I’m three episodes in to HBO’s new show “Looking” and
despite it all I have to say, I don’t hate it (at least not like that guy on Gawker). There was tons of press about it
before it even premiered, most of it positive, some of it not so much. I’m one
of those folks who will watch pretty much anything with gay content. It’s
probably why I subject myself to the GLBTQ film festival here in town every
year. I go with the fervent hope that there will be something, anything that
will be both good and interesting. Yeah, I know, I can see the eye rolls, I
feel the same way sometimes too. I mean seriously, how many films about coming
out or drug fueled misanthropes can I stand to see before I give up? Apparently
quite a few as I still continue to go.
The second lead played by Frankie J. Alvarez is in a relationship and moves in with the BF in Oakland then loses his job as an artist’s assistant and starts to question what to do with his life. Oh, and he and his boyfriend had a three-way in the first episode (I’ll get back to that). He seems to be "looking" for meaning in his life and the things around him. Are he and the BF the kind that do 3-ways now? Is he really an artist? Is moving in with the BF in Oakland really the right thing to do? Then he just randomly happens to meet a guy in a coffee shop who makes a living as a hustler and he begins to seriously ponder that as a career option. If that happens I totally won't buy that storyline--seems a little forced to add more sex to the show when there already seems to be enough. When he gets the sads he turns to pot smoking.
The third lead is Murray Bartlett (does a great job of hiding the accent) a 40 year old (still) waiter who’s "looking" (get it now--they are all looking for something) to figure out where his life is now and what to do with it (something I kind of understand—just from a decade older). He's supposed to be 40 though he kind of make him look more like late 40's, which really isn't a criticism as he is still handsome. When he gets the moody blue he goes in search of sex--Grindr, bathhouse, on the street--wherever. I'm guessing to make himself feel young again? Which really isn't a new trope, I've seen it done before.
There also seems to be a lot of sex and talk about sex and what not, which sadly I think is a stereotype people have about gay men. (This Slate person however, has other issues with that) That's not to say there aren't boys like that out there but it's not an every minute of every day thought for most of us. Of course you also have to weigh that against the fact it's on HBO, a cable net notorious for gratuitousness in the sexual arena. Thus it's a fine line for me of balancing what HBO is going to do and how close to reality the show will be. Which in theory should be close as they are kind of pushing themselves as a story about ordinary gay Joe's living life, working and looking for love. Which is probably why it's been slow to take off as I think they are still trying to find their footing between the graphic to draw in viewers and the real to make it mean something. This is why I'm willing to give these kids a shot--they still have 5 more episodes to show and love it or hate it, I'll watch them all. I have hope as the addition of Russell Tovey and Scott Bakula give me hope--plus I really like them. Of course I'll be watching this by myself as the SO thought the first episode was boring and why would he want to watch everyday gay, especially if some of the scenes hit close to home (or past) for him. To me that was the point in order to folks connect to them, but it's not for everyone. In the meantime it will stay on my viewing cue and I'll still continue to be a sucker for shows with top line gay characters like USA Networks new comedy "Sirens", but that's another story.
I held out hope about this show as it was supposed to be
about the “everyday gay”. The guys had
already dealt with coming out and what not and were now just living their day
to day lives. Okay, sounds boring and we all know television shows need
something to attract viewers and keep them interested in the long run and I
wondered how they could keep such mundane things fascinating enough to keep
folks watching. As far as the first three episodes go, right now I will say it’s
been a toss-up and sometimes daily life is a little..um..dull. Fortunately this
show is only a half hour so it doesn’t drag on so to speak. Folks called this a
gay version of “Girls”, the show that comes on before it and I wonder if maybe
they should have just called it “Gays” instead of “Looking”, but it is not
really a comedy. It doesn’t have the funny, dark, self-absorbed humor of “Girls”
or the sparkly, slap-sticky, laugh out loud funny of “Sex and the City”,
another show it’s kind of compared to. There haven’t been any guffaw kind of
scenes for me so far.
