The folks at HBO say they don't really like it when people say "Looking" is the gay "Sex and the City," but, hey, if the comparison fits, flaunt it.

The half-hour show, kicking off its eight-episode first season Sunday, doesn't have a narrating sex columnist, but there are other unavoidable similarities.

"Looking" is about three gay men in San Francisco who are trying to figure out their paths much as Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte were in New York. And yes, at times they are looking for Mr. Big because a good part of that figuring out is about sex and love, not necessarily in that order.

We first meet Patrick (Jonathan Groff, "Glee"), a 29-year-old video game developer, as he's searching for an open-air five-minute hookup in the brambles. Clearly, he's not practiced at this.

He's kind of an old-fashioned guy, despite his youth - something of a nester and still smarting over the breakup of a recent relationship, especially when he learns his ex is about to get married. On the one hand, he feels the pressure to be the carefree single gay on the make, but we get that he has to force himself into that role and he's not very comfortable in it.

His best friend, Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez, "Smash"), is at a crossroads in his life too. He has a longtime boyfriend, which seems like a good thing on the surface, but once you've been with someone for a while, there's pressure to formalize the relationship in some way. Up until recently, that meant only moving in together in California. Now, of course, it could mean getting married.

Confusion over move

For now, Agustin agrees to live with his boyfriend in Oakland, but instead of grounding the relationship, the move adds new pressure. Should they be monogamous or maybe open things up a little bit to keep the relationship from being too predictable?

And after all the conveniences of San Francisco, Agustin faces big adjustment challenges when he moves to an industrial section of Oakland. He's plagued by second thoughts and confusion.

Meanwhile, Dom (Murray Bartlett, "August"), the oldest of the three friends, works, not happily, as a waiter at San Francisco's trendy Zuni Café. The fact that his former boyfriend is wildly successful only makes Dom more desperate to find love and career happiness as he approaches 40.

From the point of view of cultural history, the show is important because sex plays a prominent role in the lives of the three men. If that seems like a so-what observation, consider this: Gay men are featured in all kinds of shows in the post-"Will & Grace" era, but more often than not, it's in a kind of sex-neutral way.

Ryan Murphy's "The New Normal" made it clear that its coupled protagonists were sexual, but "Looking" goes even further. No, it is not sexually explicit, but neither does "Looking" do the whole tiptoe, wink-wink bit about the reality that one aspect of being a gay man is that you have sex with other men.

The show was created by Michael Lannan and Andrew Haigh and is filmed entirely in the Bay Area, which is a big part of why the story rings so true. The other parts are the delicately detailed direction by Haigh and the pitch-perfect performances of the cast.

Sense of purpose

All of these elements work together to present a convincing, multidimensional portrayal not only of contemporary gay life but also of contemporary life in general.

Sure, the guys are looking for sex at times, but, really, they're looking for a sense of purpose and direction in their lives. Just like a lot of people, gay and straight, who are likely to respond well to the themes, performances and, most of all, the quality of the series.

POLITE APPLAUSE Looking: Comedy-drama. 10:30 p.m. Sunday on HBO.
