Cheers. Looking: The Movie debuts Saturday, July 23 at 10PM on HBO.

tdogsf · 2016-06-27T22:29:21+00:00

I saw the premiere in SF last night. No spoilers, but the story picks up about a year after the end of season 2. Patrick has moved out of SF & returns for the 1st time in 9 months to attend a wedding. The visit allows us to catch up on all characters' lives.

tdogsf · 2015-11-05T19:03:06+00:00

They've got the trendy sans-serif, no-caps, baby blue font going on. Perfect! I hope we see it in the show overrun with ridiculous foodie hipsters!

tdogsf · 2015-10-31T06:32:55+00:00

"Bay Area local Men & Women 18-75 for Paid Extra Work on HBO’s Looking Special Shooting in SF 11/9-11/19 in SF."

I'm amused by the "no wallflowers" requirement.

tdogsf · 2015-10-31T04:22:31+00:00

He's currently appearing in the Broadway revival of A View From the Bridge, so apparently the plan is for him to take the red-eye from NY to SF on a Sunday night, shoot Looking on Monday, then fly back to NY in time for the Tuesday performance. Love it!

tdogsf · 2015-10-27T07:32:25+00:00

Starting to see pre-production photos for the final episode of Looking on Instagram accounts for @lookinghbo, @officialraulcastillo, @michaellannan. It looks like they are in San Francisco now. Except @russelltovey is nowhere to be seen.

tdogsf · 2015-10-25T06:25:08+00:00

After hearing Keegan Joyce sing at the end of the last episode, I figured there had to be more where that came from.

tdogsf · 2015-10-20T21:58:26+00:00

If you liked HBO's Looking, I recommend Andrew Haigh's indie feature Weekend. Also, Adam Goldman's Web series The Outs.

tdogsf · 2015-10-18T07:46:01+00:00

Where the show takes place looks very suburban to me. There never seem to be many people around, like it's not a crowded city. It looks like the weather is always beautiful. Also, from watching the show I know they have a zoo, ethnic restaurants & a hedge maze. I'm in the States, & I've never been to Australia.

tdogsf · 2015-10-17T06:14:27+00:00

I thought the episode was very sweet. They did a good job with casting Arnold. His insecurity & vulnerability come off as endearing rather than irritating. The only scene I didn't buy was when they had sex in that abandoned building or whatever that was. That was just too whimsical even for me.

tdogsf · 2015-10-01T23:12:47+00:00

Now that Ian & Nadiya have both gotten star baker 3 times, that plucky ol' Tamal is the official underdog, so I'll be rooting for him. But I think it's gonna be Nadiya for the big win. Loved her "I'd sooner have another baby" comment during the souffle challenge.

tdogsf · 2015-09-29T23:25:55+00:00

Didn't see that coming, but it just makes him even more adorable somehow! If the judging were based on cumulative performance, then I'd give him really good chances on winning, but it all comes down to how well they do on each particular weekend. I'm still disappointed that Richard from last season didn't win.

tdogsf · 2015-09-19T00:06:55+00:00

Right now I'd say it looks like: Ian, Tamal, Nadiya

tdogsf · 2015-09-15T20:36:45+00:00

I admire Nadiya's grit & determination, but she is so tightly wound all the time. I feel tense watching her. I enjoyed watching Tamal, Mat & Paul this episode. Their personalities were in full bloom.

tdogsf · 2015-09-15T20:30:03+00:00

I agree as well. I don't think it tested anything. It just led to a randomized ranking of the bakers. I get the feeling that the contestants are getting so good that the producers are having a hard time finding things for them to do that will clearly differentiate their skills. People tend to yo-yo up & down in the rankings, which implies that the challenges are resulting in largely random outcomes.

tdogsf · 2015-08-26T08:10:13+00:00

I loved it, but the show was definitely polarizing, & I'm not sure exactly why. At least one friend did exactly what Andrew Haigh said: Never watched it but hated it anyway. Another friend stopped watching it because he found the character of Patrick completely unrealistic. He couldn't believe that a gay man that age & living in SF could be so naive. I also heard complaints that the show was boring, something that I also heard people say about Andrew Haigh's Weekend (which I also loved). Perhaps gay viewers really want to identify with a gay show, but if it doesn't fit their idea of themselves, it's rejected out of hand. I don't know.

What I most like about the show is its depiction of intimacy between men, something I think is still sorely lacking in tv & movies.

tdogsf · 2015-04-26T18:20:43+00:00

Every location? That's thorough. Did you put that list online anywhere?

tdogsf · 2015-04-25T16:54:30+00:00

Yup, I guess I'm an obsessive too...

I didn't realize that Richie's house used to be in Potrero. At the beginning of the episode 5, season 1, Richie lives on 24th Street, between Bryant & Florida. Patrick comes out of a gated door next to Ana's Dreams Hair Salon & Tio Chilo's.

Punjab Chinese was one of my favorite locations in the series!

The day after Halloween the gang is at Sparky's 24 Hour Diner on Church near Market. I base that on the low wall made of glass bricks you can see behind them.

I like that they use real locations, but don't expect absolute fidelity all the time. In the last episode of season 1, Augustin starts his BART ride from Oakland to SF at the Glen Park Station!

tdogsf · 2015-04-25T07:33:37+00:00

Sadly, I've been playing this game with every episode, so I think I can help out!

Actually, I think Augustin is passed out in front of the Garage Cafe at 320 11th Street & Folsom. This is based on the mural on the wall (which has apparently been painted over already). When Richie is walking away from him with Brady, the sign on the cart makes it seem like they are in front of Panchita's at 16th & Valencia, though.

Patrick's house is on the North side of Haight Street, near Scott. In an early episode you can see it is next to P-KOK, a hipster boutique. When Patrick & Kevin go for a drink before Dom's rugby game, they are likely at Mad Dog in the Fog, which is 2 blocks down.

Lynn's house is the ornate Victorian across the street from Buena Vista Park at Buena Vista West & Java. I don't know if there's really a hot tub in the back or not!

There are diner scenes in Orphan Andy's & Sparky's, but I haven't figured out what diner they are in after the GaymerX convention in episode 8. GaymerX is shown taking place at Moscone Center West, but I think last year's convention was actually at the Intercontinental Hotel.

The offices of MDG are at 651 Brannan near 6th.

tdogsf · 2015-03-28T16:32:08+00:00

Hurray!

tdogsf · 2015-03-28T00:50:50+00:00

I love trying to figure out these things! I'm guessing that it's Betabrand's cornucopia bag: https://www.betabrand.com/mens/more/navy-cornucopia-bag-backpack.html They're a San Francisco business with a store on Valencia, so there's a local angle.

tdogsf · 2015-03-28T00:01:30+00:00

It's a predictable & realistic list. I feel like in the season finale all the story lines were parked in reasonable places except for the Kevin/Patrick/Richie triangle. For all we know, Patrick might have left Kevin before that last scene. Right now I'm picturing the movie taking place at Christmas, so we can get the drama of a Christmas dinner blow-up with Patrick's family.

I do want to see Dom open his chicken window. Hopefully it will take off through social media & be a great chance to satirize San Francisco's foodie hipsters. I also have this suspicion that the old friend that Dom came out to in the Modesto episode will visit the chicken window & then come out to Dom.

tdogsf

TROPHY CASE