Queer as Folk by Russell T. Davies was groundbreaking when it first premiered in 1999 on Channel 4 in the UK. The series ran for two years and was outstanding for accurately representing the gay community.
In 2000, Showtime produced a US version of Queer as Folk that ran for five seasons and re-introduced the world to the characters Brian, Justin, Michael, Emmett, Ted, Lindsay, and Melanie.
As a gay person, the US version opened the door to an understanding of the gay community. For the first time, many people, gay and straight, fell in love with the series, removing the stigma and mystery around what it was like to be gay in the early 2000s.
Fast-forward to 2022; Peacock has started airing a reboot of Queer as Folk. This new series is based on the original series by Russell T. Davies, but what is vastly different is that there is greater inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The lead characters for this series include Brodie, a spoiled rich kid who has dropped out of medical school. Mingus is a non-binary teen who has fallen head over heels for Brodie. Noah is a lawyer who enjoys sleeping with everything that has a pulse. Julian, Brodie’s brother, is also gay. Ruthie, a teacher at Mingus’s high school, is trans and a soon-to-be mother. Shar, Ruthie’s partner and pregnant with twins, and Brodie is the sperm donor.
The storyline for the latest incarnation revolves around a mass shooting at a gay club, very reminiscent of the Pulse shootings in Florida in 2016. But this series is also based in New Orleans, and the city is almost a character within the series.
There is greater inclusion in this series, but there are few similarities to the original Queer as Folk. The vast difference is the storyline; by the fourth episode, the character development is limited. But with this series, there has been plenty of sex and violence.
If you are a fan of the original series, one of the reasons the series was such a hit and ran for five seasons was the accurate representation of homosexual sex on television. In the early 2000s, no series showed two men together in a relationship. But with this new series, the sex seems to be less about accurate representation and more about gratification, which is entirely removed from any plot development.
Kim Cattrall is a very nice inclusion in the series as Brodie and Julian’s Mom. She steals every scene, and you wish there were more of her in the series.
Johnny Sibilly as Noah is also entertaining; you should recognize him from his previous work in Pose and Hacks.
This new creation of Queer as Folk is an exciting series and deserves recognition for the ongoing inclusion of all aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community; such diversity in a TV series should be applauded. The new series has a likeness to the original but isn’t a carbon copy, so those of you expecting the same characters in the original US version do not appear in the 2022 reboot.
Queer as Folk is currently available to stream on Peacock.
