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We’re first introduced to Hawkins Fuller ( Matt Bomer ) during a going away party in the mid-1980s. He looks weathered, tan spots doting his temples along with sparse gray streaks, a smile plastered on his face so tight that it appears uncanny. He graces the party with a rehearsed familiarity, greeting guests before posing with a cake and his wife, daughter, and grandchild. He makes the perfect picture of a man who achieved the American dream until he turns his head and spots an old acquaintance whose presence could shatter all he’s built.

Marcus Hooks ( Jelani Alladin ), an old flame and friend, tells Hawk that a man named Tim ( Jonathan Bailey ) has requested that he give Hawk an old gift. If the '80s fashioned hairdos weren’t enough to point to the show's current period, mentions of Tim settling his affairs and the question of “How bad is it?” point to an AIDS diagnosis, which we later find Tim suffers from. Marcus leaves, but not before uttering, “You have a beautiful family. A beautiful life. I hope it was worth it.” Then, we are transported back to 1952, where Hawk and Tim first meet. They subtly flirt back and forth at a party before parting ways, but the gazes they leave upon each other's faces prove that this won’t be the last time they meet. This brief moment sparks both parties' decades-long pursuit of love and belonging.

Adapted from the 2007 novel of the same name, “Fellow Travelers” truly begins once the show turns back the clock and focuses on Tim and Hawkins’ initial meeting. From there, it becomes clear how different Hawk’s life in the 1950s is from his life in the 1980s. His happy and heterosexual life that we’re first introduced to is juxtaposed with a life that appears firmly routine. He goes to work as a State Department Official, his office dark and dreary, before leaving to meet an unnamed man to have sex with. No one accompanies him afterward on the dark walk home.

Finally, Hawk and Tim meet again in a park, where Hawk seems enamored with Tim’s drive to break into politics to do good. He finds Tim a job as a junior assistant, where his optimism soon becomes a point of contention between the two. They quickly begin a relationship filled with sex and, slowly, feelings. Yet, their differences of opinions and emotional maturity soon become a point of contention, as does their positions as gay men working in the government during the Lavender scandal era. From a deep scar on Hawk’s shoulder blade to reservations about his true politics, Tim realizes they may not understand each other beyond their physicality. 

“I just wanna know you,” Tim utters one night as the two lay in bed together, to which Hawk replies with a grin that Tim does know him. To Hawk, sex is a means of knowing, but to Tim, sex cannot be where a relationship begins and ends. They are different people, which becomes even more apparent when Tim befriends a woman from work who happens to be a lesbian. Finally, amongst other queer people, Tim sees what life can look like for him. The power of community becomes an important thread as we’re transported off and on to the 1980s, where Tim is taken care of by Marcus and his drag queen-turned-activist boyfriend Frankie ( Noah J. Ricketts ) and a slew of others. In his dying months and weeks, community is the thing that keeps Tim going. Knowing that there are people who care for him and take activism and queer life as seriously as he does gives him a well-needed boost.

On the other hand, it appears that Hawk has become even more solitary over the years. His wife Lucy ( Allison Williams ) seems to know less about him than Tim, and he and his son have an even rockier relationship than Hawk and his own father. For him, this absence of community has led to a life devoid of joy. He continues to hide and, in doing so, continues on a path toward darkness that he may be unable to escape. As the decades pass, and tragedy continues to strike both men, Hawk becomes the one who needs taking care of, and it's in the drug-fueled, disco-hued backdrop of the 1970s that Tim and Hawk become the closest they may have ever been. 

While there’s no doubt that Tim remains the heart of the show, thanks to stellar work by Bailey, Matt Bomer does his best work in years as Hawk. From the first time we see his uncanny smile and threatening aura when people stand in his way, Bomer commands the screen. It’s impossible to look away from him or be unmoved by his prowess, glares so piercing it almost feels as if he’s gazing through the screen. Beyond his anger and his aptness for deceit, Hawk has a deep-rooted sadness that only comes out in later episodes and that Bomer conveys with staggering ease. 

“Did you come here for forgiveness?” Tim asks Hawk at one point early on in the series, and it does seem so for the first few episodes. Tim is more affectionate and longs for their relationship to feel real, which doesn't seem to bother Hawk. But, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that while Hawk doesn’t initially show it, he too is affected by the imposed secrecy their relationship faces. He appeases Tim in small ways, even gifting him cufflinks with his initials, proving he, too, values their bond. To Hawk, these cufflinks are a way for him to let the world know that Tim is his, though it's more unofficial than an engagement ring. Though they may not be able to exist like heterosexual couples, in Tim accepting this gift to show that he belongs to Hawk, the two can bond even more intimately.

The link between queerness and sex is intrinsic, and the creators of "Fellow Travelers" thankfully wholly understand this. From the first sex scene between Tim and Hawk, where their bodies harshly clash, to later sequences where their skin melds together like liquid gold amongst white sheets, the intimacy here is striking. Unlike certain peers in the queer sphere of cinema and television, the show looks at queerness with unwavering honesty, which makes the sex scenes almost staggering. There’s a brief sequence in episode seven, where Hawk and Tim navigate a gay cruising spot in the 1970s, that fully showcases the care of the show's creators. As they walk through the trees, glimmers of different bodies peek through the forest, the sun shining through and beaming off their skin as if the two are in a biblical garden. 

Each body is displayed as if every blemish is important, as is each conversation between the show's characters. While some miniseries feel bloated with all they attempt to cover in such short episodes, no minute is wasted here. Even Marcus and Frankie, though they are supporting   characters, add emotional weight to the adaptation's themes of ostracization outside and within the gay community. From bar raids to secrets and deception, each aspect of living in the dark bears a heavy weight upon the shoulders of each character, a weight so burdensome all of them eventually crumble underneath it. 

Hiding and staying hidden may be the most present theme, but every thread remains intentional and essential. Through each decade we witness, this is a story about the complications of guilt and love and how each manifests differently for different people. The love between Tim and Hawk is never confused or abandoned for another plotline but woven into the show's other themes expertly. This is one of the best miniseries of the year.

All eight episodes were screened for review. "Fellow Travelers" premieres on Paramount+ on October 27th and Showtime on October 29th.

Kaiya Shunyata

Kaiya Shunyata is a freelance pop culture writer and academic based in Canada. They have written for RogerEbert.com, Xtra, Okayplayer, The Daily Beast, AltPress and more. 

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Film Credits

Fellow Travelers (2023)

Matt Bomer as Hawk Fuller

Jonathan Bailey as Tim Laughlin

Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie Hines

Will Brill as Roy Cohn

Andy Milne as Andre

Erin Neufer as Mary Johnson

Keara Graves as Miss Addison

Jane Moffat as Helen

• Uta Briesewitz
• Destiny Ekaragha
• Daniel Minahan

Writer (based on the novel by)

• Thomas Mallon

Writer (creator)

• Ron Nyswaner
• Brandon K. Hines
• Dee Johnson
• Katie Rose Rogers
• Robbie Rogers
• Jack Solomon

Cinematographer

• Simon Dennis
• Christopher Donaldson
• Wendy Hallam Martin
• Lara Johnston

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• Fellow Travelers Goes Out With Tears, Hope, and a Powerful Goodbye

Tim's inevitable death has been hanging over us since Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 1 .

Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 8 -- the series finale -- brought the show to a close in an emotional and impactful way.

If I had to describe the final chapter in one word, it would be "unexpected."

Back to the 1950s

It was an inspired choice to take us back to the 1950s to tell one last story about Hawk and Tim. Their love for one another ran more profound than ever during that period.

For all of its flaws, Washington, D.C., was where they met, and their relationship flourished despite having to keep things on the down low.

Their relationship is a big "what if" because had they gotten together somewhere else that was more accepting of same-sex relationships, perhaps they would have lived the rest of their days together.

The sad part about the return to the 1950s was Hawk's willingness to do the unthinkable by telling the government about Tim's sexuality.

Lucy: May I? How are you? Tim: I have KS, recurring seizures, and my hair is falling out. What else? Um... Uh, my social worker suggested I sign a do-not-resuscitate order. How are you? Lucy: The government ought to do more about this. It's terrible. Tim: They could do more. But people like you would have to pay higher taxes. Lucy: My father used to argue for a national healthcare system. He believed government should take care of its citizens. So do I. It's not always wise to judge someone on appearances. Tim: You're right. Lucy: This hospital is not what I expected it to be. It's the only one like it in the country, where people with AIDS are treated like human beings. I'm sorry, Mrs. Fuller, but why are you here? Lucy: I don't know. You mean something to my husband. I suppose I had to see you so I would know. Tim: Know? Lucy: How much you mean to him. Tim: Shouldn't you ask him? Right. That wouldn't get you anywhere. Lucy: No. Tim: My time with Hawk was rushed, with years in between. You had him most of his life. Lucy: But you were always there. I could never get away from you. Tim: It's not a contest. Lucy: Of course it is. It always has been. Tim: Then why didn't you leave him? Lucy: Because we had a good life. And children. And then when Jackson... You don't want to hear this. Please. When Jackson died, it was so unbearable. The only comfort I had was knowing that Hawk understood that suffering, felt the same way. If I had had to bear that alone, I wouldn't have lived through it. I should be going. Tim: Mrs. Fuller, thank you for coming to see me. Permalink: Mrs. Fuller, thank you for coming to see me.

