Queer As Folk fans should mark this Friday (May, 1) in their calendars. Almost 20 years since the show first aired on US television, many of the original cast a reuniting for an online fundraiser.
The Queer As Folk USA reunion will be streamed live on YouTube on Friday, May 1, at 11am PT/2pm ET. It will be hosted by Scott Lowell, who played Ted on the show.
Other regular cast members who will participate will include Michelle Clunie (Melanie), Robert Gant (Ben), Sharon Gless (Debbie), Randy Harrison (Justin), Peter Paige (Emmett) and Hal Sparks (Michael).
Executive producers Ron Cowen and Dan Lipman will also participate, alongside writers and numerous guest actors. According to an Instagram posting from Lowell, this will include Rosie O’Donell, who had a brief role playing the part of Loretta Pye.
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Besides Q&A sessions with the cast and creatives, there will be an auction of original memorabilia from the show, with money raised going to CenterLink, an organization that helps support a network of over 250 LGBTQ community centers in the US and beyond.
Many of these centers and shelters have faced particular challenges in delivering support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Queer As Folk ran on Showtime between 2000-2005. It was based on an original UK version, created by Russell T. Davies, which ran to ten episodes on British TV from 1999-2000.
Related: It’s official! The U.K. version of “Queer As Folk” is being rebooted by Bravo
The US version transported the action from Manchester, England, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It ran for 83 episodes over five seasons and was Showtime’s number one show for a while. It followed a group of gay friends as they navigated their romantic lives and friendships, and was heralded as groundbreaking for its time. It explored such issues as coming out, same-sex marriage and substance abuse.
Cast member Randy Harrison posted about the reunion on his Instagram.
“I’m reaching out through the void to say two things: 1. I love and miss you all and I hope everyone is safe and sound. I am healthy and managing to maintain a conversation with sanity. It’s a superficial one and the subtext is rage but we are still on speaking terms and I think that’s as much as we can ask right now.
“2. Next Friday May 1st we will be streaming a Queer as Folk cast and crew reunion to benefit @lgbtcenterlink It’s almost our 20 Year Anniversary, WTF? Please come help us reminisce and raise money for an amazing organization. We’ll be broadcasting at 11amPT/2pmET. Visit fb.me/maydayhomestaygayplay or follow @scolo222 for more details. I’m not a reliable source of further information, but I will be there and I will be spilling. the. tea. You know me, yak yak yak.”
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jonasalden
What, no Brian Kinney?
Godabed
he’s the one with the beard
Skip
Yes, Gale Harold (Brian) is on the (little bit older) photo, but he’s not specifically listed as a participant in the upcoming event.
The same goes for Thea Gill (Lindsay).
Chrisk
They need to reboot it and show their lives now. Is Club Babylon still a thing for them. Is Brian still the stud everyone wants. Lol
Brings back the memories though. I remember when it first premiered. A large group of us tuned in. Definitely a ground breaking show.
Skip
Agreed! 🙂
nm4047
Was ground breaking when it was a clone of the British original, then once they story line from the original ran out it just became another soap opera.
John
yes, do an update now where everyone has aged 15 years and where “apps” are the new hook-up vs the bar days. Would Babylon even be open? or is it a place where bachelorette parties come because the girls feel safe? So much in our culture has evolved (some for the better, some not so much). I guess Brian was even a “daddy” to some degree back then- From the pic it appears Ted has the “daddy” look down- And anything with Sharon Gless makes me smile.