What can I say about the show? It has incredible characterisation (capable of drawing even a straight man into the lives of the characters), beautiful cinematography, great acting and compelling writing. I have seen the first two seasons and I am currently watching the third on VHS because I lost showtime in the process. I have 3 episodes left of season 3 and, barring a few rather flagrant showings of male nudity (which although arguably contextually appropriate did seem a bit over the top), the shows have continued the quality of the first two seasons. What is great about the show is the fact that you really do care what happens to the characters, you can see an element of yourself in them (well maybe not all of them but you can find something in at least one of the characters that you relate to--I really relate to Ted myself, particularly in the middle of the first season and most of the third season). The show has tackled a lot of touchy topics (HIV, gay marriages, homophobic politicians) and, barring Emmett's brief fling with quack therapy in an attempt to be straight, they have been dealt with in a thoughtful, intelligent and sensitive manner (although how can you deal with reparative therapy seriously?), and, in a real stretch, showing that the gay community has its own flaws, which i think is what really sets the show apart, it says that the gay community isn't perfect and the gay characters aren't perfect.
And even though all my straight friends who have never seen the show may laugh and ask me if I have started to play for the other team, I will continue to watch as long as the quality is kept up like this. Besides Six Feet Under, Monk and MI-5, this is one of the few shows I would go out of my way to see. Bring on season 4 and let Ben die already (the second part is only a personal opinion, I just never cared for his character although I think Robert Gant does an excellent job of portraying him, I would rather have seen Michael with David).
And I have seen the second series of the British version and, loath as I am as an anglophile and a purist to say it, the American version has gone further then the British series (although in all fairness they have had a lot more episodes to explore the characters). My only beef is that Gale Harold may seem cold and rather like a jerk (since a stronger term may be censored but one is definately implied), Aidan Gillen was creepy. Gale was the kid in high school that was popular although he never really liked anyone while Aidan was that guy who you would see somewhere and he would just creep you out yet you couldn't take your eyes off him. Two totally different characters and I think one works better for a miniseries and the other works better for a regular series.
