Showtime to Produce U.S. ‘Queer as Folk’

Showtime announced Friday that the pay cable channel will produce an American adaptation of “Queer as Folk,” the hit British drama series that has earned rave reviews and much press attention for its frank and witty look at young gay life in Manchester, England.

Created by Russell T. Davies, “Queer as Folk” debuted two years ago on the U.K.’s Channel 4 as an eight-episode series and created an instant stir--in part for its unflinching depiction of the sexual escapades of one of its lead characters, Stuart, 29, who in the first episode begins an on-again, off-again relationship with a 15-year-old schoolboy.

But critical buzz for the series overall helped stoke interest in bringing the show abroad.

The U.S. version of the series, which will be set in Pittsburgh but shot in Toronto, will be executive produced by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, the same team that co-created the NBC drama “Sisters.” Tony Jonas, former head of Warner Bros. Television, is also an executive producer.

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Filmmaker Joel Schumacher (“Batman Forever,” “8mm”) is still in talks to direct the pilot episode, which would premiere on Showtime later this year.

In ordering an initial 22 episodes of “Queer as Folk,” Showtime hopes to gain some ground on rival HBO, which has enjoyed more attention in the original series genre thanks in large part to the success of “The Sopranos” and “Sex & the City.”

In addition to Cowen and Lipman, Richard Kramer, who has written for the network dramas “thirtysomething” and “Once and Again,” will be one of “Queer as Folk’s” writer-producers.

In 1994, Kramer adapted “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City,” which serialized 1970s gay life in San Francisco. Showtime adapted a follow-up, Maupin’s “More Tales of the City,” three years later.

Depictions of gay life on network TV have so far met with mixed results, most notably the furor that greeted the coming-out of the lead character on the ABC sitcom “Ellen,” which starred comedian Ellen DeGeneres. NBC, on the other hand, has developed a solid following with “Will & Grace,” which features two gay male characters but in a broader comedic setting than “Ellen.”

Mark Zakarin, Showtime’s executive vice president of original programming, said pay cable networks are uniquely positioned to take on potentially controversial topics.

“We’re not about delivering 20 million eyeballs,” Zakarin said. “We’re about trying to provide the most intense and honest experience for the viewer.”