Gayest Episode Ever

We Need Your Questions!

At Glen's request, I've discontinued the "Get to Know Glen" segment at the end of the show and instead am debuting a new segment: The Box of Inquiry. It's a complement to the Box of Compliments where you Patreon supporters get to ask any question you want and we will answer on air. It's that easy. So what would you like ton know — TV-related, personal or otherwise? Reply to this post with your questions (or DM us if you'd rather) and we'll toss all questions into the mix.

Smithers & Beyond

Just in case some of you access content regularly through Patreon, I thought I'd post the video project on its own here. Would love to hear if there's anything I missed!

Patty Bouvier Has a Girlfriend + Every LGBT Joke on The Simpsons Ever

“Livin’ la Pura Vida” (November 17, 2019)

The Simpsons are going to Costa Rica! 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. But that’s not all! In addition to discussing Patty’s first functional relationship, 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 ...

The Shelley Longcast: Hello Again

First up, Drew apologizes profusely for the fact that this episode is only getting up now. He’s been hard at work on an exciting GEE project that ended up taking more time than he expected. However, it’s dropping very soon and it should delight and tickle you.

Now, the movie: Some people might make a light romantic comedy about getting a second chance at life, while others would make a movie zeroing in on the societal ramifications of a person coming back from the dead. The 1987 fil...

The Gentle Majesty of Barry

We can't say for sure that this is the only fanart of Barry from the "Fagmalion" arc on Will & Grace, but we're going to go out on a limb and call this one the best and the most realistically rendered. 

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 he goes along with it about as far as a confirmed hetero can. This is our final episode of the year! Isn’t it amazing what you can do when sex and socializing are completely off the table?

Listen to our previous Frasier episodes: 2020-12-16 23:21:52 +0000 UTC View Post

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.

If you’re Gayish-curious, check out ...

AC 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...

A Quick Thanksgiving Message

Putting out a whole episode the same week you're also preparing Thanksgiving dinner is pretty tough, it turns out. So GEE's Patreon feed is dark this week, and we'll be back with a new episode next week. Meanwhile, in lieu of our regular weekly ad, we recorded a little bit where we gave out our recommendations for TV shows you can binge while you’re being a good citizen and staying home for Thanksgiving.

BTW, subscribe to Katherine’s food history podcast2020-11-25 05:41:32 +0000 UTC View Post

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 Henry Giardina is here to offer the perspective...

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 quite did a gay episode but we nonetheless pick the episode that comes closest to be gay. 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.

Watch 2020-11-11 20:30:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Spin City Stumps for Same-Sex Marriage

EDIT: Whoops, posted the wrong episode of the wrong podcast. Fixed!

“Grand Illusion” (October 29, 1996)

Because this is either the episode you’re getting immediately before the election (if you’re on the Patreon feed) or directly after (if you’re on the main feed), we decided we’d try for something political. No, we don’t know why we attempted this, but we ended up picking the first LGBT-themed episode from Spin City, which is arguably the most politically focused si...

Jennifer Slept Here Is a Little Gay Boy’s Fantasy

“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 ...

It’s a Living Waits on a Trans Woman

“Gender Gap” (January 11, 1986)

Heads up: Drew, at least, thinks this episode is fairly transphobic. That’s not exactly the conclusion that Glen and special guest Ashley Lauren Rogers arrived at, and given that the latter is the host of the Is It Transphobic? podcast, that counts for something. Whatever you think, this episode offers a glimpse at the proto-Golden Girls sitcom that Drew has been talking about for weeks and weeks, as well as the first part of a mini Ann Jillian fest...

The Shelley Longcast: The Money Pit

What’s funnier than home renovations and domestic discord? Well, in the 1986 hit comedy The Money Pit, the answer is Tom Hanks getting pummeled by a Rube Goldberg punishment delivery system. What’s most interesting about this movie in 2020 is the fact that it subverts a lot of the gender roles you’d typically see in comedy from this era. This means that Shelley Long ends up playing the character that wants to play it safe and doesn’t necessarily share her partner’s grand vision for ...

Penelope Alvarez Is the Mother of a Queer Teenager

“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. This week, Tony Rodriguez joins us to discuss how this story arc is more interesting for having put the spotlight not on Elena but on Penelope, her mom, ...

Julia Sugarbaker Dates a Possible Homosexual

“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 h...

The Dream On Guy Has a Gay Dad

“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.

The Entertainment Weekly article 2020-09-23 06:39:38 +0000 UTC View Post

Diane Chambers Revisited (An Episode That Glen Can Actually Listen To)

”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,” based on the Cheers episode �...

Rachel Kisses a Lesbian

“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 — an...

Mike Seaver Actually Said the Word ‘Gay’

“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...

Norm Peterson Is Gay for Pay

“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 remarked on. 

Here’s the 2020-09-03 01:23:28 +0000 UTC View Post

The Shelley Longcast: Troop Beverly Hills

It’s the movie that taught a lot of little girls (and more than a few little gay boys) the magic of peplums: 1989’s Troop Beverly Hills. Given that this was the first film Shelley Long signed onto and starred in following her exit from Cheers and given the fact that this didn’t make money in theaters, it’s probably the fault of Troop Beverly Hills that Shelley Long failed at making successful movies. Thirty years later, however, those same little girls and little gay boys look back fo...

The Shelley Longcast: 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 the great Shelley Long. This is the special, Patreon-only bonus series that Glen and Drew promised when monthly donations get to $500, so we hope you enjoy us talking about one of our favorite actors bridging the gap between the big and small screens.

Because Gayest Episode Ever is TV-focused, we figured we’d start with The Brady Bunch Movie, a 1995 classic t...

In the House Made RuPaul Play a Heterosexual

“Boys II Men II Women” (December 4, 1995)

Twenty-five years before he’d become a media mogul and the face of an international franchise, 1995 was a big year for RuPaul. 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. This strange piece of pop culture gets some things right and other things so very, very wrong. 2020-08-27 07:40:51 +0000 UTC View Post

Finch’s Buddy Is Trans

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-...

Alice Dates a Homo

“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 o...

Eric Forman’s New Buddy Is a Homo

“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 again sy...

Superstore Is Queerer Than You Think

"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...

Mr. Belvedere Discourages a Teen from Being Gay

“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...