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.

Cybill Befriends the Gay Waiter 03/03/2021

Cybill Befriends the Gay Waiter “Three Women and a Dummy” (May 13, 1996) Alongside Murphy Brown, Designing Women and The Nanny, Cybill was one of CBS’s female-forward heavy-hitters in the 1990s. It didn’t last as long as the other three — and yes, there’s quite the story there — but in its four seasons it did manage to give us the Waiter. Played by Tim Maculan, he’s one of the more important queer characters to recurr on a popular sitcom in the decade. We discuss this, plus Alan Ball’s involvement, the whole Cybill vs. Baranski controversy and whether this show was a remake of Absolutely Fabulous or not. Listen to , all about the history of tabouleh. Also listen to , Drew’s video game music podcast. Read recounting her experiences with CBS boogeyman Les Moonves. Listen to . Glen is right: There was of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Watch Drew’s video compilation of . Buy Glen’s movie . Support us ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • • • This episode’s outro track is “Maria Magdalena” by Sandra: • • /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/18171839

Interview: Demetrius Andre Bady 02/26/2021

Interview: Demetrius Andre Bady What does it take to get a teen-centric show like Moesha to do a gay episode? Well, we talked to the writer of “Labels,” Demetrius Andre Bady, who explains how the idea arose, how the final product differed from the original script, and what he thinks the legacy of the episode is today. Even better? He tells us which of the Moesha cast members pulled him aside to praise the bravery it took to push for this gay-inclusive script. Dr. Alfred L. Martin returns to ask questions and jokingly accuse Demetrius of malice. . BTW, this interview will make a lot more sense if you listen to . Follow . Follow . Support us ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • • • /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/18102338

Moesha Meets a Gay Guy 02/24/2021

Moesha Meets a Gay Guy “Labels” (October 1, 1996) It’s the tale of two sitcom episodes. Depending on who you are, this is either an episode about Moesha meeting a gay teen who’s scared to come out, or it’s an episode about the dangers of gossip. Maybe it’s both. We are joined once again by to discuss the importance of Moesha, why this episode of TV is utterly unique and who the cutest boy at Crenshaw High School is. (Spoiler: It’s Omar.) Listen to our previous outing with Alfred, about . Read more about Alfred’s work . Also read for Flow. Watch the trailer for or rent , the 1989 art film by Marlon T. Riggs about black queer life during the AIDS epidemic. Listen to Smart Mouth’s with Julia Loken — and check out the show’s new swag: . Shop for Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on . Watch Drew’s video compilation of . Buy Glen’s movie, . Support us ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • • • This episode’s outro track is “Evolution” by Sheryl Lee Ralph: • • /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/18072530

Roseanne’s Friend Is a Lesbian (Later Bi) 02/17/2021

Roseanne’s Friend Is a Lesbian (Later Bi) “Ladies’ Choice” (November 10, 1992) Ninety episodes later, we dared to venture back to Roseanne. How does its legacy of LGBT advocacy hold up all these years later — and in light of the show’s namesake’s hard right turn into all manner of Trumpy badness? Glen and Drew have their takes, but that ultimate decision is up to you. However, this episode represents a milestone in representation as it makes Sandra Bernhard’s Nancy a queer part of the show for seasons to come. Listen to . Listen to Roseanne writer Stan Zimmerman share his stories about Sandra Bernhard in . And if you need more Morgan Fairchild in your life, listen to the Monday Afternoon Movie . Also listen to the two final installments of Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie’s mini-season about the made-for-TV sequels to The Stepford Wives: and . In fact, Tim hosts his own queer horror podcast, Happy Horror Time. There’s a promo in this week’s episode and you can listen to episodes of his show . Shop for Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on . Watch Drew’s video compilation of . Buy Glen’s movie, . Support us ! Follow: • • • • • Listen: • • • • • • This episode’s outro track is “Pistol in My Pocket” by Lana Pellay, which despite being a total banger doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, so I guess just listen to it ? Or maybe ? /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/17980772

Phyllis Dates a Homo 02/10/2021

Phyllis Dates a Homo Rest in Peace, Cloris Leachman. She leaves behind a legacy that includes such sitcom greats as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Facts of Life, The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle and Raising Hope, as well as a great body of other acting work. For two seasons, she also starred in a spinoff to Mary Tyler Moore that had Phyllis Lindstrom starting over in San Francisco. And in the second season of that show, she dated a man who turned out to be gay. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/17895221

