Do you miss Queer as Folk as much as I do? It really doesn't look like Showtime or Netflix is going to give the popular cable series a new lease on life. We've been waiting 10+ years since Showtime abruptly cancelled the series after only a short five-year run. But the 2015 movie Those People is as close to the series as we're going to get. The dynamic among the three male characters is almost exactly that among the fictional Brian Kinney, Michael Novotny, and Justin "Sunshine" Taylor. If the Queer as Folk cast ever did a reunion movie, they could follow the Those People script virtually verbatim.
You'll do a double take on the cast as well. Handsome, dark-haired, boyishly charming Jonathan Gordon as Charlie is a dead ringer for Hal Sparks as Michael Novotny, while Jason Ralph as Sebastian perfectly captures the essence of Gale Harold as sexy, self-absorbed Brian Kinney. The latter two actors even share first-name surnames, Ralph and Harold!
The movie's setting is New York City, rather than Liberty Avenue in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, but the relationships and plot are virtually identical. Basically, a shiny new love interest threatens to destroy the old unconsummated best-friends love affair.
There are women in the supporting cast of Those People, but they are not central to the storyline as are Mel and Lyns, the lesbian couple on Queer as Folk. There is no Debbie Novotny, the combination waitress/chief fag-hag and mother figure for comic relief. Those People is more drama, less comedy than Queer as Folk, but just as addictive.
Of course, Those People is enjoyable on its own merits, even if you never saw Queer as Folk. But the comparison is inevitable. Now available on Netflix.