Queer as Folk getting worse?

[Guest roninx]

Is it me or is this show getting worse and worse. I really enjoyed the first season which borrowed heavily from the original British version. This season though the storylines seem to be getting worse and worse. Every episode is more sensational than the last. They have just thrown any believabilty out the window. It even seems to be losing any for "just entertainment" value.

 

I didn't really enjoy last nights episode, especially when they were try to make fun of Ted's priapism from taking Viagra.

 

I thought that Priapism can be really serious. If you stay erect too long you can get gangrene and they would have to chop "it" off. I've heard that serious surgery is a last resort. I'm sorry but I didn't find it to be a "joke."

 

I don't think it will last much longer. It seems to have lost it's initial shock value. Any thoughts?

[phage]

It has definitely become cartoonish, but as long as there are men like Michael’s new boyfriend on the show and plenty of gratuitous sex scenes…I’ll keep tuning in.

 

Can you imagine how good it would be with a really talented writer or two? Just think what the writer of 'Six Feet Under’ (can’t think of his name) could have done with the situation between Michael and Ben. He could have really tackled the issues of knowingly starting a relationship with an HIV+ man in a compelling way. Instead, we get silly platitudes about “living in the moment.”

 

I think part of the problem is the MTV pace to the show. They apparently have the attention span of children and assume that we do too. I’m not looking for ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ kind of character development, but they could put a little meat into one or two of the plot lines.

 

Thank God for the eye-candy!

[Guest Baggle]

I agree. The show has become somewhat painful to watch. It has become so contrived. What a shame they can not have an ongoing series about Homosexuals that works and is not a comedy.

[Guest ChicagoCorey]

It couldn't get any worse than it was when it started. I almost pissed my pants laughing at the scenes with Michael and Brian on the hospital balcony in the first episode.

 

That said, I've since watched every episodes and think it's a riot. You can either laugh at the thought that people take it seriously or directly at the show -- it occasionally it elicits a chuckle.

 

I like that it doesn't take anything seriously -- when it tries to tackle serious issues seriously, it's even more laughable. I think it's great that gay people finally have a crappy TV series all their own.

 

Maybe I'm just saying this because it's become a Sunday night ritual around our house -- Alias, followed by QAF, followed by heading out -- laughing and playing most of the time. Friends and alcohol make us take it all less seriously.

 

I have to say I enjoy it a lot more than "Six Feet Under" -- I think that it's sanctimonious and condescending television disguising itself under a critical haze that says "HBO always equals quality -- this show is atypical too -- so it must be good." But that's probably just my taste -- I felt the exact same way about creator Alan Ball's American Beauty and it won the Best Picture Oscar.

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>I don't think it will last much longer. It seems to have

>lost it's initial shock value. Any thoughts?

 

It may not win the Pulitzer anytime soon but it's all we got so I ain't knocking it.

 

Funny - 20 years ago, the thought of this would have been unheard of. Gays, as a society have advanced to the point where this actually is on prime time TV. Who would have thought in 1982 that we would actually complain about the quality - we would have been so thrilled to get it aired!

 

As long as I can continue to see great butt & dick on my big screen TV in prime time - I'LL BE WATCHIN'

 

Thunderbuns

[guyinsf]

I agree that it's gone from bad to worse, but I still enjoy watching it for the flesh and because it's so bad it's good. The secret, I think, is that one must turn off all critical thinking when watching. If I think about what I'm watching, not only does the improbability of most of what happens become clear but I also notice all of the terrible stereotypes that this show likes to promote.

 

Last night was particularly awful on two fronts:

 

The whole Ted/Viagra/priapism plot line was ridiculous. I know QAF isn't a documentary, but this was so off base (both on the effects of Viagra and the potential danger of priapism) that I was bothered by it.

 

For the first time a bunch of African American men were shown...playing basketball.

 

It would be nice if they hired some quality writers, but I think the show's US/Canadian producers WANT the show to turn out this way.

[buckguy]

It's gotten a little better since the start of the season, but still it's pretty bad. Last season had a slow start, but once the produces of the show (I think their names are Cowan & Lipman" quit writing the episodes, it got better. These are the guys who gave us "Sisters"---which seemed like "thirtysomething's" braindead cousin (there was some overlap among minor players and production details). That show was too dumb to be taken seriously (the "normal" dad becomes an untalented rock star and Ed Marinaro wound up marrying or getting involved with everyone), but not dumb enough to be unintentionally funny. Here, the same things happen, they spoil promising story lines (the business with the hunky professor has been a mess and didn't have to be; most guys would have waled out on Debbi's tirade), they give us endlessly dumb storylines---the Emmett "ex-gay storyline", the Ted-viagra thing, etc. Perhaps it will get better like it did last season. With the growing number of shows with gay storylines, we no longer have to feel "grateful for anything" , so hopefully, QAF & Showtime will begin to see their audience erode and perhaps try to fix things before it's too late.

[Guest roninx]

I must agree that although it is BAD!!!! I have still seen every episode just for the eye candy. It just seems that they don't even try for any real plot.

 

If they tried just a little, it could be a much better show.

[+ deej]

If you're expecting Shakespeare, you'll be disappointed. That's for sure. That's not what it's meant to be.

 

But name me any other prime time TV show that has tackled:

 

* Gay relationships (the good, the bad, the ugly)

* Waiting til Monday for that HIV test result

* Rentboys (this should hit home for guys here!)

