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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

A remake of Russell T. Davies' 1999 series about a group of gay friends in Manchester. The story was set in Pittsburgh and expanded to include the lives of five gay men and two lesbians: the occasional narrator Michael, his smooth-talking cynical best friend Brian, conservative accountant Ted, flamboyant and witty Emmett, new-to-the-scene Justin, art teacher and mother Lindsay, and tough lawyer Melanie. As the US version lasted for five seasons, it took many notable detours from the source material. Now with a Character Sheet.

A reimagining of the series was originally announced for Bravo in 2018, later moving to Peacock in 2019. Russell T. Davies, creator of the original UK series, will serve as executive producer, while Stephen Dunn (Closet Monster) has been tapped to write. It aired on Peacock in 2022 for one season.

Like Sex and the City, except with men in the stereotypical gay man roles. Also compare The L Word (for lesbians), and Noah's Arc (for Black gay men).


Provides examples of:

  • Abusive Parents: The biggest reason Brian grew up into the man he is today.
    • Ben and Michael's eventual adopted son Hunter was abused by his own mother and pimped out as a child prostitute. When she found out about Hunter's HIV status during his custody battle, his mother's reaction was so foul that the judge granted the custody to Ben and Michael.
  • Affectionate Parody: In universe, Everyone (except Brian of course) are huge fans of the show Gay as Blazes, a show about of group of gay friends praised for its accurate portrayal of the modern gay experience... wait a minute.
  • Age Is Relative: Old man jokes about the well-preserved fortysomething David.
    • Emmett was somehow never made fun of for dating George, an actual old man.
  • Alcoholic Parent: Brian's father, first encountered in the show at a bar.
    • And the men too. Ben is particularly mopey on the subject
  • All Gays are Promiscuous: Michael's relationships are the only completely monogamous ones on the show, and even he goes for random hook-ups when single. Notably Melanie and Lindsay, in spite of occasional infidelities and one threesome, show much less inclination to promiscuity on the whole. The show's official philosophy seems not so much to be that gays are promiscuous, but that men are.
  • All Lesbians Want Kids: Lindsay has a son using Stuart/Brian's sperm. She and Melanie also have a daughter who is biologically related to Melanie and Michael.
    • Subverted by a woman whom Melanie had a one-night stand with. She claims to not want children, and only like other people's kids... for about 10 minutes.
  • All Love Is Unrequited:
    • Played straight with Michael, who has had an unrequited crush on Brian since before the show began. Ted also has one for Michael.
    • Averted by Justin, who succeeded in winning Brian's affection.
  • And Starring: Sharon Gless as Debbie.
  • Armoured Closet Gay:
    • Chris Hobbs. He's a jock who openly taunts Justin but accepts a handjob from him.
    • Drew, an engaged quarterback who had an affair with Emmett.
  • Attractive Bent-Gender: Michael in the Pride episode.
  • Auto Erotica: Ted engages in this at one point, leading to an HIV scare.
  • Bad Date: Michael and David go on one of these as their first date.
  • The Beard:
    • Ted and Emmett at the wedding of Lindsay's sister.
    • An unsuspecting Tracey when Michael wants to get a promotion in Season 1.
  • Beauty Contest: The King of Babylon contest is basically a gender-flipped version of this. With stripping. And dancing.
  • Big Applesauce:
    • Averted. While the setting might be Pittsburgh In Name Only, even that was a refreshing change of pace since most gay media is based in New York or California by default.
    • Lampshaded in the episode when the gang went on a charity bike ride to Toronto (where the show was actually filmed) and the characters remarked how much it reminded them of Liberty Avenue.
  • Bittersweet Ending: At the end of the show, Ben and Michael are together and have adopted Hunter, but Brian and Justin have called off the wedding and Justin leaves for New York. Though Justin insists they will see each other again, Brian maintains they can't know that for sure, and their final scene together features Justin fading out from his bed. Mel and Lindsay move to Canada with their kids, but Babylon is rebuilt and Brian is still young and beautiful dancing in the middle of it all.
  • Black Sheep: Brian. He had a tumultuous relationship with his father, and his mother and sister believe he is going to hell for being gay.
