Gayest Episode Ever
Back in the day, a major sitcom doing a gay episode was a big deal. A proper gay episode would get headlines, but it would get the attention of two young guys who were still figuring things out — sexuality-wise and culture-wise. Gayest Episode Ever has screenwriter Glen Lakin and stay-at-home journalist Drew Mackie going through the great and not-so-great gay episodes of sitcoms past.
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King of the Hill Accidentally Explores Muscle Gainer Subculture
11/20/2024
King of the Hill Accidentally Explores Muscle Gainer Subculture
“Bill, Bulk and the Body Buddies” (May 20, 2007) Can one illustration of a buff Bill Dauterive change your entire life in an instant? Well, for some people, yeah. This King of the Hill outing manages to stuff in a whole lot of imagery that will be familiar to a certain gay subculture. It’s inadvertent — and specifically this episode also features explicitly gay characters as a counterpoint to the rude, crude muscle bros, but there’s plenty to talk about nonetheless in Bill’s adventures through body transformation. Listen to our previous King of the Hill episodes . Follow , and on Bluesky!
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That Girl Meets the Cross-Dressing Cops
11/13/2024
That Girl Meets the Cross-Dressing Cops
"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 explicitly in the 1960s. Listen to the Monday Afternoon Movie episode about the Ted Bessell thriller .
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Boy Meets World Does a Scream Parody
10/30/2024
Boy Meets World Does a Scream Parody
“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 podcast . And if you want to read more about the Scream 3/Harvey Weinstein connection, read . Watch the new season of Glen's show, ! Listen to Drew discussing 16-bit horror video games . Episodes what we mentioned:
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Bewitched Unleashes the Gay Scourge That Is Uncle Arthur
10/23/2024
Bewitched Unleashes the Gay Scourge That Is Uncle Arthur
“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) , which deals with similar themes of ethnicity/culture erasure about the Paul Lynde Halloween Special The Monday Afternoon Movie episode , which starred Elizabeth Montgomery and Katherine Helmond And finally the Monday Afternoon Movie episode , with special guest Bruce Villance Finally, the Hollywood Squares zingers all come from .
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Karl Is the Simpsons' First Gay Friend
10/16/2024
Karl Is the Simpsons' First Gay Friend
“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 I did ? It still lives, even if you have to go to watch it now for stupid homophobic reasons. It has 3.7 million views so far! I just think that's neat! Also listen to the most recent Talking Simpsons take on this episode .
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A Different World Meets a Possible Lesbian
10/09/2024
A Different World Meets a Possible Lesbian
“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 discussing the made-for-TV horror films and .
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The Beetlejuice Cartoon Is Weird, Gross and Very Queer
10/02/2024
The Beetlejuice Cartoon Is Weird, Gross and Very Queer
“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 about all the Beetlejuice sequels that never were and their episode about A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and their episode about the making of Beetlejuice Cracked’s
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It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Stops Being Funny to Be Gay Instead
09/25/2024
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Stops Being Funny to Be Gay Instead
“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 question . Read of “Mac Finds His Pride.”
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The 80s Gay Fantasia That Is Jennifer Slept Here
09/04/2024
The 80s Gay Fantasia That Is Jennifer Slept Here
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 fantasy — because it pairs an awkward boy with glamorous ghost, and that’s secretly what every little gay boy wishes he had to guide him through his awkward years. This is peak 80s, but also it has one of the best sitcom themes ever, regardless of decade. Watch Drew’s , which features Ann Jillian looking like her most Debbie Harry ever. Gawk in awe at: The opening to The opening to The opening to The opening to The opening to Ann as the Red Queen +
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How Do You Write a Sitcom About a Gay Bashing?
08/29/2024
How Do You Write a Sitcom About a Gay Bashing?
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 special episode” tropes. We’re as shocked as anyone how good this turned out, and what’s more, it’s genuinely funny without underselling the gravity of the attack. You can now watch Glen’s movie, Being Frank, WATCH IT NOW! Please, watch (and !) on YouTube. The posting we used to do this episode only had 36 views as of the time this GEE first went live!