Tim went from being brimming with hope that he and Hawk could make this work to feeling so much betrayal and pain that he arrived at the hospital determined to blow up Hawk's marriage.

While Tim isn't the kind of person to do that, he got close enough, and who's to say what he would have done if he hadn't seen Jackson through the screen?

While Tim was happy about the situation with Hawk that allowed them to meet in secret, it was hard for Tim to fathom why Hawk went to these extreme measures to eradicate him from his life.

The only thing that makes sense is that Hawk chose Lucy, Jackson, and his family and didn't want to start this family with secrets, which Tim came to respect.

Hawk has long been this man with many secrets, but he'd turned a corner and was ready to be more open and honest with himself.

Why Did Hawk Betray Tim?

It's a shame that Hawk wasn't more upfront about that and couldn't bring himself to lay out his feelings to Tim because what he did was the ultimate betrayal.

Now it's easier to understand why Hawk has been desperate in his attempts to look after Tim in the present because he's holding on to these actions and feels somewhat responsible for Tim never finding someone else to love or be loved by someone else.

There are many things that Hawk wishes he'd have done differently, and maybe, just maybe, there'd have been some semblance of happiness for Tim in the end.

Tim was a shell of his former self after his most recent seizure and has been desperately trying to find a way to live, even when he knows that his time is running out.

Lobbying the idea of signing the DNR must have felt like the only way for Tim to have any power in that situation, or so he thought.

Seeing Tim go from knowing the end is near and letting it happen to the passionate man at the protest who understood he had to do something showcased elements of Tim that seemed dormant due to his death sentence.

The Protest and Saying Goodbye

Knowing he and Marcus played Hawk to stage the protest was another satisfying development because, for the first time, Hawk wasn't in control.

I never thought I'd hear Hawk pleading with Tim to stay with him in San Francisco to help in his fight because Hawk had been so laser-focused on moving to Italy and starting afresh.

It's also hard to tell whether he only came to that epiphany because Lucy said she would probably not be at home, as she realized her life partner would never desire her as she should be desired.

Lucy understood the bond Hawk had with Tim and was well aware that had the world not been so awful to the LGBTQ+ community, they may have never been together.

Marcus: Tim. Hawk: What are you doing here? Marcus: I'll take your badge. Tim: Marcus is going inside with me. He needs your badge to get in. Hawk: I don't understand. Tim: I knew Lonigan would refuse to see us. And we'd never get close to the Governor. And then... I invited you to the gala. I mean, it was very convenient. Hawk: I think I've been used. Tim: A little. Hawk: All right. Hey. Give us a minute? Look, whatever you're up to, and I don't want to know all the details, I'll wait for you. Tim: No. You need to go home. Where you belong. No. It's not... Hawk: I want to stay. Tim: I have to fight this fight. That means letting go of everything else. And if you're around, I will not be able to let go. Hawk: But I wanna show up for you. Tim: Go home, Hawk. Please. Make it easy for me. Hawk: Hey, Skippy. Promise you won't write. Tim: I won't. Permalink: I'll take your badge.

Lucy has got to feel duped into getting into a relationship with Hawk in the first place. Much like Tim, she wasted many years of her life with him.

Visiting Tim in the hospital came out of the left field, but there had to be some way to tie these two threads together. Even though Lucy and Tim were far apart, they both shared love for Hawk.

Heartstopper Season 3: Everything We Know

Now that Lucy has left Hawk, seemingly to return to Washington D.C., it's a shame we didn't see any footage of her living her best life, but then again, how do we know that she didn't reunite with Hawk after Tim's death?

There's so much unsaid about where things went after Tim's death, but knowing that Hawk could tell his daughter that Tim was the man he loved signaled that Hawk was at peace with his decisions.

It's hard to tell whether Tim and Hawk met again after the night of protest, but something tells me that these two always find a way to get back in each other's orbit.

Tim's Death Happened Off-Screen

The decision not to show Tim slipping away on-screen was interesting. A part of me always thought we'd see him in Hawk's arms as he passed away.

Seeing how Tim resigned himself to spending his final months not with the man he loved but by fighting for people like him was a testament to the man he was.

He could have spent his final days with Hawk, but he sent the man he loved away. He knew being in his presence woud make him lose sight of what he had to accomplish in those final days.

Kimberley: Dad? You found him? It's beautiful. From what you've told me, it really suits your friend. Hawk: Yeah. It does. Sweetheart. He wasn't my friend. He was the man I loved. Permalink: Yeah. It does. Sweetheart. He wasn't my friend. He was the man I loved.

At one point, Tim was staring death in the face, but seeing his resilience as he realized what he had to do was courageous and perfectly in line with the character we watched across eight episodes.

Marcus putting the pieces together to realize that Jerome had tested positive was another heartbreaking development, especially hearing Jerome, the kid he was raising as his own, tell him the results. It hit him like a ton of bricks.

SEAL Team is Ending a Season Too Late

The series didn't tell us what became of Jermone, but the only solace we can take from this storyline is that he had both Marcus and Frankie by his side throughout.

They gave Jerome the family unit he never had and helped him live his authentic self, so they felt responsible for his wellbeing.

Saying goodbye to this series is tough. It's a rarity that a show gets everything so right, from the casting to the production to the excellent writing.

My only hope is that the show will be recognized on the awards front because it genuinely has been the year's best show. It's not even a contest at this stage.

What are your thoughts on how the series concluded?

Do you think the end was fitting for all the characters?

Hit the comments.

Stream all episodes on Showtime.

Make It Easy Review

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X .

Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 8 Quotes

Kimberley: Dad? You found him? It's beautiful. From what you've told me, it really suits your friend. Hawk: Yeah. It does. Sweetheart. He wasn't my friend. He was the man I loved. Permalink: Yeah. It does. Sweetheart. He wasn't my friend. He was the man I loved. Added: December 15, 2023

Marcus: Tim. Hawk: What are you doing here? Marcus: I'll take your badge. Tim: Marcus is going inside with me. He needs your badge to get in. Hawk: I don't understand. Tim: I knew Lonigan would refuse to see us. And we'd never get close to the Governor. And then... I invited you to the gala. I mean, it was very convenient. Hawk: I think I've been used. Tim: A little. Hawk: All right. Hey. Give us a minute? Look, whatever you're up to, and I don't want to know all the details, I'll wait for you. Tim: No. You need to go home. Where you belong. No. It's not... Hawk: I want to stay. Tim: I have to fight this fight. That means letting go of everything else. And if you're around, I will not be able to let go. Hawk: But I wanna show up for you. Tim: Go home, Hawk. Please. Make it easy for me. Hawk: Hey, Skippy. Promise you won't write. Tim: I won't. Permalink: I'll take your badge. Added: December 15, 2023

Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 8 Photos

12/15/23 Fellow Travelers Season 1 Episode 8 Make It Easy

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Fellow Travelers (2023)

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Currently you are able to watch "Fellow Travelers" streaming on fuboTV, Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Showtime Roku Premium Channel, Showtime, Spectrum On Demand, Showtime Apple TV Channel.

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S1 e8 - make it easy, s1 e7 - white nights, s1 e6 - beyond measure, where does fellow travelers rank today the justwatch daily streaming charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. this includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. this includes data from ~1.3 million movie & tv show fans per day..

Streaming charts last updated: 9:15:51 AM, 04/20/2024

Fellow Travelers is 434 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The TV show has moved down the charts by -64 places since yesterday. In the United States, it is currently more popular than Amazing Stories but less popular than American Idol.

Follows the lives and volatile romance of two different men, through purges, wars, protests, and plagues, overcoming obstacles in the world.

Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

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Fellow Travelers

Where to watch.

Watch Fellow Travelers with a subscription on Paramount+.

Cast & Crew

Ron Nyswaner

Hawkins "Hawk" Fuller

Jonathan Bailey

Tim Laughlin

Noah J. Ricketts

Frankie Hines

Allison Williams

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Episode list

Fellow travelers.

S1.E1 ∙ You're Wonderful

S1.E2 ∙ Bulletproof

S1.E3 ∙ Hit Me

S1.E4 ∙ Your Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire

S1.E5 ∙ Promise You Won't Write

S1.E6 ∙ Beyond Measure

S1.E7 ∙ White Nights

S1.E8 ∙ Make It Easy

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‘Fellow Travelers’ delivers a steamy saga about bittersweet love

In showtime’s limited series, two men with surprising politics grapple with history, and each other.

