HBO’s seri about gay iends San Francis, Lookg, reviewed.

Contents:

• THE GAY HBANDS OF SAN FRANCIS
• THE GAY TRAVELER’S GUI TO SAN FRANCIS
• GAY SAN FRANCIS
• HBO PICKS UP MICHAEL LANNAN’S GAY-THEMED SAN FRANCIS-SET DRAMEDY TO SERI

THE GAY HBANDS OF SAN FRANCIS

2 Seasons | 18 Episos | TV-MAWATCH NOWMAXMeet Patrick, Agt and Dom: three 30-somethg iends livg San Francis explorg the excg, sometim overwhelmg, optns available to a new generatn of gay men. From gay rights in Harvey Milk’s electn – and vastatg assasatn – through to last year’s regnn of the cy’s gay and leather cultural district, San Fran has always been a vibrant LGBTQ+ haven.

In the first episo of Lookg, —HBO’s lovely new seri about a group of gay men livg San Francis created by Michael Lannan and directed by Weekend’s Andrew Haigh—Patrick (Jonathan Groff), a vio game signer, fds himself on a first date wh an onlogist who never plays vio gam. Here we are, simultaneoly pletely faiar and unfaiar terrory: the bad first date that is, also, the bad, gay first date—and a bad, gay first date that is not the B storyle, will not be followed by scen starrg straight people, and do not feature stereotypilly mpy gay men.

THE GAY TRAVELER’S GUI TO SAN FRANCIS

It’s 2014 and there have been—as Ey Nsbm observed her glowg review for The New Yorker—a number of shows by gay men, but none as lmly, sularly gay as Lookg, which ntas ls than five (small) speakg parts for straight people. Lookg featur three gay men who are, as the tle suggts, searchg: for partners, for reers, and, mostly, for themselv.

And yet, for s, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer people rarely ever saw displays of affectn. It may appear quat now, when we have TV seri like Hulu’s Love, Victor (about a Latx teen explorg sexual fluidy) or Netflix’s Bondg (about sex work and alternative sexualy), but the great gay panic set off by Ellen DeGener g out on her s 1997 was a bombshell that didn’t necsarily nvce the works that they’d open the gat to LGBTQ experienc. Luckily Will & Grace buted 1998 and the groundbreakg NBC seri nvced many that gay people might not be so toxic (and wouldn’t sre off advertisers) — so much so that Vice Print Joe Bin later creded wh changg his md about same-sex marriage.

GAY SAN FRANCIS

Dpe the fact that lns of Amerins wnsed two men raise a happy and healthy dghter om the fort of their livg room sofas, took a fan mpaign to lobby Disney-owned ABC to fally allow Mchell (gay actor Jse Tyler Fergon) and Cameron (straight actor Eric Stontreet) to kiss ( fally happened 2010). For years, ranged, perverse, and spible homosexuals were on full display — pecially om Ryan Murphy, who remas our most proment culture czar when to queer characters on TV. But he’s also supplied at least one murro (ghostly) gay man on Amerin Horror Story and too many crazi on Nip/Tuck to unt.

From the Roy Cohn-flected Army-McCarthy heargs — which was the first time many people heard the word “homosexual” uttered on TV — through the “don’t ask, don’t tell” Neti, that clud The Goln Girls and Digng Women, to our current glter-and-glam era of RuPl’s Drag Race and almost-anythg-go pansexualy. When her straight male roommate’s twentysomethg girliend, Francis, qutns why Leila is so terrified to tell anyone that she has sex wh both men and women, Leila tells her ’s plited bee ’s “a gay thg.

HBO PICKS UP MICHAEL LANNAN’S GAY-THEMED SAN FRANCIS-SET DRAMEDY TO SERI

Adapted om gay director Jt Simien’s breakout film of the same name, about black llege stunts g to terms wh a “post-racial Ameri, ” the seri explor them of race, genr, and sexualy by skewerg jt about everyone for hypocrisy and double standards. In the send season, he manag to evolve beyond simple trop and is given space to explore his queer inty, cludg havg his heart broken by Silv (a self-scribed “Mexin Italian gay vers top otter pup”), fdg a boyiend (of sorts), and even beg rejected by another black man bee of his sk lor — provg that, spe all the talk of “muny, ” ’s never easy to fe lastg bonds.

Pl, managed to change many nservative viewpots the black muny — cludg Timbaland, who crafted the seri’ tchy origal tracks — and was a rare moment which a gay character of lor had so much visibily. Thomas manag to upend nventnal storyl and tackl everythg om mental illns to gay-guy/straight-girl iendships to the g-out procs.

Matilda has high-functng tism, and some of the bt scen revolve around her explorg her fluid sexualy, while both girls embrace their gay half-brother’s relatnship failur as send nature. An utter charmer about a gay, reverg addict edian (-creator Mae Mart) and a prevly straight teacher (Charlotte Richie) who fall eply, dangeroly love wh each other. Holm), hers some of origal-recipe Rob’s most memorable obssns and quirks — among other thgs, Simon is the one who giv the speech about patibily pendg on what you like, not what you are like — even as his story is very different, startg wh the fact that he and the new Rob break up bee he’s gay.

The show, always handipped by expectatns would be the “gay Girls, ” never que found a large enough dience who tly embraced the sensive and slow-burng storytellg. And the fale’s most powerful subplot, he says the words “I’m gay” aloud — a first not only for him, but for a teen televisn character (and one played by an out actor Wilson Cz).

The entire n of this lightful throwback s has queer-iendly ntent, but particularly s first season (still streamg on Netflix, even though the latt season was ma for Pop), which slowly but refully charted the journey of Elena (Isabella Gomez), a Latx teen g to the realizatn that she’s gay, and gradually disverg how to tell her very Catholic fay about .