Peacock is shutting the doors to Babylon (again), cancelling its Queer as Folk reboot after just one season.
Series creator Stephen Dunn shared the news late Friday on Instagram, saying, “It’s a rare gift in these times, and in this country, to be able to make a show as fearless and unapologetic as ‘Queer As Folk’. This experience changed our lives forever and we’re so grateful to have found this incredible new family. But today we received the disappointing news that we’re not getting a second season.
“We know how much it’s meant to the fans,” Dunn continued, “and while we’re heartbroken we won’t get to make more episodes, we wanna thank everyone for watching and falling in love with Brodie, Mingus, Ruthie, Noah, Shar, Julian, Daddius, Bussey, Marvin, Judy and Brenda. We’re so grateful for the chance to honor our community and are so proud of this show.”
Queer as Folk‘s eight-episode first (and now only)season hit Peacock in full on Thursday, June 9. It’s/It was the third series to bear the Queer as Folk title, following the original UK series (1999–2000) and the US version (2000–2005).
The series starred Devin Way as med school dropout Brodie Beaumont, Fin Argus as non-binary teen Mingus, Jesse James Keitel as English teacher Ruthie O’Neil, Ryan O’Connell as Brodie’s also-gay brother Julian Beaumont, Johnny Sibilly as Brodie’s ex-boyfriend Noah Hernandez and CG as Ruthie’s partner Shar.
Other key cast members included Kim Cattrall as Brodie and Julian’s eccentric mother Brenda Beaumont, Ed Begley Jr. as Brenda’s husband Winston Beaumont and Juliette Lewis as Mingus’ free-spirited mother Judy. Additional Season 1 guest stars included Nyle DiMarco, Big Freedia and Lukas Gage.
Your thoughts on the Peacock reboot? Drop ’em in a comment below.
Aw that’s to bad. Granted it wasn’t nearly as good as the Showtime series but it was pretty good.
This was great. Is it hopeless, or could this show get a second season if enough called for it?
I knew this show flopped the moment it didn’t go viral on gay Twitter and tiktok. Dunn missed the mark.
That “reboot” is my big DISAPPOINTMENT. Boring, artificial, with nonsense characters relations – HAS NOTHING TO DO with original “QAF”. It is soo boring that after 2 episodes I hardly even remember the NAMES of the main characters. Many scenes are just idiotic, not logical .. They TALK TOO MUCH, use a hermetic language too often, expressions that will not be understood outside of american “gay-ghetto” … Gay characters are all TOO MANNERED, even the “top” suddenly comes out as a “bottom” etc. etc.
As much as I wanted to like this iteration it just never seemed to gel for me like the other two versions. That said, I would have continued to watch future seasons, but definitely not surprised/upset by the news.
All the more reason Saved by the Bell should have gotten another season. They canceling all the LGBTQ+ shows
I mean SBtB had some lovely queer *women* characters but treated the very idea of queer men as a nasty joke so I’d hardly call it a “LGBTQ+ show”
They are not cancelling “all LGBT shows” baby- they cancel BORING, artificial, badly written, badly acted… shows.
They’re ‘gay’. You could argue they aren’t ‘cancelled’, they just aren’t giving birth to new seasons… because two men can’t make a babY!
It’s a bummer that another LGBTQ+ show has ended, but this one doesn’t shock me. I gave this show multiple tries, but I was never able to get into it. The cast was lovely, but the entire show felt awkward and forced – like the electric chemistry they wanted us to believe just wasn’t there.
Exactly. The main sin–BOOOORING. And many other sins…
I don’t have peacock so I didn’t see it. But I believe a lot of the trouble these shows have is they try to force to many things in at first. Start with a few characters and add in more later. If you like a single character you can go from there easier.
Jesse James Keitel can now come back to Big Sky.
I thought that very same thing. Come home to Montana, Jeri.
Really disappointed about the cancelling of this series. I really enjoyed it.
I wonder if they had just gone with their own branding and title and not have used existing IP in the most tangential way possible…maybe then they might have had a chance. I mean I knew it wasn’t QAF. Why try to bait me? Audiences are smarter than that. If you want to move past the cis-gender white gay male thing, reboot Noah’s Arc! Or if youre gonna do QAF in a more contemporary way, do what LWord Gen Q is doing and utilize core characters from the original. I know for many thats controversial but I for one enjoy both versions of L Word.