The lead character, played by Jonathan Groff, has more sadly awkward events than anything really laughable. Like telling a first date about a handy j he got in GG Park on a dare. Laughing when he finds out his Hispanic date isn't uncut. Or drunkenly hitting on his soon to be boss at a company party. Not so much funny as slightly sad--extremely awkward. I think that is the point of his character though—he is defined by the awkward moment and if you don’t find that interesting you probably won’t be watching the show. Basically seems to be "looking" for a guy he can connect with, though this is really a guess, it's kind of hard to tell if he really wants a relationship or if he's so scared of one he subconsciously sabotages himself in his search. I think we are supposed to "feel" for him and his stumbling ways, though I'm not quite there yet. Whenever things don't workout he turns to food (carbs)--and that I understand. Plus I'll give him props for doing adorkable well.
The lead character, played by Jonathan Groff, has more sadly awkward events than anything really laughable. Like telling a first date about a handy j he got in GG Park on a dare. Laughing when he finds out his Hispanic date isn't uncut. Or drunkenly hitting on his soon to be boss at a company party. Not so much funny as slightly sad--extremely awkward. I think that is the point of his character though—he is defined by the awkward moment and if you don’t find that interesting you probably won’t be watching the show. Basically seems to be "looking" for a guy he can connect with, though this is really a guess, it's kind of hard to tell if he really wants a relationship or if he's so scared of one he subconsciously sabotages himself in his search. I think we are supposed to "feel" for him and his stumbling ways, though I'm not quite there yet. Whenever things don't workout he turns to food (carbs)--and that I understand. Plus I'll give him props for doing adorkable well.
The second lead played by Frankie J. Alvarez is in a relationship and moves in with the BF in Oakland then loses his job as an artist’s assistant and starts to question what to do with his life. Oh, and he and his boyfriend had a three-way in the first episode (I’ll get back to that). He seems to be "looking" for meaning in his life and the things around him. Are he and the BF the kind that do 3-ways now? Is he really an artist? Is moving in with the BF in Oakland really the right thing to do? Then he just randomly happens to meet a guy in a coffee shop who makes a living as a hustler and he begins to seriously ponder that as a career option. If that happens I totally won't buy that storyline--seems a little forced to add more sex to the show when there already seems to be enough. When he gets the sads he turns to pot smoking.
The third lead is Murray Bartlett (does a great job of hiding the accent) a 40 year old (still) waiter who’s "looking" (get it now--they are all looking for something) to figure out where his life is now and what to do with it (something I kind of understand—just from a decade older). He's supposed to be 40 though he kind of make him look more like late 40's, which really isn't a criticism as he is still handsome. When he gets the moody blue he goes in search of sex--Grindr, bathhouse, on the street--wherever. I'm guessing to make himself feel young again? Which really isn't a new trope, I've seen it done before.
There also seems to be a lot of sex and talk about sex and what not, which sadly I think is a stereotype people have about gay men. (This Slate person however, has other issues with that) That's not to say there aren't boys like that out there but it's not an every minute of every day thought for most of us. Of course you also have to weigh that against the fact it's on HBO, a cable net notorious for gratuitousness in the sexual arena. Thus it's a fine line for me of balancing what HBO is going to do and how close to reality the show will be. Which in theory should be close as they are kind of pushing themselves as a story about ordinary gay Joe's living life, working and looking for love. Which is probably why it's been slow to take off as I think they are still trying to find their footing between the graphic to draw in viewers and the real to make it mean something. This is why I'm willing to give these kids a shot--they still have 5 more episodes to show and love it or hate it, I'll watch them all. I have hope as the addition of Russell Tovey and Scott Bakula give me hope--plus I really like them. Of course I'll be watching this by myself as the SO thought the first episode was boring and why would he want to watch everyday gay, especially if some of the scenes hit close to home (or past) for him. To me that was the point in order to folks connect to them, but it's not for everyone. In the meantime it will stay on my viewing cue and I'll still continue to be a sucker for shows with top line gay characters like USA Networks new comedy "Sirens", but that's another story.
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