Image Credits, clockwise from top left: ‘Elite’ (Netflix), ‘Riverdale’ (The CW), ‘Foundation’ (AppleTV+), ‘Fellow Travelers’ (Showtime)
Is it just us, or did television get even hotter this past year?
As 2023 comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to appreciate all that the medium has to offer, reflecting on 10 unforgettable scenes of sex, nudity, and more from the past 12 months. They may not all be explicitly gay (or even “explicit,” for that matter), but they have a lot to offer to anyone who considers themselves a fan of the male form.
Whether they’re meant to titillate us, make us laugh, gasp, or cover our eyes in terror, these are the scenes we’ve been talking about all year long.
Fellow Travelers puts its foot in its mouth
Image Credit: ‘Fellow Travelers,’ Showtime
There’s a world in which this entire list is made up of scenes from Fellow Travelers, the acclaimed drama that, come to think of it, didn’t do much traveling at all—they mostly stuck to the bedroom! Joking, joking. In all seriousness, the Showtime miniseries made a point of using sex as a storytelling tool, to show us how the complicated dynamic between Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller (Matt Bomer) and Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey) evolved over the years instead of telling us. To that end, this foot-forward scene in the premiere episode is a mouthful, and audiences who expected this to be a stately, buttoned-up history lesson were thoroughly gagged.
From “You’re Wonderful” (Season 1, Episode 1). Streaming on Paramount+.
Jonathan Bailey putting Matt Bomer’s entire foot in his mouth in Fellow Travelers??? this show is HORNY pic.twitter.com/E81kvxKmPb— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) October 28, 2023
On World AIDS Day 2023, the ‘Philadelphia’ screenwriter reflects on his trailblazing film, 30 years later, and his full-circle moment with ‘Fellow Travelers.’
Elite‘s jagged love triangle
Image Credit: ‘Elite,’ Netflix
Netflix couldn’t resist bringing Omar Ayuso back into the fold for the penultimate season of its soapy, sexy Spanish drama, and the show’s all the better for it. Omar (also his character’s name), now a college student with PTSD from his traumatic years at Las Encinas, is back on school grounds for an internship—and so is his hot, young boyfriend Joel (newcomer Fernando Líndez), conveniently gifted tuition by Iván (André Lamoglia), who also has eyes for him. While Omar seemingly agrees to let Joel fool around with Iván, he doesn’t expect to find them doing it in his bed, so when he coems home early one day, we’re all treated to an eyeful.
From “The Family” (Season 7, Episode 5). Streaming on Netflix.
Omar Ayuso is getting ready to say goodbye to ‘Elite’ and he’s spilling the hot tea!
Gen V goes for the groin, again and again
Image Credit: ‘Gen V,’ Amazon Prime Video
Not to be outdone by its more adult-oriented predecessor, The Boys spin-off Gen V had a field day playing with a combustible mix of superpowers and collegiate hormones. In its premiere, we watched as Supe-in-training Emma (Lizzie Broadway)—who has the ability to alter her size by binging or purging—shrank herself during sex in order to ride her hookup. Literally. Then, a few episodes later, we saw series protagonist Marie (Jaz Sinclair) use her “blood-bending” powers to explode the genitals of sleazy classmate who tried to take advantage of her. This wild franchise really has a knack for doing twisted things to people’s d*cks.
From “God U.” (Season 1, Episode 1) & “The Whole Truth” (Season 1, Episode 4). Streaming on Prime Video.
Creators of The Boys/Gen V: “what this show needs is more dicks! No, wait… more EXPLODING dicks!”#GenV#TheBoys— Blake Currall (@bcurrall80) November 23, 2023
Not one to skimp on pure carnage, this explosive scene might be a new high (or low) for The Boys.
Riverdale‘s “quad goals”
Image Credit: ‘Riverdale,’ The CW
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone, and it took The CW’s teen drama’s series finale to remind us what a consistently campy, addictive delight it’s been for seven seasons. In the episode, a now elder Betty (Lili Reinhart) is visited by an angel, who grants her the opportunity to re-live one day of her teenaged years. Back as her younger self, Betty learns that she, Archie (KJ Apa), Veronica (Camila Mendes), and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) spent the entirety of their senior year in a four-way relationship—a “quad,” if you will. The “endgame” reveal had loyal viewers gooped, saying goodbye in the msot Riverdaleway possible.
From “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven: Goodbye, Riverdale” (Season 7, Episode 20). Streaming on Netflix.
introducing betty, archie, jughead and veronica to all be in a quad relationship in the finale has got to be the most stupid thing riverdale has ever done pic.twitter.com/2x6WOEBx00— tia ? (@barchiesorigin) August 24, 2023
Ahead of its season finale, let’s celebrate ‘Riverdale,’ a show that’s always been by and for the gays.
