Queer as Folk
Rock SolidEvery season landed between 8.2 and 8.5 across 5 seasons.
Queer storiesLGBTQ+ lives and relationships at the center.This show: 10/10Sexually explicitFrank sexual content.This show: 8/10FriendshipA friend group's dynamics carry the show.This show: 8/10Love storyA love story as the engine of the show, not a side plot.This show: 8/10Found familyUnrelated people slowly becoming each other's family.This show: 7/10Ensemble castMany characters carrying equal weight.This show: 7/10SerializedContinuous arcs where every episode builds on the last.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Gale HaroldHal SparksRandy HarrisonMichelle ClunieThea GillScott Lowell
Written by
Ron CowenDaniel LipmanRussell T. Davies
Starring
Gale HaroldHal SparksRandy HarrisonMichelle ClunieThea GillScott Lowell
Written by
Ron CowenDaniel LipmanRussell T. Davies
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Queer as Folk Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | E13 | E14 | E15 | E16 | E17 | E18 | E19 | E20 | E21 | E22 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.4 | 9.3 | |
| S2 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | |||
| S3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 9.0 | |||||||||
| S4 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.5 | |||||||||
| S5 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.9 |
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About
"Groundbreaking, messy, unapologetically alive queer melodrama"
This American adaptation follows a tight-knit group of gay friends in Pittsburgh navigating love, sex, career, and family as they push back against a world that often refuses to see them. It's frank about desire and unafraid of melodrama, but it earns its soapy sprawl with genuine warmth and characters who grow across five seasons. Expect frank sexuality, blunt humor, and real heartbreak sitting side by side. The pace is soap-opera brisk, the emotional stakes are sincere, and it carries real weight as an early, unapologetic mainstream portrait of gay life.
Watch it for
the unapologetic, groundbreaking portrayal of gay life that dared network TV norms in the early 2000s.
Maybe skip if
you dislike soap-opera pacing, frequent melodrama, or extended sexual content.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12000
8.58K2218h 6m
Focusing on the loves, careers, ambitions and relationships of a group of gay men and women, "Queer As Folk" is the critically-acclaimed and controversial series everyone's been talking about. Follow the lives of Brian, Michael, Emmett, Ted and their friends in this compelling and graphically-realistic drama filled with strong dialogue, witty comedy, and provocatively sexual detail.
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Season 22002
8.35K2015h 46m
The second season of the groundbreaking and critically-acclaimed series continues to follow the lives of Brian, Michael, Justin, Emmett, Ted, Melanie and Lindsay and their friends, families and lovers. Emotions and passions swirl around this group of gay men and women as they deal with the struggles and joys of life and love. A compelling blend of graphic sexual scenes with strong dialogue and witty comedy, "Queer As Folk" remains a controversial yet provocative and ultimately intriguing drama.
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Season 32003
8.24K1410h 55m
Season three picks up where season two left off. Brian adjusts to his new life while Michael and Ben face the complexities of an HIV positive/negative relationship. Ted and Emmett discover that best friends can become lovers, but even with an extensive history between them, they’ve still got a lot to discover about each other. Melanie and Lindsay make a major decision that will impact the shape of their family.
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Season 42004
8.23K1411h 54m
The fourth season finds Brian, now broke and unemployed, attempting to rebuild his life. Michael returns to Pittsburgh to fight for custody of Hunter with Ben. Justin joins a vigilante group where he discovers his buried anger. Also, as Ted progresses into his sobriety, Emmett deals with the fallout from their breakup. And Melanie and Lindsay await the birth of their second child.
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Season 52005
8.43K1310h 40m
The fifth season begins with Justin living in Hollywood indefinitely, causing Brian to turn his attention to a risky real estate investment, Babylon. His club-going lifestyle becomes an issue with Michael and Ben, who are considering a life in the suburbs. Melanie and Lindsay surprise everyone with the news of their split, and enter into an intense three-way battle with Michael over the custody of their daughter. And Ted fights aging with an extreme makeover.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Gale Harold Brian Kinney
Hal Sparks Michael Novotny
Randy Harrison Justin Taylor
Michelle Clunie Melanie Marcus
Thea Gill Lindsay Peterson
Scott Lowell Ted Schmidt
Peter Paige Emmett Honeycutt
Sharon Gless Debbie Novotny
Robert Gant Professor Ben Bruckner
Jack Wetherall Vic Grassi
Crew
Ron Cowen
Daniel Lipman
Russell T. Davies
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