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Queer As Folk (Uk)Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men let loose in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T. Davies, who was also responsible for a later gay-related drama, Bob and Rose. Queer as Folk was produced by the independent Red Production Company for Channel Four, which had previously shown its openness for gay-themed material with made-for-TV movies like Beautiful Thing, which was later also given a cinema release. The title of the programme comes from a dialect expression from some parts of Northern England, "there's nowt so queer as folk", meaning "there's nothing as strange as people". Davies has consistently denied rumours that this was a sanitised version of the original choice of title, Queer as Fuck. The main characters are Stuart Alan Jones (Aidan Gillen), who is apparently trying to have sex with every male in Greater Manchester (and appears to be succeeding), his longtime friend Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), who has a little bit of a crush on Stuart and doesn't have quite as much luck regarding men, and finally 15-year-old Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam of Young Americans and Nicholas Nickleby), who is new to the gay scene but is not exactly lacking in self-confidence. Stuart, an advertising executive, is depicted as posessing intrinsic power, able to bend anything to his will (via non-supernatural means), even able to prematurely ejaculate to dissuade Nathan from thinking he is worthy of worship. One of the principle aspects of Stuart is that he does what needs to be done, detonating a car belonging to his friend's mother (after the mother does something particularly evil to her son), inviting Vince's female work colleague (who has a crush on Vince, who isn't out) to Vince's party and then introducing Vince's boyfriend (in order to make Vince hate him so that Vince can fall in love with his boyfriend), and test driving a car through a showroom window (when the car dealer made a homophobic remark). Some of the more minor supporting characters, such as Hazel, and Alexander, are given depth as well, Hazel getting all the best lines. Part of the success of the series was due to the way in which the writer deliberately left some things unsaid, allowing the story to continue around them. The first series caused quite a stir in the UK, because many conservatives were shocked at the depiction of a 15 year old as being aware of his homosexuality and wanting to exercise it. Furthermore, a number of the show's explicit sex scenes caused controversy, not least because they involved gay sex. In particular the first episode featured an extensive sex scene involving both masturbation, rimming, and semen, and was depicted in a notably explicit manner, although simulated rather than actual, counting as one of the most erotic scenes ever shown on television anywhere, not including genuine sex. However, with the general viewership the first series became a triumphant success, despite its late-night timeslot and the withdrawal of main sponsor Beck's Beer. The producers say that Queer as Folk, although superficially a realistic depiction of gay urban life in the 1990s, is meant as a fantasy tale, and Stuart, Vince, and Nathan are not so much characters as gay male archetypes. The huge success of the first series led Channel 4 to commission a second. Although Davies did begin writing a second full series, he decided that there was not that much story left to tell with the characters, and instead finished the story with a two-part special TV movie, Queer as Folk 2 (tagline: 'Same Men. New Tricks'), screened in 2000 to slightly lower viewing figures despite an earlier timeslot. This time, the explicit sex scenes were mostly absent, which was applauded by people who had previously harshly criticized the series. Also, the tone became somewhat more serious, with each of the main characters having to make hard choices concerning their future. But in the end, things turn out fine for everyone: Nathan is left behind as the future "king" of Canal Street, while Vince gets to ride off with his beloved Stuart into the sunset -- with a flying car, again stressing the fantasy aspect of the series. The ending was unpopular with those who wanted a more concrete and conventional resolution to the central love story. The script for the series is notable for having extensive well written monologues, including some that are widely regarded as amongst the best scenes ever. For example, when at his parents house, and threatened by his nephew (Thomas) with being outed, Stuart says, in response to his father's request for help with DIY (to pass some nails) - (Stuart) We don't do hammers, or nails, or saws. We do joints and screws, but that's different
- (Stuart's mother) Who does?
- (Stuart) Queers. Because I'm queer. I'm gay. I'm homosexual. I'm a poof, I'm a poofter, I'm a ponce. I'm a bumboy, battyboy, backside artist, bugger, I'm bent. I am that arsebandit. I lift those shirts. I'm a faggot-ass, fudge-packing, shit-stabbing uphill gardener. I dine at the downstairs restaurant, I dance at the other end of the ballroom. I'm Moses and the parting of the red cheeks. I fuck and am fucked. I suck and am sucked. I rim them and wank them, and every single man's had the fucking time of his life. And I am not a pervert. If there's one twisted bastard in this family, it's this little blackmailer here. So congratulations, Thomas. I've just officially outed you.
as another example, Stuart remarks, about Canal Street - What, come back to this? The ghetto: alleyways stinking of piss, beggars in every doorway, straights and students coming to look at the freak show, and all the idiots saving all week, saving their stupid money from their stupid idiot jobs so they can come and shoot their load with some stranger. And just you look after it, this stupid little street. It's the middle of the world. Cos on a street like this, every single night, anyone can meet anyone. And every single night, someone meets someone.
A follow-up, spin-off series, Misfits, was initially commissioned by Channel 4. The series would have followed the characters of Hazel, Alexander, Donna (who was absent from the 2nd series due to scheduling commitments) and Bernard from the original series, while introducing new characters. Although Davies developed draft scripts for four episodes and storylines for a futher twenty-two, the series was cancelled before it went into production. This experience has led writer Russell T. Davies to vow he will never work with Channel 4 again. Driven by the success of the British version, American cable channel Showtime did a version of it set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, still under the title Queer as Folk, although deviating from the original plot extensively. The US version is notable for not killing off the main character of Phil (named differently in the US version), as happened in the original in one of the early episodes, and similar editing removing other dark truths of how the world really is favouring more of a fantasy, and stereotypes. Also, the US version emphasises more heavily sexual aspects of the plot (and sex scenes), in an appeal to ratings, rather than power, changing Stuart from a personification of power (sometimes, but not always, via sex, as one available tool), into the much shallower one of sex. See also External links *TV Tome program profile and episode guide
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