Gayest Episode Ever

"Norm, Is That You?" (December 8, 1988) 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 not remarked upon — and not spoken about outright. Listen to our previous Cheers episodes, Rebecca Howe Suffers From Gay Blindness and Diane Chambers Is an LGBT Ally. Here's the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article in which it was conjectured that Cheers might replace Kirstie Alley with Joan Severance, playing Rebecca Howe's sister. Watch the trailer for Norman… Is That You?, the 1973 Redd Foxx comedy that came out three years after his sitcom referenced the source material in "Lamont, Is That You?" The strangeness that is Pink Lady and Jeff. And yes, Spain remade Cheers. It has a Woody and a Coach existing at the same time. It's weird. Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode's outro track is "Southpaw" by Pink Lady: Apple Music • Spotify

"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. Drew talked with In the House creator Winifred Hervey about her time on Golden Girls. Read his roundtable interview with her and other Golden Girls writers here. Here is the In the House episode that has Debbie Allen playing opposite her real-life sister, Phylicia Rashad. And here is an episode of Friday Night Videos that has Debbie and Phylicia hanging out — and Debbie referring to eldest daughter Saundra as "the older one." Drew appeared on last week's Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie to discuss Don't Go to Sleep, a made-for-TV oddity that features Ruth Gordon getting killed by an iguana and Valerie Harper menaced by a child wielding a rolling pizza cutter. It's weird! The Easy Spirit Playoffs: Purple vs. Metallic! Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode's outro track is Black Book's "You Must Change (Mystery Woman)," which isn't on any of the streaming services so maybe just listen to it on YouTube?

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, a 1995 classic that we think this movie is really funny — and we think playing an iconic TV character such as Carol Brady was a daring choice for Shelley, who'd left TV to focus on film. If you like this episode, the second installment of the Shelley Longcast, which focuses on Troop Beverly Hills, is live right now on Patreon. You only need to pledge $1 a month to hear that, all future installments of the Shelley Longcast and other bonus content. Also you'll get every future GEE episode one week early. The amazing logo for The Shelley Longcast was designed by Jeff Hinchee. Give him money to make art!

"Brandi, 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, largely because edgy humor does not age well, but more than anything else, this episode's shortcomings demonstrate how the general conversation about trans folks has evolved in the past twenty years. TableCakes jill-of-a-trades Meika Grimm Is on hand to talk Just Shoot Me, Xena, Highlander and more. Follow Meika on Twitter! And check out Flannel Bush Endeavors to find out what Meika can do for your business. And this is what an actual flannelbush looks like. Buy Sarah Wickham's "Pray the Gay to Stay" shirt. Watch the "A&E Biography" episode all about Nina Van Horn. And here are all the proposed Gargoyles spinoffs that Glen mentioned. Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. The episode's outro track is "Living on Video" by Trans-X: Apple Music • Spotify • Amazon Music

"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. John Forget, this one is for you! Listen to Talking Simpsons' Cape Feare episode to hear the theory about why Linda Lavin deserved it. (This part starts around 34:20.) Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. The episode's outro track is "Don't Tell Me This Is Love" by Alice & The Wonderboy, which doesn't seem to be on any of the music streaming services, so I guess just listen on YouTube?

"Eric's Buddy" (December 6, 1998) Trigger warning: The episode we're talking about doesn't bring up sexual assault in any way, but because it's That 70s Show, the subject comes up. Skip from the 25-minute mark to the 29-minute mark if you want to listen to the episode without that discussion. Debate among yourselves whether That 70's Show qualifies as a classic sitcom, but you can't say it wasn't a successful show, running eight seasons and then forever in syndication. 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. Yes, That 80s Show also happened, and today it's only worth looking into for a pre-It's Always Sunny Glenn Howerton and Supergirl's Chyler Leigh decked out in punk gear. Dog With a Blog is exactly what it sounds like, but Drew still doesn't understand what it is. Tanya Roberts' Tahiti Village. Donna's dad plays an L.A. gang tough in 1975's Switchblade Sisters, which is a weird, wild thing to behold. And the whole of Bad Gays is pretty interesting, but their episode about Oscar Wilde's Bosie is especially good. Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. The episode's outro track is "Bite the Apple" by Rainbow Team: Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music

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 on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast.

"Gender Reveal" (April 12, 2018) This week, Glen and Drew are joined by 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. We asked Karen what show she'd most like to discuss, and she chose Superstore, the current 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. Watch Smack the Pony, the all-female British sketch comedy show Drew is always trying to get you to watch. Lauren Ash's performance as Scorpia on the new She-Ra is a wonderful, wonderful thing. The phenomenon of melon babies, however, is decidedly not wonderful. Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. The episode's outro track is "Baby on Fire" by Ottomix and P.K. Seigel. (Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music)

"The Competition" (February 13, 1987) Yes, we did do an episode last year in which we summed up Mr. Belvedere are a whole and said it never did an outright gay episode. We were wrong, and 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. Also you can listen to the previous Mr. Belvedere outing, but also maybe don't because this one is good enough to just replace the original? Christopher Hewett stars as King Koopa in Super Mario Bros. on Ice. Watch GEE TV to see the episode of 227 with Pee-Wee Herman. Enjoy the opening credits to Land of the Giants. Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode's outro theme is "Balla Balla Ballerina" by Tony Manero, which isn't on any of the music streaming services or digital music stores, as near as Drew can find, so just listen to it on YouTube, I guess?

"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. Subscribe to Jonathan Bradley Welch's new podcast, The Read Down. It's politics but for gays! Curious about the origins of this show's theme song? Listen to our episode all about instrumental theme songs from sitcoms. Take in the insane debate over David Odgen Stiers' sexuality. See what Radar's butt looked like when it was glimpsed on a national broadcast in 1973 in the 8 p.m. timeslot. Trapper John stars as Major Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later. Buy Gayest Episode Ever shirts, totes and more on our TeePublic page. Buy Glen's movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode's outro theme is "Warrior" by Riky Maltese (Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music)