Gayest Episode Ever

The Golden Girls Backdoor Pilot: Is There Bad Blood Between Susan Harris and Rita Moreno?

This week, we are popping the first episode of Backdoor Pilots onto the main feed. (And no worries, people supporting on Patreon below the $5 a month level, it will be available for you too!) To promote this one, I did a new video that goes even deeper into the probable/possible beef between Golden Girls creator Susan Harris and Rita Moreno, who at one point was supposed to star in the spinoff that became Empty Nest.

Stoked on how this video turned out! Hope you enjoy some visual aids e...

Backdoor Pilots: Diff'rent Strokes Spins Mrs. Garrett into The Facts of Life

"The Girls School" (May 4, 1979)

Most of us grew up in a world where The Facts of Life was always a thing, but in retrospect, it’s really weird that NBC wanted to make a new show centered around the housekeeper from Diff’rent Strokes. But they did, and because The Facts of Life went on for nine years, this episode we’re discussing might be the most successful backdoor pilot of all time? What’s more, they did a really good job of having these shows set each other up, play off eac...

Watch the Diff'rent Strokes backdoor pilot for Facts of Life

Hey, all. Trying something new here, but since Patreon allows video uploads now, I'm wondering they'll allow me to upload a whole episode. Maybe? Maybe they'll copyright strike me? Unclear!

But this is "The Girls School," the season one finale to Diff'rent Strokes that spins Mrs. Garrett off to The Facts of Life. It's the subject of the next Backdoor Pilots episode, which will be going live shortly. And while this video is available for all patrons, the Backdoor Pilots series is for peo...

An update

Hi.

Thurman died yesterday. Even though I knew this was coming, it still surprised me, mostly because he never displayed any signs of being sick. He was as solid as he was last year, when he didn't have cancer, until midday yesterday, when he stopped eating midway through lunch. He had literally never stopped eating before, so I knew something was up, and he died within an hour. It still does not really make sense to me, but here I am. 

I actually don't make strong relationsh...

Janice from Friends as Fake Harley

Relevant to this week's SilverHawks episode of Cartoons That Made Us Gay, here is Maggie Wheeler voicing a replacement Harley Quinn in an episode of Batman: TAS. I didn't know this episode existed before this past week, and it's really interesting for me to think of Maggie Wheeler building such a large part of career playing characters with annoying voices. It's even wilder to think about this cart...

The Cartoons That Made Us Gay: SilverHawks

“Gangwar, Part One” (November 14, 1986)

While ThunderCats was still airing, Rankin/Bass attempted to repeat its success with SilverHawks, a similar but more space-focused series about cyborgs battling a space mafia. While the series has its fans (and Glen is most certainly one of them), it didn’t leave the lasting impression that ThunderCats did. And that’s too bad, because even if the hero team is a little bland, the bad guys are pretty damn cool — especially Melodia, the sol...

Our 200th episode / Moe as Harvey Milk

Whelp, by uploading the new Simpsons episode to the main feed, this is actually our 200th! I didn't realize! And while we do have something planned for the milestone, I thought for now I'd make sure you all saw Ian's art, which is the best Moe the bartender as Harvey Milk art you will see today. It is deeply weird to me that this episode devolves into a Milk homage, but at the very least I thin...

What Should Drew and Glen Talk About This Month?

You know the drill! Leave a comment below to suggest a topic for the next D&GTAA. Here is the theme for this go around: Have us rank a group of things. Examples: Female Simpsons characters. Albums released by TV stars. Must See TV sitcoms.

Backdoor Pilots: Who’s the Boss? Almost Spins off Mona

“Mona” (May 12, 1987)

At the end of its third season, Who’s the Boss? almost made the mistake of sending Katherine Helmond’s Mona off onto her own show. It didn’t happen, thankfully, and when you watch the backdoor pilot for this spinoff that could have happened, it’s easy to see why. Not only was the staff of the Nottingham Hotel not up to Mona’s standards, but also losing one-fifth of the core cast might have seriously hurt the mothership show. A disastrous situation a l...

Kelly Bundy meets Alyssa Jones

Just because I thought it seemed like a notable and under-seen pop culture moment, here is the scene from episode two of Top of the Heap wherein Kelly Bundy meets Mona Mullins, the hot-to-trot jailbait character played by a pre-Chasing Amy Joey Lauren Adams. It's notable not only because it's a moment with Kelly Bundy that a lot of Married... With Children fans probably have not seen, but also it's cool to see how getting to interact with a female character changes Mona for the better. <...

The Who's the Boss? backdoor pilot, "Mona"

Hi all. This weekend, we'll be posting the third installment of Backdoor Pilots, about the spinoff Who's the Boss almost gave to Mona before thinking better of it. Because it's not streaming anywhere, we decided to offer up the episode for you all to watch. Enjoy!

Mambo as seen in The Honeymooners

Podcasts are an inherently visual medium, but I think you all were missing out on not seeing the kind of Gymboree-esque tilting and shaking on display in the Honeymooners episode we covered. Please enjoy Mrs. Manicotti most of all.

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 ...

Backdoor Pilots: Married… With Children Gives Matt LeBlanc His First Spinoff

“Top of the Heap” (April 7, 1991)

Midway through Married… With Children’s fifth season, viewers got an episode that dispensed with the regular cast (save for Al) and spent most of its time focused on Vinnie and Charlie Verducci, a father-son pair who’d appeared on the show once before and who were getting their own sitcom the following week. Because Top of the Heap was already a done deal, this may not be a true backdoor pilot — no audience was being tested, just advertised ...

