Peacock reimagines 'Queer as Folk' for a new generation
The third version of the evocative drama series follows a group of friends whose lives are turned upside down after a Pulse-like nightclub shooting in New Orleans.
More than two decades after the Welsh screenwriter Russell T. Davies created a pioneering British television drama that chronicled the lives of three gay men living in Manchester, England, “Queer as Folk” has been reimagined for a new generation on Peacock, the streaming network owned by NBC Universal, the parent company of NBC News.
But this time, the latest iteration — which comes nearly 17 years after an acclaimed American adaptation, centering on a group of gay friends in Pittsburgh, ended on Showtime — is looking to tackle contemporary concerns by painting a more nuanced picture of the LGBTQ community.
Created by Stephen Dunn, the new “Queer as Folk,” which premiered Thursday, follows a diverse group of friends whose lives are upended in the aftermath of a mass shooting at Babylon, a fictional gay bar in New Orleans. The tragedy, which is reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, was the basis of the initial pitch that convinced Davies to give Dunn the rights to the prestigious property around five years ago.
“There’s no community that is more fractured, more sprawling, and that has so much division, but I told Russell that the last time I remembered the queer community really coming together was after the Pulse nightclub shooting,” Dunn, 33, said in an interview provided to the press. “It was something where everyone was affected and unified by this horrible tragedy in such a way that it felt like a story about a community rebuilding could be the premise for a show.”
The eight-episode season begins with the fateful homecoming of Brodie (Devin Way), a charming, hot-tempered young gay man who decides to visit his adoptive mother, Brenda (Kim Cattrall), and disabled brother, Julian (Ryan O’Connell), after dropping out of medical school. Brodie is also the soon-to-be biological father of twins, having donated his sperm to his trans best friend, Ruthie (Jesse James Keitel), and her nonbinary partner, Shar (CG). After taking a bullet for Mingus (Fin Argus), an aspiring teen drag performer raised by a supportive single mother (Juliette Lewis), and losing a close friend in the shooting, Brodie decides to move back in with his former fiancé, Noah (Johnny Sibilly), a successful lawyer who is not as put together as he seems.
Rating: 5