‘Queer as Folk’ with Randy Harrison and Gale Harold returns via Netflix beginning February 1

In what has to be the best lineup of new additions to Netflix in a long time, the precedent-setting series Queer as Folk will finally be available for instant watching on that service beginning February 1. Queer as Folk ran for five years, from 2000-2005 and stars Berkshire regular Randy Harrison, plus Gale Harold and Hal Sparks. Similar to the British series, but franker and more graphic sexually, it made news all around the world by portraying the lives and loves of a group of gay friends living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a forthright manner.

What better series to enjoy as Valentine’s Day approaches?

Actor Randy Harrison who has been a regular at the Berkshire Theatre Festival until recently has pursued some of the most difficult roles since leaving that show – and Justin’s fictional sexual escapades with Brian (Gale Harold) – behind him to delve into more heady stuff like Shakespeare, Beckett and cutting edge theatre with his QWAN group in New York City. Despite the fact that everyone in the cast has moved on, some of the show’s fans still want to believe that Harrison and Gale Harold are still meeting secretly, but those wishes are not based on fact.

Still Queer as Folk – which has played on television systems all over the world – has spawned dozens of Randy Harrison and Gale Harold fan sites in places as far-flung as China, Italy and even Russia. Closeted homophobe Vladimir Putin will be hard pressed to keep the show’s fans down in his country, they are relentless in their admiration for the series and its actors.