def not 23. But 26 or 27. Latter 20s

r127, well he did say kissing a man is like kissing a dog so we kind of knew that already.

LOL. Not sure *I* can always tell the difference between 23 and 26 (and I'm 25) but if it makes you happy.

Point was, the age gap did not look as wide as it did in a certain acronymed movie that gets discussed a whole lot on DL, a movie that also featured a 17 year old getting fucked for the first time by an older guy.

I lived in Toronto while QAF was in production and a number of the cast rented apartments in the same complex of buildings I lived in - for those of who know Toronto it was the Village apartments on the corner of Church/Alexander and Church/Wood. The show was a fixture of Church St. (the gay village in Toronto) and the show was pretty open about letting people watch filming.

Overall I agree that the show suffered from bad writing and mediocre acting, although to be fair the show was very groundbreaking for its time, hell even by today's standards it was shockingly matter of fact about its depictions of gay sex. As for the cast, it was very hard to cast the show. According to the show's producers very few agents would send their clients to read for the show which is why the ended up with mostly unknown actors. But in the defense of the actors, there's only so much you can do with bad writing. Like how many times did the main lesbian couple on the show breakup? Although I do think the later seasons of the show were much better than the earlier years. I agree with what some others have said that it was actually the supporting actors who were the strongest as opposed to the leads.

About Randy Harrison, it's no secret that he was never happy on the show and I think this was the source of tension between and Hal Sparks. I think Hal become from more of a standup background wanted to milk this gig for all he could, while Harrison was a more "artistic actor" who didn't like being part of something he didn't fell was quality. Randy has stated in interviews one of his issues with the show was the Brian/Justin story line. He was of the opinion that Justin should have moved on and grown up. Indeed, he's on record as saying that he hopes Brian and Justin never got back together. Also Randy's desire to leave the show was one of the reasons there wasn't a sixth season despite the fact that most of the cast had signed on for one. Randy made it clear he didn't want to return and Showtime, who also was also worried that with both QAF and the L-Word they were becoming the 'gay' network, decided it was time to cancel the show.

That’s too bad they didn’t do another season. They could have written Justin out.

While I will admit the show was terrible, poorly plotted, poorly acted, and that the storylines were often not even fun in a campy way, I will give it credit for actually showing gay men being physically affectionate and sexual.

You can't say the same for shows like Will & Grace or Modern Family, whose gay characters are neutered stereotypes created for fraus who want a gay man as a pet but are quick to clutch their pearls when we talk about our sex lives.

Didn't he go on to say how he hated and was reviled by the gay stuff? Said kissing a man was like kissing a dog or something.

R133 I agree that despite it's bad writing full of cliches and repetitive story lines, QAF was a groundbreaking and pivotal show in that it gave very frank depictions of gay and lesbian men engaged in physical relationships. Also, I do think it played a role in moving forward the gay rights agenda. QAF had has a huge straight female following which played a role in changing perceptions of gay relationships. There had been nothing like it before, and really nothing like it since. Take HBO's Looking while better written than QAF, it was no where near the in your face sexuality of QAF.

R132 While I think the show could have gone on without Justin, I understand why Showtime might have been wary of the idea given that the Brian/Justin relationship was viewed as the central relationship on the show. While it's true Randy Harrison wanted out although I think he was locked into a six year contract, the main reason that the show went 5 seasons instead of 6 was due to money. The Canadian dollar was nearly on par with the American dollar towards the end of the show's run causing a surge in production costs and with slumping cable subscriptions, Showtime decided it had to cut some of its original programming so QAF was cancelled as it was the most expensive show on the network at that point. There is also a rumor (perpetuated by the show's producers) that with the launch of The L Word (which was getting higher ratings that QAF) the network didn't want two gay shows on the air because they didn't want to be seen as the 'gay network'

[quote]Take HBO's Looking while better written than QAF, it was no where near the in your face sexuality of QAF.

Jonathan Groff's asshole begs to differ. (Or was it his partner's asshole?)

They showed hole on Looking?

Not the actual hole, r137. Someone's face while he was being rimmed.

R137 not hole, but Jonathan Groff goes face first in this actor's ass. Looking had it's moments, but QAF was more sexual but Looking was the better written show.

What R131 says about the Harrison/Harold vs Sparks dynamic is in line with what I learned as well. Seems fairly logical too--that two relatively intelligent actors were unhappy with soap opera-ish story lines while the stand-up comic was happy about getting on a TV gravy train.