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The Complete History of Leon Carp, Roseanne's Gay Nemesis
08/21/2024
The Complete History of Leon Carp, Roseanne's Gay Nemesis
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 annals of gay supporting characters. He’s a villain, though much of his evildoing has nothing to do with his sexuality, and in this particular episode, his gayness doesn’t even come up — which is unusual, because usually gay supporting characters on sitcoms only show up to be gay and do nothing else.
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Green Acres Meets a Woman Named Ralph
08/14/2024
Green Acres Meets a Woman Named Ralph
This is a summer rerun of an episode that originally went live in May 2023. It's good even if you think you don't care about Green Acres, we swear! “What’s in a Name?” (February 16, 1966) On a show all about the zany inhabitants of Hooterville, Ralph Monroe (Mary Grace Canfield) stands out because the most unusual thing about her is her name. She works as a carpenter and dresses for her work, but that name alone is enough that most Hootervillians don’t know what pronoun to use for her. As we discuss with special guest , Ralph is not a trans character, but this episode about her seeking a new name so she can get married, offers enough to qualify her as interesting enough to merit her own episode of this podcast… darling. Since this episode originally went life, Josh's book, , went on sale. GO BUY IT!
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Tori from Saved by the Bell Is a Lesbian Icon
08/07/2024
Tori from Saved by the Bell Is a Lesbian Icon
“The New Girl” (September 19, 1992) Tori Scott is more than just the mysterious seventh Bayside High student who exists in a fractured Saved by the Bell timeline in which Jessie and Kelly don’t exist. She’s also really gay in the tradition of Jo from The Facts of Life, and not only because Leanna Creel, the actress who played Tori, came out in real life. Erin Fletcher returns to explain why she’s actually a better match for Zack than Kelly or AC Slater… because Zack Morris is the Blair Warner of Saved by the Bell. Listen to , in which we also discussed a lesbian-tinged ep titled “The New Girl.” (And yes, .) Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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The Gay History of Mama's Family
07/31/2024
The Gay History of Mama's Family
Leading up to our return in September, we are doing summer reruns, which is our way of repurposing episodes that with a little configuring (and retitling) might get more listens than they got back in the day. First up: Mama's Family! And next week, you'll be getting a full-fledged new episode about Saved by the Bell! Enjoy! “There Is Nothing Like the Dames” (February 17, 1990) Believe it or not, Mama’s Family has a deeply queer history. While the final result of — the syndicated revival that returned to TV after NBC canceled the it — bears little of that, this episode goes over all the ways a recurring sketch on The Carol Burnett Show originally told the story of a queer-coded artist who can’t relate to his family back home. It’s all the stranger to consider that Mama’s Family never did an explicitly queer episode, even with all those Bob Mackie costumes. Read in which Bubba actor Allan Kayser talks about his famously tight jeans. Vicki Lawrence sings of the Mama’s Family theme song. But also listen to her disco banger and the no. 1 murder mystery pop hit Watch the brilliant 1982 TV movie adaptation of the Harper family saga, . Also watch The Carol Burnett Show’s famous . But most importantly watch the that led to Mama’s Family, when it was just called “The Family.” It made Drew way more sad than sketch comedy usually does.
