Queer as Folk reboot cancelled by Peacock after just one season
A section of the Queer as Folk trailer. (Peacock)
Peacock’s Queer as Folk has been cancelled by the streaming service after one season according to creator Stephen Dunn.
The director, writer, and producer announced the show’s abrupt cancellation in a heartfelt Instagram post where he thanked cast, crew, and fans for “watching and falling in love” with the show.
“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,” Dunn said. “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.”
The series – which was a reboot of the original 1999 drama – initially released on 9 June 2022 to consistently positive reviews. It saw the story of Brodie (Devin Way) returning to his home in New Orleans after his life is irrevocably changed following a shooting at a club called Babylon.
It was originally in development by cable network Bravo, but was moved over to corporate sibling Peacock in order to gain a series order. It is not explicitly known at the time of reporting why the show was cancelled.
Russell T Davies, who worked on the original drama as well as It’s a Sin and Doctor Who, helped produce the reimagining, which he described as “the ultimate compliment” in an interview with Attitude.
When talking about working with Dunn, he said: “He wasn’t interested in nostalgia – like any good writer, he had things to say about today! And he’s burnt them onto the screen. I’m delighted to have met a brand-new visionary and, I think, a lifelong friend.”
Johnny Sibilly as Noah, Chris Renfro as Daddius in Queer as Folk. (Peacock)
It was heralded as a modernised remake that handled diverse and sensitive plotlines tastefully, without resorting to easy nostalgic callbacks.
Actor Ryan O’Connell, who played the character Julias, told PinkNews on 28 June that the reboot needed to exist to tell more diverse stories within the LGBTQ+ community.
“None of the characters in the current iteration of Queer as Folk could have existed in the previous iterations, so I think that alone is sort of like, ‘Wow, this is a reboot that really needs to exist,’ unlike a lot of [reboots] which are just nostalgia cash-grabs,” O’Connell said.
“I was really excited because I watched Queer as Folk, the US version, when I was 12 years old. I was closeted, it was my first peek into queer life, and it was invigorating and corny and all of these things.”
Additionally, actor Johnny Sibilly, who plays Noah, said the production team put extra care and sensitivity into the fictionalised shooting scene that echoes the 2016 Pulse massacre, where 49 people were killed.
“I felt the privilege of a responsibility to tell this story in a way that felt respectful and true of the queer experience,” he said. “A lot of times Hollywood tells our stories and sensationalises things and tries to focus on the things that we’re not really trying to focus on.
“I think in our iteration what we want to show is the healing and the fact that there is community even in the face of danger and the face of hate towards us. It’s the family, it’s the community, that have our back.”
