History Series / QueerAsFolk

* TheJailBaitWait: Averted with Justin and Brian, who start sleeping together when the former is seventeen. Numerous characters point out the uncomfortable implications at various times.

* TheReliableOne: Ted.
* RescueRomance: Ted and Blake, mutually.

* Not done on an episode-by-episode basis, but the zanier plot lines usually have their effects reset eventually. Case in point: George's money.

* {{Smoking is Cool}}: Brian.
* SpaghettiKiss: Michael and David had one during dinner with Debbie and Vic. Invoked by Debbie, who tells David that Disney/LadyAndTheTramp was Michael's favorite movie as a kid.

* NobodyOver50IsGay: Averted with Bernard/Vic.
** In the US version: Rodney ([[spoiler:Vic's partner]]), George ([[spoiler:Emmett's partner]]), and various drag queens as minor characters throughout the series.

* AllGaysArePedophiles: invoked by Stuart's blackmailing nephew, who threatens to tell Stuart's parents a few very nasty lies: "I'll tell them you touched me- you pervert!" Stuart of course counters this with a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.

* CountryMatters: Vince tries to reassure Nathan over Stuart not wanting a proper relationship with him: "Nathan, he's a ''cunt''."
** ...not to mention Nathan's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome]] comeback: "You're friends with a ''cunt''."

--> [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "It's the pens! I need to get rid of the pens!"]]

* GeekyTurnOn: Inverted. Vince makes the choice to ''end'' an unhealthy relationship when he learns that his partner can't name all of the actors who played [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor.]] It's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome.]]
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: Stuart [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome coming out to his parents]].

--> '''Stuart:''' You've gotta ''fancy'' 'em. Never mind love. Love can fuck off. If you fancy him, there's blood, there's a hard-on. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments If you just love him...]]
* MenAreUncultured: Vince appears to be this and proud of it when his boyfriend takes him to a gallery opening.

* ProudToBeAGeek: Vince with his ''Series/DoctorWho'' obsession.
** ...which possibly makes him an AuthorAvatar for Creator/RussellTDavies.

* RefugeInAudacity

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The fashion isn't usually ''too'' of the moment, but the solid-tie-identical-to-the-shirt combo Brian wears at the office in one season 1 episode dates it absolutely to the year of production (late 2000).

* DeadEndJob: Michael fears his job at the Big Q will become this, particularly if he is out of the closet, as a lesbian coworker has been repeatedly denied promotion despite how long she's been with the company.

* AllGaysArePedophiles: invoked by Stuart's blackmailing nephew, who threatens to tell Stuart's parents a few very nasty lies: "I'll tell them you touched me- you pervert!" Stuart of course counters this with a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

** ...not to mention Nathan's [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] comeback: "You're friends with a ''cunt''."

--> [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "It's the pens! I need to get rid of the pens!"]]

* GeekyTurnOn: Inverted. Vince makes the choice to ''end'' an unhealthy relationship when he learns that his partner can't name all of the actors who played [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor.]] It's [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome.]]
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: Stuart [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome coming out to his parents]].

--> '''Stuart:''' You've gotta ''fancy'' 'em. Never mind love. Love can fuck off. If you fancy him, there's blood, there's a hard-on. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming If you just love him...]]

* AllLesbiansWantKids: The principal lesbian couple in both versions have biological children. Romey/Lindsay has a son using Stuart/Brian's sperm. In the US version they also have a daughter who's biologically related to Melanie (Lisa's counterpart) and Michael (Vince's counterpart).

* TheBeard: Ted and Emmett at the wedding of Lindsay's sister.

* BigApplesauce: Averted. While the setting might be UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} InNameOnly, even that was a refreshing change of pace since most gay media is based in New York or California by default.

* ClosetKey: Emmett for Drew.

* DanceOfRomance: Brian and Justin on Justin's prom.

* DisappearedDad: Michael thought his father was a war hero who died in Vietnam, but learns he was really a drag queen who left Pittsburg to pursue his career.

* DoubleEntendre: Played straight and occasionally subverted. The age old 'I'm coming' gag has never been played.
** Unless you count the time when Prop 14 supporters knock on Michael and Ben's door while they're having sex, and Michael angrily yells, "I'm coming!" right before he and Ben finish.

* FlowersOfRomance: David brings these to Michael, which Ted and Emmett call a sign of his wanting to settle down

* InterruptedIntimacy: Happens throughout the show, primarily to Brian.

* LipstickLesbian: Lindsay.

* MayDecemberRomance: Played straight with Jennifer and Tucker. This is extremely difficult for Justin to accept, despite the fact that there is over a decade separating his and Brian's ages. Jennifer calls him out on this.

* MonochromeCasting: An egregious example since African-Americans make up over a quarter of Pittsburgh's population.
** Actually not that surprising. The gay community is often criticized to be pretty monochrome in real life.
*** But it's hard to excuse them on those grounds when they went to the trouble of placing a disclaimer at the start of every episode that they don't reflect gay society.
*** Averted and parodied in Gay As Blazes, the show's resident ShowWithinAShow, where there seems to be a black character just to project political correctness.

