There's nowt so queer as Americans.

MORE often than not, British shows remade for American TV lose the very thing that made them a hit in the journey across the Atlantic. The US schedules are littered with the corpses of series that were successes over here but failed over there. Cracker, Upstairs Downstairs, Porridge and Men Behaving Badly are a few that spring to mind.

Channel 4's Queer As Folk is an exception. The Russell T Davies series broke down barriers with its frank depiction of gay life and, more noticeably, gay sex life. That QAF has survived more or less intact is down partly to being shown on a cable channel, which has ensured that the explicitness is virutally intact.

Stuart, Vince and Nathan become Brian, Michael and Justin, although the characters have the same traits. Brian is the cocksure office worker whose best friend Michael dotes on him, although Brian prefers clubbing and one-night stands (or, in the case of a married work colleague, a grope in a toilet cubicle) to a serious relationship. His philosophy is simple: "There is no such thing as enough".

Justin is the schoolboy - whose age has been upped to 17 for the US version - exploring his sexuality. Brian is an excellent teacher when it comes to the physical practicalities, but unwilling to commit himself emotionally, even to fatherhood with the baby that he's helped a lesbian friend have.

Brian's silly enough to think that the lad will just say thank you for the lessons and disappear. "What happened last night was for fun. You wanted me and I wanted you," he says. Little does he know - although those who've the C4 series remember only too well - that Justin wants more than a quick initiation.

The inevitable problem is that memories of the tremendous original performances hang over this remix. The three main actors just aren't as good, with Gale Harold's Brian lacking the dangerous edge of Aiden Gillen's Stuart and Hal Sparks is no match for Craig Kelly's boy-next-door devotedness as Vince. Randy Harrison looks cute enough as Justin, but I find it difficult to take seriously anyone called Randy.

The sex scenes are just as explicit, if not more so, than the British version although the most shocking sight is not the male nudity but Cagney and Lacey's Sharon Gless as Michael's bohemian mother.