“Fellow Travelers,” Showtime’s steamy, bittersweet series about two men in love, covers an extraordinary amount of historical ground — including the Lavender Scare, the Vietnam War and the AIDS crisis — with a deft hand and a light touch. Yes, there’s a lot of sex. (It wouldn’t be entirely misleading to call this the “gay ‘Outlander.’”) But Ron Nyswaner’s adaptation of Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel is in other respects an intriguingly restrained project: Despite its scope and subject matter, the eight-episode series largely resists the impulse to moralize or devolve (as many a lesser show has) into an enraging but didactic history lesson. The show refuses to identify as a tragedy, though it easily could; the arc fits. And without billing itself as an anthropology of gay Americans in the ’50s (or, indeed, the ’60s through ’80s), the series efficiently sketches out the wide variety of ways a wide variety of queer people coped, copulated and compromised.

The emphasis, here, is on “compromised.” This is a show where people make ugly choices. “Fellow Travelers” remains more curious than judgmental about that, focusing more on how social worlds and certain temperaments intersect than on aligning its characters with present-day perspectives. Or, indeed, with their “fellows”: The title refers of course to the communism Sen. Joseph McCarthy was busily rooting out, but winks at his rumored homosexuality, too. While introducing the Lavender Scare, the show is admirably casual in its treatment of McCarthy’s alleged preferences and those of his chief counsel, Roy Cohn. There is no particular expectation (in ways that feel true for the period) that theory match practice.

Sharp. Witty. Thoughtful. Sign up for the Style Memo newsletter.

This isn’t, in that sense, a bossy show.

The same can’t be said for the limited series’s protagonist, Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer), an assertive gay man closeted by necessity while he works for the State Department in the 1950s (and who remains closeted long after it was strictly necessary). A charismatic careerist at the department, “Hawk,” who’s casual about assignations, unencumbered by guilt or shame and uninterested in relationships, fixates on Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey) at a party celebrating Dwight D. Eisenhower’s election. Laughlin — whose beverage of choice is milk — is nervy and idealistic. His passions include Catholicism, rooting out the communist menace and, soon, Hawkins himself — after the latter gets him a job working for McCarthy, seduces him and makes him slink away in the middle of the night so they don’t get caught.

Laughlin, who suffers moral agonies trying to reconcile his sexuality with his faith, is the show’s center. His sincerity and ideological passion — which shifts over the course of life from anti-communism to progressive causes, making him an immensely sympathetic, confused and thoroughly recognizable type — anchor a relationship that is structurally unequal. Hawk’s dominance is rendered erotically as well as professionally through sexual positions, dirty talk, loaded condescension and underhanded asks. Brazenly unconflicted by moral considerations, he makes Laughlin report back to him on McCarthy’s activities and eventually marries the right woman for his career.

Cads aren’t new. And Bomer (to his credit) saves Hawk from coming across as beyond redemption, despite many pretty shocking betrayals. These are not, in the main, sexual. Though we frequently see Hawk with other partners, it isn’t a problem (as framed) that, in this love story, only one party finds sexual connection to be spiritual connection, too. The sex that Tim and Hawk have becomes notable, therefore, for how hot it is, how programmatically it changes to reflect their evolving relationship and for how poorly it captures what they mean to each other.

The Style section

What most satisfies here is the unpredictable way these men’s stories develop across all that history. Tim increases in stridency and strength as Hawk’s understanding of himself as pragmatic and sharklike starts to crumble under the increasingly real pull of his “fake” attachments (to his wife, played with stoic reserve by Allison Williams; to his children; and to Tim).

This is rich stuff. Cads aren’t interesting, but the points at which their caddishness gets punctured can be, and Bomer renders Hawk’s louche confidence — and peculiar desire for respectability — as variously compelling, fragile and pathetic. Bailey, whom I last saw playing Anthony in the second season of “Bridgerton,” is sensational (and unrecognizable) here. He plays Tim with an irritable intelligence at odds with his submissiveness, governed by moral compulsions that sometimes become downright inquisitorial. As a perennial outsider, Tim becomes the lens through which we see various versions of queer community: their secrecy, their beautiful appeal, their utopian aspects and, sometimes, their monstrousness. It is a strange and surprising pleasure to watch this character evolve.

The show boasts a strong supporting cast, including Jelani Alladin as Marcus Hooks, a Black gay journalist struggling to serve both his communities, and Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie Hines, a drag queen who eventually becomes an activist. Their journey toward communal struggle — and protest, and action — takes place against the backdrop of Harvey Milk’s assassination.

The series’s greatest achievement is its commitment to its characters as characters — dwelling gently on their peculiarities and inconsistencies and never letting them become allegories for larger struggles. I want to be clear: “Fellow Travelers” is extremely interested in the politics of the periods it covers. Fascinating details emerge during the Lavender Scare period of the show, for example, when the government was rooting out employees suspected of homosexuality. Several characters get the works: lie detectors, searches, interrogations and peculiar tests including one where subjects were asked to read passages from “Of Human Bondage.”

But the show’s loyalties are clear. It takes Tim a much longer time than it should to disavow Joseph McCarthy. Doesn’t matter. Even when they’re wrong — and this feels correct, because that’s what so much of love is, right? — the series sticks to Tim and Hawk.

Fellow Travelers premieres on Paramount Plus with Showtime Oct. 27, with subsequent episodes airing weekly. It will debut on Showtime Oct. 29.

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The wins and flaws of 'Fellow Travelers,' a show about two gay men over 4 decades

Glen Weldon

A new show follows the lives of two gay men over the course of four decades – from the McCarthy era to the AIDS crisis.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

The new series "Fellow Travelers" follows two gay men over the course of four decades, from the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. At the start of their relationship in 1953, both men work for the federal government in Washington, D.C. They live under the constant threat of exposure, even when they find themselves in the seemingly safe space of one of D.C.'s underground gay bars.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FELLOW TRAVELERS")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hey, buster. See that red line on the cash register there? That comes on, you better make 12 inches of daylight between you and your friend right here and do it fast - only takes three seconds for the cops to come downstairs.

SUMMERS: Glen Weldon is host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, and he's here to talk about "Fellow Travelers." Hi, Glen.

GLEN WELDON, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.

SUMMERS: So, Glen, I mean, this sounds like a phenomenal setup for a show. Tell us a little bit more about the two main characters.

WELDON: Well, they're played by Matt Bomer from "White Collar" and Jonathan Bailey from "Bridgerton," two just egregiously, insultingly handsome actors. And it's about the tension between Bomer's character, Hawkins, who wants a successful State Department career - so he is perfectly content to stay in the closet, get married, have kids while hooking up with men - versus Tim, the character played by Jonathan Bailey, who's a lot more idealistic. He wants to live openly and honestly. And the show really drives home a grim truth, which was that there was a lot more Hawkinses than Tims back then. Lots of men lived their whole lives in the closet. And if it hadn't been for activists like Tim who weren't content, who kept pushing for more, nothing would have changed.

SUMMERS: It sounds really interesting. But, Glen, for you, having watched it, does this show fall short in any ways?

WELDON: Well, I mean, who's telling the story for me - right? - because historically, of course, the fight for queer rights was led by people of color, was led by trans folks, you know, marginalized groups who could be more easily targeted because they couldn't blend into the white male power structure like these guys could. They didn't have that luxury. So this show makes an effort to include other points of view, with a storyline about a Black reporter played by Jelani Alladin. But, man, that focus on Bomer and Bailey's characters just narrows what the show can end up saying.

SUMMERS: So I understand that it's based on the 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon, and he's an author of historical fiction who's known for doing his research and getting those fine details right. Does that carry over into the series?

WELDON: Oh, it sure does, and now we're talking about my favorite thing about the show. It really captures how dangerous it was to be gay at that time. The characters are always looking over their shoulders, speaking in whispers, speaking in codes, hiding in the shadows and scrambling just to find a place to be together. And you can hear that tension in this clip.

JAMESON KRAEMER: (As George Bauers) I'm being investigated. They had me followed and caught me coming out of the Chicken Hut.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) The Chicken Hut? Christ, George, even my mother knows that place is queer.

WELDON: Now, that Chicken Hut they mentioned, Juana, was an actual gay bar here in D.C. just off Lafayette Square. I walked past it the other day. It's now a parking garage.

SUMMERS: Wow. I mean, Glen, we've been talking here about authenticity, but historically - and especially on TV, I want to note - queer sex is treated very differently than straight sex. Is that the case here?

