AVERAGE

One of the most explicit TV series ever made about gay men followed a group of friends in San Francisco, with focus on the 29-year-old game designer Patrick (Jonathan Groff) and his struggling relationships, first with a barber (Raúl Castillo) and then with his boss (Russell Tovey).

Never compelling or original enough to catch on with audiences, the show still felt genuine and took great advantage of San Francisco locations. Patrick’s journey to maturity may not have been terribly engaging (after all, he was the least exciting person on the show), but the cast and frank dialogue made it worth a look.

After the series was canceled, audiences were treated to an emotional feature-length final episode, directed by Andrew Haigh. What a way to go.

2014-2016:U.S. 19 episodes. Color. Created by Michael Lannan. Cast: Jonathan Groff (Patrick Murray), Frankie J. Alvarez (Agustín Lanuez), Murray Bartlett (Dom Basaluzzo), Lauren Weedman, Russell Tovey, Raúl Castillo. 

Trivia: Originally based on a short film by Lannan.