All great things must end, so it is with much admiration that we anticipate the wrap-up of HBO’s endlessly-provocative dramedy Looking. The cast (Jonathan Groff, Raul Castillo, Frankie J. Alvarez, Murray Bartlett, Daniel Franzese and Lauren Weedman) minus Russell Tovey, who is expected to appear in it but is in Manhattan starring the Broadway revival of All My Sons, are all in San Francisco prepping to reprise their roles. After two seasons, the series was canceled unceremoniously earlier this year so we’re eager to catch up with the gang. A little birdie-in-the-know told Queerty to expect a two-hour send-off during the early months of next year. We know nada about the plot but it’s fair to surmise we’ll learn if Patrick (Groff) chooses Kevin (Tovey) or Richie (Castillo). Maybe he’ll choose both. This is HBO and it’s 2015, after all.
Scroll down to see some of the photos posted by cast and crew to whet our appetite for what’s to come.
A few weeks ago Russell posted a pic of the front page of the script.
Followed by a pic with Groff feigning shock at the frank memoir of vintage thespian Elizabeth Ashley.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“Never not learning…” Courtesy of the dream weaving costume designer on @lookinghbo @dannyglicker #jonathangroff #lookinghbo #actress A photo posted by Russelltovey (@russelltovey) on
The reunion is this way.
Eddie and Agustin are reunited…and, yes, it feels so good.
Look!! It’s #agusteddie !!! @lookinghbo A photo posted by Daniel Franzese (@whatsupdanny) on
Patrick likes throuples.
And frouples.
The whole team.
The table read.
The beginning of the end… Final read through for the @lookinghbo crew. Love these guys! Can’t stress that enough #repost @michaellannan with @repostapp. ??? #readthrough A photo posted by Raúl Castillo (@officialraulcastillo) on
And again in classic black-and-white.
Raul is always giving good shade.
#Repost @jakedannstagram with @repostapp ??? Just ran into the sweetest, kindest, handsomest group of guys in San Francisco #JonathanGroff A photo posted by Jon Groff Updates (@jonathandrewgroff) on
taeruq
I was kinda hoping Augustine would be missing.
Like, he had been hit by a bus, or something… but everyone had already grieved and moved on with their lives (so… two weeks after the funeral at most)
Captain Obvious
I’m sure all 12 Looking fans have moved on by now. They act like this was Queers as Folk or Noah’s Ark and not some show that no one would remember if they stopped dredging it up every 5 seconds.
Xzamilio
Oh, your god, who the fuck cares!!!! The show was cancelled because no one was “Looking” forward to watching it… get it?
Kenneth Julian
Or they can scrap this nonsense and bring back Queer as Folk.
Patrick Pahilga
Looking forward to “Looking”!
Hussain-TheCanadian
I was watching it (wipes away tear)
William Thomas Bramlett II
Show sucked
Gus Riker
Sad was finally interesting the final two episodes then cancelled
Ariel Hans Christian
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssss!
enlightenone
Two hours is not “closure,” it’s re-traumatizing, reopening a wound! The production team has been deaf and dumb since the beginning of this waste of programming space on HBO.
onthemark
As bad as “Looking” was, I’m always amused when Queerty posters compare it unfavorably to QAF. Apparently some people wanted “Looking” to be twice as long, twice as dull, and even more white?
And have a character even less likable than Augustin? (Brian, ugh.)
Funny how both shows had a similar, flighty, whiny lead character, age 29-going-on-19. I guess Michael on QAF was slightly less annoying.
Stache99
@Gus Riker: I liked it from the start though. It moved a bit slow at first but I also agree that it really became interesting with the new characters and situations.
Oh well, at least we get the wrap up movie.
KiDAciDic
God bless you Queerty! No one ever thanks you for your tireless and (some might claim) obsessive coverage of this show. You’re doing a great service for everyone. Now I have a better idea of when to avoid watching HBO so I dont waste 2 hours of my life on the this crap fiesta!
Miles
The show was very well done. I think some men did not care for it because they did not feel it was representative of them but a TV show cannot be all things to all people. It was a story being told about four friends and their search for finding themselves, nothing more complicated than that.
Doughosier
I liked it.
Sam D. Maloney
Yeah, keep hating on Looking, because it wasn’t perfect. Well, neither are you. By all means, help the hetero-archy erase us. That will make things better.
dr35
I can’t believe people on here hate this show as much as they do. I thought it was a great. The cast was phenomenal, the plot was very realistic for SF, and I feel the development had just begun.
Sigh.
Blackceo
@Captain Obvious:
“…all 12 fans…” LMAO!!!!! Good one. Queerty, stop trying to make “Looking” happen.
