Perrie Voss and Scott Farley team up to write a web series, J. Stevens‘ Stories from my Gay Grandparents. After a near death incident, Barbara and Russell Butters (Jane Moffat and James Kall) move in with their grandchildren, Mason and Rebecca Michelle (Farley and Voss). Barbara says, “I wasted too much time hiding,” and both make baby steps. Shenanigans ensue, including Barbara tracking down a girlfriend and Russell experiencing gatekeeping within a community’s fairly high standards. The episodes show off Toronto in its beauty as Barbara and Russell do things that Mason and Mich do together.

The series takes as much advantage in capturing the Church and Wellesley Village here in Toronto. One of the two main settings here is an AFAB/lesbian bar that’s no longer dying because Barbara becomes a loyal patron. Although, most of the scenes in Stories from my Gay Grandparents‘ take place in Mason and Mich’s budget-y apartment which, better than mine. It doesn’t need more than simplicity as Barbara and Russell bring their outsized personalities regardless of where they are. Besides, its most indelible image is Russell draping himself in flags because exaggeration is how comedy works.

Stories from my Gay Grandparents has its share of stereotypes like mean gays but then again I *have* met them. Those stereotypes, though, don’t distract from how the series handles a lot of its themes that concern queer love. It’s true that it’s becoming more difficult to find love, as viewers can see in the episode about dating. The events in that episode also has a domino effect in the family dynamic, giving the series a few arcs. Lastly, it’s beautiful to see the series’ emotional, dramedy high in an episode about, of all things, queer dodgeball.

Stories from my Gay Grandparents plays in Inside Out.