Need a celebration of male sexuality!

March 18, 2007 5:38 PM

I'm looking for a show about men behaving badly. I am NOT by any means looking for the actual sitcom by that name! Clarification after the flip.

Basically, I'm looking for a male analogue to 'Sex and the City,' and to a lesser extent 'Desperate Housewives;' A show in which a man or group of men eschew "traditional" morals and are glorified in doing so, especially in the area of sex and relationships. Basically, what would it be like if the foursome from 'Sex' were instead a group of single male friends chasing tail?

It seems to me that there are such shows out there, but these shows usually present the male figures as little more than bumbling idiots whose sexuality is a handicap; the horny imbecile archetype created by a number of sitcoms. Are there any out there that celebrate this masculine sexuality instead?

posted by Willie0248 to media & arts (26 comments total)

Queer as Folk.
posted by inconsequentialist at 5:47 PM on March 18, 2007 [3 favorites]

Wouldn't the parallel be a show about a group of men who restrain themselves and act asexual? I mean, SATC was unique in that it didn't take the usual puritan perspective on female characters that so many other shows before it had.

Men are usually shown as pursuing women, etc, whereas women were not usually shown pursuing men. So.. if SATC was the opposite of what came before (or, at least, a radical turn away from it), then surely the male equivalent would be a show where men aren't interested in sex at all?
posted by wackybrit at 5:47 PM on March 18, 2007

I'm not looking for a show about radical turns from what came before. And please, I'm not trying to make some sweeping sociological statement or trying to spark an argument. I'm just looking for the type of show described above.

C'mon, TV experts! We can find this thing!
posted by Willie0248 at 6:01 PM on March 18, 2007

Maybe Entourage? That's the best I can come up with off the top of my head, but I'll keep thinking about it.
posted by box at 6:11 PM on March 18, 2007

Seconding inconsequentialist's vote for Queer as Folk. You've described that show's ethos, Brian and Justin in particular, to a tee.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 6:20 PM on March 18, 2007

I believe Entourage was actually promoted as the "male" Sex & the City." Maybe not by HBO, but by TV writers, etc.
posted by peep at 6:24 PM on March 18, 2007

I was thinking of Entourage also.

A show in which a man or group of men eschew "traditional" morals and are glorified in doing so

The Sopranos
posted by LoriFLA at 6:24 PM on March 18, 2007

Manchild? (Though I'm not sure how much they were glorified per se - sometimes they were portrayed as a bit shallow/hollow)
posted by cadge at 6:44 PM on March 18, 2007

Nip/Tuck.
posted by headspace at 6:46 PM on March 18, 2007

What you want is ManChild.

A UK series...

Four men, all dealing with their late 40s/early 50s and sucess and failure and the enjoyment in life. Good characterization, good stories (life, love, loss, fun)
posted by filmgeek at 6:47 PM on March 18, 2007

Entourage! I love that show.
posted by MadamM at 7:00 PM on March 18, 2007

Upon further reflection, Queer as Folk is pretty good. Or maybe that piece of crap Married With Children spinoff with Matt LeBlanc whose name escapes me. Or Seinfeld? The Young Ones?
posted by box at 7:00 PM on March 18, 2007

Not an entire sitcom, but Neil Patrick Harris' character Barney on 'How I Met Your Mother' might qualify
posted by gregchttm at 7:05 PM on March 18, 2007

Entourage is a fantastic show.

They definitely focus on getting laid on Queer as Folk, if you don't mind the fact that its guys going after other guys. The show is really quite amazing. Its been one of my favorites since it was in its third season.
posted by Kraki at 7:34 PM on March 18, 2007

Though there is also the female storyline within the narrative, I think the UK's show Coupling might fulfill this. The character of 'Jeff' is sort of what you called the horny imbecile archetype, but his friend 'Patrick' is more cocky and confident in his sexual exploits. It's not an entire show devoted to celebrating masculine sexuality, but it certainly contains elements of it.
posted by numinous at 7:49 PM on March 18, 2007

Mind of a Married man.
posted by asavage at 7:56 PM on March 18, 2007

Last Man Standing, <=== an Aussie show which screens in NZ, which is more of drama series about a bunch of single guys and their dating/dates.
posted by chrisbucks at 8:10 PM on March 18, 2007

The show you are looking for is Jake in Progress, starring John Stamos. It was even advertised with the tagline "Different sex. Same city."

It was also abysmal. ABC aired the entire first season. Then, despite poor ratings, the show was miraculously renewed; after taping the second season, ABC aired exactly one episode before pulling the show altogether.
posted by booksandlibretti at 10:43 PM on March 18, 2007

"A show in which a man or group of men eschew "traditional" morals and are glorified in doing so" describes a considerable segment of popular culture.

Also: wasn't that basically Seinfeld?
posted by SoftRain at 11:08 PM on March 18, 2007

I'm going to throw in another recommendation for Entourage.

It might be a stretch to say that men pursuing sex is eschewing any moral norm, but the show is well-written and really fun to watch. It's nice to watch a show that isn't about an oaf of a man who hasn't grown up since high school, which is how male characters tend to be written in sitcoms. The idea that the ol' "fat lovable loser with a hot wife who cleans up after his blunders" thing that seems to be the standard for sitcoms entertains anybody is mystifying to me.

The problem is that whenever anything tries to be written from this perspective, it goes way too Maxim way too fast and we end up with crap like The Man Show. I would love to see a good, male Sex and the City minus the terrible puns.
posted by atomly at 1:25 AM on March 19, 2007

Footballers Wives, despite the name, is a British show that spends a decent amount of time on the guy's side of things. Great, show, too.
posted by inigo2 at 6:22 AM on March 19, 2007

I recall that HBO's short-lived but uniquely postmodern sitcom Dream On did this quite well.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 7:07 AM on March 19, 2007

Seconding Mind of a Married Man, it reminded me completely of a male Sex and the City. Also perhaps elements of Rescue Me, though the firefighting theme may distract from what you're looking for.
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:31 AM on March 19, 2007

You might find that The Young Ones and Coupling are just what you need - you might not.
posted by FidelDonson at 10:04 AM on March 19, 2007

or how about Bottom
posted by FidelDonson at 10:05 AM on March 19, 2007

It's a movie, but swingers?
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 6:18 PM on March 19, 2007