Gayest Episode Ever

"You Can't Win 'Em All" (February 27, 1985) Sara is a one-season sitcom that first came to our attention via a gag on The Simpsons, the context being that it wasn't a show worth remembering. The Simpsons was wrong, however, and this Geena Davis vehicle does a lot of what we think '80s sitcoms don't do. Namely, it has an out gay character who is allowed to have a sex drive. He's also more than a set of stereotypical mannerisms but he still reads as gay. And Bronson Pinchot, who one year later would become a sitcom star as Balki on Perfect Strangers, does a great job bringing dimension to this character who should have been on TV for a lot longer. Many thanks to Steven Capsuto for collecting historical context around Sara in his amazing book, Alternate Channels: Queer Images on Twentieth-Century TV, which is a great resource for anyone studying LGBTQ representation in media. Also listen to the episode Steve did with us about Love, Sidney. Thanks to Zach Wilson for giving us access to the video of this ep! You can watch the entire episode on the GEE Vimeo here. Watch the credits to the also short-lived sitcom DREAMS. Read the LA Times piece about the production of Sara. And also have a look at the Pop Trash Museum article about Sara. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

"Valentine's Day" (February 11, 1989) Consider this a special Valentine's present from us to you: your regular weekly episode, one day early! Feb. 14 marks a truly terrible holiday that we'd normally encourage you all to ignore. However, it so happens that just in time for 2023's Valentine's Day we were reminded of a Golden Girls episode that spins not one but four tales about this wretched holiday. Believe us: They do it about as good as any TV show ever could. Watch Matt Baume's video that inspired this episode, "Why Do Gay Guys Love The Golden Girls?" Listen to "Glen Writes a Golden Girls," which is maybe one of the best things we've done with this podcast, as well as all the previous Golden Girls episodes. Submit your own suggestions for Box of Compliments compliments here. Confused about Dana Jean Harley and fat country babies eating peaches off a hardwood floor? Watch SNL's "Country Roses" sketch here. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

A heads up: This episode discusses sexual assault in the context of it being something that would get referenced in mid-2000s shows as a marker of being "edgy." Also, there is a discussion of anal probing in the context of alien abduction, not to be funny but to try and understand why this is a concept that shows up on sitcoms. "Roger 'n' Me" (April 23, 2006) As a follow-up to last week's Great Gazoo episode, we return to American Dad to try to explain why Roger the alien is such a successful character and, really, a likely reason why American Dad show succeeds. This is an early episode exploring Roger's relationship with Stan. And while the show suffers from being more like Family Guy than it would be even a year later, there is surprisingly nuance to the way the show deals with these two sharing what amounts to a sexual experience. Listen to our previous episode on American Dad. Listen to the episode of Monday Afternoon Movie about The UFO Incident, with special guest Scott Philbrook from Astonishing Legends. Read the Reddit thread "How did anal probing become associated with alien abductions?" Listen to the Our Strange Skies podcast's series on Whitley Strieber. Submit your own suggestions for Box of Compliments compliments here. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

"The Great Gazoo" (October 29, 1965) Not only did the Great Gazoo mark the "jumping the shark" point for The Flintstones well before that was a term that meant anything in TV studies, but also there's a whole queer backstory for this green imp, who's allegedly inspired by a guy who taught a legendary class of CalArts animators who went on to make most of the top-grossing cinematic cartoons of the last fifty years. The fact that there's next to nothing available online about Bill Moore only makes the mystery more enticing. We truly will have a gay old time. Read the Vanity Fair piece on CalArts in which Brad Bird identifies the Great Gazoo as being inspired by Bill Moore. Listen to Talking Simpsons' What a Cartoon episode about this Flintstones milestone. Watch the Stone Age Cartoons short "Granite Hotel," which seems like a predecessor for The Flintstones. Read the MeTV article about sitcom couples sharing a bed. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

"The Sponge" (December 7, 1995) You know one thing Seinfeld did right that many of its metropolitan sitcom imitators didn't? It had mean gays — specifically Bob and Cedric, a gay couple that shows up three times throughout the series run to exert queer menace on Kramer. They figure into a plot that's otherwise centered on Elaine's birth control, and their demand that Kramer wear an AIDS ribbon allows us to discuss various issues related to virtue signaling, talking talks vs. walking walks and getting called out online. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

"The Shining Silver Crystal: The Moon Princess Appears" (November 28, 1992) It's the only Sailor Moon episode of a podcast you will hear this week featuring a surprise cameo by Mia Farrow. About a year ago, we covered Sailor Moon on our bonus podcast, The Cartoons That Made Us Gay. We kicked off 2023 by returning to Sailor Moon, and so we decided to pop the original one onto the main feed. This one is all about the first-season same-sex couple, Kunzite and Zoisite, but if you're into it, right now on Patreon there is a whole second episode about the other famous same-sex couple from this series, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Listen to that here. And GEE will be back with a brand-new Seinfeld outing in two weeks! But if that's too long for you, don't forget that new episodes premiere on the Patreon feed one week early! Miscellaneous notes: Yes, there is a substantial parallel between Sailor Moon and Buffy, though we'd hesitate to declare it more than a coincidence Kotaku's post on the abomination that is the American pilot for a live action Sailor Moon remake Hello Kitty is not a cat Read Drew's Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games post if you want to know how the connection to Rose of Versailles And check out the lengthy Twitter thread 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 the clip comparing Molly's original DiC accent to Mia Farrow's Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