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Community’s Gay Dean Is Not Actually Gay
07/03/2024
Community’s Gay Dean Is Not Actually Gay
“Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” (March 31, 2015) In its sixth and final season, Community decided to explore the series-long running joke about Dean Pelton’s mysterious, complex sexuality. once again joins us to discuss how the dean is not actually gay — he may be a pansexual imp, after all — but in forcing him to pick a tidy label, this show does a good job showing how many queer people end up pigeonholing themselves in a way that doesn’t fully express who they are. Listen to Henry’s podcast, . Listen to his episode about on Podcast: The Ride. . The trailer for , which is not only the best thing Community ever did but also a justification for the medium of TV in general. Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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Drew Carey Has a Cross-Dressing Brother Who Just Might Be Trans
06/26/2024
Drew Carey Has a Cross-Dressing Brother Who Just Might Be Trans
“Drew’s Brother” (November 19, 1997) We finally did it! We not only found the perfect guest for this episode — writer, performer and UCB alum — but we also got the chance to tell the world that The Drew Carey Show deserves to live it. It’s not only the most successful Friends clone but also the only one that sustained a whole series about working class young people. And in its third season, it introduced Drew’s brother Steve (John Caroll Lynch) who is a cross-dresser who might just be a transwoman. What’s more, the show pairs Steve off with Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney), who is dragtastic and deserving of queer icon status in her own right. Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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The Associates Meets a Gay Joke It Doesn’t Like
06/19/2024
The Associates Meets a Gay Joke It Doesn’t Like
“The Censors,” (April 10, 1980) James L. Brooks followed up the hit Taxi with another workplace ensemble that skewed decidedly fancier: The Associates featured a young and unknown Martin Short among a group of fresh hires at a Wall Street law firm. The show didn’t work and is almost forgotten today. But its second-to-last episode did feature a trip to the Hollywood set of a sitcom where a producer battles an overzealous censor. There’s a gay sublot, but the overall story is a cautionary tale that applies to people making TV today just as much as it did four decades ago Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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How I Met Your Mother Meets a Gay Brother
06/12/2024
How I Met Your Mother Meets a Gay Brother
"Single Stamina" (November 27, 2006) Now that HIMYM has been off the air for a full decade, it’s worth considering how this show holds up better than most from the early 2000s did. Not only did it give us Robin Sparkles, it just might be the only TV show to compare equally well to both Friends and Lost, as improbable as that sounds. This episode has Wayne Brady playing a gay character in a bit of stunt casting that worked a lot better before he came out, but it also just might be the thing that convinced Neil Patrick Harris to finally come out as well. Listen to t, all about Conan: The Adventurer and the inherent gayness of the “barbarian” genre in general. Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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What’s Gay About Jeopardy(!)?
05/29/2024
What’s Gay About Jeopardy(!)?
What if we broke format to discuss America’s favorite smartypants game show? Well, we did it. And special guest joins us to discuss Amy Schneider, who became Jeopardy’s second-longest-running winner ever — and as a result became a household name and a trans icon. Listen to Emily’s Jeopardy podcast, What Is…? A Jeopardy! Podcast on or ! Listen to Peaches Christ and also Drew on ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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Amen’s Closeted Sitcom Star Smackdown
05/22/2024
Amen’s Closeted Sitcom Star Smackdown
“The Courtship of Bess Richards” (October 4, 1986) The second episode of Amen concerns Sherman Hemsley’s Ernie trying to land his choir a new singer in Nell Carter’s Bess, and the result is a comedy of errors in which both he and she perform romantic interest that neither is capable of actually feeling. The result is a WWF-style wrestling match between these two iconic sitcom stars, and we’re joined once again by to discuss how this is rendered all the stranger because Hemsley and Carter both were closeted and therefore all too accustomed to acting out hetero identities different from how they lived privately. This episode mentions a TV Guide article about Sherman Hemsley’s private life that I now cannot find online. However, I bought the issue on eBay and will post as soon as it arrives. You can see Zach Wilson’s posting of it . Thanks, Zach! Buy Dr. Alfred’s book, . Listen to that Alfred mentions. Watch a clip of in 2000’s Screwed. Listen to Dr. Alfred’s previous episodes:
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Mary and Phyllis Date a Possible Homosexual
05/15/2024
Mary and Phyllis Date a Possible Homosexual
“Menage a Phyllis” (November 2, 1974) In the third-season episode “My Brother’s Keeper,” Rhoda famously said the word “gay,” turning a plot about her association with Phyllis’ brother on its head. Two seasons later, Phyllis shows up in another episode that discusses gay issues but weirdly doesn’t say that word. Regardless, there’s perhaps more to be made of the newsroom’s opinions about what codes as gay, and returns to discuss this and what we’ll call the “Murray Slaughter problem.” Read Dead Buckley’s 2018 piece Episodes referenced: Dan’s previous episode, Our previous Mary Tyler Moore episode, Our episode Our episode
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Facts of Life Does a Covert Gay Episode With Cousin Geri
05/08/2024
Facts of Life Does a Covert Gay Episode With Cousin Geri
“Cousin Geri” (December 24, 1980) Fun game for listeners: Take a shot every time Drew mentions the phrase “gigantic bitch” in connection with Lisa Welchel’s Blair, who is in rare form this episode as she shuns her disabled cousin Geri for reasons that aren’t the ones you’re probably assuming. In this discussion, we bring up why Geri Jewell is a trailblazer as far as being queer and also one other thing and also why “actress recurring on Deadwood” is lowkey code for lesbian. Erin Fletcher, we want you back for that Saved by the Bell episode. Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by . This is a podcast.
