HBO's Looking

[BKuzak]

Yes i agree that it was not edgy enough and every time it looked like a sex scene, they cut. Do they know they are on HBO? Of course it's only the first episode but i was disapointed. I know HBO is much more PG that Showtime (Queer as Folk...Masters of Sex) or Cinnemax (soft core porn movies almost every night ) but I hope it gets a little better. Even Sex and the City had semi-good sex scenes.

They need to take it up a notch or this show isn't going to be going on for very long. Time will tell....

[EricMontreal22]

HBO vs Showtime is weird when it comes to sex. Showtime has more overall nudity--however, they rarely show full frontal and never have (that I know of) shown full frontal male, both of which HBO does (well not enough of the male...) QAF was actually pretty tame nudity wise (the early episodes had a lot less than the UK series.)

I think they could have more (and apparently they will, from what critics have said--certainly Weekend had a ton.) But I am a bit surprised given the potential audience they didn't force it on the pilot. At the same time it is kinda telling--and must be frustrating for anyone involved in launching a new "gay" show--that much of the gay press is split between it focuing way way way too much on sex, or not enough. It's practically down the middle. (I frankly still don't know why Showtime didn't buy into the audience they had with QAF by launching another gay drama...)

[Taoboi]

Me. LOL!!!

But seriously, that is what I have gotten from others, that people are split down the middle as well.

On the good side, I am getting others to watch.

[DRW50]

Why do people always think HBO has tons of gay content?? I don't get this.

[difficultdiva]

I think people have that opinion because of OZ, the series based on the maximum security prison that was on before The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Six Feet Under took over HBO and in became the darlings of media critics.

That series, during that time (1997 - 2003) was the only program on cable that featured stories about sex between two men (be it rape or consensual) and they had one of the very first love stories between two men on screen (Beecher and Keller), even though it was a highly dysfunctional relationship throughout the series. They also had full frontal male nudity and gay characters.

I do think that Showtime had other programs on their network (Beggars and Choosers and Brothers) that had gay characters, but those shows were pretty tame in comparison to OZ.

Edited January 24, 2014 by difficultdiva

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Oh don't get me wrong Hannah went somewhere kinda dark last half of the second season but even as she was doing the infamous ear scene I was absolutely hypnotized and a sick sort of way I found it hilarious. And I think the main problem for me is again the characters themselves don't stick out in any sort of way. Like I barely tell one from other other. With Girls you could tell each of the main 4 had their own personality and hiccups. They each popped on screen for me in different ways.

Its kinda sad that I found the older woman who lives with the older guy of the trio the most memorable and engaging. The rest just seemed to be sitting there like paint just drying...

The scene on the subway should have been magical....like Brian/Justin in QaF (and I'm not talking about the sex part I'm saying chemistry wise) but it just felt very bland/ordinary. I know its a new show but from the previews, etc its clear that they're supposed to be the one major couple of the season and it just didn't seem like there was much spark there.

I'll def watch the second episode but I'm not really hardcore excited about it.

[EricMontreal22]

I love the nurse/doctor lady--I love the actress regardless,buther conversation felt real to me (not a typical fag hag even though she had dated him--obviously not still hung up on him ala QAF).

To be honest, your opinion makes sense--we just disagree. I thought the bus scene felt realistic to my experiences--I didn't want a QAF moment. (But, as everyone on here knows, as much as I loved the UK QAF--it blew me away when it first aired and I was still in high school--the US one, which I kinda watched anyway because my friends all did, greatly annoyed me.) The critics whohave loved it (and it does have a very high metacritic score) have said that it doesn't really find itself till episode 3. For an 8 episode, 30 minute show that may be too slow--they really should have atleast premiered the first two together I think.

[difficultdiva]

Is the show airing the 3rd or 2nd episode on Saturday night to avoid competiting with this year's Super Bowl telecast?

Eric - I have the same feelings towards QAFUK vs. QAFUS.

[EricMontreal22]

I'm glad I appreciate that many people--people whose opinions I respect--love the US/Canadian QAF. I've noticed most of them didn't see the original till after (there are comments on Amazon that complain about the original how ugly the actors are and the sex is toned down. I guess I prefer somewhat realistic looking men who can act, and the sex was actually more graphic but also more realistic--no MTV montages, so...)

The second episode airs this week, its the third episode (and 6th I think of Girls?) that airs the sat before the Superbowl, though they will repeat it Sunday. I think that makes sense--I hate when they take a break (and for an 8 episode series that's pretty deadly--interesting the UK original QAF was, I think, 8 30 minute episodes as well.)

[EricMontreal22]

As to the low ratings, while I think they will climb for episode two due to all the social media attention (but of course, after that, depending on what people think, fall again) they did do better than recent 30 minute HBO series that didn't have Game of Thrones on at the same night. And to put it in perspective, when ratings (even on cable) were larger, I found this about QAF.