Stan Smith, Sex Symbol

It's America Weekend (or something) and that seems like a good time to make sure you all saw what a good job Ian did with the art for the recent American Dad episode. I asked for sexy Stan Smith, and he delivered. Also this will be a patriotic as I will get.

Listen to the episode, if you haven't yet.

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, 2023-06-28 03:02:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Backdoor Pilots: Golden Girls Shows Us the Neighbors Next Door

“Empty Nests” (May 16. 1987)

Welcome to the premiere of Backdoor Pilots, our new Patreon-only bonus series!

The Golden Girls spinoff Empty Nest premiered October 8, 1988, to acclaim and success. However, fifteen months earlier we got a look at a rougher-edged version of the same premise when The Golden Girls aired an episode that introduced us to never-before seen neighbors. Rita Moreno played Renee Corliss, a stay-at-home mom trying to cope with the fact that her kids had all...

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 2023-06-21 05:59:26 +0000 UTC View Post

Production update!

Hi, all!

This is just a post to explain where we are with the regular show and all the bonus shows. It's been a tricky few weeks, just because Glen was on vacation (and I am mad because I have not gotten a vacation), but Gayest Episode Ever has three more episodes before it wraps up for the summer. Over the summer, we'll be running some Cartoons That Made Us Gay and Weirdest Episode Ever on the main feed, including some honest-to-god original GEE stuff (about Barry and Eerie, Indiana!) ...

Alex Mack Is a Lesbian Icon

“Bad Girl” (November 12, 1996)

If you were not the target audience (and target age) for this live-action Nickelodeon series, you may be shocked to find out that The Secret World of Alex Mack is a sci-fi show. It’s basically Spider-Man with a baby gay lead protagonist, played with remarkable aplomb by Larisa Oleynik. We’re joined by Katie Mathewson, screenwriter on Hawkeye and the breakout hit Jury Duty, t...

Our Ranma ½ art

We've already moved on to the next episode, but I wanted to post this for everyone to see, just because I think Ian did a really good job with it. Also I hope you all enjoyed this episode! It's fun making little departures from the usual GEE formula!

(Here's the episode, for context.)

The Evolution of Coming Out Episodes (w/ Matt Baume)

This week, we’re joined by Matt Baume, author of the new book Hi Honey, I’m Homo, about the history of LGBTQ representation on American TV. Instead of a single episode, we’re talking about several, including some we’ve covered previously on GEE and some we have not!

• All in the Family, “Judging Books by Covers” (Februar...
  2023-06-07 06:39:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Ranma Is a Girl Sometimes

“I Love You! My Dear, Dear Ukyo” (May 18, 1990)

This week, we’re pivoting away from traditional sitcoms to discuss Ranma ½, a long-running anime that combines martial arts, romance, mysticism and… zany misunderstandings that are actually very sitcom-like, when you get down to it. This series focuses on the title character, a teenage boy who due to a curse turns into a girl when splashed with cold water, so there are a bajillion ways to analyze the gender dynamics. Here to discu...

Leon Carp Is Roseanne’s Gay Nemesis

“The Driver’s Seat” (November 30, 1993)

We’re giving another shot to Roseanne, because perhaps it’s been long enough that you all want to listen to stories about this iconic series. Perhaps not! Regardless, this show offered us Martin Mull’s Leon, who goes unsung in the annals of gay supporting characters. He’s a villain, though much of his evildoing has nothing to do with his sexuality, and in this particular episode, his gayness doesn’t even come up — which is unusua...

Kath Thinks Kim Is Gay (American Version)

“Gay” (November 20, 2008)

The reviews would have you believe that NBC’s attempt at an American redo of Kath & Kim was without merit and appealing to no one. We’re not so sure, and the fact that its one season on air came around the same time franchises like Real Housewives and RuPaul’s Drag Race were revving up means that there actually an audience for two women who dress trashy but who think they’re hot stuff and whose banter vacillates between friendly and bitchy. It�...

Our New Mini-Series, Backdoor Pilots!

Hi all. We're moving ahead with Backdoor Pilots, the new Patreon-only bonus series and kinda-sorta the successor to Weirdest Episode Ever, even if Weirdest Episode Ever isn't going anywhere anytime soon. 

Yes, it does have its own theme song, and yes, it really rocks. Have a listen here. This one is by Meika Grimm, Tablecakes editor/producer and also a previous GEE guest!

Similar ...

The Cartoons That Made Us Gay: The Real Ghostbusters

“Janine, You’ve Changed” (September 8, 1990)

Kids watching this late-series episode of the Ghostbusters cartoon might not have realized it was an allegory for how executive decrees repeatedly changed the character of Janine Melnitz to be more kid-friendly. But there’s also more here; this evil fairy godmother story also works as a body dysmorphia explainer, a parable for the ways little queer kids will twist themselves into all sorts of shapes in order to please people around th...

Kath & Kim (U.S. Version)

As we alluded to at the end of this week's episode, next week's episode will be about the American remake of Kath & Kim. Since it's not streaming anywhere, I thought we'd post the video for you all to see here on our Vimeo. This is the first episode and then the seventh, "Gay," which is the focus of next week's GEE. Enjoy! Or... watch and consider. Your mileage may vary.

Kath Thinks Kim Is Gay

“Gay” (May 23, 2002)

A smash hit in its native Australia that became a cult phenomenon in the U.S., Kath & Kim focuses on two suburban women joined by their lack of both taste and any sort of a clue. The second episode is just titled “Gay,” and to discuss it, we were joined by Glenn Charlie Dunks, a real-life Australian homosexual who’s spent a great deal of time thinking about art, culture and the diff...

How did you find Gayest Episode Ever?

Genuinely curious to know how you all ended up listening. Drop a comment to tell us!