  • Book Ends: The last shot of the series, which ended up deleted to cut down the episode's running time, showed a young twink stepping into Pittsburgh's gay nightlife for the first time, exactly how the series began with Justin.
  • Buttmonkey: Ted. Over the course of the show he overdosed on GHB and was sent into a coma, lost his job for watching porn at work, arrested for hiring an underage assistant at his porn company, lost his company, developed a drug habit, had an HIV scare, and was constantly the victim of Brian's jokes for being over the hill.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Justin to his father when he learns his dad's company supports Prop 14. His father has him arrested as a result.
  • Canon Discontinuity:
    • In one of the first episodes, Michael tells Emmett that he didn't know where his father was born or who he is at all. In season two, however, we learn that his father fought in Vietnam and died before Michael's birth. His mother even told him everything he could about his father. Even if we later learn that his father was indeed somebody else.
    • This slightly occurs with Ted: In season one, he meets a guy he went to Business school with, who teaches him to love Bondage. Ted’s fondness for bondage is only mentioned once more that season, then never again.
  • Career-Ending Injury: Almost the case with Justin, but ultimately averted. His bashing caused problems with his fine motor control, but though his hand never fully healed in the show, through the use of a tablet computer and physical therapy he was still able to pursue a career as an artist.
  • The Caretaker: Debbie for Vic. This becomes a point of contention between them when Vic accuses her of caring for him to make her feel better about herself. Debbie also took in Justin after both his parents and Brian kicked him out.
  • The Casanova: Brian.
  • The Cast Show Off: Michael singing Ben a romantic song to convince him that he is serious. Hal Sparks is the singer of his own Hard Rock band "Zero 1".
  • Chubby Chaser: Realizing he's dating one of these is what prompts Ted to get plastic surgery.
  • Closet Key:
    • Emmett for Drew.
    • Inverted with Hunter, the gay prostitute, who winds up coming out to Ben and Michael as straight.
  • Coming-Out Story: Justin has a supportive mother, a homophobic father and bullying classmates. He's also the victim of a hate crime.
  • Conflicting Loyalty: Brian while working for Stockwell. On one hand, he wants access to Stockwell's backers so he can make more money, on the other, Stockwell isn't exactly gay friendly.
  • Cool Car: Subverted in the first episode after two neighborhood kids spray paint the word "Faggot" on Brian's car. Brian says he likes it this way.
  • Cool Old Lady: Debbie Novotny. Her shirts alone are worth the price of admission.
  • Country Matters: One of the few shows on American television to use the word "cunt".
  • Cruel to Be Kind: Brian to Michael in season one by inviting Tracy to Michael's birthday party. She didn't know Michael was gay and thought he was interested in her. Brian made it very clear that Michael was gay, humiliating Tracy and causing Michael to declare their friendship over. But Brian did it because he didn't want Michael pining after him for the rest of his life, depriving himself of a relationship with someone who could give him what he really wanted.
  • Cry into Chest: Justin to Brian when he thinks the latter is moving to New York and will forget him.
  • Cultural Cross-Reference: Inverted (?) - Justin wound up in private school because that's the only place in America you'll find the type of school uniforms the British teen characters wore.
  • Cure Your Gays: After an HIV scare, Emmett tried to "see the light" by joining a conversion therapy group and even dating a woman. He ultimately fails.
  • Dance of Romance:
    • Brian and Justin on Justin's prom.
    • And again after Justin's first pride event. Brian even promises that Justin won't forget this one.
  • Date Rape: This almost happens to Justin when he goes to a party his boss from Babylon throws.
  • Deconfirmed Bachelor: Inverted with Brian. Although Brian and Justin call off the wedding, it's obvious during Brian's second proposal to Justin that as firmly as he was against marriage before, Justin changed him.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Brian in almost every episode, and Ted and Vic also have their moments.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Brian through The Power of Love for Justin.
  • Derailing Love Interests: Happens when Justin's dream guy Ethan goes seamlessly from a romantic dream to a sleazy cheater, with no foreshadowing.
  • Devoted to You: Michael to Brian, Ted to Michael.
  • Disappeared Dad:
    • 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.