WELDON: Oh, no. No, we - it's not the case. We - listeners should know that. I mean, these two guys have lots and lots and lots of sex that is shot with exactly the same level of explicitness you'd see on any other streaming show with a with a straight couple. And, you know, for queer folks like me, that counts as progress. But, I mean, let's be real. In terms of authenticity, I mean, both these actors are very fit. They are both in Instagram fitness model shape, which doesn't really scream 1953 to me. But, I mean, the show gets so many other aspects of gay life back then right. I can forgive some anachronistic abs. You know, twist my arm. I'll muddle through.

SUMMERS: That is Pop Culture Happy Hour host Glen Weldon talking with us about "Fellow Travelers," which debuts Friday on Paramount+ and Sunday on Showtime. Glen, thanks as always.

WELDON: My pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF DE LA SOUL'S "MEMORY OF... (US) [FEAT. ESTELLE AND PETE ROCK]")

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• Showtime’s Excellent <i>Fellow Travelers</i> Traces a Forbidden Love of Historic Proportions

Showtime’s Excellent Fellow Travelers Traces a Forbidden Love of Historic Proportions

O n April 27, 1953, the federal government declared war on its queer employees. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10450 authorized a witch hunt for workers who engaged in, among other activities deemed to be national security risks, “sexual perversions.” Thus began what historians later dubbed the Lavender Scare , a less publicized but similarly devastating sequel to the Red Scare thought to have resulted in between 5,000 and 10,000 gay men and lesbians losing their livelihoods. Some investigations ended more tragically, in suicide.

It’s just months before the order drops that the sometime lovers at the center of Showtime’s lively, insightful, and often devastating historical drama Fellow Travelers , adapted from Thomas Mallon’s acclaimed 2007 novel and premiering Oct. 27, first meet. Hawkins Fuller ( Matt Bomer ) is a shrewd D.C. operative with a surrogate father in the high-minded senator Wesley Smith (Linus Roache) and a potential match in Smith’s daughter, Lucy ( Allison Williams ). It doesn’t bother Hawk that he has to hide his anonymous encounters with other men. For him, life is a performance in which the ends justify the means. “I’m a registered Republican, but I don’t vote because I don’t see the point,” Hawk explains, adding that he feels the same way about religion. 

He doesn’t believe in much of anything until Tim Laughlin, a young, fresh-off-the-bus transplant played by Bridgerton breakout Jonathan Bailey , comes into his life. (Even then, the word love isn’t in Hawk’s vocabulary.) Bursting with Irish Catholic earnestness, Tim dreams of helping his idol Joe McCarthy (Chris Bauer) save the world from the scourge of Soviet communism. At the same time, he’s desperate to overcome his queerness, in which he once guiltily dabbled, having been raised to believe that gay sex is a mortal sin. As a tryst evolves into something more, against both men’s better judgment, Hawk gets Tim—whom he nicknames Skippy, for his floppy-haired ingenuousness—a job in McCarthy’s office. There, he has a front-row seat to the audaciously hypocritical machinations of the senator and his deputy, Roy Cohn (a wonderfully weaselly Will Brill), as their assault on “un-American activities” invades the bedroom.

We know from the series’ very beginning how this dangerous romance is destined to end. The opening scene, set in 1986, frames Hawk and Tim’s affair—as well as the seamlessly incorporated stories of other queer characters, including a Black journalist (Jelani Alladin) and a lesbian couple (Erin Neufer and Gabbi Kosmidis)—as a flashback to the men’s youth. Three and a half decades later, Hawk is a distinguished grandfather celebrating a long-awaited diplomatic appointment in Milan with a party at his sprawling suburban mansion and Lucy by his side with big Nancy Reagan hair. Yet when he gets the news that Tim is dying of AIDS in San Francisco, he takes off for California, despite having reason to believe his old love doesn’t want to see him.

The parallel timelines take pressure off the narrative; viewers never get the chance to imagine that Hawk and Tim will live happily ever after. Instead, we’re left to discover what tore them apart, and when. The answers, and there are many, are grounded in the social and political realities of the eras Fellow Travelers traverses: the Lavender Scare ’50s give way to the radical ’60s, the debaucherous post-Stonewall ’70s, and the double devastation of the ’80s AIDS crisis and the Washington’s silence in the face of a plague that wiped out a generation of queer men.

But that’s not the whole story. Unlike the facilely noble queer (and trans and nonwhite and female) people who populate so much well-intentioned historical fiction, Hawk, Tim and their friends have distinctive, sometimes deeply frustrating, personalities. Hawk puts his career, and his long-term plan of moving overseas to live freely and wealthily, first. Destined to grow disillusioned with McCarthy, Tim finds new causes to which he becomes fervently devoted. And the men’s fates reflect the choices they make because of who they are. For the same reasons, each becomes the other’s great love, though they can’t help but disappoint one another.

Such specificity surely reflects thoughtful engagement on the part of creator Ron Nyswaner (best known as the writer of Philadelphia and an executive producer of Homeland ) with Mallon’s novel. It’s also a great credit to Bailey and especially Bomer, whose boldly physical performances do as much as the scripts to reveal their characters. Hawk and Tim are repressed in public, yet behind closed doors their complementary desires come out. Always in control, Hawk asserts his dominance in bed. Tim submits not just because he’s younger and less experienced, but because it is in his nature to prostrate himself before love just as he does before God and McCarthy. Never sanitized in deference to the straight gaze, the sex is anything but gratuitous. The lovers’ power play serves to flesh out their compatibility, not paint them as deviants.

Fellow Travelers doesn't preach liberation. In its most romantic moments, the show does better: it embodies liberation. So much so that Nyswaner almost earns his jarringly sentimental ending. (You might groan, but unless you're dead inside, you'll also tear up.) Bomer, Bailey, and Alladin (though not, sadly, Williams) can even make you forget what a stretch it is to have a cast portray the same characters over the course of 34 years, with only some makeup and gray hair to mark the passage of time.

Nested within a case study of gay political life in the second half of the 20th century are eight episodes of gorgeous romantic drama in a medium that rarely seems suited to the genre. Savvy, selfish Hawk and self-sacrificing Tim are like magnets, but their views on how to survive in a world that hates people like them are mutually exclusive. With McCarthy and Cohn buzzing miserably in the background, Fellow Travelers poses the question that haunts every story of love lost and found: Can people evolve over time, or is it only their circumstances that change?

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Inside Fellow Travelers ’ Heartbreaking Turning Point in Episode 5

By David Canfield

The epic love story of Fellow Travelers reaches a wrenching turning point in its fifth episode, now streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime. Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller ( Matt Bomer ) and Tim Laughlin ( Jonathan Bailey ), closeted political staffers working in McCarthy-Era Washington, find their passionate, at times fraught romantic affair suddenly untenable as the cultural circumstances surrounding them intensify. Hawk is compelled to commit to a romance he doesn’t believe in with Lucy Smith ( Allison Williams ), daughter of the senator to whom Hawk has dedicated his career, after tragedy strikes and the family breaks apart. Tim’s allegiance to Senator Joseph McCarthy ( Chris Bauer ) finally, firmly cracks as he sees the demagogue’s methods for what they are, just as the Lavender Scare reaches its apex.

The episode’s title, “Promise You Won’t Write,” comes from one of the episode’s last lines, and is drawn straight from the novel by Thomas Mallon, the loose basis for the show. It captures the longing our lovelorn heroes are left with. Tim joins the military. Hawk gets engaged to a woman. Their story ends here, for now—a choice creator Ron Nyswaner made by situating their separation in a juicy political context, against the backdrop of the downfall of McCarthy at his Senate censure hearing and a similar moment of reckoning for Roy Cohn ( Will Brill ), both stories of which were pulled from the public historical record. Nyswaner puts down his artistic stamp by unifying all of these tales—plus that of fictional Black journalist Marcus Hooks ( Jelani Alladin ) as he embarks on his own new path—under the harrowingly wide cloud of homophobia. In Fellow Travelers , as in the U.S. circa 1954, no one could escape it; its impact could be life-or-death.

In an exclusive breakdown of the end of Fellow Travelers ’ time in the ‘50s, Nyswaner discusses his various storylines coming to a head at his series’s midpoint—as he gets ready to hurtle the action decades into the future.

** Vanity Fair: ** This is a real narrative turning point and marks the end of the McCarthy era for the show. Why now?

Ron Nyswaner: The Army-McCarthy hearings are a very important part of the story, because it is where Joe McCarthy's career comes to a crashing end. It just naturally seemed to fall here. I could develop the McCarthy/Cohn/Schine story through the first four episodes to this climactic point. Then it seemed, if that's going to be that climax, it felt natural that this is where Tim sees who his hero really is—well, but not just one hero, but who both of his heroes really are. Hawk reveals himself to Tim in a way that is disturbing to him; McCarthy reveals himself to Tim in a way that is really disturbing to him. That leaves Tim, as he says—he's lost. Then he joins the Army.