"Showtime’s “Queer as Folk” proved there was an audience for later gay-themed entertainment like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “The L Word” and the recently launched cable network Logo.
But in its final season, “Folk” has lost most of that audience. Ratings for the once-hip show have fallen by more than half since its 2000 debut, and it’s in the midst of its worst year ever.
Through July 10, the most recent data available, new “Folk” episodes are averaging a 0.30 household rating, according to Nielsen numbers provided by Magna Global USA. That’s down 12 percent from last year’s 0.34 average.
It’s off 57 percent from the show’s third-season average of 0.7, and down 66 percent from 2000-2001’s premiere season average of 0.87.
Most shows fade somewhat by their fifth season, but why the steep dropoff for “Folk,” which has remained in the same Sunday 10 p.m. timeslot and enjoyed lots of press coverage for its sex-soaked storylines?
Actually, it may be because of those storylines. A year after gay marriage was a critical, and very divisive, issue in the 2004 election, a show like “Folk” was bound to slip.
While “Queer Eye” and “Will &Grace” play gay for laughs, “Folk” stays serious and issue-oriented, with the gay marriage debate showing up in this year’s storylines. And that may be too much for formerly casual viewers to take.
“Look at where the gay community was five years ago and what's happened since the election,” “Folk” writer-producer Daniel Lipman told the Associated Press during last week’s Showtime Television Critics Association presentation.
With gays feeling increasing scrutiny over gay marriage and adoption, some homosexual viewers may have become exasperated with the promiscuity of several “Folk” characters, not wanting to watch a show that some say enforces stereotypes."

http://www.medialifemagazine.com:8080/News2005/jul05/jul18/3_wed/news4wednesday.html

(I love how they didn't mention that people maybe just got tired of how increasingly ridiculous QAF's stories got as being a reason... And the fact that five years, even if the show were great, is around when viewers really drop off for most cable shows.)

[difficultdiva]

Thanks for finding and posting that article about the ratings for QAFUS. I recall that the show had steadily lost viewers over time.

The storylines did become ridiculous on QAF after awhile, because I think the show's creators were just treading water until the series finally ended. The actors portraying Brian and Justin at that time were certainly done (in their minds and in their portrayals of their characters) by the beginning of the fifth and final season.

I do think it's interesting that some of the initial selling of "Looking" in the media chose to use "Girls" and "Sex and the City" as the barometer instead of QAFUS. I wonder why that was the case?

[difficultdiva]

Same for me. :-) I still recall the first episode of QAFUK and how those characters came across to me as people that you could meet in real life AND I really liked the fact that none of them were out of this world pretty. I found Stuart Alan Jones to be very charismatic, even though he was violatile, hard to deal with at times and didn't want anyone to know that he actually cared about folks (especially Vincent) in his life. I also loved how Stuart seemed to enjoy sex and how he was able to "pull" the guys he met each night. It didn't seem like some burden that his US counterpart had to face, because he (Brian Kinney) was seen and deemed as this "sex god".

I was fortunate to watch QAFUK when it initially aired and even with it only being 8 thirty minute episodes, they steadily grew an audience in the UK (with gay male and to their surprise female audiences) and gained critical acclaim in the UK and US. Entertainment Weekly wrote an article up about the series at that time and said that it was the best "cult show that nobody in the US could watch", unless they knew of somebody in the UK who could pirate them copies of the show. If QAFUK hadn't been created, who knows if Aiden Gillen or Charlie Hunnan would have been cast in US series "The Wire" or "Sons of Anarchy".

[SFK]

So far, I think the most likeable character is the latino dude the main dude met on the train, and if tonight's episode is any indication, looks like that may be the last we see of him. That's too bad, and again, it's still very early, but I don't find any of the main characters particularly likeable/"rootable".

The black guy in the relationship with latino guy reminds me of Roger G. Smith and Craig David.

[SFK]

I thought the first scene's dialogue was a bit much, but then I thought about how comically raunchy my straight, gay, female friends can be in conversation. Maybe there was something about the fact that it was scripted with a healthy dose of intentional shock value that rubbed me wrong.

[difficultdiva]

I wasn't shocked by that conversation between those three characters. They are supposed to have a long history with each other and friends do talk that way to each other about things going on in their lives.

Patrick and his issues, yet again got the best of him and he screwed up on his date with Ritchie. I still don't think it's the last we'll see from him, but I think he just didn't want to be "uncut Latino meat" to Patrick.

Dom's ex certainly proved that even a recover meth head could still be a user and jerk.

I love how supportive Agustin's boyfriend is about his art. I feel that Agustin thinks that he shouldn't want to enjoy spending time at home, eating pizza with his man, but he ends up being happy anyway.

Edited January 27, 2014 by difficultdiva