Personally I think everyone from the original Chris folk should have been involved. I admit I haven’t seen the new one. But the picture in this one minute just seen isn’t even something that should be here. It wasn’t presented this way. Maybe the directors should be the same. Not sure. All I know is the original is amazing, phenomenal, with it. If you’re going to portray it for trade correctly! Then quite possibly you have a major number one hit, the world is ready for.
Not surprised. Didn’t see much talk for it. And I agree utilizing original characters is what has helped save The L Word reboot. Between the two shows it’s easy to see how hard it is to launch new characters and having the original characters is a nice fall back to have just in case the new characters flop.
Personally I would love to see a continuation of QAF and Noah’s Arc instead of reboots… Maybe it’s just for nostalgia sake but the new QAF just didn’t have the same feel. And like you, I like the L word because the originals are back along with a new group. I would like to think I would have stuck with it had they not had Bette and the rest back but I don’t know cause initially they new cast just didn’t click with me. I hope this isn’t a nail in the coffin for QAF because I’d still love to see Showtime try and get it right
I don’t really see why a person’s identity has to be tied to their sexuality. It’s one aspect, sure. This show really made it their core feature. Also, non-binary will hopefully disappear in 10 or so years. Gender is a social construct. What we constitute as male and female has no fixed meaning anyway. So, non-binary is just like redundant.
Considering the concept of non-binary predates western civilization with different precolonial cultures having their own analogous beliefs regarding gender identity, I highly doubt it’s going to phase out in just 10 years.
Male/Female is NOT a social construct but a biological reality.
You’re referring to sex. The comment you’re replying to is talking about gender. Educate yourself.
No, that comment WAS referring to sex when said ‘male and female’ instead of ‘man and woman.’ Though, your friend was still wrong since there is no difference between those two terms anyway.
Lol and, if you’re able to read this, I will again say educate yourself. There is a difference between those terms and a quick google will provide that information. I’m embarrassed for you – please go back under your bridge. They literally said “ Gender is a social construct.”
I didn’t make it past the first 3 episodes. Won’t be finishing it now. It just felt like it was trying way too hard to be woke and a lot of the acting and/or dialogue was cringeworthy.
That’s a shame. It was a great show. Nothing beats the original. But I really think the creator and writers and everyone involved succeeded in what they set out to do.
By ‘original’ you mean the british one? Yes, it was Far better than that Showtime monstrosity.
That Showtime monstrosity lasted 5 seasons over this one.
And how how many seasons have crapshows like ncis or svu done? Must mean they are great shows, right?
Good riddance.
No character seemed to have a job.
Everyone seemed to want to go to a drag show, or be in a drag show.
Everyone spoke like a thousand purses dropped out of their mouth.
No-one seemed like a normal everyday gay guy doing a normal everyday job and dealing with normal everyday issues.
It was trash and an insult to the gay community.
It came across as a show written by activists trying to shove down every issue that I can guarantee you most of the gay community have very little connection or interest in.
It got its just desserts. Cancellation.
Showtime would’ve done it right. I knew when Peacock was handling the reboot it would fail.
I agree (cause I said the same thing in another comment) Even thought Peacock is a streamer, they are still NBC and QAF just isn’t the type show a network streamer can do right imo.
This reads as internalised homophobia.
100%
Sounds like you’re gatekeeping what a gay guy can be. A lot of us are not going to pride parades and hooking up with 20 guys per week.
That’s the worst TV related news I’ve heard in awhile. It was fantastic and I’m guessing it was canceled because Peacock is going “traditional” or something.
Never watched it.. when I saw it was around a shooting, I thought it was in poor taste, so skipped it. Friends started to watch it, but said it was pretty poor, so I’m not surprised it was canned.
Perhaps the decision to make a show that is supposed to be about queer joy and set it in the aftermath of a major trauma was not the fun summer show the gays wanted this year.
When you try to group all LGBT+ identities and orientations under an umbrella, you end up representing nobody. The original was about gay men. Gay men are already excluded and hated inside the LGBT+, many having their orientation questioned and being coerced into sex with people with vaginas. We have conversion therapy now inside the LGBT+ community and saying “no” grants you the scarlet letter of being considered transphobic.
