Daniel Lipman says goodbye to "QAF"

When audiences were first introduced to "Queer as Folk" five years ago, the world seemed a more innocent and tolerant place. Y2K had been much ado about nothing. The date September 11 had no particular significance. And most people were going happily about their lives, reaping the benefits of the dot-com boom. For the gay community, the Clinton years had marked a time of unprecedented gains in tolerance and visibility.

It was in this atmosphere that executive producers Daniel Lipman and Ron Cowen launched their unflinching, unapologetic, insightful and entertaining look at gay life in America, "Queer as Folk."

Five years later, we find the "Queer as Folk" characters living in a much different world, one that Lipman and Cowen could never have imagined when they brought the groundbreaking series to the States.

During these five years, the series has generated both critical acclaim and righteous indignation. Fans have lauded its realistic representation of gay life, which has so often been relegated to the status of comic relief or melodrama. Critics, straight and gay, have bemoaned the show's emphasis on sex and drugs.

The series launched its fifth and final season in the middle of a divisive, escalating cultural war in America. Rather than take the easy way out, Lipman and Cowen felt it necessary to put their characters right in the middle of the battlefield.

Lipman spoke to PlanetOut entertainment editor Jenny Stewart about the end of the hit series.