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This Slate review pretty much sums up my feelings on Looking. While I loved the film Weekend, my wife and I couldn't get past the first ten minutes (and my wife, particularly, has an affinity for queer art and culture). Quite frankly, after a bad episode of Girls where Instagram was referenced, I turned off Looking when they had their Instagram reference.

I feel like Weekend was an earnest, funny, and heartwarming look at a quick weekend fling. We got to know the characters and care about them. In this show, however, it just feels like another how awkward can a situation be-type show that is too concerned with feeling like it's really in the present.

Again, only one episode in, which I watched about half of, but a little disappointing.

Well, I did watch the entire first episode of LOOKING...and found it disappointingly bland. Beautiful people with cool jobs who complain about how a drink bill is split. The silliest bit came late in the episode when a main character is invited to his ex's bachelor party and (surprise!) the two end up visiting the rest room at the same time. "This is awkward", exclaims the main character who, evidently, didn't realize he significantly increased his chances of running into this other guy by actually attending the party!

I thought it was not bad. The main characters are universally unpleasant to be sure, but it looked pretty and had a nice, easy pace that effectively worked against some of the more forced situations (is there NO ONE who is not on the make in this show?).

I think you're kind of misreading the drink-splitting moment. The main character was not complaining, but was a little surprised to have a blind date end so abruptly and in such a businesslike fashion. That was one of the more believable moments in the show to me.

I watched the episode free on YouTube. I don't have HBO, so I'm not going to watch the rest (and am not really in the market for another TV show to watch anyway). I think it's nice to have a show on TV in which gay men are allowed to be boring, but it doesn't really make for compelling television.

Matt wrote: ...I think you're kind of misreading the drink-splitting moment. The main character was not complaining, but was a little surprised to have a blind date end so abruptly and in such a businesslike fashion. That was one of the more believable moments in the show to me...

Perhaps misguidedly, I was using the drink-splitting idea as easy short-hand to identify the milieu I felt these characters inhabited. But you're right, the
brusque rejection during the blind date was a highlight.