WTF is so great about brian

[+ Axiom2001]

>If you want to see fully fleshed out gay characters who make

>QAF look ridiculous, go to SIX FEET UNDER. Absolutely

>marvelous writing and acting (not only of the gay characters)

>and the writers sure know how to depict "gay couple"

>interactions. Truly one of the best shows on TV.

 

 

These are my sentiments, too! SFU is a superb show in regards to its writers--the characters -- and lastly the acting per se!!

[Guest Bitchboy]

I so agree! After faithfully watching the first season, I got a bit overwhelmed by season two and stopped watching. With the advent of those HBO/ShowTime/TMC on demand channels, I've been able to catch up on the series. It's really great writing and wonderful acting. While the gay characters are real, my favorites are the mother and daughter. I howl at most of their interchanges.

[eastbayguy]

Hi,

 

>I'm glad you posted that, ebg. I'd read that a huge portion

>of their audience was str8 females but couldn't remember

>where.

 

You wonder how str8 women heard about it, and started watching? But, then, of course, I still don't get the whole hag scene either.

 

>Most of the complaints (drug use, promiscuity, etc.) smack of

>whistling past the graveyard. That IS part of gay life. I see

>a little of someone I know in every character on that show.

 

Oh yeah. And, I see a little something so over the top in each character that is just not believeable. The show does take on some difficult topics. I just hate the easy, packaged solutions that TV always seems to require.

 

>Complaints about acting are valid, but so are complaints about

>acting on BAYWATCH yet that show was a HUGE commercial

>success. With QAF we at least have a show that acknowledges

>some of the issues that gay men and women face, and exposes

>them to people who might not otherwise consider them.

 

My greatest hope is that QAF will lead to better queer programming. With the realization that people are watching QAF, maybe someone in the US will produce something better. Showtime has to be making a fortune on QAF. Lots of people subscribe just to watch QAF and the show isn't very expensive to produce. And, to Showtime's credit, they are expanding their queer programming. There is a queer themed movie on one of the Showtime alternate channels on Tuesday(?) followed by Queer Duck.

 

If you haven't seen Queer Duck, you owe yourself watching it. Very good stuff. Just to short. Seems like the intro is longer than the show.

 

--EBG

[+ deej]

>My greatest hope is that QAF will lead to better queer

>programming. With the realization that people are watching

>QAF, maybe someone in the US will produce something better.

 

Same here. The show's commercial success shows there's a market for queer programming, and a profitable one.

 

>If you haven't seen Queer Duck, you owe yourself watching it.

>Very good stuff. Just to short. Seems like the intro is

>longer than the show.

 

I've seen it. Sorta hit or miss. Some episodes are hilarious, others are yawners. If they can get some consistency going it'll be worth watching.

 

One of the Showtime networks (Sho TOO?) actually has a "Queer Night" weekly. They start with a queer-themed movie, follow with Queer Duck, and anchor it with QAF. I never thought I'd see it.

[Guest Dan]

>I like Brian, I find him amusing. It's a challenge to create

>and maintain a character who's an asshole, but still,

>inexplicably, likeable (think Jack in "As Good As It Gets")

>and I think the writers have done just that in him. "We have

>something you don't." Brian's response: "Anal Warts?" he's

>a good smartass, and I always like a good smartass.

>

>Initially I was amazed that the actor, supposedly straight,

>who plays Michael was so comfortable getting intimate with his

>first "Old Man" boyfriend. But now that he's repeated so

>often on Larry King, magazine interviews, etc., that he IS

>uncomfortable, extremely, during those shows, I've noticed

>that on this and last season, there's a lot fewer moments of

>him being genuinely affectionate. That annoys me.

>

>The lesbians are fine with me. They give the writers an

>outlet for disposable issues-of-the-month.

>

>I think that the Emmet is a strong character, femmy but self

>assured. His BF, and best friend, does a good-boring gay, for

>a straight actor that can't be easy, they tend to prefer to do

>it over the top.

>

>And come one, no matter how much you hate the show, when's the

>last time you saw a gay man laying on a kitchen table, legs in

>the air, and vcovered with both of their sperm (without a DVD

>movie fed in)? That kind of FUCK YOU STRAIGHT PEOPLE, if you

>don't like the show switch, attitude has to count for

>something. It does in my book.

>

>I tune in every Sunday, not because I like the show so much,

>but in the hopes that perhaps in this episode Justin will bend

>over to tie his shoe in the middle of the street and SUDDENLY

>a steamroller will crush him from foot to head (think Stephen

>King's "Maximum Overdrive", the controversial scene that was

>deleted in some countries...but not ours). And when his

>beatnik BF runs out to mourn, he's mawled by an escaped Bangel

>Tiger.

 

Funny thing, Rod, the character that I've wanted to see die is Debbie.