    • By the end of the series, Brian tells Lindsay and Mel he doesn't want to be one of these to Gus.
  • The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: Averted. It is no secret that Vic, Ben, and Hunter have HIV. And although Brian initially does not want to admit it, it soon becomes common knowledge that he has cancer.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Brian is too proud to ask or accept help. However, he rather takes unoffered ones with an entitled attitude (for example crashing into Mike and Ben's first night living together).
  • Doppelgänger Dating: Well, doppelganger prostitution. After they break up the first time, Brian picks up a hustler who looks and dresses eerily like Justin.
  • Double Entendre: 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.
  • Double-Meaning Title: The title comes from the old British proverb "nowt so queer as folk" but also can be read as a mispronunciation of queer as fuck.
  • Downer Ending: The season one finale. Justin gets gay bashed and his fate is left ambiguous, Blake basically dumps Ted who reacts badly and Michael ends up not going to Portland with David. The music that plays during the last few scenes doesn't help.
  • Drugs Are Bad:
    • Ted tried it for the first time with a trick. He was hospitalized and later becomes addicted.
    • There's also Ben's use of steroids and Blake's addiction. Other than those, much drug use never has consequences.
      Brian: "Only do drugs with your friends, because they're the only ones who give a shit about you."
  • Fag Hag: Debbie, who regards her son's coming out as a turning point in her life, allowing her to get involved in the gay scene herself.
  • Fanservice: Every sex scene.
  • Fictional Counterpart: Manly Gay/Armored Closet Gay Drew played football for the Pittsburgh Iron Men
  • First Love: Brian for Justin.
  • Flowers of Romance:
    • David brings these to Michael, which Ted and Emmett call a sign of his wanting to settle down
    • Brian considers buying these in season two as a sign he cares for Justin, but ultimately walks away.
  • Forced Out of the Closet: Drew Boyd. A blackmailer sent incriminating photos of him to a tabloid, prompting Drew to make a public statement about his sexuality.
  • Friend Versus Lover: Justin and Michael initially fell into a mild version of this trope, with Michael protesting any time that Justin came around and taking particular offense to Brian and Justin fooling around in Michael's childhood bedroom. They overcome it quickly enough.
  • The Friends Who Never Hang: When Michael's upset at Brian, Brian tries to hang out with Ted. Naturally, they have nothing to talk about.
  • Fun T-Shirt: Debbie is the queen of this trope! She wears at least one of these in every episode.
  • Gayborhood: Liberty Avenue (though it is not this in Real Life); the suburb Michael and Ben move to in Season 5.
  • Girl on Girl Is Hot: Lindsay and Melanie are pretty affectionate on-screen, though not as explicit as the male-on-male scenes.
  • The Glasses Gotta Go: Averted with Ben.
  • Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Multiple characters cheat throughout the series, and their affairs are treated differently each time.
    • Justin's affair with Ethan was apparently meant to be sympathetic because Brian wasn't meeting his emotional needs. Ethan's cheating, however, ended his relationship with Justin and he was never heard from again.
    • Both Mel and Lindsay engaged in one night stands that temporarily ended their relationship.
  • Grand Romantic Gesture: Brian buys Justin the house of his dreams and puts his loft and Babylon up for sale to convince him he really want to marry him.
  • The Grunting Orgasm: This one's a given. The show's mainly about gay men and their sex lives, what did you expect?
  • Guy on Guy Is Hot: A meta-example. Although the show was aimed at gay men, a significant portion of the audience turned out to be straight women.
  • Heartbroken Badass: Brian. The first time, although he barely shows it, when Justin leaves Brian for Ethan. The second time, Justin leaves Brian because Justin wants to eventually settle down, get married and have children. Brian is a very vocal opponent of these desires and Justin decides that there is no point pursuing their relationship if it won't grow. Brian is much more visibly affected when this happens and even blames Michael for Justin's decision.
  • Helicopter Parents: Debbie to Michael. She constantly asks about her son's sex life, nudges him towards certain partners, and tries to keep him from others (notably Ben when she is concerned about his HIV). After Vic moves out, she becomes even more involved in Michael's life.
  • Hidden Depths: Under The Cutie camouflage, Justin is more of a sly bastard than Brian ever was.
