[1] Each episode features a team of gay professionals in the fields of fashion, personal grooming, interior design, entertaining, and culture collectively known as the "Fab Five" performing a makeover (in the parlance of the show, a "make-better"): revamping wardrobe, redecorating, and offering lifestyle advice.

The series name was abbreviated to Queer Eye at the beginning of its third season to include making over individuals regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Each of the Five offer final words of advice and encouragement, accompanied by supplies of grooming products, food and kitchenware, and in some cases expensive electronics items such as entertainment centers and computers.

Producers Collins and Metzler were given approval by Bravo to develop Queer Eye after the ratings success the network experienced when it counterprogrammed a marathon of its 2002 series Gay Weddings at the same time as Super Bowl XXXVII during 2003 January.

[1] Kyan Douglas and Thom Filicia joined the show for these episodes, along with Blair Boone in the role of "culture guy".

[8] Queer Eye for the Straight Guy debuted on July 15, 2003 and the series quickly attained high ratings, peaking during September of that year with 3.34 million viewers per episode.

[9] The popularity of the series established the Fab Five as media celebrities, with high-profile appearances at the Emmys and a "make-better" of Jay Leno and his The Tonight Show set in August of that year.

[14] The series attracted criticism for making generalizations about sexual identity, often objecting to ideas that homosexual men are inherently more fashionable and stylish than heterosexuals.

[15] Among those making this critique were Tom Shales in The Washington Post ("stereotypes on parade"), Richard Goldstein in Village Voice ("Haven't fags always been consigned to the role of body servant?")

Author Gustavus Stadler presents similar critiques of Queer Eye emphasizing the expectation placed on homosexual men by society.

[16] Anthropologist Lionel Tiger criticized the show's portrayal of heterosexual men: "Heteromales are the last group it is acceptable to bash as a class.

", in which the protagonists learn that the Fab Five are actually the disguises of evil Crab People aiming for world domination by converting heterosexual men into metrosexuals.

The largest criticism from Keller to be that even if the stereotypes are correct, the show tended to take too simplistic of a view, relying on a sophisticated audience.

[24] Creators David Collins and Michael Williams joined Vice President Kamala Harris in June 2024, alongside original and revival cast members, to discuss the series and franchise influence over two decades.

[25][26] During January 2005, Scout Productions premiered the spin-off series Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, set in Los Angeles.

The book tie-in Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab 5's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better and Living Better was published in 2004 by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Random House.

Additional DVD releases include Queer Eye for the Red Sox (featuring the team makeover episode) and a multi-disc box set.

[38] Scout Productions has contributed involvement with the revival, which trades the original New York setting for Georgia in the first two seasons, and Missouri in the third and fourth.

[39][40] The revival Fab Five are Bobby Berk (design), Karamo Brown (culture), Tan France (fashion), Antoni Porowski (food and wine), and Jonathan Van Ness (grooming).

The website's critical consensus reads, "Queer Eye adapts for a different era without losing its style, charm, or sense of fun, proving that the show's formula remains just as sweetly addictive even after a change in location and a new group of hosts.