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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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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The Simpsons Does a Riff on Lesbian Cult Classic
02/14/2024
The Simpsons Does a Riff on Lesbian Cult Classic
“Lisa the Drama Queen” (January 25, 2009) So here’s an interesting one. In its twentieth season, The Simpson did an episode inspired by Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 Peter Jackson movie that has Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey playing schoolgirls who flee into a fantasy world and also each other. More than a decade later, this story would play out again, only with Lisa Simpson and a new character voiced by Emily Blunt, and that might seem like a strange combo, especially because the Simpson version nixes the sex and violence of the original, but it nonetheless works. Special thanks to the writer of this episode, Brian Kelley, for sharing his memories of how this episode came to be. For a limited time, you can still screen Heavenly Creatures via the GEE Patreon, but that window is closing. Info . Listen to Drew on the In Retrospect podcast’s episodes about the “lesbian/Lebanese” joke ( & ) 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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How Does a Conservative Sitcom Do a Gay Episode?
02/07/2024
How Does a Conservative Sitcom Do a Gay Episode?
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (November 29, 2011 Yes, Tim Allen’s follow-up to Home Improvement got branded as the most conservative sitcom on network TV, but is that fair? We’re honestly not sure, because the ninth episode of Last Man Standing’s first season features a gay couple. We’re mostly good with how this plays out, but we also think this show changed in its second season. We’re also skimming over the second-season episode “Bullying,” which ended up arguing that it’s okay to say “gay.” Key takeaway: Tim Allen may be less conservative than Kelsey Grammer. Listen to . Remember a short-lived sitcom from Fox's early days? Tell us about it (there’s that’s open to even non-members), and we may cover it for our upcoming bonus miniseries, The Fox Files! 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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The Gay Origins of Mister Ed
01/31/2024
The Gay Origins of Mister Ed
“Sorority House” (February 8, 1961) A few times on this podcast, we’ve bent over backwards to find a gay interpretation of a sitcom that never did anything gay, but this is not one of those. Mister Ed was developed by Arthur Lubin, a closeted gay director who was married to a woman but eventually ended up cohabitating with a male companion. It’s interesting, then, that he’d be into making a TV show out of a story about Wilbur Post, who’s married to a woman and who’s outwardly a traditional guy even if his most significant relationship is with a male — a horse, but a male nonetheless — that he has to keep secret. Primitive though it might be, Mister Ed is actually the blueprint for more traditional magic sitcoms like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. You can watch this episode of Mister Ed for free . Want to hear your words on an upcoming GEE? We’re covering the Simpsons episode “Lisa the Drama Queen” and therefore we’re offering patrons a chance to watch the movie that inspired it: 1994’s Heavenly Creatures, which is not easy to watch online nowadays. Details at . 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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Frasier Has Two Daddies
01/24/2024
Frasier Has Two Daddies
“Fathers and Sons” (May 3, 2003) And we’re back! Our first regular episode of the new year returns to the first-ever show we discussed: Frasier. It’s the episode where David Ogden Stiers plays an old colleague of Frasier’s late mother who acts more like Frasier and Niles than Martin does. This is the final time the series put a spotlight on the series innate queerness, and in selecting Stiers, it also tacitly endorses the notion that his M*A*S*H character helped inspire Frasier Crane. Listen to , Josh Hallmark’s new true crime podcast about serial murders in Tampa’s gay community — and while you’re at it, also give a listen to his other podcast, , about serial killer Israel Keyes. Want to hear your words on an upcoming GEE? We’re covering the Simpsons episode “Lisa the Drama Queen” and therefore we’re offering patrons a chance to watch the movie that inspired it: 1994’s Heavenly Creatures, which is not easy to watch online nowadays. Details at . Listen to . 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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Sailor Moon Meets a Lesbian Couple
01/11/2024
Sailor Moon Meets a Lesbian Couple
“Coldhearted Uranus: Makoto in Danger” (May 14, 1994) It’s a new year, and we’re giving you a new episode of Sailor Moon — now with 200 percent more lesbian content! This third-season episode not only showcases Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune, but also uses them as a way to explore how Makoto/Sailor Jupiter is the most queer-coded of the core five Sailor Guardians. What’s most notable about this episode, however, is the fact that the Viz dub of it actually re-writes the original Japanese dialogue to seem less homophobic than the original version was. Read Drew’s if you want to know how the connection to Rose of Versailles. And check out posted in response to the first Sailor Moon episode, about why it wasn’t surprising to have a same-sex couple in the first season of the show. Watch comparing Molly’s original DiC accent to Mia Farrow’s. And looking into how the Viz dub played down the homophobia of the original version of this episode. Listen to , about Zoisite, on the main feed *or* if you’re fancy listen to , about Fisheye, on the Patreon feed.