  • Hot for Student: Ben initially finds himself attracted to a former student who expresses interest. The attraction fizzles when he realize the guy wants to use him to get himself infected with HIV.
  • I Got You a Drawer: Brian gives Justin a drawer in season 5.
  • Important Haircut: Justin in season 4 during the Pink Posse arc.
  • Incompatible Orientation: Debbie and Loretta. Debbie eventually has to sit Loretta down and explain to her that a relationship between them can never happen because 1) Debbie is straight and 2) Debbie is in love with Carl.
  • In Love with Love: It's quite urgent for David to make Michael settle down, without being really interested in him.
  • Interrupted Intimacy:
    • Happens throughout the show, primarily to Brian.
    • Perhaps most notably, he and Justin are fooling around when Brian's mother knocks on the door. Her arrival spurs a Relationship Reveal, as prior to this she didn't know her son was seeing Justin, or even that he was gay.
  • Intimate Healing: Brian attempts this with Justin after the bashing. Initially, it fails and Justin pushes him away. The second time, Justin initiates things and it goes better.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Brian, in his own emotionally distant way, when Justin leaves him for Ethan.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Brian is portrayed as a promiscuous Jerkass who never has sex with the same person twice (except Justin), but he doesn't do so without his own set of morals. He was once willing to have sex with a client for money, but changes his mind when he finds out said client is cheating on his wife. Despite not wanting to get involved, Brian still lets Justin stay at his place when he had nowhere to go, and even willingly takes him in after seeing the way Justin's homophobic father treats him. His act of inviting Tracy to Michael's birthday party and outing Michael to her is actually his way of getting Michael to move on with his unrequited crush on him. Lindsay remarks that Brian isn't inherently a bad person, he's just brutally honest.
  • Ladykiller in Love: Brian. It takes him about five years to get around to admitting it, but from the very beginning, Justin was different.
  • Last Disrespects: Brian delivers these at the wake for his father. While his sister asked others to share some pleasant memories of their father, Brian instead recounts a story that makes it clear his father wanted him aborted upon learning of his mother's pregnancy.
  • Like an Old Married Couple: Justin calls Brian and Michael this, comparing them to his parents.
  • Lipstick Lesbian:
    • Lindsay.
    • Also Melanie, even through we are supposed to see her as butch.
  • The Loins Sleep Tonight: a rare dramatic example with Brian while recovering from cancer.
  • Long-Distance Relationship: Justin and Brian when Justin moves to Hollywood temporarily. Potentially what happens after the series finale when Justin leaves for New York. The ending is ambiguous.
  • Longing Look: Brian gives Justin one of these after the latter wins the King of Babylon contest and hooks up with the guy Brian had been cruising.
  • Lost Wedding Ring: This is but one of many disasters that plagues Mel and Lindsay's wedding.
  • Love Dodecahedron: In the first few episodes: Ted wants Michael, Michael wants Brian, Justin wants Brian, and you see a hint of a spark between Lindsey and Brian. It doesn't go anywhere, but still we can tell there's a history.
  • Love Epiphany: Arguably the result of Debbie's chat with Brian after Justin moves out in season two.
    Debbie: You think you've got everybody fooled, don't you? Well not me, honey. I've known you too long, and regrettably too well. And no matter how hard you try to deny it, I can tell you care as much about him as he cares about you. Only you haven't got the big hairy cojones to say it.
    Brian: Oh, well maybe I could borrow yours.
    Debbie: Well hey, whatever it takes... to admit that you love him. And I know that you do, despite all your efforts to never let another heart touch yours, and that's assuming of course that you have one; that little persistent kid has somehow gotten in under the wire. And that's what's happened, huh? Admit the truth. You love him, don't you?
  • Love Will Lead You Back: Justin believes this will be his and Brian's future after deciding to move to New York in the finale. Brian isn't so sure.
  • Lured into a Trap: Stockwell in season 3. Brian encourages him to speak at the Gay and Lesbian Center, where Justin and others ambush him on camera with the pictures of various unsolved murders in their community.
  • Manly Gay: David, Ben and Drew. Michael, Brian and Ted seem to be in the most neutral part of this. Completely averted with Emmett.
