Al Borland Is a Model for the Modern American Gay Bear
Gayest Episode Ever
“Roomie for Improvement” (November 4, 1992) Al Borland is not gay. This episode makes a point of saying that he is a heterosexual, despite how many of his (comparatively) immasculine qualities might indicate otherwise. However for some, Richard Karn’s sensitive flannel man is an example of a kind of guy some of us would grow up to like and some of us would grow up to be: big, bearded, and free to be ourselves regardless of where on the gender spectrum we ended up being. joins Drew and Glen to discuss Home Improvement, one of the most successful shows this podcast has examined so far —...
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The Nanny Has Bad Gaydar
Gayest Episode Ever
“A Fine Friendship” (February 6, 1995) One hundred episodes later, we return to The Nanny to find out what happens when Fran Fine mistakes a straight guy for a gay guy. This episode essnetially works as an inverse to we covered, right down to Fran being horrified by a gay-seeming person being straight rather than delighted by a straight-seeming person being gay. Watch Matt Baume’s video on Watch on why The Nanny had a gay sensibility Read Brett White’s column Go shop at ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • • And yes, we do...
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NewsRadio Never Did a Gay Episode
Gayest Episode Ever
“Halloween” (October 30, 1996) Considering that every other major Must See TV sitcom did at least one gay episode, it’s surprising that NewsRadio didn’t — especially when you consider the fact that its lead actor, Dave Foley, jumped straight to NBC from Kids in the Hall, which experimented with gender and sexuality a lot more freely. This episode was as close as we could find to a real gay episode. And while it does feature Dave Foley donning drag once again, there’s a lot more weird stuff going on, including Phil Hartman’s character getting a premonition of his own death —...
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Rosa Diaz Is Bi... And Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is Copaganda
Gayest Episode Ever
“Game Night” (December 12, 2017) Right off the top of the bat, we need to admit that yes, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a show about cops. There’s no getting around that. We try our best to discuss how to weight its copaganda status against every other aspect of the show, and while we’re not going to try to sell anyone on this show, we will say that dismissing it means skipping over one of the better episodes of a sitcom ever to address bisexuality head-on. Speaking of addressing bisexuality head-on, we’re joined by Queer Quadrant co-host to discuss the Michael Schurverse, Eleanor...
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Troy McClure Isn’t Gay, But…
Gayest Episode Ever
“A Fish Called Selma” (March 24, 1996) In this episode, The Simpsons send up the glass closets of Hollywood and what some actors are willing to do to pass for “normal.” Troy McClure explicitly says he’s not gay, but the way the industry treats him for not fitting the leading man mold and what he does to find success anyway parallels what a lot of gay stars have done and what some are still doing. Read: Listen: The You Must Remember This episodes about and Go shop at ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • • ...
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Trailer 3.0
Gayest Episode Ever
It's just a new trailer, for promotional purposes. Please go about your day.
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Janet from The Good Place Is a Nonbinary Icon
Gayest Episode Ever
“Janet(s)” (December 6, 2018) Spoiler warning: We totally spoil The Good Place, so if you have not seen it and want to go in fresh, go do that! It seems weird that The Good Place was a show on a broadcast network at all, much less one that ran for four seasons and gave viewers so much to think about. Perhaps one of the more surprising aspects was D’Arcy Carden’s Janet, who rose above “Busty Alexa” status to become one of the more interesting characters. Janet is not nonbinary, but as five-timer points out, Janet can work as metaphor for the nonbinary experience. In...
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The 150th Episode Spectacular: Hot Takes
Gayest Episode Ever
It’s our 150th episode, and we’ve decided to celebrate this milestone with something different: a hot takes episode, where we share our pop culture hot takes and we also share hot takes submitted from our listeners. Disclaimer: we cannot guarantee that you will find all takes equally hot, nor can we guarantee that you will find this episode to be spectacular. We did not, in the end, have time to get to every hot take submitted by listeners, but we thank you for submitting anyway and hope to address them in a hot takes follow-up episode, should that be deemed worthwhile. And...
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Coach Meets a Gay Guy
Gayest Episode Ever
“A Real Guy’s Guy” (October 25,1991) Hear us out here: Coach is a good sitcom even if you don’t like football. In fact, Drew likes Coach even though he actively despises football. This fourth-season episode has Craig T. Nelson’s character reacting to news that one of his players is gay, and it’s actually pretty flawless in terms of what a gay episode can be: a sympathetically written one-off queer character + a realistic model for how someone who isn’t comfortable around LGBTers can admit this without taking it out on anyone else. In short, a total grand slam. ...
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Girlfriends Hosts a Lesbian Baby Shower
Gayest Episode Ever
“And Baby Makes Four” (November 3, 2003) Before she was the literal mom on Blackish, Tracee Ellis Ross was the glue holding the figurative family together for eight seasons on Girlfriends. Drew and Glen are joined by to discuss why Ross is maybe one of the better examples of showbiz royalty and why this episode of TV is unique in offering viewers two black queer women in a relationship (guest stars Dawnn Lewis and Samaria Graham). Also: William is THE WORST. When they reunited for Blackish, the Girlfriends cast explained how their show . BTW: Two more viewing suggestions beyond...
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Looking at the various 90s-era Fox shows that focused on black characters, Roc was the one with the reputation for tackling social issues with the most gravitas. Early in the show’s run, Richard Roundtree — Shaft himself! — guested as the title character’s uncle, who comes bearing the news that 1) he’s gay; 2) he’s getting married; and 3) his beloved is a white man. To discuss the various layers of this Roc episode, Drew and Glen are joined by University of Iowa professor Dr. Alfred L. Martin Jr., whose field of study includes a focus on the depiction of gay black men on sitcoms. Alfred’s forthcoming book is titled The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom. Yes, we would love to interview him when his book comes out.
Read more about Alfred’s work on his faculty page.
We mention the episode of Golden Girls that was recently pulled from Hulu for its alleged use of blackface, and Alfred mentions the larger racist implications of that episode that were not discussed and may not be discussed as a result of being pulled. This week, Steven W. Thrasher wrote an excellent piece for Vulture on various moments on the show in which the central characters display racist attitudes and why the show’s fans are better off acknowledging these failings.
Lisa Simpson singing “God Bless the Child” on The Simpsons Sing the Blues.
Also Glen’s favorite song, “Macho Duck.”
The book Alfred brings up is Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture, by Erica Chito Childs. It’s about the depiction of interracial couples on TV and in other media. And the book Drew brings up is Queering the Color Line, by Siobhan B. Somerville. It’s about the intersection of racial and queer identity.
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This episode’s outro theme is “Color My Love” by Fun Fun (Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music)