Greetings! We are combatting the dead zone that is the holidays with a bonus episode: the fourth of Weirdest Episode Ever, our new Patreon series looking at sitcoms that venture into sci-fi, horror and fantasy. If you like this, you can listen to three other episodes on Patreon, with another six to come in early 2023. They're available for people supporting us at the $5 level or higher. Here's the full list of episodes we have done/will be doing: The Cosby Show, "The Day the Spores Landed" (a.k.a. the male pregnancy episode) I Love Lucy, "Lucy Goes to Scotland" (a.k.a. Lucy gets fed to a dragon) Perfect Strangers, "Aliens" (a.k.a. Balki is an alien) The Facts of Life, "Seven Little Indians" (a.k.a. the Twilight Zone parody) A Family Matters, "Stevil" (a.k.a. Steve Urkel gets a murderous puppet doppelganger) Benson, "Death in a Funny Position" (a.k.a. serial killer cruise ship) Day By Day, "A Very Brady Episode" (a.k.a. a very strange venture into Brady Bunch land) Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place, "Two Guys a Girl and a Psycho Halloween" (a.k.a. Ryan Reynolds murders everyone) Punky Brewster, "The Perils of Punky" (a.k.a. the cave of horrors) The Cosby Show, "Cliff's Nightmare" (a.k.a. Cliff Huxtable vs. Muppets) Here are the details on this Facts of LIfe episode: "Seven Little Indians" (January 3, 1987) It would be ambitious for any sitcom, much less Facts of Life specifically, to attempt a weird episode that not only satirizes 1980s slasher movies but also murder mysteries and also The Twilight Zone. For all that being packed into one 22-minute format, this one actually works pretty well. Lisa Whelchel as Blair — big-haired, wild eyed and caked with makeup — makes for a striking visual that probably traumatized a few kids back in the day. The Facts of Life, previously: Blair Warner Is a Homophone Jo Polniaczek Is a Lesbian Hearththrob The logo for Weirdest Episode Ever + the rad art of psycho killer Blair Warner was designed by Ian O'Phelan. The theme music was composed by Nick Loiacano.

"Jingle Balls" (December 13, 2001) We are closing out the year by returning to the only sitcom whose every Christmas episode is also gay: Will & Grace. It's not great, people. And while this Laura Kightlinger-penned season for ep shows promise, it ultimately pulls back from exploring subjects that it could have done interesting work with: Will's apparent embarrassment at dating a more effeminate man and Jack's misguided belief that being gay means he can do design work. At least Parker Posey saves the day with unrestrained homophobia. Got a question you want to ask Drew? Ask anonymously here. Details for how to watch the answering session to follow. Will & Grace, previously: Will and Jack Kiss on Live TV Will and Jack Embrace Every Gay Stereotype It's a Will & Grace Christmas! BTW, the neurological condition Drew mentions in this episode is real and is called witzelsucht. Check out our sponsor, Spaces! And join our spaces for Gayest Episode Ever and Cartoons That Made Us Gay. And yes, it's now available for Android! Go shop at our TeePublic store! Talk to other GEE listeners on the GEE Discord! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

"A Tale of Two Lesbians" (June 19, 2009) It's not exactly incorrect that you can summarize The Goode Family as "What if King of the Hill but liberal?" But that description makes it seem like Mike Judge's follow-up to KotH didn't have potential. It did, and just a few episodes in, it was world-building in a way few other series did, by giving viewers not just one lesbian couple but two — and they were nothing alike either! Imagine! Multiple representations of female queerness onscreen at the same time! We're joined by longtime friend of the pod Mir Knight to discuss why this series didn't succeed. Listen to the free preview of our first installment of Weirdest Episode Ever here. Check out our sponsor, Spaces! And join our spaces for Gayest Episode Ever and Cartoons That Made Us Gay. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Talk to other GEE listeners on the GEE Discord! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast.

Content warning: In discussing plotlines on Soap, we do bring up suicide and, very briefly, sexual assault. "Episode 4.1" (November 12, 1980) * Finally! It's one of the biggest cult favorite sitcoms of all time *and* it's also a show famous for having a LGBT character in the main cast. The only reason it's taken us this many years to tackle Soap is that it's so much more serialized than mostly anything else we cover, so while we focus on one particular episode, we're also discussing the entirety of Billy Crystal's gay character, Jodie Dallas. Good thing we have longtime Soap fan and TableCakes' Katherine Helmond correspondent Gwynedd Stuart on hand to discuss the show in general and the awesomeness of Jessica Tate in particular. Check out our sponsor, Spaces! And join our spaces for Gayest Episode Ever and Cartoons That Made Us Gay. Also check out Gwynedd's work on Sporked. Listen to Gwynedd's episode of Monday Afternoon Movie about The Legend of Lizzie Borden. See the full text of "the Soap memo." And then read the full piece on Newspapers.com (subscription required). The Susan Harris quotes in this piece come from this 2018 Yahoo interview. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. This is a TableCakes podcast. * By some counts, this is actually episode 3.22.