In all of the episode’s stories, this mere threat of outing informs seismic character changes, from Hawk to McCarthy to Cohn. It's obviously a statement for the show as a whole and this era you're working in. Can you just talk a little bit about understanding the sheer significance of that kind of threat coming to a head for characters here?

The Army-McCarthy hearings took place over weeks and weeks and weeks. The amount of transcripts are huge, but going into the research I really saw the very thing that you mentioned. You can look at the end of Joseph McCarthy's career in those hearings as caused by homophobia. I actually think we make a good case for it.

A lot of people think of it as a moment we didn’t include, when Joseph Welch pounds his fist on the table and says, “Have you no decency, sir?” Like, at long last tapping into decency, and boom, that was it, McCarthy was over. I'm not alone, as there is a McCarthy biographer who agrees with me, but to me the moment was when the words “pixie and fairy” are introduced into the dialogue and are pointed right at McCarthy and Cohn. From the story that we're telling, that was the natural climax of our show, because this demagogue who was the second most powerful person in the United States is brought down in flames, so to speak, by being painted with the gay brush. It destroyed his career. What I loved, and I twist it from the book, is that it was homosexuals in the show—Hawk and Tim; Tim unwittingly, Hawk wittingly—who bring down McCarthy and Cohn with homophobia . That great irony.

Both Tim and Marcus’s turning points come as they act on a disillusionment with elite, exclusionary institutions. How do you see that in parallel to what we're talking about?

It’s this delicious thing of, What is historical fiction? You take real things and events from history and you assign them to your fictional characters. So: Somebody pointed out to somebody that the photo that Roy Cohn uses as a defense in the hearing is doctored. That would be a great thing for Tim to do. But very early on we developed that if Tim is going to join the Army, he has to become thoroughly disillusioned by everything that brought him to Washington in the first place. So the whole episode is structured for that disillusionment. I think also at the end of five Tim is running away. It's Hawk who says, “I'm going to marry Lucy Smith, who realizes, “All these things I've been doing to protect myself aren't enough because actually the person that I really cared about most, next to Tim, is dead in Senator Smith.” So Hawk is now just going to retreat into the safest place possible. And Tim really has no choice in some ways. He's done with politics, he's totally disillusioned by the corruption that he sees, and he runs away into the Army.

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Marcus has this moment of strength, coming face to face in a way that he hasn't with the conflict between his aspirations, to please his family, be a successful journalist, and the price he would have to pay as a Black man to do that. That was based on Simeon Booker, who we know wasn't gay. So that part wasn't based on Simeon Booker, but Simeon Booker was a successful Black journalist from the Black press who was invited to be the first Black journalist at the Washington Post, and was told, “By the way, you have to use a different bathroom.” He lasted six months at the Washington Post , and went on and had this fabulous career as a journalist. So we took that piece of history and assigned it to our gay character.

This is the era where Tim and Hawk meet and fall in love, and they say goodbye as we say goodbye to the period. What’s the significance there?

Tim has come to a certain kind of maturity. When your heroes are stripped away from you, then you have to stand on your own. Hawk also seems to make peace with the fact of the decision that he has made, to actually have this straight life. That scene at the very end is from the book. I knew we had to have the rooftop scene. “If you promise you won't write;” “I won't.” We had to have that. It just seemed perfect to attach that to Cohn and the destruction of Cohn and Schine and the Cohn/Schine relationship—they also break up, so to speak. McCarthy is going to face censure any minute. Hawk and Tim acknowledge that something really important is between them, but it can't exist in the world that they live in now.

You intercut between that moment of recognition and us seeing them reunite in the ‘80s, which gives the moment a real sweep.

The sequence at the end of episode five was always in the script, that we would intercut those things. Novelists get to do this, if we're in somebody's head—they could be having an experience in the '80s, but they could be thinking about, “Oh, god. Remember when I had that date with Tim and we climbed to the rooftop?” So why not do it in film? Also, the whole sequence with Tim getting involved with the Army-McCarthy hearings and everything, suddenly if you go to the '80s in the middle of that you would lose the momentum. I learned specifically on my three years working on Homeland , every scene has to move the story forward. That was the rule on Homeland . If there were cards on the wall, they would be pulled off and thrown on the floor by the great genius Chip Johannessen, who was one of the writers in the room.

How did you want to depict the Cohn/Schine relationship here?

Everything that happens between them in public is based on historical record, but the scenes that we create in private obviously we created in private. You could see it as the experience that really solidified what Roy Cohn became. Somebody cut me off once when I was saying this, and they said, “Roy Cohn was a monster.” I said, “I think all monsters are human beings first.” What really makes them evil is that they're human beings doing evil things to other human beings. I believe it is true, the experience that really shaped Roy Cohn. I think Roy's and David's relationship was never consummated. That's just my theory. I think David was straight, and I think they both gave each other something. Roy gets to be with this beautiful man all the time. They traveled for three years together constantly and always stayed in adjoining hotel rooms. There was something happening there, and when Roy loses that he's now formed, he's now ready, he's never going to open his heart again. That's going to lead to the destruction that he creates as he moves forward in his life.

Everyone is kind of breaking up here, right?

Well, you always come back to the A story, that's conventional television writing, and the A story has to be in this show the central relationship. So everything has to connect to Hawk and Tim in some way, and so in this episode, because we are covering multiple people, Roy and David, McCarthy, Senator Smith, there's a thematic connection. So every couple in some ways is breaking up, and somebody has to be sacrificed to allow everybody to move on with their lives. It's really everybody in Hawk's life that becomes connected in episode five. Leonard didn't exist in the book, the Smith family didn't exist in the book. It really is the episode where everything in Hawk's life either falls apart or he takes control of and makes sacrifices for. He ultimately sacrifices Tim, his relationship with Tim, so that he can continue to survive.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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How Is Fellow Travelers Different From the Book?

The show’s creator on what’s the same, and what’s not, as in the hit novel.

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It’s an easy story to fall for. The novel follows two men working in 1950s Washington, D.C. and the searing, secret relationship that develops between them; it’s a love story, but one that’s uncommonly packed with intrigue and history, and it’s no wonder that Nyswaner, who previously worked on projects including My Policeman , Homeland , and Ray Donovan , wanted to adapt it for TV .

But the series (airing now), which stars Matt Bomer as the dashing and sometimes callous State Department official Hawkins Fuller and Jonathan Bailey as the wide-eyed Senate employee Tim Laughlin, isn’t exactly like the book. Instead, Fellow Travelers the series expands the story—a significant part of the action takes place decades after Mallon’s story ended, and new characters and plotlines expand the world of McCarthy-era D.C.—without losing the plot that made it so compelling. Here’s how they did it.

Keep The Main Characters .css-1bymmsd{--data-embed-display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;clear:both;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;width:100%;}@media(min-width: 20rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 30rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 75rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 90rem){.css-1bymmsd{width:100%;margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;}}.css-1bymmsd a span{right:1rem;}.css-1bymmsd.size-screenheight img{width:auto;height:85vh;}.css-1bymmsd a{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;position:var(--position, relative);}.css-1bymmsd img:not(.e2ttnr31){display:block;width:100%;height:auto;-webkit-align-self:flex-start;-ms-flex-item-align:flex-start;align-self:flex-start;} .css-uwraif{width:100%;display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;} @media(min-width: 20rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 30rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 75rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 90rem){.css-swqnqv{padding-left:0rem;}} .css-1am3yn9{padding-left:0rem;line-height:1;} Courtesy of SHOWTIME .css-113gz1q{box-sizing:border-box;color:#030929;font-family:Termina,Termina-fallback,Termina-roboto,Termina-local,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;min-width:100%;padding-top:0.625rem;width:0;}@media(max-width: 64rem){.css-113gz1q{font-size:0.8125rem;line-height:1.4;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-113gz1q{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1.4;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-113gz1q{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.6;}}.css-113gz1q em,.css-113gz1q i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;}.css-113gz1q i,.css-113gz1q em{font-family:Termina,Termina-fallback,Termina-roboto,Termina-local,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;} Fellow Travelers, airing now on Showtime, stars Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey. The series is based on the beloved 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon.

“Hawk and Tim are, I think, very much the characters that they are in the novel,” Nyswaner says. “But I took things that he hinted at—I thought also about my own life and how I came of age in the 1960s and ’70s—and wanted to do them larger. I wanted what I experienced in that time to be part of the show.”

So, while much of the show does take place in a cloak-and-dagger midcentury Washington, the series also flashes forward to the 1980s in San Francisco, showing viewers what’s become of the two men and chronicling the ways they’ve dealt with the changing world, the AIDS crisis, and queer liberation. Still, the driving dynamic between the two characters—a kind of star-crossed love that is, at times, too painful to endure—remains at the heart of the series.

