Were you a fan of the American version of Queer As Folk? The show was controversial, even, or especially, in the gay community, but I found it engrossing, engaging, & groundbreaking. Tose trail blazing scenes scenes were included in every episode of Queer as Folk, beginning with the 1st, which contained the first simulated explicit sex scene between two men shown on American television,including: mutual masturbation, anal sex, & rimming, yet it was more tame than the UK version. Despite the frank portrayals of drug use & casual sex in the gay club scene, the expected conservative uproar never materialized.
Queer as Folk quickly became the #1 show on Showtime. The network's initial marketing of the show was primarily targeted at gay male audiences, yet a sizeable segment of the viewership turned out to be heterosexual women. A disclaimer ran before each episode: "Queer as Folk is a celebration of the lives and passions of a group of gay friends. It is not meant to reflect all of gay society"
Peter Paige, an out gay actor, played the gayest character on the gayest show on TV. His work as Emmett Honeycutt was my favorite through all 5 seasons. Peter’s other television credits include recurring & guest star roles on Will & Grace, Time of Your Life, Girlfriends, Caroline in the City, & Grey's Anatomy. His very first audition in Los Angeles nabbed him a guest-starring role on Suddenly Susan. An accomplished stage actor, Peter has appeared at major regional theatres throughout the country, including world premieres at La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, & Playwrights Horizons. He has performed nearly every genre from the Greeks to Shakespeare to contemporary American work.
About his experience on Queer As Folk: “We knew that the show was going to be something very new & important for the gay community, & we knew that we carried a sort of responsibility for being one of the first multifaceted representations of the gay community on television. For me, the most important thing about the show was that it was real. Whenever I saw a new story, I would ask, Is this true? Is this real? Could this really happen? I'm proud to say I could always answer yes. I really think we never did a story that wasn't real. Of course, sometimes things were sensationalized, or components were dramatized, but basically everything that happened on the show either happened to me or someone in the cast or crew.”
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