Ken Overholt
Please, no more. Enough already!
Jean Dickens
Stuart MacKenzie
BRYANinSF
I liked the show…a lot.
Rick Holtz
The only “closure” I need from this show is a picture of the cast holding up a sign that says “CLOSED!”
inbama
@onthemark:
Your QAF comparison is spot on.
If Queerty had a “like” button, I’d have hit it.
Cam
Great, one more episode, 100 more articles about it on here.
Hey, are we going to get more quotes from the created talking about how audiences are stupid?
chocobo
lmao @ ugly homos complaining about the show. nobody asked you to read the article and watch the movie ok? take your chill pill y’all acting like crazy person.
Joe
I am thrilled there is going to be a 2-hour closure film. I liked this show. It was the QAF (though nothing can compare to Queer As Folk) of this day and age. I will miss Murray the most.
Cam
@chocobo: said… “lmao @ ugly homos complaining about the show. nobody asked you to read the article and watch the movie ok? take your chill pill y’all acting like crazy person.”
______________________
And this is why employees of the show trying to comment on it are stupid.
The critiques about the show were varied, and yet what is your attack? That everybody who didn’t like the show was “Ugly” and that nobody asked any of us to watch the movie.
Uh, actually HBO advertising it IS asking us to watch it. Queerty publicizing it IS asking us to watch it.
And as we have seen multiple times, people tend to attack others with the insults over which THEY are most insecure, so based upon your attack all I can say is, Sorry about your appearance, maybe you’ll grow out of it.
animaux
@onthemark: Actually, it was the other way around. Michael was the annoying one. Brian was the cool one.
animaux
One of the rarely intelligent shows about being gay. It was nothing like my life (it doesn’t have to be since I am not a narcissist who likes only things which have to do with me), but it had a lot to say about gay men of a certain generation, one which came of age during the time of the drastic transition from illegality and extreme homophobia, which they were surrounded with when they were kids, to equal marriage rights when they reached their adulthood. The gaping hole in between explains the childishness of the characters, who only now get a chance to grow as people.
onthemark
@inbama: @animaux: There were things about QAF that just. did. not. make. sense.
Such as Justin at age 19 & 18 & even 17 (he looked more like 15) always going to bars & drinking & never getting thrown out or even carded. Maybe this was in the original British version and the American adapters never bothered to “translate” it for US puritanical drinking laws?
Such as Brian being so irresistibly HOT to everyone, supposedly – so hot that even lesbians demanded he be a sperm donor – which required some suspension of disbelief when the actor playing him wasn’t very good-looking and looked kind of unhealthy… and not in an “HIV” way either, more like an Anne Rice, vampire sort of way… plus his character’s personality, like a vampire, sucked.
Such as Brian not being out to his parents at age 29, even though he hated his parents and didn’t care what they thought about anything, and his parents being shocked even though he’d been homosexually active since high school.
Such as Michael and Brian being “best friends” at any point after about 11th grade.
The “Looking” staff complained about audiences “hate-watching” that show but I think hate-watching started with QAF! Well, I liked Michael’s mom.
onthemark
@animaux: I meant that Michael on QAF was slightly LESS annoying than Patrick on “Looking.” But it’s funny how they were very similar characters. Maybe the Michael/Patrick 29-going-on-19 thing is a gay stereotype that I haven’t noticed much in real life.
animaux
@onthemark: Michael/Patrick are not so much gay stereotypes as TV’s “regular guy” tropes. You have such charaters in many non-gay shows, such as Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and similar. They are childish, comic readers, Star Wars fans, who are clingy, but somewhat cute. Someone always has to tell them the basic facts of life.
I think that Patrick is in part a sort of a more realistic, critical deconstruction of such character. There are guys in real life who are like that, possibly because they were influenced by TV shows. My sister is currently dating one of them.
Arcamenel
To this day I don’t think it was that bad. Patrick seemed more like 20 somethings I know than any other show.
animaux
@onthemark: Well, Justin’s character is 15 in the original British show. I guess we should assume that Babylon doesn’t have a strict policy when it comes to age. That is, however, hardly the only unrealistic thing about the show.
Brian’s hotness is debatable. I find him very hot personally, but I guess it isn’t only about the looks. His “wild mustang” character is what makes him attractive. It is a Jungian fantasy, a superman to Michael’s Clark Kent.
Also, it is a fantasy, as in a make-believe sort of sense. They pretend that everyone wants to be with him and they try to convey it to the audience. Like with special effects, the audience has to suspend diselief.
There was also a problem with casting the role. No one wanted to play it because of the stigma. They didn’t have much choice. But I still think they did a great job with the character.
