Looking

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For other uses, see Look.
Looking
Intertitle of the HBO series Looking.png
Genre Comedy-drama
Created by Michael Lannan
Based on Lorimer
by Michael Lannan
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Producer(s) Kat Landsberg
Production location(s) San Francisco
Cinematography <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Reed Morano (season 1)
  • Xavier Pérez Grobet (season 2)
Editor(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Jonathan Alberts
  • Andrew Dickler
Camera setup Single
Running time 30 minutes
120 minutes (2016 special)
Production company(s) Fair Harbor Productions
Release
Original network HBO
Sky Atlantic
Picture format HDTV 1080i
Audio format Surround
Original release January 19, 2014 (2014-01-19) –
March 22, 2015 (2015-03-22)
External links
Website

Looking is an American comedy-drama television series about a group of gay friends living in San Francisco. It premiered on January 19, 2014, on HBO. The series' executive producers are David Marshall Grant, Sarah Condon, and Andrew Haigh.

After two seasons, HBO announced that Looking would not be renewed for a third season, instead ordering a one-time special to serve as its series finale.[1]

Premise

Patrick Murray, a 29-year-old video game designer, lives in San Francisco with his friends—aspiring restaurateur Dom and artist's assistant Agustín. Patrick has a tendency to be naive and has been generally unlucky in love but things in Patrick's life change upon meeting handsome yet humble Mission barber Richie and the arrival of his new boss, the attractive but partnered Kevin. Dom pursues his goal of opening his own restaurant with the support of his roommate, Doris, and the unexpected help of the successful and older San Francisco entrepreneur Lynn. Agustín struggles domesticating with his long-term boyfriend Frank and his stalling art career, as well as his penchant for recreational substance abuse. The three men navigate life, relationships, family, and careers in modern-day San Francisco.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Scott Bakula as Lynn, an entrepreneur who strikes a connection with Dom[4]
  • O. T. Fagbenle[5] as Frank, Agustín's long term boyfriend
  • Andrew Law[5] as Owen, Patrick's co-worker
  • Ptolemy Slocum as Hugo, Dom's co-worker (season 1)
  • Joseph Williamson as Jon, Kevin's boyfriend
  • Daniel Franzese as Eddie,[9] Agustin's love interest who volunteers at a homeless shelter for LGBT youth (season 2)
  • Chris Perfetti as Brady[10] Richie's new boyfriend in the 2nd season. (season 2)
  • Bashir Salahuddin as Malik, Doris's love interest[10] (season 2)

Production

HBO ordered an eight-episode first season of Looking on May 14, 2013.[11] The pilot was written by Michael Lannan, based on Lannan's 2011 short film entitled Lorimer, and directed by Andrew Haigh. Filming began in the San Francisco Bay Area on September 16, 2013, and ended on November 7, 2013.[12] The first season premiered on January 19, 2014.[5][13][14]

Creator Michael Lannan announced in an interview in February 2014 that the writers were already thinking of new material for a second season, should it come. His comment was quickly backed up by Nick Hall, director of comedy for HBO, who stated that the "initial one airing audience" isn't their main goal and that they [HBO] "look at it for the week, we look at it On Demand, we look at HBO Go," and that each of the episodes were doing "nicely".[15]

On February 26, 2014, HBO announced that Looking was renewed for a second season.[16][17] The second season premiered on January 11, 2015.[18]

HBO cancelled the series after the second season citing the sharp decline in ratings, but will air a special episode in the form of a movie to wrap up the storyline of the show.[19] Alvarez later revealed on an interview with Vulture that filming is planned to start in September 2015, and that the length of the finale would be 2 hours.[20] After the series's cancellation was announced, an online petition was started targeted at HBO to continue the series.[21]

Episodes

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Main article: List of Looking episodes
Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 8 January 19, 2014 (2014-01-19) March 9, 2014 (2014-03-09)
2 10 January 11, 2015 (2015-01-11) March 22, 2015 (2015-03-22)
The Movie July 23, 2016[22][23]

Reception

Critical response

Looking has received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of critics gave the first season a positive review based on 37 reviews, with an average score of 7.6/10. The site's consensus states: "Funny without being obnoxious, Looking provides authentic situations that feel universal with its subtle details and top-notch performances."[24] On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the first season holds an average of 73% based on 27 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.[25] The second season received an aggregate score of 77% on Metacritic and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.[26][27]

Since Looking was announced it has been referred to by both the community and early critics as the "gay version" of Girls and Sex and the City. After watching the pilot critics quickly dismissed these comments saying "differences between the two series go beyond the surface"[28] and one of the show's lead actors, Jonathan Groff, went on to say that "to be in the same breath as those shows is exciting [...] but the tone and writing and the style of the show is very different. And people will notice that when they see it."[29]

Keith Uhlich, writing for the BBC, opined that Looking "is one of the most revolutionary depictions of gay life ever on TV – and that’s because it makes it totally ordinary."[30]

Ratings

Looking was reported to have debuted to a "slow start" by Variety with a premiere audience of 338,000, although it went on to gain an audience of 606,000 when the encore's ratings were included.[31] However, ratings improved as the season progressed. Ratings reached a series high in the sixth episode, attracting 519,000 viewers,[32] up by 50% compared to the premiere episode.[33] As of February 23, 2014, Looking has averaged 2 million weekly viewers.[32]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result
2014 4th Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series Lauren Weedman Nominated
NALIP Awards Lupe Award for Breakthrough Performance Raúl Castillo Won
Imagen Awards Best Actor Raúl Castillo Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Frankie J. Alvarez Nominated
Gold Derby TV Awards Best Comedy Actor Jonathan Groff Nominated
EWwy Awards Best Actor in a Comedy Series Jonathan Groff Nominated
OUT100 TV Show of the Year Jonathan Groff
Murray Bartlett
Russell Tovey		 Won
Attitude Awards TV Show of the Year Looking Won
NewNowNext Awards Best New Television Series Looking Won
Best New Television Actor Jonathan Groff Won
2015 Dorian Awards LGBTQ TV Show of the Year Looking Nominated
Unsung TV Show of the Year Looking Nominated
TV Director of the Year Andrew Haigh Nominated
Artios Awards Outstanding Achievement in Casting for a Television Pilot Comedy Carmen Cuba
Nina Henninger
Bernard Telsey
Wittney Horton
Abbie Brady-Dalton		 Nominated
GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Comedy Series Looking Nominated
Screen Nation Film and Television Awards Male Performance in TV O. T. Fagbenle Nominated
NAMIC Vision Awards Best Performance - Comedy Raúl Castillo Won
Frankie J. Alvarez Nominated
Imagen Awards Best Primetime Television Program - Drama Looking Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Raúl Castillo Nominated
Gold Derby TV Awards Best Comedy Actor Jonathan Groff Nominated
EWwy Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Lauren Weedman Nominated
2016 Dorian Awards LGBTQ TV Show of the Year Looking Nominated
Unsung TV Show of the Year Looking Won
Wilde Artist of the Year Andrew Haigh Nominated
GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Comedy Series Looking Nominated

Broadcast

Looking premiered on HBO Canada at the same time as the United States, with Australia's Showcase premiering the series on January 20, 2014.[34] In New Zealand, SoHo premiered the series on January 23, 2014.[35] Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom and Ireland premiered it on January 27, 2014,[36] opening to 0.067 million viewers, with the highest rated episode attracting 0.129 million for episode three.[37] The second season premiered on February 5, 2015.[38] The series premiered on May 6, 2014 on M-Net in South Africa.

References

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  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ BBC:"Looking: A new way to break a TV taboo"
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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