* Anonymous sex and the fallout

* Safe sex or not?

* Gay bashing

* Age-ism and mercy fucks

* Casual drug abuse gone bad

* Same sex parenting

* Being closeted at work

 

or any of the other issues they've tackled honestly while wrapping the whole mess in gratuitous nude shots of Justin's butt. <sigh!>

 

I'm actually pretty pleased with the show, and with the fact that it's still Showtime's #1-rated series. It means there really *is* a market for gay topics and someone might be willing to invest in that market now that we have a success.

 

When that investment happens, you might see your gay Shakespeare. But remember, when you do see it, it was "Dynasty" without shoulder pads that brought it about. :9 That is, after all, all that QAF is intended to be.

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>I'm actually pretty pleased with the show, and with the fact

>that it's still Showtime's #1-rated series. It means there

>really *is* a market for gay topics and someone might be

>willing to invest in that market now that we have a success.

 

Here Here! I agree with you 110%

 

The ones who bitch about it probably wouldn't be satisfied no matter what the show was like. If there are some rough spots, I view then as camp - and camp was never a negative in my book.

 

Thunderbuns

[buckguy]

."If there are some rough spots, I view then as camp - and camp was never a negative in my book."

 

Like the producers' other creation, "Sisters", QAF takes itself far too seriously to be "camp"---and "camp" would be more entertaining.

 

 

"The ones who bitch about it probably wouldn't be satisfied no matter what the show was like"

 

Hardly. Just considering the range of gay films (from "Broken Hearts" to "Love, Valour, & Compassion" ) on pay cable, even when it isn't "Pride" month, the non-need for a weak gay show becomes evident.

 

Deej's list could be countered with 3 letters: HBO. Virtually all of those issues have been addressed by their shows, indeed, "6 Feet under" has addressed most of them. Plus, HBO has given us things like the "The Laramie Project".

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>Hardly. Just considering the range of gay films (from

>"Broken Hearts" to "Love, Valour, & Compassion" ) on pay

>cable, even when it isn't "Pride" month, the non-need for a

>weak gay show becomes evident.

>

>Deej's list could be countered with 3 letters: HBO.

>Virtually all of those issues have been addressed by their

>shows, indeed, "6 Feet under" has addressed most of them.

>Plus, HBO has given us things like the "The Laramie

>Project".

 

 

I just love it when cocksuckers turn all intellectual on us!

 

Thunderbuns

[BewareofNick]

RE: How to be a Drama Queen Without Really Trying...

 

Every television show has its growing pains. Witness Star Trek:The Next Generation

 

Season One was pretty bad, Season Two was worse, even though both seasons had some things going for them:

 

Season one had the death of Tasha Yar, probably the worst exit of any character in Trek history

It also had the excellent episode Conspiracy

It almost made a joke out of Cousnelor Troi ("The pain...")

Season Two wasn't much better, buoyed only by the addition of Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan and Diana Muldaur as Doctor Pulaski

Season Three was nothing short of phenomenal, with episodes like "Yesterday's Enterprise" (finally doing justice to Tasha; "Sarek" and one of the best cliffhangers in television history, "The Best of Both Worlds"

 

Locutus: "Resistance is futile....Number One"

Riker: "Mr. Worf........FIRE!"

 

TO BE CONTIUNED>>>>>>

 

Gice QAF a chance to find its legs. Be glad there's a fun show about us on the air.

[eastbayguy]

>>I'm actually pretty pleased with the show, and with the fact

>>that it's still Showtime's #1-rated series. It means there

>>really *is* a market for gay topics and someone might be

>>willing to invest in that market now that we have a success.

>

>Here Here! I agree with you 110%

 

From the perspective that this program is the #1 series on Showtime, QAF is an important show. The show does tackle some important issues, albeit in a rather superficial way. The show is definitely aimed at the supposedly "important" 18-25 demographic. I watch QAF, accept the flaws and realize that we aren't going to go from no queer programming to a queer Masterpiece Theater in one jump.

 

If advertisers take note, if the mainstream takes note, then QAF has served a purpose in the development of queer TV. This is a process. Much as we'd like these things to happen in one hop, the world just doesn't work that way.

 

Something better will come along. Meanwhile, we need to show our support for QAF. The commercial success insures that better programming will get considered by the execs who make these decisions.

 

--EBG

[Guest dave_nyc]

Could it get worse?

 

I watched the first season pretty religiously (if just because my younger brother wanted me to tape it for him as he doesn't have cable), and I kept trying to be accepting and give everyone a break, figuring that it *was* the first season and Dr. David was just too pretty for words, doncha know.

 

I knew my time was up when someone was telling me about the first episode of this season and before I heard about Justin I said something like "Let me guess - Justin can't be an artist anymore because he's either lost his vision or use of his hand". Please.

 

I think that the trick is, as others have said, just to try to see it as camp and let it go. Maybe it's hard because everyone wanted it to be more than that. (And not that I care all *that* much, and not that it's the job of the show to carry some sort of banner, but I did find myself hoping that the folks in East Bumafuck realize that it's not a documentary.)

[Guest FLsweetguy]

It's never tried to be serious drama, but in the first season it had some hot bod shots -- the baths, the internet persona, some of the fucking, lots of the club. This season has less of all that and lots more of story lines that are pretty sappy. Hope they find their way and return to what they had last year. I thought that was a lot sexier than most porn flicks.