“Valentine’s Day” (February 11, 1989)
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,
2023-02-08 07:02:50 +0000 UTC
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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 ali...
2023-02-02 03:38:19 +0000 UTC
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Whelp, do to a scheduling problem, the new GEE won't be up on here until later Wednesday, but meanwhile please enjoy this Ian O'Phelan original artwork of Fred Flintstone, in all his uncropped glory.
2023-02-01 07:52:09 +0000 UTC
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EDIT: Reposted, with link fixed! No need to log in to submit now!
Greetings, humans!
It was suggested last year that the Box of Compliments segment could be improved with audience participation, and now that another one of these fuckers is due, we have decided we agree with this idea. If you click here, you will be able to submit your own sugg...
2023-02-01 03:22:15 +0000 UTC
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Vote for one!
2023-01-30 20:10:03 +0000 UTC
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“A Very Brady Episode” (February 5, 1989)
Easily, the weirdest thing about this episode of the otherwise-forgotten NBC sitcom Day by Day is the fact that it features Christopher Daniel Barnes, who’d go on to play Greg in the Brady Bunch movies, opposite a reunion of six of the nine original Brady Bunch cast members. But it’s also weird because it’s a footnote in the career of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. And it’s *also* also weird because it’s an early example of sitcoms going ver...
2023-01-30 06:30:39 +0000 UTC
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We put this in the ad this week, but also I know people usually skip through ads so I am posting it here as well: You know you can get all the Patreon extras (from GEE and any other podcast) in your regular podcast app, right?
Log into Patreon, either desktop version or the app, go to a given show's page and click on the Membership tab (GEE's should be here). If you scroll down, there is a place...
2023-01-26 19:29:43 +0000 UTC
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“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, where he’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...
2023-01-26 07:23:11 +0000 UTC
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You know the drill! Drop a suggestion below. Rule this month is THREE WORDS MAX! And… go!
2023-01-24 23:48:29 +0000 UTC
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I know some of you wanted us to do the Benson episode as planned for Weirdest Episode Ever. I'm posting the whole thing here, in case you'd like to watch. If you do, I think you'll see why the whole thing is just not funny and would be a slog to get through, GEE-style.
2023-01-23 21:16:36 +0000 UTC
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“Freudian Sleep” (February 3, 2004)
You may be noticing that this installment of WEE is not, in fact, about Benson. That’s because upon watching the “murder cruise” Benson, I realized that it sucked, and so your last minute substitution is instead about a series that’s never steered us wrong: Frasier. Specifically it’s the final season episode that features not one or two but six dream sequences, all of which go to tell the viewer something about the emotional state of the...
2023-01-23 21:07:28 +0000 UTC
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“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....
2023-01-18 20:55:15 +0000 UTC
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People supporting on the $5 level or higher got a new Weirdest Episode Ever in their feed this morning, about the Family Matters with Stevil, the evil murderous puppet version of Steve Urkel. Because it really has to be seen to be believed, I'm posting a video of the climactic Steve vs. Stevil fight here.
Listen to the episode here.
2023-01-16 22:14:19 +0000 UTC
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“Stevil” (October 25, 1996)
You might be as surprised as we were that when Family Matters does a horror episode, they really go for it. As corny as Steve Urkel’s wacky adventures could sometimes be, this Halloween outing has a few effective jump scares, all scattered throughout a story about the Winslow family being offed one by one by Stevil, the murderous puppet. It really is surprising that this was ever made, much less that it was allowed to air on TGIF.
What’s this ab...
2023-01-16 08:30:27 +0000 UTC
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“Coldhearted Uranus: Makoto in Danger” (May 14, 1994)
It’s a new year, and we’re giving you a new episode of Sailor Moon — now with 200 percent more lesbian content! This third-season episode not only showcases Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Michiru/Sailor Neptune, but also uses them as a way to explore how Makoto/Sailor Jupiter is the most queer-coded of the core five Sailor Guardians. What’s most notable about this episode, however, is the fact that the Viz dub of it actually re...
2023-01-12 07:02:06 +0000 UTC
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Hi all. This is an impromptu edition of TAA inspired by one of the question submitted for Ask Drew Anything. We are going into greater depth here because 1) Drew did not do a good job of answering this one the first time through and because 2) it was one of the better questions posed because it turns this podcast's thesis around on a genre we love.
Here's the original question:
Growing up as a fan of horror movies in the 80s, I used to scoff at moral guardians and their fears ...
