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Queer as Folk - The Complete First Season (Showtime)

Queer as Folk - The Complete First Season (Showtime)

List Price: $119.98
Your Price: $95.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better Than Season Two
Review: After seeing the original Queer as Folk before this ever appeared on Showtime I had serious doubts about how such a brilliant UK show would be translated for a North American audience. I needn't have worried, though there is some minor departures from the original script this is pretty faithful to the story as told in the UK series. Despite this the characters develop in their own way and it really adds something different to the show. Justin isn't as annoying as his character in the original series, Michael is just as whiney but it is esier to cope with here and Brian I love but couldn't stand his character in the UK series. The only problem I have with this series is where are the straight friends ? particularly straight female friends of the boys ?. It maybe the situation in North America to be so anti-breeder that you waste energy slagging them off at every opportunity (its the impression this show gives), but it certainly ain't the way things work in this part of the world (Australia / New Zealand).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This show is really, really bad
Review: This is a show all about three guys who do things on TV that most people don't want to see. I was at home, watching TV, when I flipped to the channel airing this incredibly [weak] show. I only saw part of one scene, with two guys in the back seat of a car, but that was enough for me. I can't believe how low TV has sunk, to air a show like this. Don't waste your time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The greatest television drama series ever made...
Review: Speaking as a Brit, I thought our version of QAF was good, but I think the American series is even better than ours.

I award this series full marks for writing, acting, direction. And the sex scenes are far more daring than I'd ever imagined they would be, without being too gratuitous. Perhaps the producers of "Queer as Folk USA" (as we call it) could come over to Britain and show our TV producers how to make a decent show. Most of our TV dramas stink!

This DVD set is a must have. I've watched the whole of the first series twice now, and I love it!

Long live QAF USA!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: viva qaf
Review: what an amazing show. what's to be said that hasn't already been said. showtime really delivers when they say "no boundarires". im particularly fond of justin. like he, im 17 and just out of the closet. i could go on and on about how great the show is, but im not. just buy both seasons, and spend countless hours watching the 3rd!!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best
Review: I rate Queer As Folks the best show ever for many reasons.
I am 21 years old gay male. For a long time, "our" lifestyle has been hidden from the society's eyes and people has the tendency of hiding their sexual preferences afraid of one and all. Queer As Folks open the door for people to see is all right and whoever is afraid, of such feeling, see they are not alone and not to be afraid to live their lifestyle preferences just because of homophobics. (I know I dont care about what others think or say and sure know I won't stop living my feelings).
In the show, makes it seem its all about sex ( But who doesn't think about sex). I am in a steady relationship since I was 19 and Queer as Folks for many is a dream come true on TV (Well I should speak for myself). Meaning even though we "found" that special someone to share your "life" with, there's a lot out there. You will always find guys/ girls that will call your attention and in reality it would be up to you to decide whether take it or not.
The Show also gives a good example if you live in a sex active life... "Always Use Condoms".
Also deals with peerpresure, parents not accepting their child or accepting too much, "friends" that will always be there or not.
Also, the show shows there is no limits for love even if someone has HIV, Love is possible and also even if someone hurts you or just goes around not caring for a relationship, Love still there. and the frustation of being affraid which many of US went and goes through making us even try to go "STRAIGHT". (Like that would happen).

There's so much. If you are curious, just take a peak.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Let the music play...
Review: There is much about "Queer as Folk" that is groundbreaking. Unlike most TV shows, which have one token gay character with a lovelife as dry as the Sahara, "QAF" has token straight characters, with love lives the show isn't interested in telling us about, and a cast of gay characters whose every escapade is portrayed. Unlike conventional TV, which shows unrecognizable human behavior and tries to pass it off as real, "Queer As Folk" cuts it a little closer to reality, creating a vivid cast of all-too-human characters. And the show marks a suitable balance between campy fun and touching drama, only occasionally losing its balance.

The relationship between Michael (Hal Sparks) and Brian (the irresistable Gale Harold) is a good example of the unconventional narrative of the show. On a more predictable drama, the unconsumated attraction between these two -- going on since their teen years growing up in Pittsburgh -- would be portrayed as the starting point on a long and winding road leading to their inevitable union. That particular arc has been done many times, but "Queer As Folk" goes a little deeper beneath it, showing that the unfulfilled desire between these two may not be such a good thing. When, after Brian's neglectful father dies late in the first season, the two find themselves in another near clinch, Brian responds to Michael's refusal with "Isn't this what you've always wanted?", a taunting hiss in his voice. "Not when you're grieving your father," Michael says, and we sense this is one of many such encounters between them over the years. Consumation is not a long awaited event in their lives as much as it is a kind of Achilles Heel, keeping them locked together in a sad dance. Those around them seem to understand this sad seduction: Michael's near perfect doctor boyfriend, David (Chris Potter), is on to Brian's manipulations but is powerless to do much about them; Michael's savvy mother Debbie (Sharon Gless) meets every Brian twist with a resigned sigh, but can also see that Brian loves her son, and it grateful at times to him for that.

