8.4 /10 1 Votes
8.3/10 TV Genre Comedy-drama Country of origin United States First episode date 19 January 2014 Network HBO | 8.2/10 IMDb 89% Rotten Tomatoes Created by Michael Lannan Original language(s) English Final episode date 22 March 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Based on Lorimer
by Michael Lannan Starring Jonathan Groff
Frankie J. Alvarez
Murray Bartlett
Lauren Weedman
Russell Tovey
Raúl Castillo Cast Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett, Russell Tovey, Frankie J Alvarez, Raul Castillo Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
Contents
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 which aired on July 23, 2016 in the U.S. on HBO and on August 2, 2016 in the UK on Sky Atlantic.
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.
Main
Recurring
Production
HBO ordered an eight-episode first season of Looking on May 14, 2013. 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. The first season premiered on January 19, 2014.
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".
On February 26, 2014, HBO announced that Looking was renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on January 11, 2015.
HBO cancelled the series after the second season citing the sharp decline in ratings. After the cancellation was announced, an online petition was started targeted at HBO to continue the series. HBO eventually planned to air a special episode in the form of a movie to wrap up the storyline of the show. Alvarez revealed in an interview with Vulture that filming was planned to start in September 2015 and that the length of the finale would be 2 hours. The movie premiered on June 2, 2016 at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco and was eventually aired on July 23, 2016.
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." On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the first season holds an average of 73% based on 27 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews. The second season received an aggregate score of 77% on Metacritic and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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" 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."
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."
Sonia Saraiya of Variety described the finale film as "moving and beautiful", and Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter called it "essential viewing".
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. However, ratings improved as the season progressed. Ratings reached a series high in the sixth episode, attracting 519,000 viewers, up by 50% compared to the premiere episode. As of February 23, 2014, Looking has averaged 2 million weekly viewers.
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. In New Zealand, SoHo premiered the series on January 23, 2014. Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom and Ireland premiered it on January 27, 2014, opening to 0.067 million viewers, with the highest rated episode attracting 0.129 million for episode three. The second season premiered on February 5, 2015. The series premiered on May 6, 2014 on M-Net in South Africa.