HBO's Looking

[Taoboi]

The bold.

Adding on to this: Glad to see LOOKING has a thread here. I was a big fan of the movie WEEKEND...the main scene between the two leads about love, relationships, gay marriage, etc in the middle of the movie being one of my favorite scenes of all time, bringing me to tears every time I watch it because I get both of those points of views and how it resonated when the movie was the released and still does...so once I saw a trailer I was curious to see if I would love.

And I'm sorry but so much of that pilot rang true to me. Given the style that WEEKEND was done in, I was not surprised with the style. Boring to some, but I love that slice of life, you are there vibe and character driven-ness of it all. Also I am set to enter mid-30s this year, and find myself pondering. And seeing all of my close friends and exes settling down made what Pat and Murray's character (*cough*Farscape*cough*) was going through hit the bullseye with me.

The only thing that I felt was going to bug me and make me get into debates more than likely will be Augustin and his bf and what went down (not throwing any spoiler down just in case someone wants to see it). And that of course, is due to my personal views and experiences....but I am open to seeing where it goes. And Augustin is hottie for a hipster. lol.

Love the sarcastic roomie. Can't wait to see more of her.

And the ending...perfect. I cheered.

Totally over the comparisons to GIRLS and SATC, but do what you gotta do to get exposure...which is how LA works.

PS. HATTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEE the doctor. And do you know how often I have to deal with that type?

Edited January 20, 2014 by Taoboi

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

I don't really relate to any of the main trio to be honest....I absolutely loath Groff's character. I find him annoying and kinda pathetic really. The lack of diversity is clearly there but I'd be willing to overlook it if it were as fun and engaging as Girls.

That being said this is nothing like Girls. The show is way to sad and somber in some ways. It felt like it way way way too depressing at times....

[JackPeyton]

I like the show.

It got a very somber, slice of life feel. It's not a comedy, but not a drama.

Geoff is great. I like his character a lot, as well as the others.

[Faulkner]

I thought it was generally engrossing and not as "white" as I'd expected. (And the diversity wasn't forced.) And yes, Augustin is a hipster hottie.

[Taoboi]

^^^^ + 1 at Augustin, Hipster Hottie.

[rlj]

I likeeddddddd. It.

[Faulkner]

Ratings for first outing were meh, shedding a large portion of its "Girls" lead-in and on par with the premiere of "Enlightened."

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/hbo-looking-true-detective-girls-tv-ratings/

[Soapsuds]

I wanted to see this but missed it. I am glad they are re running it today and the rest of the week. Will DVR it tonight.

The reviews arent good from those who saw it and of course it was up against football. I think they should have aired this on another night...not on Sunday.

[SFK]

It was NOTHING like Girls. It was not "funny" at all. Not bad, just not funny. I'll see what episode two is like, I thought episode one was just fine. But compared to that Sunday evening's Girls and True Detective, it was the weakest of the night's offerings. I won't judge though, because a pilot is a pilot. Slowness is par for the course.

I will say though, I had to catch myself when I asked myself, "So what makes this show special? How is it different from QAF?" The problem with such questioning is, it's totally unfair to compare a "gay show" to another "gay show" just because it's gay. That's like saying Good Times is superfluous because Sanford and Son was already a black sitcom. I'll give this show a chance because I tend to trust HBO's offerings on gp. We'll see.

[difficultdiva]

I agree. I've already seen suggestions from viewers saying that more sex and witty banter needs to be added to make the show more interesting to them. Maybe that does happen, but you have to be patient and give the show a chance.

Great comparison to how different all the black sitcoms have been developed throughout the past 40 something years. Nobody should want to expect "The Game" to be somewhat like "The Jeffersons" and that should be thought about in regarding new series being based on gay characters.

Edited January 23, 2014 by difficultdiva

[Taoboi]

That's interesting, because I am finding that critics' reviews have been for it...given most of the critics have had the first 4 episodes dropped on them so they have a better picture than viewers.

And viewers appear to have a problem with it which boils down to either 1)it is too slow which I find debatable but what really gets me is 2)they want to nitpick things like that first scene saying no one does that anymore. I find that laughable because all one truly has to do is look around and see YES, IT DOES. In fact, on my way home last night by the park I can honestly say YES, IT DOES. I had a giggle and kept moving.

[Faulkner]

Re: ratings, saw this via Deadline:

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/hbos-family-tree-will-not-be-renewed-hello-ladies-will-wrap-run-with-special-getting-on-eyes-second-season-pickup/

[EricMontreal22]

I've spoken about this on other forums and facebook a lot, but I really really liked it. I also liked Weekend, which I know many found boring (or hated the fact gays were doing drugs yet again,) and I tend to like somewhat slow shows.

It has gotten very positive press but the negative reactions are hilarious to me. Esquire complains that there are no fun "queens" to keep straight men entertained and that it was unrealistic that there was a Dolly Parton mention but no quotes from gay favorites like Wizard of Oz and All About Eve (...), another critic complained that it was like everyone was stuck in the 70s because no younger current gays would have a stripper at their bachelor party (my friends--unfortunately did,) cruise in a park (no comment,) go--in a future episode--to a bathouse (I haven't, but a lot of friends my age or younger have at least once,) or, again I assume in a future episode, know who Erasure is (when I used to club my friends' favorite night was 80s night.) Then several others have said it's just like Sex and the City because it involved a threeway, people debating moving in together, and being single in a city and looking for a hook up and/or a relationship (nevermind that the tone and style of the episode was not remotely like Sex and the City, particularly their clumsy first season.)

Maybe I just liked it because I've been on *two* awkward dates (I should learn) where I've said things I thought the guy would find funny about my past experiences and just put him off, while ordering another drink once he said he wasn't going to have another...

SMH.

Yeah I wouldn't worry too much. Girls didn't have good numbers (not that I think this is all that much like Girls) early on. Neither did True Blood. Game of Thrones didn't either. These are all very different shows, and HBO has had some flops, but I think all of the social media attention will get people to tune in to the repeats and later episodes -- whether they like it enough to keep watching is really up to debate, but...

Edited January 24, 2014 by EricMontreal22

[EricMontreal22]

You didn't find much of the last half of Girls sad and somber?? I really enjoy Girls, but...

[EricMontreal22]

I agree with much of that (though I liked it a lot more than you did.)

But it is very very different from QAF (the awesome UK and the largely awful US versions.) To be fair both had much more soapy pilots (again especially Season one of the US remake what with the team behind Sisters doing it.) No big potential overdose to cap this episode or someone [!@#$%^&*] an underaged kid, etc.

As someone else said, it makes sense this was by the director of Weekend and that's the feel I got. It is slice of life--there's no initial hook (even Girls which does share a slightly similar "indie film" look and feelhad Hannah moving and her relationship with her parents as the hook.)

I did love the pilot. I can't say if I'll love where it goes--and I do think it would have been smart of HBO to air the first two episodes back to back, but... (most of the positive reviews have said that the show finds its footing in the third episode--the critics got sent four, and there are only eight, so...)

I did like what Nussbaum said about complaints that either the show was too slight and not edgy enough (one gay critic complained that they cut away before the blow job) or else that it's too focused on sex. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2014/01/20/140120crte_television_nussbaum