# Queer As Folk (2000)

> A brash, frank ensemble drama following gay friends and lovers navigating love, ambition and community on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2760

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 83
- Episode runtime: 49 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Daniel Lipman, Ron Cowen
- Network: Showtime
- Cast: Gale Harold, Randy Harrison, Hal Sparks, Peter Paige, Scott Lowell, Sharon Gless, Alec McClure, Thea Gill
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262985/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: brash, sincere, candid, emotionally direct, witty

## What critics say

Viewers broadly acclaim the series for its frank, unapologetic portrayal of gay and lesbian urban life, though its later seasons are seen as weaker.

## Synopsis

Queer as Folk (2000-2005) is a American premium cable drama series created by Daniel Lipman and Ron Cowen for Showtime. The series follows Brian Kinney (Gale Harold), a magnetic advertising executive, and Justin Taylor (Randy Harrison), a teenager who pursues him, alongside their childhood friend Michael Novotny (Hal Sparks), who harbors an unresolved crush on Brian. Emmett Honeycutt (Peter Paige), Ted Schmidt (Scott Lowell), and a lesbian couple played by Thea Gill and Michelle Clunie widen the circle. Across five seasons and eighty-three episodes, the show is a serialized ensemble drama in which each episode tracks romances, career ambitions, and friendships on Liberty Avenue in contemporary Pittsburgh. Its engine is the push and pull between desire and commitment, as characters chase love while confronting the health and political pressures facing their community. The tone is brash, sexually candid and emotionally direct, shifting between comedy and sincere heartbreak. Viewers who enjoy Sex and the City, Looking and Pose will find resonance in its frank, character-driven portrait of urban queer life. The series runs on an adult, unapologetic register and is set in the early two-thousands.

## Shows like Queer As Folk

- [Tales of the City (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/17350)
- [It's a Sin (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/96756)
- [Uncoupled (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/124740)
- [Tell Me You Love Me (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/13989)
- [The L Word: Generation Q (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/76027)
- [Tales of the City (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74495)
- [The L Word (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/3305)
- [The Deuce (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/58104)
- [Melrose Place (1992)](https://ember.film/tv/4134)
- [Banana (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55157)

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