  • Maybe Ever After: Justin and Brian. They don't get married and Justin moves to New York to pursue his career, but says they don't need a ring or a piece of paper to prove their love. Whether they reunite eventually is left unsaid.
  • May–December Romance:
    • 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.
    • Emmett and George.
    • Brian and Justin are more of a July-October example.
  • Magical Queer: A drag queen/Psychic at Woody's gives an eerily accurate reading of Justin's whereabouts, Michael's crush on Brian and relationship nerves regarding David, and Brian's car's tire pressure.
  • Meaningful Name: Brian ("strong"), Justin ("upright"), David ("beloved"), Melanie ("dark"), Deborah ("bee").
  • Modesty Bedsheet: Justin dons one of these at one point.
  • Monochrome Casting:
    • An egregious example since African-Americans make up over a quarter of Pittsburgh's population.
    • Averted and parodied in Gay As Blazes, the show's resident Show Within a Show, where there seems to be a black character just to project political correctness.
  • Morality Pet: Emmett occasionally fills this role for Brian.
  • Most Important Person: Michael and Brian, for each other. Through "adopt-a-tricks", gay-bashing, boyfriends, husbands, cancer, and Debbie, they're it for each other. While Brian and Michael are clearly in love with Justin and Ben (respectively), they have also been each others' anchor for years. That does not just go away.
  • Most Writers Are Writers: Ben is a novelist and Michael writes a comic book with Justin.
  • The Mountains of Illinois: Inverted. Pittsburgh lies within the Appalachian Mountains and is notorious for its hilly terrain, but the show was filmed in the rather flat Toronto.
  • The Muse:
    • Brian to Michael and Justin, creating Rage.
    • Ethan claims Justin is this for him.
  • Mushroom Samba: Arguable. It's unclear whether Emmett was aware that the mushrooms he ate at the Fairy Retreat were hallucinogenic, and it isn't until after he accepts his fairy self and declares a fairy name, Clear Day, that he finds out that the man he spoke to who helped him come to this epiphany was not only the creator of the Fairy Retreat, but that the same man died three years earlier.
  • My Beloved Smother: Debbie, so very much, and not just to Michael. She smothers Brian, Justin, and the rest too.
  • Naïve Newcomer: Justin, at least at the start. He is newly out and a fresh face on Liberty Avenue. Though Michael is the actual narrator of many early episodes, Justin allows the audience to learn things about the other characters and the scene as he himself learns the ropes.
  • Near-Death Experience: Michael during the bombing at Babylon.
  • Nice Jewish Boy: Ted tries to meet one at a mixer. Unfortunately, the guy in question wanted a nice Jewish boy of his own. Which Ted is not.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
    • 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.
    • Later, he ends up losing his job and most of his money when he successfully sabotages the electoral campaign he created for Jim Stockwell.
  • No Bisexuals: For all its messages of tolerance, bisexuality as an orientation is rarely mentioned; almost all of the characters are gay or straight.
    • Especially weird in the case of Lindsay. She and Brian share a passionate kiss and reference a previous sexual relationship in the first episode. She also has an affair with a man in Season 4 and acknowledges an attraction to men when she breaks it off, saying that she has "many rooms" in her house but only occupies a few. Nevertheless insists "I'm a lesbian."
    • When Ben and Michael discover that Hunter has a girlfriend, they just assume that he's straight, despite Hunter having an earlier crush on Brian.
    • 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 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, but this comes after he is encouraged to identify as gay.
  • Not a Date: Brian and Justin in a few places. Brian may pick Justin up or meet him at Woody's, but always insists they aren't a couple.
  • Not Afraid of You Anymore: Justin attempts this with Chris Hobbs during his time with the Pink Posse. Initially, it doesn't go well, and he's just as nervous around Hobbs as before. After confronting Hobbs with a gun, Justin decides he's Not Worth Killing and finally lets go of his anger and pain surrounding his bashing.
  • Not Good with Rejection: A mild version in the case of Brian and Brandon. Brian is used to getting whomever he wants, whenever he wants. When Brandon rejects him in the backroom of Babylon, Brian has issues letting it go.
