Queer As Folk Television Program

It's always sad when a trendsetter retires. "Queer as Folk," the five-season-long Showtime series, will come to an end on Aug. 7. Since December 2000, the soapy drama -- a remake of a British show that ran for 10 episodes -- has illustrated the ups and downs in the lives of a group of gay men in Pittsburgh, along with their families and friends. A lot has happened to Brian, Michael, Justin, Emmett and Ted over the show's 83 episodes, now forever preserved for cultural historians on DVD.

It's always sad when a trendsetter retires. "Queer as Folk," the five-season-long Showtime series, will come to an end on Aug. 7. Since December 2000, the soapy drama -- a remake of a British show that ran for 10 episodes -- has illustrated the ups and downs in the lives of a group of gay men in Pittsburgh, along with their families and friends. A lot has happened to Brian, Michael, Justin, Emmett and Ted over the show's 83 episodes, now forever preserved for cultural historians on DVD.

With "Queer as Folk," the Brits have something to lord over their prudish American neighbors: A popular television series that really deals with gay themes. So far, "Queer as Folk" has arrived overseas via the underground--screened at gay film festivals, auctioned online as bootlegged boxed sets, and discussed over upscale lunches by members of the entertainment industry. Lately, the word from the SUV crowd is that an American version of "Queer as Folk" will land at Showtime, sometime next year.

While the issue of gay marriage has received its share of television news and talk show time, it has been largely absent from TV series -- until now. Showtime's "Queer as Folk" charges into the debate in the season's last two episodes, in which partners Michael and Ben (Hal Sparks and Robert Gant) ponder marriage and decide it's right for them. But their joyful, legal Canadian wedding founders on the U.S. prohibition against same-sex unions.

From the first moments of "Queer as Folk," it was clear this was not going to be an ordinary television drama series--even for British audiences used to lots of dicey language and sex on their network airwaves. It's 2 a.m., the last-chance hour on Canal Street, the gay district of Manchester, England, and the boys are out hunting for last-minute prey. The ruthlessly sexy, 29-year-old Stuart (Aidan Gillen) spots Nathan (Charlie Hunnam) under a street light.

While the issue of gay marriage has received its share of television news and talk show time, it has been largely absent from TV series -- until now. Showtime's "Queer as Folk" charges into the debate in the season's last two episodes, in which partners Michael and Ben (Hal Sparks and Robert Gant) ponder marriage and decide it's right for them. But their joyful, legal Canadian wedding founders on the U.S. prohibition against same-sex unions.

With "Queer as Folk," the Brits have something to lord over their prudish American neighbors: A popular television series that really deals with gay themes. So far, "Queer as Folk" has arrived overseas via the underground--screened at gay film festivals, auctioned online as bootlegged boxed sets, and discussed over upscale lunches by members of the entertainment industry. Lately, the word from the SUV crowd is that an American version of "Queer as Folk" will land at Showtime, sometime next year.

From the first moments of "Queer as Folk," it was clear this was not going to be an ordinary television drama series--even for British audiences used to lots of dicey language and sex on their network airwaves. It's 2 a.m., the last-chance hour on Canal Street, the gay district of Manchester, England, and the boys are out hunting for last-minute prey. The ruthlessly sexy, 29-year-old Stuart (Aidan Gillen) spots Nathan (Charlie Hunnam) under a street light.