Patty Bouvier Has a Girlfriend + Every LGBT Joke on The Simpsons Ever 01/28/2021

Patty Bouvier Has a Girlfriend + Every LGBT Joke on The Simpsons Ever Gayest Episode Ever returns for its fourth season with an installment of The Simpsons that demonstrates how much the show has evolved in 31 seasons. We’re also introducing a new side project: “Smithers & Beyond: Every LGBT Joke on The Simpsons Ever.” Assembled over the course of the last year by Drew, it shows not just every “Smithers is gay” joke but how the shows approach to LGBT topics reflects the changing American conversation about queer people and queer issues. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/17720282

Frasier Dates a Gay Guy 12/23/2020

Frasier Dates a Gay Guy “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: (our first episode ever!) and . And special thanks to Matt Baume whose 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. Shop for Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on . Buy Glen’s movie, . Support us ! Follow: • • • Listen: • • • • • • This episode’s outro track is “Take It as a Game” by Evelyn Barry: • • /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/17305745

Will & Jack Embrace Every Gay Stereotype 12/16/2020

Will & Jack Embrace Every Gay Stereotype “Fagmalion, Part Two: Attack of the Clones” (January 30, 2003) — We’re covering part two of a four-part Will & Grace arc, but it actually make sense in that this itself is part two of two-part crossover with Kyle Getz and Mike Johnson from the podcast Gayish, which is all about the stereotypes that surround gay identity. Is this Will & Grace a carnival of gay horrors? Yes, but that doesn’t mean this show isn’t worth examining. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/17215844

A.C. Slater Was Gay for Zack Morris… for Five Seconds 12/09/2020

A.C. Slater Was Gay for Zack Morris… for Five Seconds “The Zack Tapes” (December 2, 1989) What’s gay about Saved By the Bell, aside from Slater’s singlets and Tori’s leather jacket? Well, there is one episode that very briefly demonstrated that same-sex attraction was a thing — on Saturday morning, no less. It’s all he more surprising because the new Saved By the Bell manages to make amends for all the things the original series did wrong except feature any kind of same-sex love. And yes, we’re doing this episode because we really dug the reboot anyway. Watch the little-seen original pilot for Good Morning, Miss Bliss , and watch the very un-Saved By the Bell opening credits . The Neverending Story theme is as weird as Glen remembers. Watch Leanna Creel appear alongside her triplet sisters , the one movie they made together that didn’t star Hayley Mills. Also check out these promo photos of Tori, Jessie and Kelly , thereby nullifying the Tori Paradox. Listen to , the SbtB podcast that inspired , which in turn inspired this show. Shop for Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on . Buy Glen’s movie, . Support us ! Follow: • • • Listen: • • • • • • The outro track for this episode is “Go for It” by the little-known Los Angeles girl group Hot Sundae. Listen to it on YouTube . /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/17124353

The Golden Girls Meet a Trans Man 11/25/2020

The Golden Girls Meet a Trans Man “Strange Bedfellows” (November 7, 1987) The Golden Girls is beloved by many in the queer community, and for good reason, but the series is not batting a thousand when it comes to LGBT representation. This third season episode features a character who may just be the first trans man character on American TV. It’s… not great, but not wholly a disaster, and writer is here to offer the perspective of a GG newbie. Listen to our previous Golden Girls episodes: Subscribe to Henry’s newsletter, . Read Henry’s NewNowNext . And is the Mary Ann Doane article Henry mentions. If you are a big Golden Girls fan, check out Jim Colucci’s book on every episode of the show, . But also here is . Subscribe to Katherine’s food history podcast and hear Drew’s episode next week, where he talks all about egg nog, the noggiest holiday drink ever. Listen to Double Threat’s . But also listen to , where she goes in depth about a single pussy joke. Shop for Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on . Buy Glen’s movie, . Support us ! Follow: • • Listen: • • • • • • • This episode’s outro track is “Around My Dream” by Silver Pozzoli: • • /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16949327

ALF Never Did a Gay Episode 11/18/2020

ALF Never Did a Gay Episode “We Are Family” (May 2, 1988) Finally, at long last, ALF! This is the first in a new series where Drew and Glen discuss shows that never did a gay episode. “But wait, Drew and Glen! You have done episodes that weren’t explicitly gay before,” you may be saying. This is true, but at the very least we could pretend that the writer maybe-kinda-sorta had some gay metaphor in mind. This new series is for all the shows that never even treaded that far, but we think there’s something to talk about anyway. In this episode, ALF contemplates coming out as an alien, even if going public might poses risks to his personal liberties. Sandy Duncan does and does not make a cameo. Purchase Glen’s iconic design at our Teepublic store and improve your overall quality of life. Watch , where ALF makes a cameo and, in doing so, pissed off Tina Fey. The false binary of Listen to Drew’s new 80s music podcast, Deep Cuts and Superficial Wounds: • • • • Shop for Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on . Buy Glen’s movie, . Support us ! Follow: • • Listen: • • • • • • • This episode’s outro track is “Hallo ALF, Hier ist Rhonda” by Tommi Piper with Amélie Sandmann, which is perhaps not surprisingly unavailable on all the American streaming services. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16856282