Producers were pretty upfront about how hard it was to cast the show and how most agents/actors didn't want to go near it.

One other thing I thought was groundbreaking (may have said this earlier) was that is portrayed the normal range or masc/femme personalities: Harold and Gant's characters were fairly masculine/alpha, Sparks and Lowell were kind of nerdy betas but not swish or femme, Harrison was slightly femme and Paige was very femme.

Compare that to all the minstrels like Modern Family and W&G.

About the fraus: they are still obsessed with the show and the actors. It must be weird AF for Gale Harold to see these women posting and swooning over shirtless photos of him from almost 20 years ago. But countless frau-authored fan fiction and discussion of the plot lines and all that online. (They are most unhappy with the ending it seems that had Brian and Justin splitting up.)

Just goes to show you the power of a good soap opera.

(Also-- the sex on Looking seemed to be more integrated into the plot. On QAF it was frequently extraneous--we're going to open with Brian and Justin fucking, the we'll get back to the story, which has nothing to do with the sex scene you just saw.)

R140 I agree that the sex on QAF was often just there to be "provocative" rather than adding anything to the story. Although, I think in the later seasons they cut back on the sex and focused more on the characters.

I've tried watching the show again in the years since it went off the air but I've never been able to get back into it. It's really a product of its time. That being said, it would be super easy to reboot or revive if it. It would be cool to see Netflix do something with it.

Here is the official EW reunion from earlier this year. Thea Gill comes off as a serious bitch in this which surprises me.

r142 she married (or partnered) to a woman now apparently.

Interesting R142.

The cast comes off as largely introspective and intelligent, Gale Harold far more so than I would have thought.

Sparks looks like Billie Jean King in the 80s, but the rest have all aged well.

But the two showrunners. LOL. They really believe they've created a work of art on the order of Shakespeare and not a corny soap opera.

I hated Hal Sparks character (completely not believable ) and I also didn't like Randy's Justin character. Sharon Gless was crazy PFLAG mom. I liked her so much in Cagney and Lacy that it just didn't work for me in this setting Why did I watch?. Because that's what we did when gathering with friends at that time, I suppose.

The worst actor on QAF was not Sparks, it was Peter Page.

I don't think it's true that Randy Harrison wants nothing to do with the show. He continues to make regular appearances at QAF reunions/conventions though I'm sure some of it is financial because actors get paid to make appearances (ask Star Trek actors many of whom make their living just from doing conventions). That being said he was clearly unhappy with the writing on the show and there was issues between him, Gale and Hal.

Here's the thing, overall QAF is an otherwise forgettable show. There is not a single episode I can remember as standing out nor do I really remember any major story lines. The only reason the show is remembered or was a big deal back in the day is because there had never been anything like it on American TV before. The show's lasting legacy is the fact that it paved the way for more inclusive and sexually explicit shows.

The is probably the worst-written drama in the history of television.

Hal Sparks looks like he's transitioning in that video.

The British version was so good and the American version was dumbed down for American flyover audiences. It's a shame, because it could have been truly good.

It was good enough for the time.

[quote]The worst actor on QAF was not Sparks, it was Peter Page.

Sparks and Paige both did a great job. Are they super talented thespians? Maybe not, I don't really care. They both were very likable in their roles in a soapy drama show. I loved the show, warts and all. After all there haven't been that many shows focusing mainly on gay issues, and QAF was absolutely perfect for what it did. When the show aired I lived in a small town with practically no gay scene at all so watching it really meant a lot. And yes, I can totally see why some people hate the show, but if you set your expectations straight it was a nice experience.

I must admit I was annoyed by Sparks's seemingly slightly homophobic comments about kissing other men etc. when the show was airing but then again since I've had my share of pocket gays and pocket hets I know that growing up as a smaller guy can be quite emasculating, and for some it means trying to prove their worth in various ways. Still, Sparks did a good job playing a totally nice and cute gay guy.

That scene of Hal getting plowed by Ben (when they are interrupted by bitches at the door) is hot AF.

How about being grateful there were gay people (and fucking. no less) on TV finally.

A day later and still LMAO at how much the two creators really believe they've written something at the level of Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams, e.g., a show for the ages, in the link at R142

This show used to infuriate me because it could have been a great show if the writing hadn't been so bad and the acting so mediocre. It still pisses me off. So I blame those two show runners first of all.

