Omeka - Digital History at Ursinus

" 'Queer as Folk' to Blast Stereotypes." December 7th, 2000.

Dublin Core

Title

" 'Queer as Folk' to Blast Stereotypes." December 7th, 2000.

Subject

This newspaper article reviews the sitcom Queer as Folk, a sitcom from the early 2000s that follows the lives of five gay men and one lesbian couple living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Creator

The Grizzly

Source

Ursinus College

Text Item Type Metadata

Text

(U-WIRE) NEW YORK--- Showtime’s new series Queer as Folk will be the first on television to explore the lives of an all-gay cast of characters, complete with frank depictions of their sexuality.

The show, which begins airing on Sunday, December 3, received the red carpet treatment at a recent world premiere in Manhattan that was attended by the series’ cast and crew— along with a crowd of celebrities and invited guests.

“It was spectacular,” says Tony Jonas, one of the show’s executive producers.

“For we folk in television, when we make a new show, it goes without fanfare. We were treated like feature film people,” he says of the premiere, which benefited the Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

“It was a delight to see the young case suddenly on the runway.”

Queer as Folk is already generating attention for its controversial subject matter. Showtime will present the show as a season of 22 episodes that have been adapted from the original Bristish Queer as Folk. In the UK, Queer as Folk was broadcast as a limited series on Channel 4, where it stunned audiences with its graphic sex scenes and unflinchingly honest portrayal of gay culture, quickly becoming a critical success.

The US version is set in Pittsburgh and is, like its predecessor, centered on the lives of five gay men and one lesbian couple.

The structure is similar to HBO’s Sex and the City, with a central character— Michael Novotny (Hal Sparks)— who narrates each episode. Showtime is in the midst of a major promotional push for a show that will elicit any number of reactions from different audiences, few of them likely to be mild.

“The most dangerous thing that can happen is that it will make people think,” Jonas said. “No one has ever seen a show like this before. This is a show that will stimulate on all levels.” With more than 20 years of industry experience behind him, Jonas anticipate that Queer as Folk will redefine the standards of television sexuality for the near future, eventually paving the way for other shows to follow.

“We’ve pushed the envelope. Each one of these shows does heighten the bar a little bit. I hope in 10 years from now there will be a show that makes us look tame,” he says. “It’s a show that doesn’t belong on network television. We’re on cable.

“If we were on a major network there would be a greater controversy.”

Original Format

newspaper article

Files

QueerasFolk.jpg
QueerasFolk.pdf

Citation

The Grizzly, “" 'Queer as Folk' to Blast Stereotypes." December 7th, 2000.,” Omeka - Digital History at Ursinus, accessed March 19, 2024, https://omeka.ursinus.edu/items/show/243.