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Drawn Together Forces Xandir Out of the Closet
04/24/2024
Drawn Together Forces Xandir Out of the Closet
“Gay Bash” (November 10, 2004) For better or worse, Drawn Together represents a very real trend in mid-2000s humor. It specifically sought out to tell the most offensive jokes it could get on air, but that’s what makes it surprising that the episode where Xandir admits he’s gay isn’t the parade of easy jokes you might expect. The B plot sucks rancid balls, to the point that we don’t even use clips from it in this discussion, but you might be surprised how this animated reality show makes its token gay a sympathetic guy. Check out with series creators Dave Jesser and Matt Silvertsein, from which we grabbed a few anecdotes about the development of Drawn Together. Listen to our Cartoons That Made Us Gay episode about . Listen to t, hosted by Golan the Insatiable creator Josh Miller. Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by .
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Daria Should Have Kissed Jane Instead of Tom
04/17/2024
Daria Should Have Kissed Jane Instead of Tom
“Dye! Dye! My Darling!” (August 2, 2000) Spend a little time in a Daria fan community and you’ll find folks who ship the title character with her best friend, Jane. The show actually never does a gay episode and only gets the slightest bit queer in the first movie, Is It Fall Yet?, which has Jane affirming her heterosexuality despite how very queer she might seem. In this episode, we’re discussing the nonetheless existent lesbian vibes between Daria and Jane — and who better to offer input on this than Talking Simpsons cohost ? Sure, he’s straight, but it turns out that straight men can relate to female characters too. (We were shocked!) As it turns out, Bob and Henry’s What a Cartoon podcast covers not only the Daria episode that immediately precedes this one, and also which as we discuss is a crucial turning point in the development of Daria Morgandorfer. This week, Glen and Drew are guests on Talking Simpsons, discussing "Three Gays of the Condo" and why it's not great! If you need more of our voices in your life, have a listen . Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by .
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Lucy Meets a Drag Queen
04/10/2024
Lucy Meets a Drag Queen
“Lucy and Jim Bailey” (November 6, 1972) Basically, Lucille Ball did a solid for one gay performer, but in doing this, she also helped make gays a little less scary for America. Jim Bailey was a female impersonator who who had already made appearances on late night TV for this uncanny ability to turn himself into female celebs. Lucy, however, gave him a showcase on her popular prime time sitcom, showing her viewers that not only were drag queens not scary, but in fact they can be a lot of fun. Watch the episode of The Lucy Show where Lucy almost drowned . And read the book that details both versions of the story . What the episode of the Desilu-produced game show . Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by .
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A Queer History of SNL, Part Four: The Lost Years
04/03/2024
A Queer History of SNL, Part Four: The Lost Years
People use the term “the lost years” differently when speaking of Saturday Night Live, but this podcast is using it specifically from the time Lorne Michaels left the show after season five up until season eleven. Aside from Eddie Murphy’s presence on the show, these are the sketches that are less remembered today because they weren’t rerun on Comedy Central in the 2000s as much and they’re largely absent from the cache of episodes preserved online today. And that’s too bad, because this is when the show boasted some legends in the cast — Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Billy Crystal, Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Martin Short and Damon Wayans among them, as well as queer cast members Terry Sweeney, Denny Dillon and Danitra Vance. The sketches (and click if you want to watch them): “SoHo Lesbians” (S6E10: Debbie Harry) “Little Richard Simmons” (S7E1: No host) “James Coburn Is a Homosexual” (S7E11: James Coburn) “Focus on Film: Making Love” (S7E12: Bruce Dern) “Penny Lane” (S10E11: Roy Scheider) “Pinklisting” (S11E1: Madonna) “Mr. Monopoly” (S11E12: Griffin Dunne) Monologue (S11E16: Catherine Oxenberg) “Lesbian Pick-Ups” (S11E18: Anjelica Huston) Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by .