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Bob’s Burgers Celebrates Christmas at a Gay Rave
12/22/2023
Bob’s Burgers Celebrates Christmas at a Gay Rave
“The Bleakening” (December 10, 2017) We’re closing out 2023 with a two-part Bob’s Burgers Christmas mystery that also happens to be the last episode a cult favorite trans character, Marshmallow, appeared in before vanishing from the series for six years. This is basically our way of discussing the “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?” episode without having to drag you all through it, because for all its flaws, it did give the world the cherished treasure that is Marshmallow. Happy holidays! Watch that got a job making art for this show — starting with this very episode. Totally Trans so you don’t have to! Listen to , about Bob's alleged bisexuality. 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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Frank’s Place Makes Hanukkah Gay
12/19/2023
Frank’s Place Makes Hanukkah Gay
A new episode on a Tuesday?! Well, the way our schedule ended up working out was that we are finishing the year with two Christmas episodes, and we figured it would be better to get those both out before the actual holiday, so you’re getting this today and then our second Christmas ep (and the last ep of 2023) on Friday. Enjoy, we hope! “Season’s Greetings” (December 14, 1987) Perhaps you haven’t heard of Frank’s Place. All the incentive you need for this episode is that Frank’s Place is that it won Emmys, it won critical praise, and it’s still remembered today as a showcase for a type of black American who wasn’t often depicted on the small screen. Despite all that, it only lasted a single season. joins us to discuss perhaps the only sitcom episode to feature a Hanukkah dinner ruined by a coming out. And BTW, there is a twist ending we are still unsettled by. Read Brian’s work but also at his website, , which frequently dives deep into sitcom history. Watch this Frank’s Place (and all episodes, if you want) at . Read the LA Times piece we cite in this discussion . 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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Suddenly Susan Meets a Gay
12/13/2023
Suddenly Susan Meets a Gay
“A Boy Like That” (April 24, 1997) Heads up: We briefly discuss suicide episode in discussing on of this show’s cast members. If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, the U.S. hotline to call is 988. Well, it took us 214 episodes, but we finally arrived at Suddenly Susan. You might dismiss Brook Shields’ entry into the post-Friends landscape as an also-ran, and you are maybe right, but this first-season gay episode manages to give more depth and consideration to its one-off gay character than its fellow Must See TV alums did. That’s something. Plus Kathy Griffin is here. Here’s cited in this piece, and here’s t Buy new book, . 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 Three: The “Not Ready for Prime Time” Era
12/06/2023
A Queer History of SNL, Part Three: The “Not Ready for Prime Time” Era
Welcome to the first of our in-depth looks at LGBTQ humor in specific eras of Saturday Night Live. Of course, we’re starting at the beginning, in the classic era, and yeah, some of them are better than you’d guess and some of them are so much worse. It’s a real grab bag, but there are lessons to be learned about how SNL came to be what it is today and how American humor has evolved since 1975. Buy new book, . Watch all the sketches featured in this episode . Here are the sketches, in order: Jamitol (S1E1: George Carlin, Oct. 11 1975) Long Distance (S1E4: Candice Bergen, Nov. 8 1975) Latent Elf (S1E8: Candice Bergen, Dec. 20 1975) Household Hints (S1E16: Anthony Perkins, March 13, 1976) The Snake-Handling O’Sheas (S2E2: Norman Lear, Sep. 25, 1976) Monologue (S4E11: Cicely Tyson, Feb. 10, 1979) The Ex-Police (S4E11: Cicely Tyson, Feb. 10, 1979) Miles Cowperthwaite (S4E18: Michael Palin, May 12, 1979) Not for Transexuals Only (S4E20: Buck Henry, May 26, 1979) The Continuing Correspondences of Eleanor Roosevelt (S5E3: Bill Russell, Oct. 20 1979) 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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Gimme a Break Meets Yet Another 80s Orphan
11/29/2023
Gimme a Break Meets Yet Another 80s Orphan
“Nell and the Kid” (April 28, 1983) As if network TV didn’t have enough sitcoms about non-biological parents stepping in to care for parentless children, Gimme a Break — itself a show about a woman acting as a substitute mother for three girls — has a second season episode in which Nell Carter’s character meets a spunky orphan (LaShana Dendy) and then entrusts her to the care of the neighborhood deli owner (Don Rickles). It didn’t end up becoming its own series, but Drew and Glen are pretty sure that this serves as a sort of soft launch for another show that has the same premise and which launched on NBC’s schedule the following fall. You can watch this episode of Gimme a Break . Listen to us discuss . 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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We Can Be Sad About Matthew Perry Dying and Still Think Friends Is Homophobic
