Queer As Folk

US version devolved into a soap opera with a large female following. It was also the first show on TV to show two men actually fucking, though the random gratuitous sex scenes quickly made the whole show seem like soft core porn.

Neither version would get made today because of the age gap between the two central characters.

In the US he was a 17 year old high school senior dating a 30 year old ad exec, in the UK version IIRC, he was only 15.

The same frauen who obsess over Chalamet and Hammer once infested this board with all sorts of crazed rumors and stalking adventures about Gale Harold and Randy Harrison, the US leads.

I thought Gale Harold was hot AF, some DLers do not agree, the fact that he looked to be about 24 when he was actually 30 IRL and in the show helped mitigate the creepiness factor of the age gap.

And despite what we think of it, the show found a huge audience with middle aged frauen. It may have helped shape their attitudes about gays, which is a plus, and it seems that there are women who still obsess about the series and the actors, who are all now in their 50s.

^^One other plus for the series is that it showed a range of behavior in the gay characters--some were very masculine where you'd never realize they were gay, some were flaming and some were in between.

This was a huge breakthrough as gays had previously only been portrayed as sad clowns (Will and Grace) or The Most Masculine Guy In The World Ever, No Really, You'd Never Guess He Was Gay.

I think the UK version was also criticized for the sex scenes. In the first episode, there is two men fucking and in another episode there is a threeway which is not as graphic. Other than that, the sex is completely wiped out of the show.

This show sucked.

Recently watched the first season of the US version and could not believe what horrible people most of the characters were. Even the supposedly average ones, not just the bland and pompous Brian. Michael was a whiney little bitch and not even that attractive.

Loved it. Loved Hazel.

The US version does not hold up well. Almost painful to watch. The caricatures, the bad acting, the unrealistic storylines. Effective at the time for breaking barriers - but embarrassing now that those barriers existed.

Loved Uncle with AIDS.

One of my top 5 TV shows of all time. Very smart, and I love the lesbians! Tried to watch the American version and had to turn it off midway through the first episode. Melrose Place for Gay people. Ugh.

r9, that's why I haven't watched the US version. I'm a bit scared that it will ruin the story for me.

The US version was so much better than the British version, which was pure garbage. This reminds that now is the perfect time to go back and watch the entire US version from first to last season.

Frau alert at R11. Either that or it's one of the showrunners.

The UK version was far superior to the American one. That being said, the US version was massively groundbreaking thought I feel it's kind of been forgotten to a degree. It probably should get more recognition than it actually does because it did set the groundwork for the more 'adult' themed shows were accustomed to today.

I have to agree with what others have said, it doesn't hold up. It was poorly written (particularly it's early seasons) and I don't think it was overly reflective of gay life in America back in the early 00s. I was 18 when the show came, I remember watching it in very quietly in the basement after my parents had gone to bed. I lived in a small town and thought it was a realistic depiction of 'gay life.' Watching it now with a ton of life experience and adult perspective under my belt, it seems more inline with 1970s gay culture than the early 00s. I don't think that's accident, however, I believe the shows head writers who were in their 50s when they wrote the show, based it on a lot of their youthful experiences in the 70s.

That said, R13, I read when Russell T Davies's partner died recently, that they met 20-ish years ago because Davies resolved to pick up a new guy every night (or at least, every night out) until he found The One. He said The One was #36. That wouldn't have looked out of place in the US QAF.

I thought both were good, for different reasons. But the British series has the longevity.

r15, what did you find good about the American version? I'm the OP and haven't watched it, so I was just wondering.

RTD is neat.

It was TRAYSH! TRAYSH, I say!

I am rematching QAF now that I have plenty of time on my hands and Showtime is offering a free month. I wasn't really into it when it first came out - I was 19 and into raving. I thought the first season was actually pretty true to life. Obviously everything is amplified, but it felt fairly authentic to life in LA or NYC (not Pittsburgh). A lot of kids moved out of their homes during high school due to parental homophobia , I had an older boyfriend who was 28 when I was 17, AIDS/HIV was still terrifying, and there was still homophobia around the country. I am from LA and their nights out reminded me of going out with my friends, having a strong family of choice. I'm going into season 4. Mid way into season 3, a higher suspension of disbelief is needed. Michael is really hard to tolerate. The early 2000's were exciting. Things were heading towards change - you could feel it in the air. If you want to kill some time, I recommend a revisit to the first couple of seasons of QAF. Especially now, a little comfort TV feels nice. One other observation. Good bodies back then were so different than the bodies now. Gayle Harold/Brian and the majority of the cast fine bodies, but with little definition and definitely not istaho style.

I still like the US one. Campy Canadian produced soap about slutty, unapologetic, shallow, gay club scene obsessed gays.

The US version was great tv. The British version, not so much.

[quote]Recently, I watched the UK version and it still holds up very well. (Disclaimer: I've never watched the US version).

same here, it looked too much like a soap opera

there was no way that Gale Harold, with his just above average looks, was scoring every single dick that crossed hi s path. N O WAY.

r23, I believe that was the point of both versions where some below average looking douche got the guys because of his cocky confidence.