* TheMuse: Brian to Michael and Justin, creating Rage.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Brian entered David into the Babylon beauty contest to affront him, but it turned out to be an eclat for David. He also does this when Debbie implores him to let Michael be with David.

* ProfessionalsDoItOnDesks: Brian and a junior ad exec at his firm.

* PutOnABus: David, Ethan, Leda, Jim Stockwell, Loretta.

* ResetButton: Not done on an episode-by-episode basis, but the zanier plot lines usually have their effects reset eventually. Case in point: George's money.

* RuleOfDrama: Every. Single. Episode.

* SexSells: Brian's entire philosophy as an ad exec.

* {{Shirtless Scene}}: Brian likes walking around his loft half-naked.

* StalkerShrine: Ted has a mild one about Michael.

* StrawManHasAPoint: Stockwell starts mainly going after things that are actually illegal like public sex and drugs. This changes when [[spoiler:it's revealed he covered up the murder of a young gay man.]]

* TelevisionGeography: Residents of Pittsburgh get quite a kick out of the show's depiction of their city as a gay mecca, centered on the decadent and lively nightlife of Liberty Avenue (an actual, but fairly ordinary, major downtown thoroughfare). In fact, you might say that the fictional Liberty Avenue looks a lot like Church Street in Toronto, an actual gay neighborhood in a very gay-friendly city, and where the show is actually filmed.

* YourCheatingHeart: Practically everyone cheats on their significant other at least once throughout the series. Melanie and Lindsey each cheated on each other once, Melanie with another woman and Lindsey with a man. Emmett gets into a relationship with a football player who is cheating on his fiance with Emmett. Ted cheats on Emmett with a bunch of guys during his downward spiral into drugs. And then of course there is Ethan who cheats on Justin for no apparent reason at all.

* ShoutOut: While taking attendance in Justin's class, the first name a homophobic teacher calls out is [[FerrisBuellersDayOff Bueller]], but it seems Ferris didn't take today off as he's actually there.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, filmed in Toronto. Which makes the show hard to watch for some who know Pittsburgh well.

-->--'''Show disclaimer'''

* PunBasedTitle: The title is derived from a Northern British phrase "there's nowt so queer as folk", meaning roughly "there's nothing stranger than people". However, the title could be misheard as "Queer as Fuck" (when spoken with a Manchester accent, the two words are even more similar) or, for the American show, "Queer-Ass Folk."

* BiggusDickus: Well it's about gay sex, so naturally the joke comes up from time to time.

-->'''Vince's father''': "Must be a wonderful life Hazel, all those boys. Never short of a joke, tremendous wit, all of them. Always smiling, always laughing..."

Like ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', except with ''men'' in the stereotypical gay man roles. Also compare ''Series/TheLWord'' (for lesbians), and ''NoahsArc'' (for Black gay men).

->"''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"
->Show disclaimer.

''Queer As Folk'' was originally conceived by Creator/RussellTDavies as a comedy drama set in Manchester's gay village. It followed the lives of three gay men: swaggering, self-assured Stuart Allen Jones, his less-self-assured best friend Vince Tyler who has an unrequited crush on him, and their new friend Nathan Maloney, a young man just finishing school and discovering the Scene.

Like ''SexAndTheCity'', except with ''men'' in the stereotypical gay man roles. Also compare ''TheLWord'' (for lesbians), and ''NoahsArc'' (for Black gay men).

* {{Adorkable}}: Vince is a huge fan of Series/DoctorWho, and his US counter part Michael is a comic book geek.

** [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the UK version. Stuart definitely fits this bill, but he's shown to have some deep-seated psychological insecurities. Vince also seems to fit this, but he's emulating Stuart and has the least amount of hookups (and one serious boyfriend). [[spoiler: They also both settle down together]]. Stuart's views seem lean this way, though. He accuses Vince of being a straight guy who has sex with men because he wants a relationship instead of casual sex.

* NotWithThemForTheMoney: Emmett genuinely falls in love with a wealthy older man who dies and leaves his fortune to Emmett, but includes the clause that he not be publicly outed as a gay man. Emmett struggles with the idea of being rich or being honest, and eventually decides it's more important to tell the world who George was and that they loved each other than to have money.

** Drew Boyd. Emmett is insistent he is gay despite the fact he says he enjoys sleeping with women and cares about his fiance. Later, when [[spoiler: he is outed and admits feelings for Emmett, he does say he is gay. The possibility that he is bisexual is never given consideration, not even the possibility that he can be romantically and sexually more attracted to men while still being attracted to women in some way as well. It is implied he has thought about men while with women though.]]

* CopBoyfriend: Carl to Debbie. They meet because she involves herself in the investigation surrounding Dumpster Boy's murder.

** Though the moment is somewhat undercut by the fact that he did sleep with a fifteen-year-old at twenty-nine.

* CureYourGays: After an HIV scare, Emmett tried to "see the light" by joining a conversion therapy group and even dating the woman. He ultimately fails.

* AgeLift: 15-year-old Nathan in the UK version becomes 17-year-old Justin in the US version. He's also slightly more mature.

* CureYourGays: Emmett trying to "See the Light".

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Ted was named Phil Delaney in the UK version and died from a drug overdose. In the US version, he [[AscendedExtra becomes a main character]] and only ends up in a coma.