‘Fellow Travelers’ Teaser Hints at Sweeping Love Story Amid Homophobia and Political Persecution (Video)

Showtime series stars Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey in a story spanning the turbulent years from the 1950s through the 1980s

A trailer for Showtime’s upcoming political drama “Fellow Travelers” released Thursday, teasing Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey as star-crossed lovers who begin a romance during the McCarthy era and the persecution of the LGBTQ community that came with it.

The teaser begins with Bomer (“Magic Mike”) and Bailey (“Bridgerton”) walking past each other in a hallway before a montage of fireworks, romance, violence and suffering flashes rapidly. Watch the full teaser at the top of the page. 

According to the show’s description, Bomer plays Hawkins Fuller, a handsome, charismatic man who “maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the scenes career in politics.” Bailey plays Tim Laughlin, “a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith.” The characters’ lives intertwine in 1950s Washington D.C., during Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn’s war on “subversives and sexual deviants.”

The upcoming drama also stars Jelani Alladin as Marcus, Allison Williams as Lucy and Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie. The show spans four decades, interweaving the five main characters through the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the “drug-fueled disco hedonism” of the ‘70s and the AIDS crisis of the ‘80s. 

Created by Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia,” “Homeland”), “Fellow Travelers” is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon. Nyswaner, Bomer, Robbie Rogers and Daniel Minahan serve as executive producers. Minahan (“Halston,” “American Crime Story: Versace”) also directs the first two episodes. 

Fellow Travelers premieres on Showtime this fall and will stream on Paramount+.

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