ATX Television Festival Plans Queer as Folk Reunion

It’s not quite necromancy, but the ATX Television Festival does have a remarkable way of reviving interest in long-departed shows. Now, 10 years after it shuffled off this mortal coil and cathode ray tube TVs everywhere, Queer as Folk will be feted at the festival in June, with its creators and select cast coming together for a special reunion event.

Based on the UK series of the same name, Queer as Folk became one of the first American shows to put gay lives front and center on TV in 2000. It was notable not only for its frank depictions of sex (so much sex! sexy, sexy-times sex!), but for its explorations of coming out, homophobia, gay marriage and parenting, and living with HIV.

In a statement sent out this afternoon, ATX Television Fest co-founders and executive directors Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson expressed excitement over the news: “We're extremely proud to bring QUEER AS FOLK to the Festival this year. We strive for diverse and revolutionary programming, and this groundbreaking series changed the game for cable television in 2000, marking a high point not only for the LGBT community, but for socially important storytelling.”

In attendance will be cast members Gale Harold (Brian Kinney), Peter Paige (Emmitt Honeycutt), Robert Gant (Ben Bruckner), Scott Lowell (Ted Schmidt), Michelle Clunie (Melanie Marcus), and Thea Gill (Lindsay Peterson), along with creators Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman.

Of the news, Cowen and Lipman jointly said: “We are delighted that ATX Television Festival has chosen to honor QUEER AS FOLK and that we have the opportunity to be reunited with our remarkable cast. Writing and producing a groundbreaking, and often controversial, show like QAF was challenging, but also a rewarding and transformative experience for all of us. We look forward to sharing to our stories and memories.”

The festival also hyped the venue for its previously announced Gilmore Girls reunion: the Paramount Theatre, with a 320-seat capacity that probably rivals that of the population of the (totally fictional) Stars Hollow in which the beloved show was set. A limited number of single tickets, priced $85 each, will be sold in early May to the Gilmore Girls reunion event.

The fourth “season” of the ATX Television Festival takes place June 4-7.