  • Not with Them for the Money: Emmett genuinely falls in love with a wealthy older man who dies and leaves his fortune to Emmett, but his wife fights the bequest and insists that George 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.
  • Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Lindsay to Mel about how she doesn't know how anyone could do porn. Mel later confesses to posing nude when she needed money for school.
  • Overcome Their Differences: the biggest obstacle between Justin and Brian is that Justin believes in love and Brian doesn't. It takes five seasons to get Brian to admit his love, and even then it's not enough for them to get married or even stay together during the finale.
  • Parental Favoritism: Lindsay feels her parents are more supportative of her sister, paying for all three of her weddings while refusing to support Lindsay's becauase she's a lesbian.
  • Parental Substitute: Michael and Ben for Hunter.
  • Parents Walk In at the Worst Time: Discussed. Michael tells Justin that he almost got a handjob from Brian when they were both teenagers, but his mother walked in before they could get too far.
  • Pity Sex: Ted finds himself the recipient of one of these encounters during pride. He doesn't take it well. In the final season, he meets the guy again and turns the tables on him.
  • Pretty Boy: Justin and Brian primarily. Michael is famous for repeatedly calling Brian beautiful.
  • Professionals Do It on Desks:
    • Brian and a junior ad exec at his firm.
    • In season three, Brian and Justin at Vanguard.
  • Property of Love: Michael is rather a cuddly pet than a partner to David.
  • Punny Name: Local Drag Queen Shanda Leer.
  • Put on a Bus:
    • David, Ethan, Leda, Jim Stockwell, Loretta.
    • Blake seemed to be a case of this until his comeback in Season 4.
  • The Quarterback: Drew Boyd, who was kicked off the team after kissing his boyfriend, but was reinstated when the team realised how valuable he was to them.
  • Race for Your Love: Michael for David.
  • Rape as Backstory: You could argue this for Hunter, considering that his mother forced him into being a child prostitute.
  • Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: The bombing at Babylon leads Justin and Brian back together. At least until the series finale.
  • Re-Release Soundtrack: When the series appeared on Netflix there was great umbrage over the dance-music tracks having been replaced. Most of the lost songs were both very recognizable and plot-relevant, but especially annoying was the cue being lost for Abba's "Dancing Queen"—the generic replacement for which sounded like the alternate universe underwater version played backwards on a broken calliope.
  • Reset Button:
    • 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.
    • Another example would be Brian losing all his money to take down Stockwell. It doesn't take long at all for "charitable contributions" to see his lifestyle restored.
  • Reverse Psychology: David, you would just make a fool out of yourself, dancing in underwear in your age...
  • Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Brian and Ethan for Justin
  • Road Trip Plot: Episode 10 of season 1 follows the boys as they travel to New York to find Justin after he runs away.
    Ted and Emmett: Road Trip! Road Trip! Road Trip! Road Trip!
  • Romantic Spoonfeeding: Justin and Brian eating ice cream together while naked and post-coital.
  • Rule of Drama:
    • Every. Single. Episode.
    • Taken to an extreme in the final episodes after the explosion at Babylon.
  • The Runaway: Hunter. Justified with his mother, who was abusive and in and out of jail. He eventually runs away from his foster parents, Michael and Ben, after it's revealed to his entire school that he has HIV and received it from his days as a gay prostitute. He comes back after Michael is hurt at the "No on Prop 14" benefit bombing.
  • Sanity Slippage: Brian tears Justin's drawings apart and pees onto some of them in his tantrum of jealousy after seeing Justin and Michael sleeping together on his bed.
  • Sassy Secretary: Brian has one. She even joins him at his new agency after he's fired.
  • Sex Equals Love: Justin with Brian, Daphne with Justin.
  • Sex Sells:
    • Brian's entire philosophy as an ad exec.
    • The philosophy of the show too, considering the massive amounts of sex scenes and implications. Gets really evident with Lindsay and Melanie's sex scenes, clearly crafted to attract straight males and lesbians.
  • Shiksa Goddess: Played with. Mel jokingly refers to Lindsay as this.
  • Shirtless Scene:
    • Brian likes walking around his loft half-naked.