I think both versions were pretty great. The UK got out of the gate first and then the US took it to the next level. The US had a more attractive cast. I liked Stewart, be he was no Brian Kinney though in terms of looks or sex appeal IMHO. I actually got a little teary eyed during the prom/gay bashing in the US version of season one. These were very real issues that were happening during this period of time. I could see where they were going more frau-centric mid way through. I thought the chemistry between the actors that played Brian and Justin was fantastic through the entire run.

I am having a bit of nostalgia for the early 2000's, similar to some of the eldergays missing NYC in the late 70's/80's. It was tough, but the gay scene was just better and more fun. Maybe it was b/c I was a twink back then, but people seemed to date and get serious more quickly. The gays in QAF moved in together as fast as U-Haul lesbians and said they loved each other after like a date. That definitely mirrored my experiences during that time.

I hate when people compare US versions of UK shows. UK shows have a very limited amount of episodes, whereas US version had 22 episodes in the first season, 20 episodes in 2nd season, then 14 for the remaining years.

There were only 8 episodes, then 2 episodes in the UK.

The UK version is really a mini-series, so it's easier to write contained plotlines. When you have to make over double the amount of episodes just the first year, you have to create more and more plotlines - some will work, some will not. Same thing with the US version of The Office.

For me, QAF US showed the last gasps of the huge gay bar and club culture. You HAD to go out and the places were packed full of energy. That all died in the mid to late 2000's. It's sad for me to watch those episodes because I remember what it felt like. It's just gone now.

I think it makes sense that when you are into the seize the moment club scene you fall head over heels for someone and move in right away. It's all about short term bliss and gratification.

+1 on R24

I am always baffled by comments like R23, they seem to highlight the sad belief many gays have that if only they were slightly better looking their lives would be perfect.

IRL, the guy--gay or straight--with everyone falling all over themselves to sleep with him is never the best looking guy. He's better looking than average but he's got a certain cockiness.

I like Queer as Folk because the show introduced me to the hotness of Chris Potter!

Gale was stunning. The US version was camp, but it was convinced that it was swimming in the deepest of oceans. The Brian/Justin relationship...I just didn’t buy it. I couldn’t look away the first time around, but I can’t imagine sitting through the entire thing again.

Brian had the whole package - rich, masc, attractive, sexy career of one trick pony ad campaigns. Take any product & put a hot gay guy on it. He was a big fish in a small pond. I've met/dated many guys who were huge fish in very small ponds, moved to LA, and then are shocked when they aren't a huge success or made a star b/c everyone from their hometown told them they would be so. Brian was realistic - ultimately he decided to stay in Pittsburgh b/c he knew that if he went NYC, he wouldn't be the stand out.

“I've met/dated many guys who were huge fish in very small ponds,”

I think that’s what Stuart is in the UK version. He scores a lot because he’s in Manchester and it’s a small population. His friend Vince isn’t as confident and doesn’t hook up as often.

I'm a Brit who's also never seen the US version but remember QAF was properly important at the time. It was headline news and introduced the country to rimming. It was nice to see a programme about gay people where they don't all die of AIDS/get beaten to death.

Both versions made a point of taking place in smaller cities and not incredibly huge & gay friendly ones like San Francisco, NY or London. It was all about glorified slim pickings where a guy like Brian could be a big fish.

R26 I'm feeling the same way about the early 2000s myself. In 2001, I moved out of my parents house to go to school in Toronto (where QAF was filmed) and it honestly it was the best period of my life though I didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I should have at the time. I was to riddles with angst and self-doubt to have as much fun as was available to me. Maybe it's just me, despite the lack of rights, I feel like people were actually less blatantly homophobic during this period than they are now. The early 2000s were an interesting bubble in gay life that is almost entirely gone now. If you wanted to be out and meet other people like yourself, you still had to move to a major metropolis, there were no apps so you still had to go out to meet people, and it was the last real hurrah of gay clubs. In many ways, 'gay life' and changed for the better, but we've lost the sense of community that existed.

Why did so many fraus like this show?

The one thing that never made sense was why Stuart (in the UK version) had a kid. Russell T. never really fleshed out that part of the character.

Saw both. Liked the original and understood it better emotionally (I’m English myself, perhaps that helps) even though I felt it very behind the times in many ways, and no matter what I couldn’t muster up the same appreciation for the U.S. version but morbidly felt compelled to watch it anyway (like hypnotism - all those flashing lights and all that glitter thrown..)

The only U.S. change I got behind was letting the Ted character live and making him & Emmett into central likeable protagonists with heart - frankly they were welcome relief from the constant maudlin cyclical drama of Boring Brian & Mopey Michael and often the best part of the show. In the U.K. version Ted’s character (named something else I don’t remember anymore) was a minor background character who died gruesomely and tragicomically a few episodes in and was quickly forgotten never to be mentioned again, while the Emmett character (again, called something else) was a recurring but barely-there gay who was very much treated as a screaming joke without any depth and did in fact marry the old dying bloke purely for his money (more realistic, yes, but a bit villainous). I don’t believe those two characters even knew or liked each other, but I can’t remember now...

The sweet friendship between Ted & Emmett in the U.S. was a special one, and interestingly I think it’s what the writers wanted Brian & Michael to ultimately have but never succeeded in making happen. Beyond that I didn’t invest much in any of the other U.S. plotlines or characters, and didn’t see them as having a particularly relatable gay-centric inner life if that makes sense (often Brian seemed straight to me).