I’m really upset. While it caught my eye bc they named it QAF, it really wasn’t anything LIKE the QAF I knew (the Showtime version) and when I first went to try it out I thought – truthfully – nobody will ever top Brian Kinney bc he was so beloved by ME. However, as mentioned, it was completely different, and I got lost in these new characters’ lives. I watched it a number of times – both bc I really really loved it and bc I wanted to be sure I caught all of the tiny (and possibly bigger) details one can miss when first trying out a new show. It only made me like it more. I think this was an awful decision. Some of the best shows on tv didn’t start off as immediate hits and if every single show that didn’t click w an audience after “x” number of episodes was cancelled, we would rarely, if ever, get to season two.
And when I think about some of the truly TRULY awful shows that continue on while quality shows like this are cancelled, I could just cry.
Truth be told, I am not surprised one bit by this cancellation. This was, by and large, too purposefully *woke* to survive. The scripts were weak and the acting was subpar, at the very best. The three standouts, acting-wise, were: Juliette Lewis, Ryan O’Connell and Johnny Sibilly. This series, much like The CW’s “Charmed,” rode on the name and coattails of the original series, and simply did not do it justice. Thankfully, Peacock realized it should cut its loses sooner than later, unlike The CW.
This series focused too much on the tropes of the LGBTQ+ community that not everyone adheres to, and it lacked the authenticity and emotional weight of the original Showtime series. I appreciated the attempt to include more trans and non-binary characters/actors into this series… but, again, it felt too forced and disingenuous, like they wanted us to get it. That does not make for a surviving series.
I watched it and my honest opinion was… it was probably one of the worst depictions of LGBT people I have ever scene… borderline LGBTphobic.
It really did not have enough likable characters. The most likable characters were the supporting cast. Mrs. Beaumont, Noah, and Shar… TBH I would have preferred they were the focal characters. Watching the show I started thinking Mingus, Brodie, & Ruthie must be written by a homophobic transphobe. No LGBT ally could have that low of an opinion of LGBT. It was bad.
I kinda agree with you, Brodie and Dingus were simply horrible characters, Annoying at best, insufferable at their worst.
I found myself way more interest in Noah and Julian, their story could’ve easily be the show main storyline, it was sweet and with a depth that the other plots in the show lacked. They are probably the only thing I’ll miss from this mess of a show, Ryan O’Connell and Johnny Sibilly deserver better.
I had hopes for this show, but was disappointed. The Showtime version had a variety of types of gay people. They seemed more “real” and believable.
This version just came across as pretty people partying all the time. I gave up after 2 episodes. So this news does not surprise me.
I think the the reboot should have had some or all the original cast. The reboot in question was not CLEARLY promoted. I had no ZERO idea that was even being aired. I looked for it and was frankly confused what the reboot was about. Was it the US previous cast or the British version as I thought reboot meant bring back the original cast not an entirely new group. BAD PAR
That “reboot” is my big DISAPPOINTMENT. Boring, artificial, with nonsense characters relations – HAS NOTHING TO DO with original “QAF”. It is soo boring that after 2 episodes I hardly even remember the NAMES of the main characters. Many scenes are just idiotic, not logical .. They TALK TOO MUCH, use a hermetic language too often, expressions that will not be understood outside of american “gay-ghetto” … Gay characters are all TOO MANNERED, even the “top” suddenly comes out as a “bottom” etc. etc.
This reboot was awful. As full of stereotypes and cliched as the original version was, I had no problem warming up to most of the main characters. Although I appreciated the attempt at casting a more diverse main cast, most of them just weren’t likable or were written as one-dimensional and the actors, for the most part, weren’t good enough to transcend the material. I did like JJK but they were the only one that I found to be even remotely compelling.
Hopefully another venue will pick it up. There’s a lot of s#*t shows being aired and LGBTQ representation is tiny let this show grow into what it will.
It was a great show !! Why didn’t they give it a second chance ? Such a disappointment, makes me wonder how many straights it took to cancel it.
I am so sad to see Peacock not renew Queer as Folk. It was a brand new series and it got better as each episode was done. I was SO happy to see the reboot and I do not think Peacock did not give it a fair shake. I am going to have to reevaluate whether I continue Peacock because of this. I don’t want to start a new series and have the rug pulled out from under it again. Shame on you Peacock. You clearly are not LGBTQIA+ supportive at all.