"Queer As Folk" isn't just about Brian and Michael, though. There is a uniformly excellent supporting cast, headed by Michael's small group of friends: flamboyant Emmett Honeycutt (the wonderful Peter Paige), sad sack accountant Ted (Scott Lowell), Brian's teenage boyfriend, Justin (Randy Harrison) and the show's one lesbian couple, Mel and Lindsay (Michelle Clunie and Thea Gill), who are raising a child fathered by Brian. Their adventures vary from poignant (Ted's nurturance of a crank addicted lover) to mundane (Mel and Lindsay's adjustment to parenthood) to hilarious (Emmett's attempt at "straight conversion"; and a one night stand that spoofs "The Way We Were"). Their interactions take place in the slightly fanciful world of Liberty Avenue, a fictitious neighborhood with gay clubs, an open-all-nite diner, and a gym where they all meet to swap clubland stories. This idyll contrasts harshly with the more brutal world of Pittsburgh at large, where a far less gay friendly vibe awaits them. Michael's HIV positive uncle Vic (Jack Wetherall) is arrested after a cruel set up in a men's bathroom; Justin is viciously harrassed at his private school and beaten by a bigot after his prom; Brian is warned against buying a Jeep by a homophobic car salesman, who cautions him "Gays buy this car; you might prefer the sedan." (Brian responds ,characteristically, by taking the Jeep for a test drive and then driving it through the dealership's plate glass window.)

The show strikes a fine balance between the worlds of Pittsburgh and Liberty Avenue, and a fine balance between the idealized and all-too-human qualities of the characters. It delves a little deeper into human nature than most shows, but leaves a lot of time for well choreographed and stylish scenes, such as the telltale last few minutes of every show, as much a signature of "QAF" as the death-of-the-week openings of "Six Feet Under". In nearly every episode, the guys end up at Babylon, the club that centers their lives, disappearing onto the dance floor as a dance beat takes over the soundtrack of their lives. Yeah, we get it. Let the music play...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A truly ground-breaking venture
Review: Showtime's boast of "no limits" certainly applies to its hugely successful "Queer As Folk" series. While certainly not the first series on American TV to portray gay life, no other has been as bold and daring in its sexual content and just what gay sex and gay life is all about. Set in Pittsburgh, the series evolves around four long-time gay companions, the Wonder bread-faced Michael (Hal Sparks) and the resident stud for whom Michael carries a flaming (no pun) torch, Brian (Gale Harold), and their two buddies, the out-and-proud-of-it Emmett (Peter Paige) and the self-unassured Ted (Scott Lowell). A fifth newcomer to the conclave is introduced in Episode 1 when Brian gets it on with 17-year-old Justin, a kid 12 years his junior. After a night of drugs and sex with Justin, Brian gets a call that he's become a father with lesbian friend Lindsay, who's in a relationship with lawyer lover Melanie. How Brian, a gay guy, comes to be a dad is explained pretty simply by Brian: he "jerked off" in a Dixie cup. From there, "Queer As Folk" takes us to the blossoming romance between Brian and Justin (though Brian will never admit it), Michael finding who he hopes will be the man of his dreams and Emmett and Ted still looking. Through it all, the voice of logic is Michael's mother, Debbie, played to the hilt by an amazing Sharon Gless. By season's end, we've got a pretty good handle on the development of each of the series' main characters, an abundance of gay and lesbian sex and, beyond that, a sense of gay life. Critics have questioned if the show is a realistic protrayal of gay life, but a couple of plot lines smacked of real life, like Brian coming to terms with the death of his estranged father. One bit of silliness, though, was Emmett's misguided shot at converting to heterosexualism through some self-help group. But the realism of the season finale is maybe all too real. As in real life all too often, Justin falls victim to a hate crime of violence, and its reality is nothing less than a jolt. All in all, not a bad first season, and we might even like to know some of the series' leads a little more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gay, Lesbian or straight, you should have this set!
Review: It's a real collectors item! One time funny, another time the hard reality; it's life! Every person, gay or straight, will be able to recognize himself in one of the persons or situations.
Great entertainment and a real lesson in tollerance. I, as a European, was very surprised to see the most open-minded US-series ever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It is entertainment at its best, folks!
Review: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_______________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is no television show like Queer As Folk. The sex, the drama and the life. ShowTime has really went all the way out with this one. Lindsay, Melanie, Michael, Brian, Emmet and Ted are six young friends in early 30s. They have all known each other for years(the show just started two years ago.) The six of them live in Pennsylvania's midstate city, Pittsburg. Except the two lesbians, Lindsay and Melanie, they are sluts.

Brian is the slut of them all. He truly lives by the motto: Do What Doesn't Do You. Hot and willing, he finds himself being followed around by boys half his age(he is 31.) In the first season, this young boy named Justin went after him. They are now, more or less, a couple. Justin is the hottie of the show nowdays. Not for his body but for his mind and kindess towards others, though he has been corrupted by Brian more than he thinks. If you are under 30, you know that the show is right most of the time about what it presents.

As a young queer boy, I used to go to clubs in big cities like Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle. I can tell you that what takes place in Babylon(the fictious super high-energy club of Pittsburg) is not all that exaggerated. I'm not going to mention names but there are clubs in these cities where everything goes. Where there are boys(grin) like Brian who will do and get done in the plink of an eye with people they never met nor took the time to know their first name. For whatever the reason, the show is hit. So hit, actually, that ShowTime has made a whole night of Night Out(wednesdays,) a night full of queer pleasure in entertainment.

Watch the show, see it for yourself. Do you like it? Hate it? Can't live without it? Can't possibly live knowing it is going on in some channel in your cable television, though you never watch it? Let me know.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: worth every penny
Review: I can honestly say that this is worth every penny. You can hardly get enough of this program once a week. Now you can watch it anytime you want. Scene by scene choice, interviews with cast on scenes and characters...well worth it if you love Queer As Folk...


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