Welcome to the Weekend Binge. Every Friday, we’ll suggest a binge-able title designed to keep you from getting too stir crazy. Check back throughout the weekend for even more gloriously queer entertainment.
The Seminal: Queer as Folk (UK)
Before Russell T. Davies became a Hollywood darling, before the US remake shocked the nation and forced many a gay boy to uncross his legs, Davies and UK television broke new ground with the original Queer as Folk. Unlike the US version which ran a few seasons too many and devolved into eye-rolling soapiness, the original show confines itself to two seasons, allowing its main characters to grow in significant ways as the show pulls 1990s gay life into the mainstream.
Aiden Gillen stars as Stuart, a successful advertising executive with a very active sex life. His best friend Vince (Craig Kelly) has long fostered a crush on Stuart, though Vince’s staying in the closet stymies his chances of having any kind of relationship. 15-year-old Nathan (Charlie Hunnam) arrives on the gay scene reveling in his newly-out, youthful sexual power…but doesn’t quite understand the emotional consequences of doing so. More than that we’ll not reveal here, for as with all Mr. Davies’ work, Queer as Folk is best enjoyed with plot twists hidden.
Queer as Folk is dated in some ways, though in a sense, that gives it a new value more than 20 years on: the show becomes a window into a transitional moment of queer life. Thoughtful, celebratory, and always sexually charged, it makes for perfect weekend viewing, with or without company.
Streams on Tubi, VUDU & Amazon.
DomitoJo
i never knew that the guy that played the creep-o on GoT was in the original QAF!
liammcg
And the kid was the lead (Jax) in Sons of Anarchy.
controversial2019
I watched the UK series (both seasons) and the first season of the US version and found the UK one to be far superior. Okay, the actor that plays Vince can’t act and is pretty terrible, but generally I just found it so much better.
Another 2 series (separate but overlapping); Banana and Cucumber. The latter was incredibly well written (Russell again) and the shock episode was, well. Shocking.
Jack Meoff
I loved the authenticity of the UK version of QaF. I found some of the content of Cucumber to be a bit confronting but on the whole it was well done.
Jim
the original is available free on YouTube I think and had less nudity and more substance with a beginning middle and end.
while I liked the US version it was a bit more superficial
jonasalden
Except the actor playing Brian Kinney was fine as eff.
IanHunter
I wish this series would have had a few more seasons.
rickh710
The UK original is FAR superior. Hal Sparks? C’mon man, not even close.
gaym50ish
The British know when to quit. The 10 episodes was just right for the series. In the USA, where we tend to overdo everything, they kept the American series going until it jumped the shark. Consequently, the UK version is the only one I want to watch over and over.