11/21/2023
We Can Be Sad About Matthew Perry Dying and Still Think Friends Is Homophobic
“The One With the Memorial Service” (March 13, 2003) Since Matthew Perry died, the tone of conversations about Friends has shifted from looking at all the reasons it wasn’t so great to trying to focus on the reasons we like it. That’s fair. Grief does that. But in seeking comfort in Friends, let’s not rush to thinking that Chandler Bing was something more than one long-running gay panic joke. Matthew Perry was a great comedic actor and we enjoy him delivering a one-liner with perfect timing, but we can acknowledge that without giving Friends a pass for its homophobia. Here’s that inspired this episode, and here’s where it originally appeared, with its original headline. Friends, previously on GEE: Listen to , a great podcast about one woman’s journey to understand how her uncle’s autobiographical movie script became a B-action movie starring Rob Lowe.
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The Complete History of George Costanza’s Homosexuality
11/15/2023
The Complete History of George Costanza’s Homosexuality
“The Note” (September 18, 1991) Seinfeld kicked off its third season with a rather risky premiere about George’s dick twitching during a massage from a man. What follows is a more earnest exploration of gay panic than you might expect from a Must See TV sitcom, and it happens to be the most in-depth look at George’s complex sexuality, though we will also be discussing every other time that Seinfeld implied that he’s something other than straight. An unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality? Yeah, sure, George. There is a video companion to this episode! You can see all of the clips from the entire run of Seinfeld ! And you can view it even if you’re not a patron, because I’m nice and I want you to enjoy this episode. Seinfeld on GEE previously: 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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The Sarah Silverman Program Has Gigantic, Orange Gays
11/08/2023
The Sarah Silverman Program Has Gigantic, Orange Gays
“Muffin’ Man” (March 1, 2007) You know what’s super complicated? The Sarah Silverman Program. It’s funny, but just talking about why it’s funny in 2023 necessitates a lot of discussion of controversial topics including but not limited to ironic racism, straight dudes playing gay characters, January 6 and several people who are now canceled. Nonetheless, Drew (and not Glen, because Glen is not in this episode) is joined by to discuss why this show’s queer representation was novel and still should be important all these years later. And yes, if you’re like “I could swear that Drew said this week would be Seinfeld,” you are correct; that episode will now be coming next week. Stay tuned! Did you know that Henry also has a podcast? It’s called , and it’s a lot like GEE just specifically about The Simpsons. Watch Glen's episode of Ninjago: Dragons Rising, now streaming on Netflix! And if you're not sure what a Ninjago is, watch , Glen's video series that explains the history of the Ninjago TV 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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Benson Literally Plays a Game With Death
10/31/2023
Benson Literally Plays a Game With Death
Happy Halloween! You're getting this week’s episode one day early because it is, in fact, a Halloween episode. “The Stranger” (October 25, 1985) Benson may have been a more conventional sitcom than Soap, the show it spun off, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t have its exceedingly weird moments — including this final season Halloween special in which Benson must play a trivia game with death personified in order to save the lives of 41 hapless schoolchildren. It’s basically the last moment in time an otherwise grounded sitcom could get away with this, and we’re lucky to have on hand to discuss it. Also he suggested it! Please don’t spoil Poker Face for him. Also give a listen to — and check out the episodes Drew guested on, about and . The supercut of Kraus yelling “I can hear you” (or some variation thereof) was excerpted from , posted by . The full version is much longer. Watch Glen's episode of Ninjago: Dragons Rising, now streaming on Netflix! And if you're not sure what a Ninjago is, watch , Glen's video series that explains the history of the Ninjago TV 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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Two Guys, a Girl and a Post-Scream Slasher Halloween