Spin City Stumps for Same-Sex Marriage 11/11/2020

Spin City Stumps for Same-Sex Marriage “Grand Illusion” (October 29, 1996) — The first LGBT-themed episode from Spin City makes the odd decision to focus not on the out gay character, Michael Boatman’s Carter Heywood, but instead on Connie Britton’s Nikki. Drew thinks is lame. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16766807

Jennifer Slept Here Is a Little Gay Boy’s Fantasy 10/28/2020

Jennifer Slept Here Is a Little Gay Boy’s Fantasy “Jennifer: The Movie” (October 29, 1983), Jennifer Slept Here — 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. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16579445

It’s a Living Waits on a Trans Woman 10/21/2020

It’s a Living Waits on a Trans Woman “Gender Gap” (January 11, 1986), It’s a Living — Heads up: Initially, at least, Drew thought the episode being discussed was more transphobic that most, but special guest Ashley Lauren Rogers pointed out the ways the one trans episode of It’s a Living isn't a total wash — and since Ashley happens to be the host of the Is It Transphobic? podcast, that counts for something. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16487366

Penelope Alvarez Is the Mother of a Queer Teenager 10/14/2020

Penelope Alvarez Is the Mother of a Queer Teenager One Day at a Time, “Pride and Prejudice” (January 6, 2017) — The new One Day at a Time gets major points for focusing on a Latin family, for successfully re-inventing a Norman Lear classic and for giving us another reason to love Rita Moreno. Most important for this podcast’s purposes, however, is its nuanced handling of teenage Elena’s coming out. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16397645

Julia Sugarbaker Dates a Possible Homosexual 10/07/2020

Julia Sugarbaker Dates a Possible Homosexual Designing Women, “A Toe in the Water” (September 23, 1991) — What is Designing Women minus Delta Burke and Jean Smart but plus Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks? An interesting beast that is different than the Suzanne/Charlene years, yeah, but still pretty damn interesting. This episode is a showcase for Duffy’s anti-Diane Chambers, Allison Sugarbaker, who only lasted a season but it wasn’t her fault? Jonathan Bradley Welch makes his second GEE turn to talk Sugarbakers and his new podcast with Stonewall D /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16302818

The Dream On Guy Has a Gay Dad 09/30/2020

The Dream On Guy Has a Gay Dad Dream On, “Pop Secret” (June 23, 1993) — The HBO sitcom Dream On got a rep for being both a more grown-up take on sitcoms... and also a showcase for boobs. But this show’s fourth-season gay episode lands pretty well today. It’s all about series protag Martin Tupper (Brian Benben) finding out his dad is gay and processing it more realistically than other characters on other sitcoms would. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16210790

Rachel Kisses a Lesbian 09/23/2020

Rachel Kisses a Lesbian Friends, “The One with Rachel's Big Kiss” (April 26, 2001) — Welcome back Emelie Battaglia for another go-around with America’s favorite homophobic sitcom, Friends! This episode has “Chandler is gay” jokes aplenty, even if he’s about to marry Monica, but the focus is actually on Rachel, who encounters a college acquaintance (Winona Ryder) with whom she once shared a kiss. This episode features two more woman-on-woman kisses than the one where Carol and Susan get married. Ahem. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16123133

Diane Chambers Revisited (An Episode That Glen Can Actually Listen To) 09/21/2020

Diane Chambers Revisited (An Episode That Glen Can Actually Listen To) Cheers, ”The Boys in the Bar“ (January 27, 1983) — If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a bit, you may be aware of the fact that Glen refuses to listen to it. Drew thinks this is too bad, because this really seems like the kind of podcast Glen would really enjoy. In celebration of Glen’s birthday month, Drew asked Sam Pancake and Tony Rodriguez to do a reading of one of the best episodes we’ve done: Episode 10, “Diane Chambers Is an LGBT Ally.” /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16091288

Mike Seaver Actually Said the Word ‘Gay’ 09/16/2020

Mike Seaver Actually Said the Word ‘Gay’ Growing Pains — “Mike’s Madonna Story” (November 5, 1985) Yep, we’re actually doing Growing Pains — specifically because of one scene in a first-season episode in which Kirk Cameron’s character tosses of the line “Maybe I’m gay.” It might seem small, but it’s crazy to consider the word “gay” even being spoken on this quintessential 80s family show, much less by a character played by a guy who’d shortly thereafter become a born-again Christianity and who’d eventually disclose so /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/16029437