    • Almost everyone gets this now and then, including Melanie and Lindsay.
  • Shout-Out: While taking attendance in Justin's class, the first name a homophobic teacher calls out is Bueller, but it seems Ferris didn't take today off as he's actually there.
  • Show Within a Show: *Gay As Blazes*
    • Also, the Comic Within The Show Rage, which itself could provide plenty of fodder for the tropers here. Notable for its flagrant disregard for Thou Shalt Not Kill.
  • Shrine to the Fallen: Debbie wants to purchase one of these for Vic as a headstone. She eventually decides on something more modest. And within her budget.
  • Silly Rabbit, Romance is for Kids: Brian to Justin.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: Debbie towards Carl.
  • Sleeps with Everyone but You: Brian with Michael. In a rare variation, it's because Brian actually respects and loves Michael, just not in that way.
  • Sleuth Dates Cop: Carl to Debbie. They meet because she involves herself in the investigation surrounding Dumpster Boy's murder.
  • Smoking Is Cool: Brian.
  • Spaghetti Kiss: Michael and David had one during dinner with Debbie and Vic. Invoked by Debbie, who tells David that Lady and the Tramp was Michael's favorite movie as a kid.
    Debbie: That's even better than the movie.
  • Speed Dating: Ted attends a session for over 30s after recovering from a drug overdose.
  • Straight Gay: Most of the main cast (except Emmett).
  • Stalker with a Crush: At Daphne's suggestion, Justin tries a benign version of this as a tactic to try and get Brian back.
  • Stalker Shrine:
    • Ted has a mild one about Michael.
    • Vic seems to have been this in his youth.
  • Straw Man Has A Point:
    • Stockwell starts mainly going after things that are actually illegal like public sex and drugs. This changes when it's revealed he covered up the murder of a young gay man.
    • Well, closing Woody's and Babylon just because was technically illegal.
      • The rationale behind this was that the clubs were massive hubs of drug use and dealing, which while unconfirmed for Woody's, is pretty accurate for Babylon, the show even displays people routinely overdosing in the premises, including both Blake and Ted.
  • Talking in Bed: Done by almost everyone at some point or another, possibly to connect the numerous sex scenes to plot and character development.
  • Taking Advantage of Generosity: Justin lampshadedly takes Brian's provision for granted and expects empty romantic gestures even at the expense of Brian's career or other goals in life.
  • Television Geography:
    • 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.
    • Coupled with the Monochrome Casting example above, it really makes one wonder why the show wasn't just based in Toronto to begin with. On the other hand, many problems that appear, especially in later seasons, wouldn't be as important if the series were originally set in Canada.
    • The original UK version is in a industrial city (Manchester) so the producers thought Pittsburgh would be the US analog.
    • Lampshaded in Season 4 at the Liberty Ride when the gang gets to (real) Toronto and keeps pointing out how much it reminds them of Liberty Avenue.
  • Three-Way Sex: Lindasy and Melanie have a threesome with Melanie's ex-girlfriend, Ted has a foursome when he acts out his fantasy of being Brian, and many other unimportant threeways happen throughout the show.
  • Throwing Out the Script: Michael does this when he gives his speech for a class at Carnegie Mellon.
  • Undignified Death: George. Jammed in a plane's restroom and Emmett's ass. Oh dear.
  • The Un Favourite: Lindsay to her parents.
  • Unreliable Narrator: Justin in a few places. He initially lies about his mother's reaction to learning he's gay. And when he recounts to Debbie the way his father attacked Brian, it is notably different from the events depicted on screen. Ted and Michael lampshade this, and it raises questions about the accuracy of some of Justin's previous stories.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Michael and Brian. They can fistfight, scream at each other, refuse to speak to each other, treat each other horribly (mostly on Brian's part), but if anyone but Brian insults Michael, Brian will unleash hell on them. Only he's allowed to call Michael "pathetic", thank you.
  • Wannabe Line: Subverted. After Brian takes over Babylon, a rival club opens that steals business. He ends up getting renewed interest in the club by establishing a line and only letting attractive young men in. The club is actually completely empty and the ones let in are models Brian hired.
  • Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: This show perfected this trope.

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