10/28/2023
Two Guys, a Girl and a Post-Scream Slasher Halloween
Want to watch this episode, which is not streaming and is hard to find online? You can do that right now ! “Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween” (October 28, 1998) It didn’t want to be Friends. It really tried to give the cast real jobs, at the very least. But in the end, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place lost the workplace setting and added three more characters, essentially becoming another Friends wannabe. Along the way, however, it had some genuinely funny episodes and even did a non-canonical Halloween special that killed off the entire cast in the style of Scream-inspired 90s slasher flicks. If nothing else, give them credit for not couching their weird episode in the context of a dream. The logo for Weirdest Episode Ever was designed by . The theme music was composed by . 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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Family Matters Does Dracula
10/25/2023
Family Matters Does Dracula
“Dark and Stormy Night” (October 28, 1994) We’ve talked before how Family Matters has a more liberal take on typical hijinx than most sitcoms, but the show’s sixth season Halloween episode went full on Dracula — by which we mean Francis Ford Coppola. It’s really ambitious! And Hariette has never looked sexier! And we’re very stoked to have on hand to discuss it because not everyone would be able to spot this darkling little gem hidden in the 1994 TGIF lineup. Listen to Michael’s podcast — and in particular listen to the episode . It’s a hoot. Watch Glen's episode of Ninjago: Dragons Rising, now streaming on Netflix! And if you're not sure what a Ninjago is, watch , Glen's video series that explains the history of the Ninjago TV 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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Ghosts Has a Gay Revolutionary War Ghost
10/18/2023
Ghosts Has a Gay Revolutionary War Ghost
“D&D” (November 18, 2021) Beware the gay ghost! What are the odds that when your friend writes a book about Baron von Steuben, allegedly gay Revolutionary War hero, there would also be a current sitcom that features a gay Revolutionary War character? Pretty slim, we’d say! But this happy coincidence allowed us to not only promote new book, , but also to dive into Ghosts, the CBS sitcom that is one of the more popular sitcoms on TV today. We’re happy to report that being a CBS sitcom means something quite different today than it did just a few years ago. You should probably want a copy of Josh’s book. Buy a copy ! Watch , Glen's series that explains the history of the Ninjago series and will help you understand his episode of Ninjago: Dragons Rising. 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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Fine, We Will Cover Ellen’s Big Coming Out Episode
10/11/2023
Fine, We Will Cover Ellen’s Big Coming Out Episode
“The Puppy Episode” (April 30, 1997) After a great deal of self-reflection, we decided that maybe it was worth discussing the most famous episode of Ellen Degeneres’ 90s sitcom, even if it is the most analyzed piece of LGBTQ-centric television ever. Whether we were correct in thinking this remains up to you, but we nonetheless have offerings of talking points about this hourlong coming out extravaganza, including but not limited to how much of this show’s latter existence was dedicated to meta commentary. If nothing else, Ellen — the person *and* the show — understood how people were interpreting all this. Watch: the supercut of , compiled by so I didn’t have to. Read: about the drama going on backstage during Ellen’s first season. Watch , Glen's series that explains the history of the Ninjago series and will help you understand his episode of Ninjago: Dragons Rising. 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 Two
10/04/2023
A Queer History of SNL, Part Two
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 bit of cultural whiplash. Listen to part one . Here are the sketches, in order: Girl With No Gaydar (S27E17: The Rock, 4/13/2000) Donatella Versace (S30E18: Johnny Knoxville 5/7/2005) Two Gay Guys (S32E4: Hugh Laurie 10/28/2006) Deep House Dish (S32E7: Matthew Fox 12/1/2006) Vincent Price Holiday Special (S34E16: Alec Baldwin 2/14/2009) Stefon (S36E15: Russell Brand 2/12/2011) Right Side of the Bed (S40E19: Scarlett Johansson 5/2/2015) Dyke & Fats (S39E16: Louis C.K. 3/29/2014) Whiskers R We (S41E13: Melissa McCarthy 2/13/2016) Bowen Yang Surprisingly Gay (S46E17: Carey Mulligan 4/10/2021) If you want to watch these, they're all posted on Patreon . You can see Drew’s master list of LGBTQ-focused SNL sketches . Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • •
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A Queer History of SNL, Part One