Norm Peterson Is Gay for Pay 09/09/2020

Norm Peterson Is Gay for Pay “Norm, Is That You?” (December 8, 1988), Cheers — If we told you this episode features George Wendt’s character pretending to be gay, you’d probably imagine that Wendt would go really big with that performance. Most sitcoms would if a straight actor were playing a straight character playing a gay character, but Cheers doesn’t, and in fact this is an episode about gayness where it goes oddly remarked upon. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15940937

In the House Made RuPaul Play a Heterosexual 09/02/2020

In the House Made RuPaul Play a Heterosexual In the House, “Boys II Men II Women” (December 4, 1995) — Twenty-five ago, long before he’d become a media mogul and the face of an international franchise, Rupaul made 1995 his most mainstream year yet. Not only did he have his mainstream debut in The Brady Bunch movie, but he also did one-off guest roles in a number of network sitcoms. But only In the House had him playing a drag queen who was an avowed heterosexual. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15850751

Introducing the Shelley Longcast! 08/31/2020

Introducing the Shelley Longcast! Episode One: The Brady Bunch Movie — Welcome to the first installment of the Shelley Longcast, the only podcast (that we know of) dedicated to the cinematic work of Shelley Long. You’re seeing this on the Gayest Episode Ever feed because it’s the the Patreon-exclusive bonus series we’ve launched and we decided you listeners might enjoy this first, more TV-related episode: The Brady Bunch Movie. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15824660

Finch’s Buddy Is Trans 08/26/2020

Finch’s Buddy Is Trans Just Shoot Me, “Brandy, You’re a Fine Girl” (November 16, 2000) — Finally, it’s Gayest Episode Ever’s first trans episode. Glen and Drew decided to start with a 2000 episode of Just Shoot Me that features Jenny McCarthy as the childhood friend of David Spade’s character who rolls into town with some surprising news. It’s not great, but this episode’s shortcomings demonstrate how the general conversation about trans folks has evolved in the past twenty years. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15759926

Alice Dates a Homo 08/19/2020

Alice Dates a Homo Alice, “Alice Gets a Pass” (September 29, 1976) — Why on earth was this the second episode of this show? When a former football star-turned-movie actor comes into town, Linda Lavin’s Alice is happy to take him out on a date, but she and everyone else are surprised to learn that he’s gay. Of all the episodes we’ve discussed so far, this one more than others captures a very particular flavor of homophobia: it being masked as maternal concern about predatory men. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15671798

Eric Forman’s New Buddy Is a Homo 08/12/2020

Eric Forman’s New Buddy Is a Homo That 70s Show, “Eric’s Buddy” (December 6, 1998) — In its first season, the show featured Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a student who befriends Topher Grace’s character — and then kisses him. It may not fully stick the landing, but it at least deserves credit for featuring a boy-on-boy kiss in primetime well before Dawson’s Creek did it. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15582071

Trailer 2.0 08/08/2020

Trailer 2.0 Since you’re apparently subscribed to the feed already, you don’t have to listen to this new teaser for what GEE is all about. You *can* listen to it, but you don’t have to. This is for promotional purposes only. Support us ! Follow: • • Listen: • • • • • • • And yes, we do have ! And we even have courtesy of . Our logo was designed by . This is a podcast. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15530567

Superstore Is Queerer Than You Think 08/05/2020

Superstore Is Queerer Than You Think Superstore, “Gender Reveal” (April 12, 2018) — Karen Tongson, chair of the Gender and Sexuality Studies department at USC and the co-host of the Gen X pop culture podcast Waiting to X-Hale, joins Drew and Glen to discuss Superstore, the NBC ensemble comedy. Not only does it have a queer Asian lead character, but as Karen points out, there’s a lot of ambient queerness on the show, in addition to one of the more diverse casts on a sitcom today. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15489935

Mr. Belvedere Discourages a Teen from Being Gay 07/29/2020

Mr. Belvedere Discourages a Teen from Being Gay “The Competition” (February 13, 1987) — 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. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15395894

M*A*S*H Saves a Gay 07/15/2020

M*A*S*H Saves a Gay “George” (February 16, 1974) — And finally we arrive at the show that back when we were kids was what informed us that the kids’ block of syndicated TV had been turned over to the grown-ups. Now grown-ups ourselves (sorta, kinda), we still can’t get into M*A*S*H, but regardless of our personal feelings we weigh in on why this show was important, even if this second-season gay-themed episode gets a B/B minus. Apologies to the M*A*S*H diehards out there. /episode/index/show/gayestepisodeever/id/15215639

Gayest Episode Ever

TOPICS