But Build a New World Around Them Ben Mark Holzberg The main characters from the novel are still front and center, but others—like Allison Williams's Lucy Smith Fuller—are further developed to add to the TV drama.

While some characters, like Roy Cohn and Senator Joseph McCarthy, loom large in both the book and the series, others are newly invented to help make the story work in a new format.

“Crafting a television drama involves a lot of problem solving,” Nyswaner says. “I had a very captivating main character, Hawkins Fuller, who is apolitical and amoral in a sense. I was truck with this problem from the original material: how do I get him involved with the plot of the story?”

Inspired by real characters from the era in American history, Nyswaner developed plotlines that would bring Fuller deeper into the world of the politicians around him, and complicated the character’s life by giving his wife, Lucy (played by Allison Williams), her own ties to the D.C. establishment. “I had to find some reason to connect Hawkins Fuller and Tim more closely to the essential drama,” Nyswaner explains, “and I wanted to bring McCarthy and Cohn forward as characters because I think they're utterly fascinating. You have to bring people together in dramatic situations, so by tightening that world, now Hawk is closer to the plot.”

Find New Angles Ben Mark Holzberg Some characters in the series, like Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie Hines and Jelani Alladin as Marcus Gaines, didn’t appear in the novel.

While part of what makes Mallon’s book so exciting is its intense focus on its main characters, to bring the story to the small screen, Fellow Travelers brought more of them into the mix. One of the most interesting is Marcus Gaines (Jelani Alladin), a closeted Black journalist trying to make a name for himself in the political press corps. He and Fuller are regulars at the Cozy Corner, a bar where drag artists performed, and where Gaines finds an unexpected relationship. It’s not part of the plot of the book but feels totally at home among the world Mallon created.

“It was challenging to be white and queer in the 1950s, so what was it like to be Black and queer in the 1950s,” Nyswaner asks. “What we tried to do with Fellow Travelers was that if we were going to invent, we were going to take our inventions as much as possible from history. They're based on something that we can point to. There were Black journalists writing about the government at that time; there was a Black journalist named Simeon Booker, who as far as we know was not gay, but he did face discrimination throughout his career. And I took those inspirations and created Marcus.”

Don’t Lose What You Love Ben Mark Holzberg Much of the dialogue between Hawkins Fuller and Tim Laughlin from Thomas Mallon’s novel was used on screen in Fellow Travelers.

Fellow Travelers the series might expand upon the world that Mallon built, but Nyswaner didn’t want to give up any of what made the book so special—including the way that Fuller and Laughlin spoke to one another in public and private alike. That dialogue was so important, in fact, that the writers of the series created a document of everything the men said to one another in the book and made a point of using it on screen whenever possible. “There was so much that I took from the book and spread throughout the show,” Nyswaner says, “even throughout different decades in some cases. I loved the way Thomas Mallon had them speak to one another. Hawk and Tim are, I think, very much the characters that they are in the novel. I think they are true to that.”

Adam Rathe is Town & Country 's Deputy Features Director, covering arts and culture and a range of other subjects. 

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To Make ‘Fellow Travelers,’ Ron Nyswaner Had to Fall in Love

The new drama, which follows a gay romance over several decades, is the first TV series created by the Oscar-winning writer of “Philadelphia.”

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By Alexis Soloski

Ron Nyswaner, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated screenwriter, can still recall a chance meeting on a beach more than 50 years ago. Then a teenager and a self-described “Jesus freak,” he’d come to Ocean City, N.J., to attend a Youth for Christ conference. Late one night, he said, while walking alone, he saw “a gorgeous, muscular guy” across the sand.

That young man asked him to speak in tongues — it was an invitation to religious ecstasy and nothing more. Nyswaner complied. He told me this story over lunch in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, on a stormy afternoon in September, as a way to explain that, for him, “sex and the sacred have always been united.”

He wanted that same union for “Fellow Travelers,” a new series that premieres Friday on Paramount+ and then on Showtime on Sunday.

Moving back and forth from the early 1950s to the late ’80s, “Fellow Travelers,” based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, is a précis of 20th-century queer history viewed through a turbulent relationship between two men. Matt Bomer (“White Collar,” “Magic Mike”) stars as Hawkins Fuller, Hawk to his intimates, a State Department employee. Jonathan Bailey (“Bridgerton”) plays Tim Laughlin, a milk-drinking, God-loving naïf who dreams of working for Senator Joseph McCarthy .

As they tumble through the decades — in and out of bed, in and out of love — the lavender scare , the gay liberation movement and the AIDS crisis happen around and through them.

Nyswaner, who was dressed in all black save for a tan raincoat, claims to dislike love stories. “Yuck!” he said. (The two chunky rings he wore, mementos of former relationships, may have belied this.) But his genius resides in making the political feel shockingly intimate. Despite its many congressional hearings, “Fellow Travelers” is a love story, one illustrated with some of television’s most screen-fogging queer sex scenes. The first time Nyswaner read the novel, he fell in love with Tim and Hawk. It was that love — sexual, sacred — that inspired him to make the series, the first he has created for television.

Nyswaner, 67, grew up in small-town Pennsylvania. Gay and closeted, he was an outsider as a child, an observer. That, he believes, is what made him a writer. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he enrolled in Columbia’s film school. While still a student there, he slipped a script to the director Jonathan Demme. Demme optioned it, and Nyswaner has supported himself as a writer ever since.

His first major success came in 1993 with “Philadelphia,” directed by Demme, the story of Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), a lawyer who believes he has been wrongfully terminated by his firm because of his AIDS diagnosis. (Nyswaner, whose script earned him an Oscar nomination, makes a cameo in a party scene dressed as a priest.)

By that time, Nyswaner was in the throes of drug and alcohol addiction. In the five years after the film’s release, newly flush with fame and cash, his addiction worsened.

“I dedicated myself to cocaine and alcohol and sex, with tragic results,” he said. (He details this tragedy, which involves the suicide of a sex worker, in his 2004 memoir , “Blue Days, Black Nights.”)

There was heat on him in Hollywood then. But he showed up to more than one meeting high on methamphetamines, and the heat dissipated. Which didn’t especially bother him. Having found success early, he has rarely been swayed by the demands of the market.

“I always just wanted to write what I wanted,” he said.

Newly sober, he proved this. He scripted the 2003 true-crime Showtime film “Soldier’s Girl,” about an Army private’s relationship with a transgender cabaret performer, and followed that with the 2006 adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s doomed romance, “The Painted Veil.” Neither was intended for mainstream success, but these works had the heartbreak he loved, the passionate intensity.

In 2012, his management team asked him what he wanted to do next. “Get me out of my house,” he told them. He had spent two decades living in upstate New York. Now, he found himself craving the crush of a big city and the camaraderie of a writers’ room. Though he had already optioned “Fellow Travelers,” he back-burnered it in favor of moving to Los Angeles and joining two Showtime series: first the punchy noir “Ray Donovan,” and then “Homeland,” the fervid espionage thriller. In 2018, when his time on “Homeland” ended, he felt ready to turn to “Fellow Travelers.”

In “Fellow Travelers,” Nyswaner expands on the themes that define much of his film work — the ways in which longing, sex and secrets intersect with the law. In the series, the historical characters and events are meticulously researched. (There are perhaps a few aesthetic lapses — did men really work out this much in the 1950s?) But Nyswaner wanted to offer something more than a history lesson. Hawk and Tim and the show’s other queer characters are intimately involved in this history, and they are not mere bystanders and victims. Occasionally, they are aggressors.

“The best thing you can do with any marginalized character is to make them as fully human and complicated as every other straight character that’s out there in the world,” he said.

Many of those complications are revealed in the sex scenes. Thirty years ago, “Philadelphia” received criticism for shying away from gay sexuality. “Fellow Travelers” is not so shy. “Perhaps I overcompensated,” he said, laughing.

Nyswaner, who has something of the provocateur in him, described a scene late in the series, a threesome that leads to a nervous breakdown, as “very much me” and “one of my proudest achievements.” (For that scene he educated the director on the uses of amyl nitrite.)

If these scenes are not especially graphic, they are unusually specific in their mapping of power and desire. Nyswaner had rules for these scenes, which were carefully choreographed and scripted. Each had to move the story forward. Each had to dramatize a power exchange. And no act could be repeated, which invited creativity in the later episodes.

The queer characters are all played by actors who openly identify as queer. “It wasn’t a requirement, but it was certainly a strong motivator for us,” Nyswaner said. He believes the casting may have contributed to the veracity and intensity of these scenes.

“I do think it might have really made a difference and made everybody more comfortable,” he said.

Nyswaner isn’t sure if writing about gay characters is a path that he chose for himself or one that the success of “Philadelphia” forged for him. Either way he is glad to walk it.

“I so love, love, love being a gay man,” he told me over lunch. “I enjoy being slightly to the side of everything.” He worries, of course, for the state of L.G.B.T.Q. rights, but he has always enjoyed this feeling of being an outsider. “Outlaw” was another term he used.