R143 Yes, Thea pulled a Cynthia Nixon and started dating a very butch lesbian 5 years ago.

Somewhere on YouTube there is an interview with Peter Paige and the show's producers where they talk very frankly about why QAF only lasted 5 seasons despite being the network's highest rated scripted show. The major reason was that between the 2nd and 3rd season, all of the lead actor's contracts had to be renegotiated because Showtime had reduced the episode order from 20 to 14 and without changing the terms of the contracts, they would have been obligated to pay actors for 20 episodes even though only 14 would be filmed. During the renegotiation, all the actors contracts were reduced to 5 years instead of the original 6, so if the show had been renewed for season 6 they would have had to renegotiate again and Showtime felt they couldn't afford the entire cast at higher salaries. The producers were given the option to either continue the show but cut the main cast in half or the show could be cancelled.

Wasn’t there a storyline in which Peter Paige’s character becomes a popular internet porn model? That was the biggest eye roll moment of the show.

I have no doubt that Paige is probably a fine actor, but he was awful as Emmet. The overacting was beyond the pale. Maybe because he isn't actually femme, he overdid it so much that it was excruciating to watch. Emmet and Ted were the two characters I absolutely could not stand on that show.

[quote]Hal Sparks - Worst actor ever cast in a long running series

No, that would be Jimmy Smits, and his marble-mouthed way of speaking.

The writing on the show was terrible and it's shown particularly by the fact that they only did 80 some odd episodes and yet they repeated themselves numerous times. For example in the first season Melanie has an affair and Lindsey is deeply hurt. Fast forward a few seasons later, Lindsey has an affair and Melanie is outraged (conveniently forgetting she did the same thing just a few years earlier). How many times was Ted addicted to something? How many times did Brian and Michael have a fight and then were fine by the next episode.

Arrow lead actor

Stephen Amell didn’t come from this show.

Charlie Hunnan was dire in the Brit version of Queer as Folk. Aidan Gillen was fine but the best was the guy who played Stewart ( Stuart?) and I don’t think he’s has their siccess (must Google him). I assume Hunnan has improved.

Sparks is far and away the worst actor on the show for me. He just seemed like a straight guy and was never convincing as a gay man. I’m not surprised he said the gay sex scenes grossed him out - it looked that way.

I thought Gale was great on the show.

Craig Kelly was the third and best QAF UK actor.

And Kelly’s character was called Vince.....

Interesting. Hal Sparks never bothered me at all because I've known nerdy gay guys just like him. It was the over-the-top flamboyance of Peter Paige that made me cringe.

And the "please slap me" face of Ted that made me want to...well...slap him.

Any hole pics?

[quote] One criticism I'd seen was that the world it portrayed no longer existed in the early 00s, that it seemed to be set in the 70s or 80s when gay men's lives revolved around going to discos, rather than in the early 00s.

While certainly not the totality of gay experience, that world absolutely did exist at that time. This is when when circuit parties were at their peak, so, yes, there was a lot partying, drugs, and sex. As for back rooms at clubs, probably not, at least not in North America.

R170 Yes, you're right the circuit party scene was very much at it's height during the late 90s and early 00s. I lived in Toronto during the era the show was filming (i was in my early 20s) and the party scene was still very active at this point, and Church street (the Toronto gay village where much of the show was filmed) was still very lively. I can also confirm there were indeed backrooms in FLY the club in Toronto that was the filming location for Babylon in QAF.

Watching the show now nearly 20 years later, it shows how much has changed both in terms of acceptance and the gay party scene due to technology. On the rare occasion I venture to my present city's gay village it skews much older and many of the clubs i knew in my youth have caved under.

One thing that cracked me up about QAF was that we were supposed to believe that Pittsburgh had this massive gay scene?!

R171, I lived in Toronto at that time, too, although I was in my late 20s. I was back last weekend; my how things have changed.

Good times nonetheless.

R172 I have a lot of great memories along with many "wtf was I thinking" moments too! I only get back Toronto once or twice a year but the Church/Wellsely village has changed so much in 14 years since the show went off the air. It's became far more commercial, expensive and north of Wellsely its become a bit seedy and it does skew to an older crowd as younger people no longer need the bar scene to meet or hookup.

It's official, Bravo is rebooting Queer as Folk. It will be totally new take and based on the British version with no reference to the American one.