That Girl Meets the Cross-Dressing Cops
Gayest Episode Ever
"A Muggy Day in Central Park" (November 14, 1968) A contemporary of Bewitched, That Girl aimed for a more sophisticated audience than most sitcoms of its era. Not only does it look more cinematic, in a way that sitcoms generally wouldn't until the 2000s, but it's also more clearly a feminist show, where Marlo Thomas plays a woman braving big city life on her own. This episode does that tired thing where gay men, cross-dressers, trans woman and drag queens are conflated down to a single thing, but it’s nonetheless interesting to see how a progressive show handles queer things fairly...
info_outline
Boy Meets World Does a Scream Parody
Gayest Episode Ever
“And Then There Was Shawn” (February 27, 1998) Somehow, Boy Meets World got ABC to say yes to a parody of Scream within the confines of the TGIF lineup. That’s wild enough, but it’s even more surprising what this “it was all a dream” episode lifts directly from the 1996 slasher. Joining us to discuss this unlikely intersection of franchises are the hosts of the podcast, and her little brother, (not the gay beach). Happy Halloween! Listen to Guide to the Unknown groundbreaking analysis of the Scary Movie franchise, . Listen to William’s narrative horror...
info_outline
Bewitched Unleashes the Gay Scourge That Is Uncle Arthur
Gayest Episode Ever
“The Joker Is a Card” (October 14, 1965) Nearly two hundred episodes later, we’re finally returning to Bewitched to give Uncle Arthur a proper introduction. And while he’s a big part of Bewitched’s gay fandom, Paul Lynde brings a lot of baggage to the role that taught Americans to laugh at eccentric gay weirdos everywhere. Watch the new season of Glen's show, ! Listen to Drew discussing 16-bit horror video games . This episode featured a lot of references to previous episodes, so here are all of those, for your listening pleasure: (but honestly this new episode is better) ...
info_outline
Karl Is the Simpsons' First Gay Friend
Gayest Episode Ever
“Simpson and Delilah” (October 18, 1990) Not only the earliest gay-themed Simpsons episode we’ve ever done, this one is also the first gay-themed episode The Simpsons ever did. And while the enigmatic Karl doesn’t get to be explicitly gay, we argue whether having a gay-coded character might have been the show’s way to — in its second season and at the height of Simpsons mania — signal to grown-ups that no, despite the t-shirts, this was not a show for kids and it could operate at a higher level. But how many adults watching TV in 1990 knew who Harvey Fierstein was? Remember when...
info_outline
A Different World Meets a Possible Lesbian
Gayest Episode Ever
“Wild Child” (February 4, 1988) Officially, A Different World never did a gay episode and there were no queer students at Hillman. Nestled in the middle of the Bonet/Tomei season, however, is an interesting episode about a girl named Cougar, who happens to be easily read as a lesbian and interact in interesting ways with both Denise and Whitley. Entertainment journalist joins us to discuss this episode and why A Different World still matters in 2024. You can watch this episode of A Different World . Listen to Stacey's appearances on Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie...
info_outline
The Beetlejuice Cartoon Is Weird, Gross and Very Queer
Gayest Episode Ever
“Pranks for the Memories” (September 18, 1991) and “Beetlebones” (September 27, 1991) Sure, we’ve all thought more about Beetlejuice in the last few weeks than we have in the last few decades, but we come to you today not to discuss the sequel film but the animated spinoff. returns to explain why this more kid-friendly version of the Tim Burton ghoul lends itself to trans and queer readings. Listen to Henry’s movie podcast, , and also subscribe to , which is currently on hiatus. Mentioned in this episode: and specifically their episode about and their episodes...
info_outline
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Stops Being Funny to Be Gay Instead
Gayest Episode Ever
“Mac Finds His Pride” (November 7, 2018) Twelve seasons in, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia stopped giving Mac the Smithers treatment and let him be gay, but it’s the season thirteen finale we’re talking about because it highlights Mac’s sexuality without making jokes, at least for the third act. The episode received wide praise, but did it also jeopardize the show’s comedic tone in order to make a statement? Thanks to Dr. Alfred Smith, David Russell and Ally J. Shivka for offering their interpretations of the narrative in the dance sequence! Watch the dance sequence in...
info_outline
The 80s Gay Fantasia That Is Jennifer Slept Here
Gayest Episode Ever
This is the second-to-last of our summer reruns; new episodes back Sept. 18 on the Patreon feed and Sept. 25 on the main feed! For this one, we're taking a break from looking at the ways that sitcoms advanced American discourse about LGBTQ people and instead gawking at campy 80s fluff — because that is also a thing that is important to gay people. “Jennifer: The Movie” (October 29, 1983) We’re celebrating both Halloween and week two of our celebration of Ann Jillian with an episode about how the 1983 NBC series Jennifer Slept Here is both so very weird and also a little gay boy’s...
info_outline
How Do You Write a Sitcom About a Gay Bashing?
Gayest Episode Ever
Yep, we are still in summer reruns — but to return with new episodes in September! This one is out second look at the Showtime sitcom Brothers, which I feel too few listeners know about. Let this episode be your primer, however! And your jumping off point to watching the entire series on YouTube! “It Only Hurts When I’m Gay” (October 25, 1985) On paper, the idea of a sitcom taking on the subject of gay bashing seems like the worst idea, but somehow Brothers — TV’s first gay sitcom — manages to tell a real story about violence against gay people while avoiding the hokey “very...
info_outline
The Complete History of Leon Carp, Roseanne's Gay Nemesis
Gayest Episode Ever
This is a summer rerun of an episode that originally went live in May 2023. We know that no one likes to reflect on how Roseanne used to be awesome, but we get through that emotional baggage as quickly as we can to discuss why Martin Mull's character is openly gay but also tweaks certain gay stereotypes. “The Driver’s Seat” (November 30, 1993) We’re giving another shot to Roseanne, because perhaps it’s been long enough that you all want to listen to stories about this iconic series. Perhaps not! Regardless, this show offered us Martin Mull’s Leon, who goes unsung in the...
info_outline
“The Competition” (February 13, 1987)
Yes, we did do an episode last year in which we summed up Mr. Belvedere are a whole and said it never did an outright gay episode. We were wrong, and thanks to two different listers who politely exposed our ignorance, this week you are getting Drew and Glen talking about the one where Heather convinces her boyfriend he’s gay and Mr. Belvedere convinces him he’s not. It’s a weird bit of TV, but it’s also one of the very few family-focused sitcoms of this era to actually acknowledge that gay people exist.
Also you can listen to the previous Mr. Belvedere outing, but also maybe don’t because this one is good enough to just replace the original?
Christopher Hewett stars as King Koopa in Super Mario Bros. on Ice.
Watch GEE TV to see the episode of 227 with Pee-Wee Herman.
Enjoy the opening credits to Land of the Giants.
Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page.
Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank.
Support us on Patreon!
Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter
Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud
And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson.
This is a TableCakes podcast.
This episode’s outro theme is “Balla Balla Ballerina” by Tony Manero, which isn’t on any of the music streaming services or digital music stores, as near as Drew can find, so just listen to it on YouTube, I guess?