He isn’t dating anyone just now. His preference, he said, is for “unsuitable men, some of them are quite delicious.” Colleagues keep encouraging him to download a dating app, but so far he has resisted. These past few years, his primary relationship has been with Tim and Hawk, the characters he fell for a decade ago.

“I wanted to live within that relationship,” he said. “And I have.”

Alexis Soloski has written for The Times since 2006. As a culture reporter, she covers television, theater, movies, podcasts and new media. More about Alexis Soloski

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TV & Movies

The Fellow Travelers Book Ending Will Make You Cry

The Showtime series revisits McCarthyism through the lens of a passionate affair.

In Showtime’s Fellow Travelers, Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey star as Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller and Tim Laughlin, two government workers who begin an affair in 1950s Washington D.C.

The new series is based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel of the same name, which explores both the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare: the Cold War-era persecution of suspected communists and gay Americans working in government, respectively.

So, does their relationship stand the test of time? Here’s a book summary of Fellow Travelers if you want a peek ahead at what the show’s eight episodes might have in store. Spoilers ahead.

A Heartbreaking Flash Forward

Mallon’s novel primarily takes place in the 1950s, but begins with a crushing scene from 1991. Hawk works in foreign service and lives with his wife, Lucy, in Estonia, which is newly independent from the Soviet Union.

It’s here that he receives a letter from an old friend and colleague, Mary, who informs Hawk that Tim died after a long illness. Hawk initially assumes Tim (who he hasn’t seen in decades) died of AIDS, and begins to reflect on their time together — including their first meeting 40 years ago.

“You’re Wonderful.”

In 1953, Hawk works in the Department of State, and Tim works a summer job covering politics at The Washington Star. They meet by chance after Joseph McCarthy’s wedding, and Hawk recommends Tim for a job writing a senator’s speeches.

“I got the job. You’re wonderful,” Tim writes in a sweet note to Hawk.

Soon, they begin sleeping together in secret. But while they’re both very attracted to each other, they’re not necessarily in the same place. Tim earnestly believes that he fell in love with Hawk the moment they met. Hawk, for his part, is more experienced — and, sometimes, distant.

Several factors threaten Hawk and Tim’s budding relationship. At one point, Hawk is forced to take a lie detector test about his sexuality and denies ever being in love with a man. Though he passes, the test is an official reminder of the danger facing Hawk and Tim.

Similarly, Tim is startled when a colleague implies he knows about Hawk and Tim from the way they look at each other. This causes Tim to worry that he’ll not only be in Hawk’s “clutches,” but his peer’s, too.

This ever-present concern — coupled with Tim’s devout Catholicism and frustration at Hawk’s withholding nature — drives him to enlist in the U.S. Army.

He returns two years later, but his love for Hawk hasn’t gone away. It’s extra complicated once Hawk welcomes a child with his new wife, Lucy.

Tim is happy to continue the affair, but Hawk puts things to a decisive end. He thwarts Tim from getting a job by outing him to a colleague. He still cares for Tim, but he grows “wary” when he sees that Tim is setting aside his entire life for him — as Hawk sees it, “a vow of emotional poverty that he was willing to keep six days a week.”

Hawk instructs Mary (their mutual friend who knows of their relationship) to tell Tim it was him, guaranteeing that Tim will, indeed, move on.

Tim’s Final Message

Back in 1991, Hawk and Mary have a conversation about what happened to Tim after Hawk’s betrayal. Tim moved to Rhode Island and led a quiet, “peaceful” life outside politics. He died not of AIDS, as Hawk suspected, but of bone cancer (ironic, because he drinks milk throughout the entire book).

He also left a note for Mary to give Hawk: “Let him know that I was happy enough. Make it easy on him.”

Hawk & Tim’s Real-Life Inspiration

Unlike many of the historical figures in Mallon’s novel, Hawk and Tim aren’t based on specific people. However, Mallon told the Key West Literary Seminar that they both “contain bits and pieces of people” he knew.

“This has become my preferred avenue into history — the plausible presence of a small person who’s seeing big things,” Mallon added of his work (which has also been adapted into an opera).

Mallon did acknowledge that he made Tim’s birthday the same as his own, 20 years apart. “I realized that in some ways I was going to be writing about what my own life might have been like had I been born two decades earlier,” he explained.

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The stars of Fellow Travelers are hitting the red carpet.

Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey both looked cool while arriving at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday (January 7) in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Fellow cast members in attendance included Allison Williams , Jelani Alladin , and Noah J. Ricketts .

Matt is nominated tonight for Best Performance in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role in Fellow Travelers .

The Golden Globes will air on CBS this year, marking a change in network after many years on NBC. The show is being hosted by comedian Jo Koy . Make sure to check out the full list of nominations !

FYI: Allison is wearing a Giambattista Valli Couture gown, Christian Louboutin heels, and Cartier jewelry while carrying a Mach & Mach clutch. Jelani is wearing a suit by Leonardo 5th Ave , an Eton Shirts shirt and bow tie, David Yurman jewelry and Bruno Magli shoes.

Click through the gallery inside for 10+ pictures of the Fellow Travelers stars on the red carpet…

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Blake Neely and Gary Goetzman speak on a panel for “Masters of the Air” 

Mike Fleming Jr, Jack Whittaker, Gary Goetzman, Jac Fitzgerald and Blake Neely

Kurt Russell speaks on a panel for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” 

Anthony D’Allesandro, Sean Konrad, Leopold Ross and Kurt Russell speak on a panel for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters”

Anthony D’Allesandro, Sean Konrad, Leopold Ross and Kurt Russell speak on a panel for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” 

Deadline Contenders Television 2024 – Day 1 – Arrivals

Leopold Ross

Leopold Ross, Kurt Russell and Sean Konrad

Kurt Russell

Dominic Patten, Kelsey Grammer, Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris speak on a panel for “Frasier” 

Kelsey Grammer speaks on a panel for “Frasier” 

Kelsey Grammer

Chris Harris, Kelsey Grammer and Joe Cristalli

Issa López, Kali Reis and Jodie Foster speak on a panel for “True Detective: Night Country” 

Kali Reis and Jodie Foster speak on a panel for “True Detective: Night Country” 

Kali Reis speaks on a panel for “True Detective: Night Country” 

Jodie Foster speaks on a panel for “True Detective: Night Country”

Jodie Foster

Deadline Contenders Television 2024 – Day 1 – True Detective: Night Country

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Kali Reis and Jodie Foster

Kali Reis, Issa López and Jodie Foster

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Ron Nyswaner

Jonathan Bailey speaks on a panel for “Fraiser” 

Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey speak on a panel for “Fraiser” 

Matt Bomer speaks on a panel for “Fraiser” 

Pete Hammond, Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, and Ron Nyswaner speak on a panel for “Fellow Travelers” 

Jonathan Bailey

Matt Bomer, Ron Nyswaner and Jonathan Bailey

Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammer at Deadline Contenders Television 2024 held at the Directors Guild of America on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, Calfornia. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Deadline via Getty Images)

Pete Hammond, Kiefer Sutherland, Annabelle Dunne and Matt Parker speak on a panel for “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” 

Kiefer Sutherland speaks on a panel for “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” 

Deadline Contenders Television 2024 – Day 1 – The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

Annabelle Dunne, Kiefer Sutherland and Matt Parker

Kiefer Sutherland

Jonathan Bailey, Ron Nyswaner and Matt Bomer at Deadline Contenders Television 2024

Howard Cummings and Graham Wagner speak on a panel for “Fallout”

Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Aaron Moten speak on a panel for “Fallout” at Deadline Contenders Television 2024

Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Aaron Moten and Ella Purnell speak on a panel for “Fallout” 

Ella Purnell speaks on a panel for “Fallout” at Deadline Contenders Television 2024

Anthony D’Alessandro, Howard Cummings, Graham Wagner, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Aaron Moten, Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins (on screen) speak on a panel for “Fallout”

Deadline Contenders Television 2024 – Day 1 – Fallout

Aaron Moten

Ella Purnell

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Francesca Sloane and Maya Erskine speak on a panel for “Mr. And Mrs. Smith” 

Francesca Sloane and Maya Erskine speak on a panel for “Mr. And Mrs. Smith”

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Francesca Sloane and Maya Erskine

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'Bridgerton' Cast: Catch Up With the Stars of the Delightful Regency Era Series

W hen it comes to historical dramas, there's nothing quite like  Bridgerton . Based on the popular series of books by Julia Quinn , the show follows the romantic relationships of the eight Bridgerton siblings during the Regency era in England.

The show, which debuted on Netflix in 2020, has gained a large fanbase thanks to its diverse and charismatic cast, gorgeous costumes and production design and juicy drama.