And Just Like That… Hot Fellas!
Image Credit: ‘And Just Like That…,’ HBO / Max
Consensus is that season two of this Sex And The City sequel series was a major improvement—and not just because they finally got Miranda back (shout-out to Kim Cattrall’s glorified cameo). It also remembered to have some good old-fashioned sexy fun again, like when Anthony’s (Mario Cantone) ingenious hunky bread delivery service, Hot Fellas, was on the rise. Not even guest star Drew Barrymore could keep her eyes off new Hot Fellas employee Gisueppe’s (Sebastiano Pigazzi) massive “baguette,” and soon he and Anthony were throwing workplace ethics concerns out the door so they could bang appreciate each other’s buns.
From “February 14th” (Season 2, Episode 7). Streaming on Max.
This week’s new episode of ‘AJLT’ is giving the SATC energy we’ve been waiting for!
Minx takes male nudity to the max
Image Credit: ‘Minx,’ Starz
Simply put, no show is doing “eye candy” like charming, underrated workplace comedy Minx—now on Starz after getting axed by Max. And that’s because Minx‘s workplace just so happens to be the offices of the first-even women’s erotic magazine, which dared to put men in the centerfold. In its first season, the ’70s-set show featured countless dudes in the buff (including a pre-Red, White & RoyalBlue Taylor Zakhar Perez, with a prosthetic assist), and these new episodes only seemed to double-down, including a ****-swinging tennis spread, an elaborate bathhouse photoshoot, and the introduction of a new boy toy, played by Diego Escobar.
Look, we love “internet boyfriend” Lee Pace, but we weren’t sure we needed to see him serve evil galactic emperor in Foundation, based off the hard sci-fi novels from author and biochemistry professor Isaac Asimov. Then we found out the season two premiere episode featured Pace’s character fend off a bunch of android assassins while in his birthday suit, and suddenly Foundation was appointment viewing. Turns out, it’s a pretty fascinating show, with loads of queer characters, too. And, yes, it doesn’t hurt that Pace frequently shows off his ripped bod in it. Somebody behind the scenes of the show knows how to get the gays tuning in!
From “In Seldon’s Shadow” (Season 2, Episode 1). Streaming on AppleTV+.
Hey, remember The Idol? Okay, maybe not—The Weeknd and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson’s cult drama really came and went this past summer, starting off with buzz before fizzling out with an abbreviated five-episode season. But we have to shout-out supporting player Troye Sivan who became the shining highlight of this misbegotten series. In a truly brazen scene, his character faces the wrath of a jealous Tedros (The Weeknd), who ties him up and puts him in a dog’s shock collar. The Idol can’t even manage to give Sivan’s storyline closure, but it did continue to show us this pop star’s a really skilled actor, too.
From “Stars Belong To The World” (Season 1, Episode 4). Streaming on Max.
my take on THE IDOL is that troye sivan is a ridiculously talented young man and deserves better— dean (@deanevangeliou) June 23, 2023
Troye Sivan made reference to doing drag for the first time while accepting GQ’s Man of the Year award.
9. Obsession‘s pillow talk
Image Credit: ‘Obsession,’ Netflix
Every once in a while, Netflix will quietly drop a new movie or series and then, next thing you know, it feels like everyone is watching it. That was certainly the case when Obsession—based on the ’91 erotic novel Damage—hit the platform this past April. Specifically, no once could stop tweeting about star Richard Armitage, who not only goes whole-hog in the series, but also has an unforgettable scene where he arrives to the hotel room where his secret lover’s been staying and proceeds to fool around with the pillow that still smells like her. By the way, it’s this scene that happened to inspire Armitage to casually come out to the press as gay! So… win-win?
From “Episode 2” (Season 1, Episode 2). Streaming on Netflix.
The ‘Obsession’ star says he assured his partner he’d be “well looked after” while filming nude scenes for the erotic thriller.
The Last Of Us delivers romance at the end of the world
Image Credit: ‘The Last Of Us,’ HBO
And, frankly, I don’t know how we talk about the year in gay television, without mentioning the third episode of The Last Of Us, “Long, Long Time.” While it may not be as quote-unquote “shocking” as exploding d*cks or a bare Lee Pace, no one really expected this grim, apocalyptic drama—about a fungal virus turning humans into bloodthirsty mushroom zombies—to pause its action for an episode dedicated to a years-long romance between two survivalists, Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). Against the odds, these two built a beautiful life together, complete with fresh strawberries and Linda Ronstadt singalongs, and managed to say goodbye on their own terms. It was stunning, soulful, so very gay, and it left us a puddle of tears on the floor.
From “Long, Long Time” (Season 1, Episode 3). Streaming on Max.
Everybody deserves that end of the world Last of Us Frank & Bill type of love.— Omari AllTimer (@OmariAllTimer) February 1, 2023