09/27/2023
A Queer History of SNL, Part One
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 it’s worth discussion. Here are this episode’s sketches: Anita Bryant (s5e16 — Burt Reynolds, April 12, 1980) Dion (s9e8 — Flip Wilson, December 10, 1983) Nancy Reagan (s11e2 — John Lithgow, November 16, 1985) Coffee Talk (s16e13 — Roseanne Barr & Tom Arnold, February 2, 1989) It’s Pat (s17e3 — Kirstie Alley, October 12, 1991) Lyle the Effeminate Heterosexual (s17e16 — Mary Stuart Masterson, March 21, 1992) Mickey the Dyke (s22e8 — Martin Short, December 7, 1996) Ambiguously Gay Duo (s23e20 — David Duchovny, May 9, 1998) Jeffrey’s (s26e12 — Sean Hayes, February 2, 2001) Mango (s27e9 — Ellen DeGeneres, December 15, 2001) You can watch the sketches . You can see Drew’s master list of LGBTQ-focused SNL sketches . 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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Barry’s NoHo Hank Is a Great Gay Villain
08/22/2023
Barry’s NoHo Hank Is a Great Gay Villain
“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 through season three, episode four. Read the New York Times piece on . Listen to Drew and Glen on Talking Simpsons. 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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Punky Brewster and Cave of Horrors
08/08/2023
Punky Brewster and Cave of Horrors
“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 video of all the times Brandon the dog was clearly not acting and of what was happening during this episode. Most of the quotes used in this piece come from on this episode. Watch Drew’s supercut of the Soleil Moon Frye’s pre-Punky made-for-TV horror movie, — and listen to ! The logo for Weirdest Episode Ever was designed by . The theme music was composed by . 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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Golden Girls Tries to Spin Off the Neighbors Next Door
07/25/2023
Golden Girls Tries to Spin Off the Neighbors Next Door
“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 Trumaine” 227, “The Audit” The Cosby Show, “Mr. Quiet” The Nanny, “Chatterbox” Who’s the Boss?, “Living Dolls” Support us at the $5-a-month level or higher to get every new episode of Backdoor Pilots in your feed as they go live. Is there maybe some bad blood between Golden Girls creator Susan Harris and Rita Moreno, who almost starred in the spinoff? We talk about it in the episode, but I also detailing this weird bit of TV history in case you’d like to explore it with visual aids. The theme song to this series was composed and performed by . The art for the series was designed by .
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Moe Szyslak Is Gay for Pay
07/11/2023
Moe Szyslak Is Gay for Pay
“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 is learning and evolving. Watch (season 1 through 31) to get that view count over 4 million. Watch the new season of Ninjago: Dragons Rising June 1 ! And if you don’t know what a Ninjago is, watch Ninjago Decoded, starting . You can now watch Glen’s movie, Being Frank, — and now also . WATCH IT NOW!
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The Honeymooners Meet a Sexually Ambiguous Latino
07/05/2023
The Honeymooners Meet a Sexually Ambiguous Latino
“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 see The Honeymooners in syndication back in the day. Watch Tony's new movie Maximum Truth on , or . Watch the new season of Ninjago: Dragons Rising June 1 ! And if you don’t know what a Ninjago is, watch Ninjago Decoded, starting . You can now watch Glen’s movie, Being Frank, . WATCH IT NOW! Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • •
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American Dad Puts on a Play
06/28/2023
American Dad Puts on a Play
“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 series run of various classic sitcoms in a way that’s more permanent than you can get on streaming services. We are fans! And we use this site to make this show! Should this technically be a Weirdest Episode Ever? Sure, but here’s the thing: When we label episodes in the main feed as this, you all tend to click on them less. Will dropping this on the main feed with a non-Weird title get us more listens? Only time will tell. Subscribe to ! Listen to , where he discusses writing a Simpsons with his papá. If you want to hear about another good, weird American Dad episode, listen to Talking Simpsons’ episode about Also listen to Drew and Glen on their episode about . Watch the new season of Ninjago: Dragons Rising June 1 ! And if you don’t know what a Ninjago is, watch Ninjago Decoded, starting . You can now watch Glen’s movie, Being Frank, . WATCH IT NOW! Go shop at Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • •
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