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Sex and the City Meets an Effeminate Heterosexual
03/13/2024
Sex and the City Meets an Effeminate Heterosexual
“Evolution” (August 19, 1999) If you came of age in the late 90s or early 2000s, you live in a world informed by Sex and the City — whether you realize it or not. It’s probably one of the most influential TV shows to air during our lifetimes, and so it’s more than time that we look at one of its many LGBTQ-themed episodes. Joining us to discuss Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte is returning guest , who has big feelings about why this show matters. Listen to about Soap. Most of Drew’s background on how SATC ended up at HBO comes from . And here is the 1991 New York Times article about waving at each other from across Central Park. Listen to Drew discussing Bowser, King of the Koopa, on . Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by .
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Newhart Meets a Gay
03/06/2024
Newhart Meets a Gay
"Homes and Jojo" (May 1, 1989) Newhart is a show about white people who live in the snow, and while 70s-era Bob Newhart sitcom is the one pop culture remembers better, this is the longer-lived, more-Emmy-nominated of the two. What the 80s-era Bob New1hart sitcom has working in its favor are future Simpsons showrunner David Mirkin, who gives a host of wacky townspeople not unlike what you’d find in Springfield, and the duo of Julia Duffy and Peter Scolari, who male a perfect yuppie couple worthy of mockery. It’s great. Here, learn about it. Listen to Smart Mouth, GEE”s sister show, and in particular check out the episode , because if you’re listening to this podcast you’re probably queer and probably also you eat food. Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • And yes, we do have ! We even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This episode’s art was designed by .
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Jerri Blank Is a Pansexual Sex Predator
02/28/2024
Jerri Blank Is a Pansexual Sex Predator
“Blank Relay” (August 13, 2000) Honestly, we could have picked just about any episode of Strangers With Candy to focus on for this podcast about queer themes, but we ended up deciding on the one where we see Jerri Blank at her most girl hungry. It’s light on Mr. Noblet and Mr. Jellineck, but we can always circle back to this one in another two hundred episodes, right? Watch the Exit 57 ” sketch, which does not translate especially well to an audio-only format. Watch , the 1970 PSA featuring Florrie Fisher, the real-life inspiration for Jerri Blank. Listen to of the Unexplained podcast. And we dropped a whole hell of a lot of Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie episodes. Here are all of them: (the one where Helen Hunt doesn’t jump through a window) (the one where she *does* jump through a window) And finally and , both with Rose Abdoo
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Gimme a Break Transformed Into a Lesbian Perfect Strangers
02/21/2024
Gimme a Break Transformed Into a Lesbian Perfect Strangers
“Joey’s First Crush” (January 28, 1987) Few other shows changed as much as Gimme a Break, which began as a fish-out-of-water sitcom that had Nell Carter playing mom to three white girls in California but ended up with Nell and her best friend, Telma Hopkins’ Addy, co-parenting two white boys in New York. Minus the kids, it’s basically a female-female twist on Perfect Strangers, only they don’t get steady boyfriends. Perhaps in an effort to make the show seem less gay, they tossed in a happily married character… who was played by newcomer Rosie O’Donnell. This episode, which is the second of Gimme a Break’s outings to feature actual gay characters, showcases a lot of how this show ended up pretty damn gay. … Now that I think about it, maybe the only sitcom that changed as much over its run was Ellen — and that’s pretty notable, right? Listen to . Learn all about Betty and Barney Hill in the Monday Afternoon Movie episode about 1975’s . Watch:
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