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'Queer as Folk' reboot coming to NBC's Peacock network

The “vibrant reimagining” of the groundbreaking 1999 drama will center on a “diverse group of friends in New Orleans,” the network announced.
Back, Left to Right:-CRAIG KELLY:  CHARLIE HUNNAM:  ANTHONY COTTONBritish ActorsAnd Front:  DENISE BLACKBritish ActressAll star in the Channel Four drama series 'Queer as Folk'.COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot PhotoUGL 017014/C-23     02.02.200
From left, Craig Kelly, Denise Black, Charlie Hunnam and Antony Cotton in the British television series "Queer as Folk." Courtesy Everett Collection
/ Source: NBC News

The pioneering LGBTQ series “Queer as Folk” is returning to the small screen.

NBCUniversal’s streaming network Peacock announced Thursday that it had ordered a “vibrant reimagining” of the original British series. The reboot, it added, will center on a “diverse group of friends in New Orleans whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.” (Peacock and NBC News share the same parent company, Comcast NBCUniversal.)

The original U.K. series, created by Russell T. Davies, chronicled the lives of three gay friends living in Manchester’s gay village. It ran from 1999 to 2000 and included just 10 episodes. Davies will be an executive producer on the reboot.

An American version premiered on Showtime just a year after the British original’s debut and centered on a group of gay and lesbian friends living in Pittsburgh. That series, which addressed issues such as same-sex marriage and HIV/AIDS, ran for five seasons, ending in 2005.

The reboot was created by Stephen Dunn, who will be a writer and the executive producer of the series, and will direct the pilot. Dunn called it a “surreal honor to adapt the notoriously groundbreaking series.”

“When the show originally aired, the idea of unapologetic queer stories on TV was so provocative that I felt I could only watch ‘Queer as Folk’ in secret,” he said in a statement. “But so much has changed in the last 20 years and how wonderful would it be if the next generation didn’t have to watch ‘Queer as Folk’ alone in their dank basements with the sound muted, but with their family and friends and the volume cranked all the way to the max.”

Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television, said “Queer as Folk” was “more than just a show.”

“It was a groundbreaking and necessary voice for so many people,” she said in a statement. “Stephen's new version for Peacock arrives at yet another pivotal moment in our culture. … The entire team is so excited to be a part of introducing a new generation to this type of authentic and affirming storytelling."

Fans of the original U.K. series and the first American remake expressed their excitement for the reboot on Twitter and reminisced about watching the earlier shows.

“Peacock! Is remaking!! "Queer as Folk"!!! Set in New Orleans!!!! I could not dream up a TV show for which I was more squarely the target audience, I am in hysterics,” Matt Brennan, the television editor at The Los Angeles Times, tweeted.

Another Twitter user wrote: "Not sure if I need another American version of Queer as Folk, but I will always have nostalgic memories of watching that show as a teenager in my parents' basement with the volume turned down low and my finger on the remote to change the channel in an instant.”

The statement released by Peacock on Thursday did not include information about who may star in the upcoming series or when it will debut.

This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.