As of him not being out to his parents, it is implied that they were aware of him being gay, but suppressed it because they were selfish. I used to have that in my own family. Because I was studyng in a different country, I wasn’t able to be around much, so it was convenient for them to “forget” that I was gay.
MarionPaige
The writers for Looking seemed to have all the best intentions (from their radio interview). However, it appeared that most of them work on other shows, namely Girls.
With all of the Gay content that has been on tv since Looking, the suggestion that “gay people should thank God for Looking because there won’t be any other Gay shows” now seems slightly laughable.
lykeitiz
These comments are priceless. People criticizing QAF 10 years after it left the air while being able to name each character and their traits. How many people will be able to name the characters on this show…….wait, what was it called………”Searching”………”Trying”…………?
QAF was groundbreaking, plain & simple. There has been nothing like it before or after, hence the attacks on “Looking”.
Yes, there should be room for different types of gay shows. But you know…….good ones.
Brian Paul Salcido
David Leon
jimstoic
I saw Murray Bartlett in a cafe in Silverlake last weekend. He looked younger and a little thicker than on TV.
alphacentauri
@Captain Obvious: Exactly the show sucked and this website obsesses over it and the shi!tty actors in it.
animaux
@lykeitiz: I am a big fan of QAF. Actually, currently I’m re-watching the box set (for the second time this year). But while it wasn’t as good (though most definatelly more thought-provoking), I also liked Looking and it is a shame they canceled it. Looking was also a unique show, but in a different way.
animaux
@MarionPaige: What is the gay content currently on TV? I don’t mean shows that are about straight people but have gay characters as well. I mean something which is primarily about us.
kyle. matthew. smith.
Mary Mitchell
Robear
I can not wait! And of course all the queens who have bitched about the show will watch so they can bitch some more!
Cam
@Robear:
I love how everybody who likes the show seems to want to attack and name call the people that don’t like it. “Ugly”, “Stupid”, “Queens” etc…
Funny how the people who claim that the show is so intelligent all sound so juvenile when you defend it.
nature boy
@BRYANinSF: I agree, I came to like this show a lot and am really disappointed it did not get more seasons. I think a lot of the people bashing it did not actually watch it beyond 1 or 2 episodes. Episode 5 “Looking for the Future” is one of my favorite television episodes EVER of any show EVER. I only watched it because some friends of mine said it was really amazing to watch a gay love affair unfold on TV in such a beautiful, simple, honest way. After watching it, I agreed. I did not think I would ever see something like it on TV and am very thankful to the team that created it. After that episode I was completely on board with Looking.
Also, Scott Bakula as Lynn ??? YES !
revjshoregoss
wow its is still going? watched the first 3 episodes in hopes that at least one character would stop whining. This show did not even reflect any reality, it was such a stereotyped mess that san francisco could not live up to the city they portrayed. Glad its ending.
enlightenone
@nature boy: “I only watched it because some friends of mine said it was really amazing to watch a gay love affair unfold on TV in such a beautiful, simple, honest way…”
Telling your “boyfriend” you have an anal affliction (shame/fear) and then days later CHEAT (LIE) on him by having ANAL SEX with his EMPLOYER who lured him back to HIS PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT under false pretenses is NOT “beautiful, simple, or HONEST!”
I guess this is the negative effect of too much popper use?
chocobo
@Cam: blah blah blah i’m sorry ur ugly and have a terrible taste.
MarionPaige
@animaux: “What is the gay content currently on TV? I don’t mean shows that are about straight people but have gay characters as well. I mean something which is primarily about us.”
Who is “us”, Kemosabe?
Don’t go including me in your tired ass White Queen demographic
nature boy
@enlightenone: “anal affliction” ??? WTF? LOL. Yes, people make mistakes and stupid choices and have hangups about their butt. Sensitively portraying these realities…. including the less than ideal ones…. can still be “beautiful, simple, and honest.”
SeeingAll
The show was absolute junk. A new level of bad. Vacuous.
Chris
To all the “Looking” haters, many many shows over the years were not an instant hit. “I Love Lucy” was a bomb the first couple of years, but the network persevered and thank god for that. We are in an a microwave, cell phone, text society where everyone expects instant perfection. Sometime patience is required to let something develop. There were (are?) strong, diversified characters on this show.
In an era where porn, microwave dinners and communication instantaneous we need to give something a chance to develop. I would imagine most of the nay-sayers are under 25 years old.
Bottom line, if you don’t like a damn T.V. show don’t watch it and don’t bitch about it!
