It’s a year of milestones for the Queer Eye franchise: the Netflix revival recently released a seventh season and the original Bravo series is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Can you believe?!
If you’re new here, the show’s concept is simple: The “Fab Five,” a group of high-powered gays versed in the realms of food, grooming, fashion, design, and culture, spend a week lending their expertise to someone in desperate need of an overhaul.
If there’s one thing gay people think they can do better than anyone else, it’s everything — so it’s no surprise both iterations have become pop culture phenomena.
When the 2003 incarnation (which bore the wordier title of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) premiered, it quickly became the most-watched series in Bravo history. And it didn’t take long for the leading quintet– err, queer-tet of Carson Kressley, Thom Filicia, Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, and Kyan Douglas to reach celebrity status.
The Fab Five were suddenly EVERYWHERE: late-night shows, the Emmys, South Park spoofs, and even the 2003 VMAs, where they presented an award to Beyoncé and can be seen losing their sh*t when Madonna kissed Britney and Xtina. Same, tbh.
When the show ended after five seasons in 2007, it left behind a legacy of queer representation beyond stereotypes, an anti-pleated khaki agenda, and the absolute bop of a theme song that it is Widelife and Simone Denny’s “All Things (Just Keep Getting Better”).
Yes, there were moments of over-the-top flamboyance and the old episodes (which are nearly absent from the internet) look like they were filmed on a potato by today’s standards. But the hosts’ brazen confidence and genuine heart helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ acceptance in the United States, alongside contemporaries like Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, and The L Word, which were all recently rebooted. Speaking of which….
A new Fab Five was recruited for Netflix’s Queer Eye in 2018, building upon the premise by taking its advisors to traditionally conservative states like Georgia, Missouri, and Texas to help out a diverse group of subjects.
And it hasn’t taken long for stars Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, and Tan France to become as iconic as their predecessors. From music video appearances, to stumping for President Biden, snatching Emmys, and a hilarious Big Mouth parody, all things continue to keep getting better for this Fab Five. Only now, Betty Who is singing.
Whether it’s your fave show to cry to (or your mom’s), we’ve got to thank Queer Eye for furthering acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community across generations –– and helping heteros dress better.
Click through for 25 pics of both Fab Fives and some of Queer Eye‘s most iconic moments…
strix1
“We?” We do? I watched 1 ep of the reboot and did not enjoy it…seemed patronizing. The original I enjoyed at the time because it was new and mindlessly entertaining but it started going downhill before it ended. But “we” DON’T still love the show.
Terry
Same. To me, it feels very fake and “extra”, with WeHo narcissists competing for attention. I loved that the original felt just “everyday” and relaxed.
crazyoldman
Quit watching them a couple of years ago when they started with pop psychology.
Tiredoftheinsanity
The remake is not nearly as much fun as the original…some things are best left as originals only. Ths is one of them.
sicil1
Sorry to say, the remake sucks big time, so “we” are not watching. I find only one of the five “experts” even half-way likable.