A Queer History of SNL, Part Two
Gayest Episode Ever
And here is the second half of our two-part opener for this new season. In this episode, we look at LGBTQ-themed recurring Saturday Night Live sketches airing in the year 2000 and beyond. Basically, this one gets us from The Girl With No Gaydar to Bowen Yang, and that’s actually a pretty good synopsis for the evolution of queer-inclusive humor of on this show. Our next installment will be the first deep dive into a specific era of SNL, starting with the “Not Ready for Prime Time” era, and that will be coming in November. So look forward to that — and meanwhile prepare for a little...
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A Queer History of SNL, Part One
Gayest Episode Ever
Welcome to a new season of Gayest Episode Ever. It will be a Saturday Night Live-centric season. Among the regular, sitcom-focused episodes, we will be doing periodic deep dives into the LGBTQ-focused sketches that ran on the show during its various eras. To kick it off (and to kick off the new season), we are starting with a two-part look at the various queer-adjacent recurring sketches from SNL. This first episode covers the launch of the show until the mid-90s, and next week’s episode will get us through the current era. Enjoy? Maybe? It’s a lot to take in, honestly, but we swear...
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Barry’s NoHo Hank Is a Great Gay Villain
Gayest Episode Ever
“it takes a psycho” (April 30, 2023) Barry is not a sitcom, though it was frequently one of the funnier shows on TV. We’re doing a bonus summer episode about it anyway because its gay character, NoHo Hank, is a rarity on TV because he’s both a villain and a person who doesn’t let his sexuality define him. That’s not necessarily a good thing, but we’re all about complex, messy queer characters, and this is one people should be talking about. Special thanks to for sharing her recollections of working on the show. SPOILER WARNING: We will talk about major plot points from Barry...
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Punky Brewster and Cave of Horrors
Gayest Episode Ever
“The Perils of Punky” (October 20, 1985) This might be the most famous weird episode of any TV show ever, and with good reason: it is utterly inexplicable how this parade of horrors came to be. It would be weird for any sitcom to deliberately scare its viewers, much less a show that catered specifically to kids. Wait, is the shared trauma of this Punky Brewster the reason why millennials can’t stop talking about old TV? No, really — is this why??? This is an episode of our Patreon bonus podcast Weirdest Episode Ever. Listen to the rest of those episodes or now also ! Check out Drew's...
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Golden Girls Tries to Spin Off the Neighbors Next Door
Gayest Episode Ever
“Empty Nests” (May 16, 1987) Happy summer! This is an episode of , our summer Patreon series looking into the times famous sitcoms attempted to use a backdoor pilot to launch a spinoff. This particular example is one of the most interesting, since what aired on Golden Girls ended up being very different from the spinoff that made it to air, Empty Nest. Here is the full list of Backdoor Pilots episodes, with links to the ones that are currently live on Patreon. More to come! Golden Girls, “Empty Nests” Gimme a Break, “Nell and the Kid” Married With Children, “Radio Free...
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Moe Szyslak Is Gay for Pay
Gayest Episode Ever
“Flaming Moe” (January 16, 2011) Today, LGBTQ characters on The Simpsons get to be more than walking gay jokes, and, really, this is one of the first episodes that shows Smithers as a (mostly) out member of the larger community in Springfield. It’s not perfect, however; there’s an homage to the 2008 film Milk that lands strangely, there’s a hetero love subplot for Skinner that takes acts two and three, and there’s a trans joke that underscores how advances in representation for LGBs didn’t include the Ts. But this episode, penned by future showrunner Matt Selman, shows the series...
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The Honeymooners Meet a Sexually Ambiguous Latino
Gayest Episode Ever
“Mama Loves Mambo” (May 3, 1956) While Ralph Kramden never met an out gay character on screen, he did once tussle with a new neighbor, Carlos Sanchez (Charles Korvin), who embodies all the traits of the “latin lover” stock character type. This includes being perceived as a threat to women while also being sensitive, empathetic and emotional — or in the midcentury binary, effeminate. We’re joined by Nu Julio himself, , to discuss why this classic sitcom strikes a different chord than I Love Lucy, what to make of Ralph Kramden’s domestic violence threats and why you maybe didn’t...
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American Dad Puts on a Play
Gayest Episode Ever
“Blood Crieth Unto Heaven” (January 27, 2013) Yes, we’re giving you two American Dads this season, with this one representing how this show uses high-concept premises better than most other sitcoms. In this one, the show presents itself as a stage play, complete with all the restrictions and encumbrances that come with denying itself the ability to do quick cuts, and what results is as funny as it is bizarre. Here to discuss why this episode is a stand-out is , who sings the praises of Wendy Schaal’s comedic delivery. Do you love old TV? Then check out , where you can get the...
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Alex Mack Is a Lesbian Icon
Gayest Episode Ever
“Bad Girl” (November 12, 1996) If you were not the target audience (and target age) for this live-action Nickelodeon series, you may be shocked to find out that The Secret World of Alex Mack is a sci-fi show. It’s basically Spider-Man with a baby gay lead protagonist, played with remarkable aplomb by Larisa Oleynik. We’re joined by , screenwriter on Hawkeye and the breakout hit Jury Duty, to discuss how very queer this show is — and in particular this episode, which plays out like a mid-90s lesbian teen romcom. Check out (no, not that one), who directed this episode and...
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The Evolution of Coming Out Episodes
Gayest Episode Ever
This week, we’re joined by , author of the new book , about the history of LGBTQ representation on American TV. Instead of a single episode, we’re talking about several, including some we’ve covered previously on GEE and some we have not! All in the Family, “Judging Books by Covers” (February 9, 1971) Soap, “Episode 1.8” (November 8, 1977) The Golden Girls, “Isn’t It Romantic?” (November 8, 1986) and “Sister of the Bride” (January 12, 1991) Ellen, “The Puppy Episode” (April 30, 1997) Will & Grace, “Homo for the Holidays” (November 25, 1999) ...
info_outline“The Doctor Is Out” (September 30, 2003)
Three episodes into its final season, the gay subtext of Frasier comes to a climax, so to speak, when a dashing opera director played by Patrick Stewart becomes infatuated with Dr. Crane — and Frasier goes along with it about as far as a confirmed hetero can. This is our final episode of the year! We did so many episodes! Isn’t it amazing what you can do when sex and socializing are completely off the table? AUGH!
Listen to our previous Frasier episodes: Frasier’s Boss Is Gay (our first episode ever!) and Frasier Has a Gay Dream.
And special thanks to Matt Baume whose Culture Cruise installment about this episode pointed out the relationship between it and the dawn of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and the perception that gay men can be a heterosexual’s guide to the finer side of life.
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This episode’s outro track is “Take It as a Game” by Evelyn Barry: Apple Music • Amazon Music • Spotify