Jeremi
@onthemark:
1.) I totally understand on the age thing, but you can sort of suspend disbelief and assume that the combo of Justin being “undeniably cute” gets him a pass with all the bartenders and bouncers. But only barely, real life ain’t nobody trying to get fired for letting minors drink.
2.) I also would not be into Brian, he is often far too pale looking and emaciated rather than healthy lean. However, what sells the character is the level of confidence and performance. That being said, it’s not like lesbians are hot for him, he donated sperm at the request of his college best friend/ex-girlfriend, whose partner btw VEHEMENTLY HATES HIM from the jump and at best has a very love-to-hate frenemy relationship by the end of the series. In fact, most lesbians AND non-Brian-belt-notch gays in the show also hate him b/c he’s an ass.
3.) Brian hates his family because they are all screwed up for various reasons and eventually he got the worst end of their screwiness. However, that damn familial obligation that he’s been shamed to somewhat respect still lingers. But you have to look at the times (early 2000s) and the type of family, with a homophobic-because-straight-is-great father, a homophobic-because-God mother, and a homophobic-because-my-parents-are sister, Brian decided for the longest not to go through the additional aggravation of coming out when he KNOWS what the result will be. His parents’ reaction is also not surprising, shock b/c it forces them to no longer be in denial despite past elements that should be suspicious, similar to Jennifer’s reaction when she first discovered obvious signs of Justin’s sexuality. Not everyone deals with this complex dynamic, but many LGBT have and still do.
4.) Only reason is because Michael hero worshipped Brian and was still back-of-brain waiting for Brian to hit that. This unhealthy part of their friendship is frequently pointed out throughout the show, as Brian also enjoys this consistent hero worship, and over time the relationship evolves past that as they develop their own romantic relationships. Also, should note, the British version of those two end up together in the end.
stranded
I would have liked at least 3 seasons before a cancellation, but the first season was so rough, the second redeemed it quite a bit. I am glad there is going to be a movie. Just please no wedding. It’d be cliche.
Cam
@chocobo:
And again by going back to that one insult you show us exactly who you are. You can’t even intelligently structure your argument. No wonder you liked the show.
Cam
@Chris:
Why do you lie when it is so easy to find out that you are lying?
If you Google I Love Lucy and Ratings the first article that comes up is how it dominated from the beginning and made it to being the number one show within its first season.
The fact you have to B.S. so much just to defend Looking is sad.
Cam
@Cam:
And the link
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-i-love-lucy-dominated-222960
Joe
@jimstoic:
He is one handsome guy. When you say thicker, do you mean beefy? Hmmm. :)eand
I don’t care what people think about “Looking.” I liked the show and it was nice to see a gay show on TV (cable). Nothing can compare to QAF. It definitely had a storyline than Looking like no other. As soon as I was getting into the characters, it was yanked. The ratings just weren’t pulling in what the cable network required.
Nothing can compare to QUEER AS FOLK! I find myself catching shows on Netflix.
I can’t get into the British version.
alphacentauri
@Chris: I love Lucy was actually original and funny, and it was successful even during the first seasons, unlike Looking.
Stache99
@lykeitiz: QAF was about a group of gay men in their effing twenties. It was about clubbing, drugs, and everything else related to that age range. Looking had a more mature cast and thus moved slower and dealt with the issues related to that. It’s stupid to even compare the two.
The problem here is the complainers didn’t like it because they didn’t feel it represented them enough. Too white, too old, too slow, etc. Plus, no show starts off instantly popular. Yet the complainers kept bitching over and over but yet they still tuned in to watch every single episode and posted how much they hated it every single time Queerty posted about it. Thing is if I hate show I just move on. Weird behavior.
Stache99
@Cam: If looking had no fan support believe me HBO wouldn’t be doing a movie out of it.
I love lucy was good but hardly a good example. Back then you only had about 3 or 4 channels to choose from.
Allot of shows start off with little interest but become great. Shows like Breaking bad which I loved. You just have to give it time to mature. Develop the characters and direction.
Cam
@Stache99:
No, actually the complaints were quite varied and specific. Here are a few of them which you will see if you go back and read the posts.
1. Patrick was played as if he was an 18 year old virgin new to the city and not a 30 year old who had lived there for a decade. Freaking out over a foreskin, not being able to have a conversation without practically gushing “Gee Whiz”, ridiculous. Then again, Groff mostly plays high school students so maybe he just doesn’t know how to play his own age.