The show's third season is set to air on May 16, 2024, and will follow Penelope Featherington as she teams up with Colin Bridgerton to try and find eligible prospects for the year.

MUST READ: ‘Bridgerton' Matriarchs Golda Rosheuvel, Adjoa Andoh and Ruth Gemmell Spill the Tea on Penelope & Colin and Season 3 Surprises

Before the much-anticipated new season debuts, find out what the  Bridgerton  cast has been up to - and see which cast members are coming back for season three. 

Still need to see the Bridgerton cast in action? You can watch the season three trailer here , and you can stream seasons one and two of the show on Netflix . 

Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton 

Left: 2020; Right: 2024

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Steve Granitz/Getty

The lovely Phoebe Dynevor played Daphne Bridgerton, the show's first diamond (or eligible young lady of the court) of the season.

Prior to  Bridgerton,  Dynevor could be seen in shows like Dickensian  (2015 - 2016),  Snatch  (2017 - 2018) and  Younger  (2017 - 2021). Her last role was the 2023 erotic thriller  Fair Play .

Dynevor is not going to be in  Bridgerton's  upcoming season, but will be in two upcoming films, Anniversary and Inheritance .

Jonathan Bailey as Lord Anthony Bridgerton: Bridgerton cast

Left: 2022; Right: 2024

The handsome Jonathan Bailey brought the oldest of the Bridgerton siblings, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, to life, and was the star of season two.

Bailey started out as a child actor in 1997. He eventually acted in movies like Five Children and It  (2004),  Testament of Youth  (2014) and The Mercy (2018). He was already a seasoned TV actor before Bridgerton , with roles in Off the Hook  (2009),  Leonardo  (2011 - 2012), Broadchurch (2013 - 2015), W1A (2014 - 2017) and Crashing (2016).

MUST-READ: ‘Bridgerton' Men, Ranked: Our Favorite Historical Hunks in the Netflix Period Drama

Since getting cast as Lord Anthony, Bailey appeared in the 2023 miniseries Fellow Travelers , and he will be returning for Bridgerton ‘s third season. He'll also be in the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked .

Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton 

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Gareth Cattermole/Getty

Luke Newton plays the sweet and good-humored third Bridgerton son, Colin Bridgerton.

Before the show, he acted in shows like  The Cut (2011) and The Lodge  (2016 - 2017). He most recently starred in the 2023 movie The Shape of Things .

Newton will be one of the stars of Bridgerton season three.  

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Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton: Bridgerton cast

Claudia Jessie plays the smart, ahead-of-her-time bookworm Eloise Bridgerton.

Before heading to "the ton" (what the show calls upper-crust society), Jessie appeared in the show Doctors from 2012 to 2014 and also could be seen in shows like Line of Duty (2017), Vanity Fair (2018), Porters (2017 - 2019) and Defending the Guilty (2019). She was part of the web series Dixi from 2014 to 2016, and acted in the 2016 period film Their Finest .

Most recently, Jessie starred in the 2022 miniseries Bali 2002 . She will be coming back for season three of Bridgerton .

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Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton 

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Dave Benett/Getty

Luke Thompson plays the second-oldest Bridgerton sibling, the artistic and bohemian Benedict Bridgerton.

Prior to being in the show, he acted in Shakespeare plays like A Midsummer Night's Dream , Julius Caesar , Romeo and Juliet , Hamlet and King Lear . He also had a small role in the blockbuster 2017 World War II drama  Dunkirk. 

Thompson was in the show In the Club from 2014 to 2016. In 2023, he appeared in the miniseries  Transatlantic and starred in the theatrical adaptation of the acclaimed novel A Little Life . 

He will be back for Bridgerton ‘s upcoming season. 

Ruth Gemmell as Lady Violet Bridgerton: Bridgerton cast

Left: 2020; Right: 2023

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Mike Marsland/Getty

Ruth Gemmell was already a veteran actress when she was cast in Bridgerton as Lady Violet, the matriarch of the Bridgerton family. She began her career in the early '90s.

Some of Gemmell's earlier roles include films like  Fever Pitch  (1997),  Good  (2008), F (2010) and  Cliffs of Freedom  (2019) and series like Silent Witness  (1996 - 2004), Eastenders (2009), Utopia (2013 - 2014), Home Fires (2015 - 2016) and Deep State (2019).

Gemmell also starred in the spinoff show  Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story  in 2023, and her character will be returning for the new season.

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Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Dominik Bindl/Getty

Before she played the witty and likable Penelope Featherington, Irish actress Nicola Coughlan starred in another beloved show, the '90s-set comedy  Derry Girls , which ran from 2018 to 2022. 

Coughlan did a variety of voiceover roles early in her career. She then appeared in the 2018 series Harlots . She played one of the Barbies in the 2023 mega-hit Barbie and has stayed busy, with appearances in the film Seize Them! and the series Big Mood in 2024.

Coughlan will be the main character of the  Bridgerton  cast in season three, alongside Luke Newton. 

MUST-READ: 15 Best Rom-Coms on Netflix, Ranked - Perfect for a Cozy Night In

Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: Bridgerton cast

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Regé-Jean Page , who played the Duke of Hastings, rode in on a horse in season one of  Bridgerton  and stole our hearts.

Before joining the high society of 19th-century London, Page had a bit part in  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1  in 2010 and appeared in the 2016 remake of the historical miniseries  Roots  (2016).

MUST-READ: ‘Harry Potter' Cast: See the Kids of the Wizarding World Then and Now

Page's other TV work includes Waterloo Road (2015) and For the People (2018 - 2019). He also acted in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in 2016, and has been in movies like Mortal Engines (2018), Sylvie's Love (2020), The Gray Man (2022) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023).

Sadly, Page only appeared in the first season of  Bridgerton and will not be back for the new one, but he's set to star in an upcoming miniseries adaptation of the classic Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid .

Simone Ashley as Kathani ‘Kate' Sharma

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Unlike many of the  Bridgerton  cast members, Simone Ashley did not appear in the show's first season but rather joined in season two in 2022. She plays Kate Sharma, Lord Anthony Bridgerton's fiery love interest.

Ashley's best-known work before  Bridgerton  was the hit teen series  Sex Education , which she was in from 2019 to 2021. She's also been in films like Boogie Man (2018), Kill Ben Lyk (2018), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) and the 2023 live-action  Little Mermaid . Her most recent role was providing voiceover work in the 2024 animated movie 10 Lives .

Ashley will be back for the new season of Bridgerton , and also has upcoming roles in the films Picture This and This Tempting Madness .

Adjoa Andoh as Lady Agatha Danbury: Bridgerton cast

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Robin L Marshall/Getty

With nearly 100 credits to her name, Adjoa Andoh , who plays the powerful and elegant Lady Agatha Danbury, is certainly no stranger to the screen.

Andoh has been acting consistently since the early '90s, and was in the cast of the long-running British medical drama Casualty from 1993 to 2003. She also had an eight-episode run on the beloved series Dr. Who from 2006 to 2008 and appeared in episodes of Law & Order: UK from 2011 to 2014.

Like some of her Bridgerton castmates, Andoh has a number of Shakespeare productions on her resume, including Julius Caesar , Troilus and Cressida  and Richard II . She can also be seen in films like Invictus (2009), Fractured (2019) and Brighton (2019).

Andoh appeared in the  Bridgerton  spinoff  Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story  in 2023, and will be in  Bridgerton  season three. She will also be part of the upcoming series The Red King .

Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte 

moviestillsdb.com/Netflix; Unique Nicole/Getty

Rounding out the  Bridgerton  cast is Golda Rosheuvel , who is better known as none other than Queen Charlotte.

Rosheuvel has been acting since 2000. Her earlier work includes appearances in shows like Silent Witness (2008 - 2019), Luther (2011), Dead Boss (2012) and  Rev  (2014). She also acted in the films  Lady Macbeth  (2016) and Dune (2021)

Rosheuvel was the star of  Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story  in 2023 and will return for the upcoming season of  Bridgerton. 

Jeff Boone Joins Fremantle as VP of Scripted Development

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Katcy Stephan

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Jeff Boone has joined Fremantle ‘s North American team as its new VP of scripted development.

In this role, Boone will be responsible for developing new series for its pipeline and play an active role within Fremantle’s global scripted network. Boone will report to Fremantle’s EVP of Scripted Programming, Jenni Sherwood. 

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“I’ve long been a fan of Fremantle’s work, and I strongly believe in the team’s vision of embracing strong creative voices to tell bold stories that inspire conversation,” said Boone. “I’m honored to be joining the company.”

Boone’s addition to Fremantle’s burgeoning scripted team comes at a time when their scripted business has witnessed several recent successes, including “Fellow Travelers,” “Little Bird,” “Alice and Jack” and “Big Mood.” A reboot of popular 90s series “Baywatch” is also in development at Fox .

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