HBO's Looking offers audiences a cast of complex, gay male characters whose lives are just as mundane and confusing as the rest of ours. Funny or Die's Not Looking does the same, only it's way freaking funnier.

After Looking's trailer left Jason Looney and Jeremy Shane feeling flat, they decided to shoot an L.A.-based parody trailer with a dash more Girls and Sex and the City. The hilarious Drew Droege and Justin Martindale rounded out the cast.]

“A lot of people in the gay community miss Sex and the City,” explains Looney in an interview. “I like saying 'I'm like the Carrie' or 'You're the Samantha.' Michael Lannan has created a beautiful show… but if I were on the dance floor at Mickey's and someone were to call me the Patrick or the Dom, it would just make me sad.”

The trailer went viral and one Indiegogo campaign and a Funny or Die sound guy later, Not Looking the webseries was born. Rather than continuing to be a parody, the series is a way to tell a different story featuring identifiable gay characters, Looney says.

“Justin [who plays Colby] is that sweet guy who will cry over a bad boyfriend,” says Looney. “Jeremy [who plays Shayne] is that 'grown woman' who surprises you with his sexual prowess, but deep down he just wants to find true love.”

Looney also puts it this way: “Parker [Looney's character] is sort of the Carrie, Colby is the Charlotte, Shayne is the bear Samantha, and Danton is just Drew being awful. Nobody wanted to be the Miranda. Go figure.”


The Tangled Web We Watch is our column on what's worth watching online. You can watch Not Looking on FunnyOrDie.com. Read Stephanie Carrie's full interview with Jason Looney on her blog, tangledwebwewatch.com.

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