 

BTW, is the actress who plays the Jew dyke, a real live saaphist? I know that Thea Gil is married in real life.

 

Dan Dare

http://meetlocalmen.com/mlm/dandarela.html

[Guest Dan]

don't get your panties all bunched up

 

because I called the chick a "Jew dyke." As a Jew fag, I'm allowed to.

 

 

Dan Dare

http://meetlocalmen.com/mlm/dandarela.html

[Guest Tomcal_]

Just last night I finished watching season two on DVD, I bought the first two seasons as I had not ever seen any of the shows. Interesting the comments on here. Just today I was mentioning to a friend how much the Brian character is like a mutual friend of ours! He agreed. I am not sure about other parts of the country but here in L.A. and also NYC, Chicago and Miami/FTL for sure there are sex clubs where guys I know go almost every night(Slammer and Zone in L.A., Westside club in Chelsea, etc.)I do see and know guys who live a life like that portrayed in QAF. Regardless of how shallow or meaningless some may think it is, it does exist! If You go to someplace like the Westside club at 3:00 am on a Sat. morning you will see alot of hot guys who are fucking everying that moves by! I don't think it is the norm which is the impression I get from the show(anymore then Dallas or Dynasty were the norm for what they supposedly represented)but it makes for more intersting shows then if they only did a show about happy monogomous gay suburban couples!

[sashek]

Hi Taylor,

I found this discussion thread to be quite interesting - thanks for starting it. I'm going to add my two cents worth, and in doing so, show how OLD I am. Nearly 40 years ago, the show "Amos and Andy" appeared on t.v. It was, I think, the first t.v. show that featured Black characters in lead roles. It caused a controversy in the Black community that continues to this day, in that many viewers found it perpetuated the stereotypes that whites have about Blacks, while others said that it was, at the very least, a beginning towards a better representation of Blacks on the small screen.

 

I'm not a fan of QAF. I'm much older than the characters who are portrayed on the show, and I don't relate any more to the "angst" of 20-somethings. I also find the acting amateurish, and the story lines predictable. However, I do applaud the show for breaking new ground. I might be wrong about this, but I think QAF, with its British counterpart, is the first show to feature gay characters in lead roles. It is, in a sense, the gay "Amos and Andy." And, as is usually the case, when t.v. tries to break new ground in programming, it tends to play to stereotypes. This, I think, is what's happened with QAF. But, hopefully, it's a start.

 

How representative of the Black experience was "Amos and Andy"? Not very... but at least now, people don't think twice if they see Black characters featured in lead roles. I think the same is true for QAF. It represents, at best, a small minority in the gay community, but hopefully it will, in time, pave the way for better t.v. shows, with more developed characters, and better scripts.

 

I rarely watch QAF, but I keep paying to have the specialty channel it appears on. I'm prepared to give them my support, in the hope of better things to come.

Cheers!

Sashek

[taylorky]

i've rented some of those amos and andy tapes.......run those on t.v. today and the transmitter tower's would be torn down..(rightfully so)but you are right in your thesis. no doubt it's in your face and groundbreaking (qaf) just as amos and andy was in it's day...but (sorry vahawk) i still think it's a freak show taylor@13:51-03/21/03

[VaHawk]

>(rightfully so)but you are right in your thesis. no

>doubt it's in your face and groundbreaking (qaf) just as amos

>and andy was in it's day...but (sorry vahawk) i still think

>it's a freak show taylor@13:51-03/21/03

 

Hey taylor, of all the people who post on this board I'm the last one you need to say sorry to. I should say sorry to you, as my original reply was condescending to you from an ageist standpoint. BTW Amos and Andy was on the radio way back in the 1930's with white guys doing the voices. Just what is a freak anyway? Is that someone who engages in both French and Greek sex, ergo "freak"? You're a cool dude and "Does the name Ruby Begonia ring a bell?"

[Denver Traveler]

I like QAF, and watch it regularly. My main complaint is with the under-use of the Vic character. Except for the one (short) story arc in the first season (where he was entrapped) Vic has been just an occasional sidekick for Debbie. As the only gay character in my age group, it would be nice to see him get some upfront story time. Heck, I'd like to see the guy get laid now and then. If Debbie can, why can't he?

 

The show perpetuates the myth that older gays just disappear. :-(

[VaHawk]

He did make an "appearance" tonight. Very short indeed. But then again, he is on AIDS medication, and as some have suggested on this board, is the type that should "retire" his cock and his whole right to live. I guess the writers of the show feel the same way.

 

BTW - didn't you just love Brian resorting to hiring a Justin look a like escort to ease his pain? LOL, especially when the escort demanded the $300 up front. I would suggest that the writers visit Hooville first, if they're going to try to portray the escort industry. Then they can pay HB a consulting fee.