2.These people were supposedly good friends and yet were NEVER put into ANY situations where any friendship was shown during season one. They were nasty to each other, weren’t there for each other, and absolutely no reason was given for why they were in each other’s lives. The Character of Augustine was so nasty, and yet was supposedly Kevin’s best friend. Nobody would have tolerated his behavior and stayed friends with a guy that was never, ever, in any way nice to them. They made a very clunky change to this plotline in the second season, so on to number #3
3. The Character of Augustine was so over the top unlikable that rather than being interesting he was actually irritating to watch, then add in that in response to complaints about his ridiculously over the top villain character, they gave him a complete, unbelievable personality transplant in season two. They obviously wanted to keep the same actor but heard the complaints, so instead of writing anything remotely realistic they went “Oh gee, everybody hates him, so we will make him super nice, have him date a bear who is HIV Positive, AND work at a Teen Crisis Center, HA! That outta shut up those people who hate him! (That type of unrealistic ham handed writing was a major part of the problem with the show in general)
4. Nobody is ever allowed to break up and move on. Patrick dates Ritchie for a very short time, it doesn’t work out, but we get to keep having the thing dragged out like Ross and Rachel on friends.
4a. Don’t believe me? The cliffhanger for Season 1 was “Will Patrick end up with Richie or Kevin?”. Cliffhanger for Season 2? “Will Patrick end up with Richie or Kevin?” Literally the SAME Plotline for both season enders.
5. Dom, the aging clone, has no experience, dates a rich guy who offers him advise, refuses to take any of it even though the guy has far more knowledge of the way things work. Acts like a petulant child.
6. Dorris, over the top at first, but developed into one of the few tolerable characters on the show, so of course they had to give her less screentime when she finally started dating somebody because it was stable.
7. Kevin, dating a guy, that guy obviously is jealous of his attraction to Patrick, then when he breaks up with that guy to date Patrick suddenly acts like an open relationship is the norm for him and how can Patrick be surprised? Well, maybe Patrick was surprised because Kevin’s ex didn’t act like they were in an open relationship, and if they WERE in an open relationship, then why did Kevin work so hard to HIDE the fact he was sleeping with Patrick from his ex? etc… So major plot hole there.
NONE of these complaints had to do with the show being too white, too old etc… BUT as long as I threw those in there, how about two more.
Augustine’s first boyfriend was nice, interesting, and attractive, and black, so of course, let’s erase him out of the series but keep the guy nobody wants to watch.
And lastly, It’s San Francisco, It’s the video game industry, it’s gay, and there are NO Asian friends………..for ANY of them? Really guys?
There are a FEW of the criticisms, and I didn’t even get into the worst one which was the fact that my favorite scene was Patrick’s mother at the wedding telling him to quit whining, creating a problem and then blaming her for everything. When your supposed protagonist is so irritating that you cheer his being shut down, you’re not in a good place.
I watched it out of loyalty because I really liked the movie “Weekend” and will support any gay series if I can unless it is unwatchable (i.e. anything with Sean Hayes Post Will and Grace) but this show had major problems and none of them had to do with it not being enough like it’s audience.
Stache99
@Cam: Actually, Groff has played mature characters very well on two other shows. Boss comes to mind. Yeah, he’s a fuck up and plays that well.
I guess I can agree with some of your points. A show should never get directed by the fans and yet they did. Augustine should’ve moved, died, or just be hated and be left at that.
I think Dom was played brilliantly though. Yeah, he was fucked up and I loved how Lynn dealt with it. Plus, Doms lesbian girlfriend Dorris and that relationship was amazing. Totally wish I had her as a friend.
Lastly, I lived in SF so I know it’s heavily Asian. Must we have a representative of every race ever time? I’m sure they would’ve gotten around to it.
Cam
@Stache99:
I liked the Dom and Doris storyline in season 2, and thought the Dom Character was played really really well. On that character I thought the writing didn’t work as well on the starting a business plotline.
The problem with the Dom and Doris characters showed up for me during the funeral episode. They were played so well that I thought the Patrick character didn’t stand up well when they were all in the same scene.
Xzamilio
@Chris: Not “instant perfection”… just not the snail pace plot hole riddled crap that Looking was.
lykeitiz
@Stache99: All the characters on QAF were not in their 20’s & clubbing. There were side stories about Debbie & her cop boyfriend, her sick brother (Michael’s uncle), Michael settling down with Ben (who was older)& fostering that hustler, and the lesbian couple starting a family.
Regarding “Looking”, I agree with @Cam: on the MANY plotline problems he pointed out.
I do agree with you that some of the best shows are a slow boil. Your example of “Breaking Bad” is a good one. “The Wire” is another. “Looking”, however, was not one of those.
And…..you referred to Doris as “Dom’s lesbian friend”. She was at least Bi – she had a boyfriend.
Stache99
https://youtu.be/-DIETlxquzY