2023-01-03 20:17:23 +0000 UTC
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And here's the audio only version of the livestreamed "Ask Drew Anything" thing I did yesterday. In case you're getting this and you're like "wait what is this?" I gave patrons the opportunity to anonymously ask a question and then I answered all of them. I did not read the questions ahead of time, because spontaneity, but as a result there are a few points where I am just at a loss for how to respond. But I try!
Thanks to everyone who asked a question! Have a great 2023!
2022-12-31 19:44:42 +0000 UTC
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Whelp, if you want to watch my dumb face make words, here is the video of me doing the Ask Drew Anything earlier today. A slightly polished version will be going on the Patreon feed tomorrow!
Thanks to everyone who submitted a question!
2022-12-30 22:56:56 +0000 UTC
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Okay, so the bad news is that we put one of the Weirdest Episode Evers on the main feed this week. The good news is that Ian made such good art for it that I had to make sure you Patreon people saw it.
And then the extra little bit is that because one of the ten WEEs is on the main feed now, we will be doing one extra beyond the ten we already announced. It's a surprise! But ...
2022-12-30 03:15:49 +0000 UTC
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Hi all. I finally figured out how to set up YouTube Live and I *think* I'm ready to do my first video thing for GEE and not fuck it up? But also I might fuck it up! It will be an adventure for us all.
If you want to check it out as it's happening / interact with me while I'm posting it, you can do so at this link: https://youtu.be/ZkuboH7k_MA
It will be starting at 1 p.m. PST tomorrow, Dec. 30. I will under...
2022-12-30 00:07:03 +0000 UTC
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Trigger warning: This episode talks about the suicide of one of the actors involved in this cartoon. If you’d rather skip that discussion, it runs from 35:21 to 37:57 and then does not come up again after that marker.
“Two to Tangle” (October 14, 1995)
We consider Aladdin to be a crucial stepping point between more kid-focused Disney stuff and full-on dark stuff like Gargoyles, and you know what? This episode holds up pretty well. Thanks goes largely to Jonathan Brandis’ p...
2022-12-29 23:23:23 +0000 UTC
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Hi! So I think I'm going to record Ask Drew Anything on Thursday. Which means if you've got something interesting or clever you'd like to ask, to so here.
I will be attempting to do this on YouTube Live, which means that you all can watch along if you're so inclined. I also realized that perhaps no one actually wants to do this, but the video ...
2022-12-28 03:01:23 +0000 UTC
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“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 da...
2022-12-28 02:54:54 +0000 UTC
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“Aliens” (October 28, 1988)
Okay okay okay… what if instead of a legal alien… Balki was… a SPACE ALIEN? That, basically, is what we think led to this episode of Perfect Strangers, along with someone saying, “Hey, remember that one Dick Van Dyke episode with the aliens?” If you were like Drew and relatively sheltered with your media intake, episodes like this one might be your first foray into anything approaching horror.
The logo for Weirdest Episode Ever was designe...
2022-12-18 21:58:38 +0000 UTC
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Hi, there. It's me, Drew, the person whose voice you hear periodically or often, depending on what kind of person you are. For a little Christmas something or other (and while Glen is celebrating the holiday with his family), I decided to do a little thing where I give you all a chance to ask me anything, podcast-related or otherwise.
You can submit questions via this Google form 2022-12-16 00:10:30 +0000 UTC
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“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...
2022-12-14 06:51:09 +0000 UTC
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“Lucy Goes to Scotland” (January 6, 1956)
It’s our second I Love Lucy episode and also our second “It was all a dream!” installment of Weirdest Episode Ever. So what is to be made of a dream sequence where Lucy Ricardo is ultimately fed to a dragon? Perhaps not much, but if you want to approach it from a perspective of dream analysis, it’s very likely that Lucy’s sacrifice has something to do with Lucille Ball’s impending divorce and her allowing celebrity to triumph ove...
2022-12-12 08:24:17 +0000 UTC
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Here, BTW, is the Soap monologue I talked about in the episode. That is young (ish) Miles from Golden Girls, BTW, and what is really surprising about this character is that he's not a major character at all. But he gets this spotlight to discuss love and death and grief, and it's truly beautiful.
2022-12-07 18:27:32 +0000 UTC
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“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 queer...
2022-12-07 04:13:28 +0000 UTC
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So the Patreon feed of the soap episode had art of Billy Crystal's character, but after actually recording the thing, I realized it would be more fitting to have Katherine Helmond's character for the art, and this is what Ian came up with. It's really good. He really captured the way she is beautiful.
BTW, surprise episode about an animated sitcom coming late tonight! Bet you can't guess which!
2022-12-06 20:13:07 +0000 UTC
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